If we get to play it I think the game that was postponed would give us a good chance for another win.
We’re not building anything at this stage. White brought in top freshman classes and wasted them. He’s now working the portal but no one is invested in these guys, and they’ll be gone next year to start all over. It’s just one big mess with the one constant being White. Maybe we’ll sneak into the tournament to lose another game to Oral Roberts! I don’t care anymore. White needs to go and bring in someone who can reinvigorate this dead program.
I wouldn't but I would try my hardest to find the next Oats, Billy or something along those lines. I'm sure there is something out there that can build us back into the top of the SEC. I've been watching Gator basketball since I was a student 20 years ago and you can call me a "young fan" but all I know is excellent Gator basketball and I want nothing more than that at the moment. The helpless feeling of being just above average hurts because I've watched excellent basketball for so long outside of a few years under Billy.
It was really the across the board shooting %’s. Not just FT’s. Overall, Auburn shot 54% to our 41%. From 3, Auburn shot 44% to our 27%. The poster above said that 44% is a “crazy” %. It’s really not, and the 27% is sort of who we are too. The game went basically as expected. We played “decently”, Auburn played “decently”, but Auburn has better players and a more proven game coach. I think our 2 pt pct was lower because we took some ridiculous circus layups (Fleming, come on man). Whites offense doesn’t get guys open looks and basically let’s guys waste time dribbling around, so the low 3 point shooting % is unsurprising. It’s a staple of White teams at this point. But it doesn’t help that individually we don’t have that knock down shooter either. Maybe Jones was expected to be that 40% guy (for 2 prior years he was), but he’s been a 30% guy. So it’s a team of 30% shooters. Hard to really be great with that.
That is a cop-out for poor coaching. The coach recruited those players, determines playing time, and controls who is in the game. This is at least the 3rd different group of players who look and play the same as each group of players that came before them. The one constant with this type of play from each group is Mike White.
I look at it the same way I looked at the Mullen situation this year. If you give White another year, you are just delaying the inevitable and digging a deeper hole for the next coach. He has had 5 years to reproduce the Elite 8 run he had, and he hasn’t come close. In fact, the program has appeared to regress and look worse.
Mike White will get another year because "there's not really a legit PG on this team." Any chance that Jones, Duruji, Castleton, McKissic and/or Fleming can return due to the Covid year??? If we can get a few of those guys back, in addition to help from the portal and a legit PG, we will win it all next year #UF MBB Team 2023 National Champions! Damn, I am making excuses and defending MidMajorMike again. Anyway, if Mike goes to the NCAAT again this year, especially if he wins one game, we will see MW on the sideline again next year. One of these years, he's gonna make the EE again.
I was at the game and the place was packed-I could barely hear my daughters speaking to me. The Gators played hard in a tough environment. My oldest daughter-an AU grad, was very vocal with her Gator cheers and I enjoyed the looks from some of the barners. I met several Gator fans, including one large group that drove over from Ga. It was great to hear "Go Gators" from several as we exited the arena.
Why are we not seeing more CC, Duruji and Felder at the same time? They have been the 3 most consistent Gators this season. Felder played 12 minutes vs Auburn. That makes no sense to me. Duruji & Felder can play the 3 and 4 interchangeable, while helping on the glass. Both have shown they can hit some open shots, better than what we've seen from the guards, so why not play to your strengths.
Overall, I thought we played spirited but are limited on offense. Yes, missing FFs are not a good sign. I don't think they were the difference. Auburn played like a FF contender at home with a good crowd. The Bama game was the one we did not get, not this one. And until further notice, I will still chalk it up to being bit by the C-19 protocols. CC is the floor on this team. If he doesn't score there is no way we win games against quality SEC competition. The X-factor/ceiling for this team is...everyone else. In any game, who the heck knows. And while we appear to have gotten back to the defensive intensity we saw at the beginning of the season, better teams/players are not as "compliant" as the early teams. I am just glad we fought all the way to the end. This is still a "TBD" kind of team/season. I am afraid that Appleby and Duruji are going to get "creative" on offense because they think the team needs something extra. And since no one seems to be able to take Appleby's place that is kind of scary. The Jones experiment reminds me of the Christmann experiment in football, a stop-gap at a critical need and the results look like craps. If he...and Fleming...don't find their strokes consistently I don't see this team doing anything in the post-season. This isn't the football program and I do think Mike has a "show cause" season after this one. But if the inmates decide to take over the asylum I can see where this will be it for him.
Our starters ran out of steam, evident by all the missed shots down the stretch. Proud of the fight and proud to be a Gator!
