OGT-Florida SEC) vs. Xavier (19-13/8-11 Big East)

Great day for Gator sports . Florida pisses away a game to Bama in the ninth and this debacle!! That will energize my Monday

 

@paidinfull is happy with a couple Losses today . Way to compete !! Geeze

 

I didn't get to see the game because I was traveling, but the result doesn't surprise me.

Coach Golden, you have your work cut out for you. I'm confident we'll see a more organized offense next season.

 

Walsh could put up good numbers but I'm not sure if he or Roberson ever played defense. They gave up a lot. BDs teams were never exceptional on D until a couple of years later. Then lightening struck and there were two amazing years where everything worked.

 

BD's defenses were never that great until Larry Shyatt joined the staff. Admirably, Shyatt always deflected and gave the credit for defensive improvement to Billy. But the difference and schemes were noticeable immediately.

 

Walsh was a scrappy player, but he would get blown by defending most 2’s and 3’s. I think there is something to that, Walsh and Arob were both elite offensive players but not great defenders. So those teams were very much live by the 3 die by the 3.

I thought we were moving in the right direction adding Brewer and Horford especially - since they were athletic and defensive minded. I actually thought they’d complement Arob and Walsh perfectly. It didn’t change much that 1st year. Never would have guessed addition by subtraction with Walsh and Arob left (I actually remember thinking we might struggle to score), but no way to know how good all the pieces would be (esp Green and Humphrey). I think TG getting to run the show may have had the biggest influence on winning come tournament time. He brought the whole package as a PG, including a surprising ability to score, whereas Roberson was more of a pure scorer.

 

Good point. But we weren't a very good defensive team either this year. So if MW's strategy was to intensify the defense even at the expense of sacrificing offensive production, it did not work. I like what we have coming back though if Golden can keep them. It is clear that the SEC is open for the taking more so than ever before. We have a returning core of Reeves (who will get pre-season All-SEC consideration), Lane (who emerged as a solid all-around player who should lock down a starting position unless someone exceptional comes in the transfer portal), Jitoboh (who should be close to double digits in scoring and rebounding if he stays out of foul trouble), Felder (who kind of disappeared for some reason the last 6-7 games of the season, but who demonstrated tenacity and the ability to score), Gatkek (who with another 15-20) will make even more positive contributions than he did last year), and Kennedy (who showed flashes in the early part of the season but then mellowed out and got almost no playing time in the end).

Add to that mix Reneau, Reed, and Aberdeen and you have a core of 9 fairly athletic and skilled players who given the state of the SEC can compete strenuously with the right coaching. The bonus will be what Golden gets in the portal which should be another center, power forward, swingman (that can play 3 or 2), and a point guard.

The future looks bright, and hopefully, we have learned from the past 7 years.

 

I agree with this. The biggest issue is keeping the players on the team, both existing players and recruits. It's so easy to transfer now that I expect to lose some. IF we retain all the guys you mention, I think we could have a strong team. Time will tell.

 

Curious if a drop in offensive production can relate to effort on defense - wheather the player excels at D or not. My thoughts are the truly great players can do both more often than not so a coach has to know where their players max out and the role they contribute best.

 

It was tied at halftime, UF could not make a basket or a free throw the second half.

 

Brighten up, the Gal's whipped Bama in Gymnastics! For a TROPHY, AGAIN! And we took 2 of 3 from the Tide and Coach got #600 earlier.