Missing Tre Mann honestly and Key. You add those two players this team and we are undefeated. Oh well, that's how it goes when you get the best players. Now that the administration is opening their check books for football, maybe they will do the same for basketball finally. First thing to do is think about flipping the camera. You can laugh but during the comeback that place was rocking and it would've been fun watching the excitement of the crowd on TV. That gets recruits watching and makes it easier to sell while the new coach (yea I said it) sells his vision of everything he needs.
I've been a White defender but he also lost me last night. There was a mental block every single time we got close to tying or taking the lead. We battled back valiantly to get it close but when we had the chance to tie or take the lead, we would choke. One great example was when our shooting guard (Jones) could have tied it with 3 free throws. (Think it was 56-53 here.) And really- how hard is it for a guard to make 3 FTs? They should be able to do that in their sleep. Yet the moment was too big for him, and he clanked TWO of the three. Almost like he, and the whole team, felt they didn't deserve to be tied w/ LSU, or heaven forbid, take the lead. Like we are not worthy. Sadly- this IS coaching. Coaches instill confidence and that "we deserve to win" and "get it done" attitude. So yeah- if I was AD I'd be looking right now.
Stop it. Auburn was a fourth tier program before Pearl. Literally bottom of the barrel. Do they deserve what they are getting now. You think Auburn was bad, look at Alabama, they were even worse and look at them now. Do they deserve it? LSU had Shaq and Pete with nothing else to show for it. Yea, sorry but I hate when people say that especially for fans who literally follow the team closely. It's a slap in the face because if you get the right coach with a plan, he can take what Billy built to the next level. Yea I'm being for real. Once that happens the program will start to feed itself like the other programs are starting to.
you seem to have a real ax to grind with Gainesville and I don't completely disagree with your take, but none of what you posted changes the fact that Mike White has had seven years to build this program and we're in a worse spot now than when he started. Complaining about fan attendance is ignoring the real problem, which is that no one is going to come to the games anyway as long as this dude is on the sideline flushing every bit of excitement Gator basketball used to have down the drain.
It would be nice to not always have to rely on a patchwork of transfers for a change. That would be a nice start. Now that the NIL/transfer age is here it is even less likely to develop a cohesive unit.
I agree with the first point. Unlike Mullen, White seems to be a consummate professional and great public ambassador for our school. This is always going to allow a bit more rope, as it should. That said, I very much disagree with the second part about our program eroding. White seems to have some consistent malfunction (offense, perhaps) that keeps his teams from fulfilling their ostensible potential. However, every year they seem to have a good amount of potential. There are real players on this team, like basically every season. I am on the replacement train at this point, but I don’t think our program is in some black hole from which it can never escape. With the right coach, I really think this thing can turnaround fairly quickly.
So what programs deserve to win then? Why don't we just fold up the program then if we don't want to try and be successful, what's the point of dumping money into it?
ROI - Mike White is an employee of the UAA, UAA is funded in large part by boosters (directly and indirectly). I don't think it's too much to ask that the financial supporters get what they pay for. Not doing so keeps folks from making additional financial contributions and will eventually lead to fewer basketball contributions. It's a business these days, and athletic departments are largely to thank for that. With that in mind, businesses have customers, and customers will eventually turn their nose at an inferior product (particularly relative to the price). No. The real question is, does the athletics department have any interest in even moving in that direction even a little bit. The basketball program is being treated by administration like we hope they leave GAINESVILLE. In fairness, it takes passion to bitch. But I would suggest that we don't even have much bitchin' going on any more (see apathy comments and lack of overall participation on NBN). But we've never had much of a basketball fan base (even in the Donovan-era). It takes years of sustained success to achieve that and only a handful of mediocre years to let it slip away. You can't have it both ways. Either there's passion and criticism or there's neither. There were definitely a lot of frustrated folks before the titles, but that's part of the package of having more people that care. So which is it? Did we have passion then or no passion? You're just being grumpy. You don't believe all that stuff. Go drink some beer and play some golf! Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Actually I tee at 12:07 beers open at 12:13. Thank u!! You know Gainesville sucks as a sports town but I won’t post it . Ask Sully and White . But anyway nice responses in a WES kind of way!
It's not a sports town, it's a college town. When it's at it's best is when football is doing well. While we love our baseball, it's such a small drop in the bucket for all but a handful of SEC schools in terms of having a genuine impact on a city's atmosphere. Even with all that, I'd guess we're probably a top 15 school in the country for total attendance this year. If I can ask White anything, it's not going to be about what he thinks about GAINESVILLE as a sports town. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Hi Choice, - I had BIG expectations for Jones, I was hoping he was the "Lee Humphrey" of this team. Just has not worked out that way.
Damn wingtee - You chopping our expectations down with a dull axe......lol Ummm - This is a difficult post. I want to argue with you, really bad, but how can I??? You bring the facts home in full force. The facts suck. And for all the fan base's finger pointing we have not exactly been SOLID in supporting our Gators either. Your 100% right. What Billy brought and did here is probably JUST NOW being fully appreciated and realized. I miss him and am not ashamed to say it. Well, I love Gator basketball no matter what. I will support and follow. It's just that after Mullen it's almost unthinkable to have to go down that crappy road AGAIN in another major Gator Sport. Dammit coach, WE LIKE YOU, get it together!!!
