Yeah, Mike is a great guy. I don't think anyone doubts that. But this tendency to go into neutral with a lead cost us a lot of games. He'd probably still be a Gator if he didn't do that. There's a point in lots of games, of course, when it's time to milk the clock with a substantial lead. But with Mike it was almost way too early or the lead was way too small. ORU was a prime example. I'm happy to say that I didn't see that tendency in Coach Golden's first season as a Gator. The flip side, of course, is just as infuriating. You get a guy like Kowacie Reeves, with no basketball IQ, throwing covered shots at the hoop the first time he touches it, with no regard for the actual in-game down-and-distance situation. He just didn't get it, and probably never will.
Yes, I have to agree that game may have been his undoing. I prefer a coach that has the instinct to kill/smother/demoralize an opponent. Spurrier, Meyer, Donavan come to mind. I believe Spurrier almost never stopped trying to score. I’m sure many here remember Galen Hall letting off the gas and allowing Rutgers to tie us; I think it was homecoming. (although, I thought Galen was a pretty good coach under the trying circumstances at UF)
Ah - the Rodney Brewer game. Not homecoming but the first home game of 1985 and my second ever at Florida Field. Galen Hall was friends with and had worked with the Rutgers coach Dick Anderson. There was speculation that after UF went up 28-7, Hall let up on the gas to not embarrass Anderson. He pulled Bell shortly after halftime and the rest is history.
BD allowed lots of comebacks, especially in tourneys (Butler, Louisville, UConn, others they didn't end up losing, like the opening round game in 2005). Those tended to be cases where the shots just stopped falling or we fell apart against the press more than intentionally slowing things down, though. But it happened more than a few times.
Every team, every coach, endures late comeback losses. That's basketball. But with BD and others it tended to happen because players lost focus, shots wouldn't go down, turnovers occurred, etc. With Mike it was too often a direct function of taking the foot off the gas. Now, if you're up 15 with 5 to go, take your foot off the gas. That's a good time. Make them foul you. Don't take your foot off the gas if you're up 7 with 7 to go.
I think UF problem had been a lack of athleticism on the team. I remember watching UF last year and then watching Houston play. The Houston kids were tall, fast, jumping, rebounding, pushing the fast break, intense D, high energy. I worry relying on transfers will get us good solid players but not the athleticism we need to win the SEC Canyon Barry have been our best transfer other than J Will
I guess it depends what you are looking for. UF team had better won loss record and Barry was SEC 6th man of year and second leading scorer that year. Was an important depth transfer that helped lead team to a good year. CC was a Gator for more years and last two were very good, when healthy. Overall team results perhaps not as favorable in both players final years.
DFS has turned out to be a very good pro. Also, 6th man of year in SEC if I’m recalling correctly. Just think Barry was more instrumental to team success in first year after transfer. All are good players. J Will had most talent but also the suspension
Barry was one of the best, but I'd put Dorian Finney-Smith or Castleton #1. People might not remember that Finney-Smith played 3yrs at FL. His stat line continually improved and he was a stud his JR/SR years.
I recall some really very questionable officiating in at least one of those contests that had an impact on the final result as well.
He looks like a man among boys in this video. Hopefully he'll look this good when his matchups are his same size or bigger, but looks versatile at both ends of the court
We might not win all our games this year, but I think we will be a thorn in the side of a lot of teams. EJ has athleticism and a little size, probably closer to 6’7” but can score mid range and inside.He could be used at either forward position. We just need to get battle tested and see what this team can do well as we head into the SEC seasonal games. CTG has some work to do as our schedule is loaded with tough teams with LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina and maybe even Georgia getting better just like we are. Add Tenn, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, Baylor, Virginia, Auburn, Wake Forest and Michigan. Maybe a few more tough ones in early season tournaments. We will have to earn any and all accolades, even the NCAA berth. We have talent and some young coaches. It will be an up and down start, hopefully our depth will allow us to get a lot of close wins. I am excited to see how these transfers and young talent can work together and blend as a team. We don’t have five five stars like Kentucky, but CTG has assembled some great talent that Gainseville hasn’t seen since 2006! Some of these guys will show out in games that we don’t expect and we are going to be an tough out! I can’t wait for the early season games and tournaments.
Highlight films sometimes lie to you when you just watch the shooting, but the footwork in the paint doesn't lie. He's got the footwork.
I'm excited about the ceiling for this team. We've got a lot of experience on the team and a lot of depth. Best of all, we should have more good shooters than we've had in a few years. Something I'm really going to watch closely in the first few games will be Samuel and Handlogten in the paint. I'm confident we've got the perimeter scoring we need, so the bigs will be the key to taking this team to a higher level. Samuel is an upperclassman that played well and played physically in a tough-assed Big East conference, so we know he can play in the SEC. Handlogten played well as a rather thin center in a decent mid-major conference, gathering almost 10 rebounds a game. If he has been putting on muscle over the summer and gets the traditional sophomore jump, he can be huge for us, both literally and figuratively. Start the season! Now!
The league appears to be more of a dogfight now than ten years ago. The stronger teams are reloading and the bottom is being pulled up. Cautious optimism but I wouldn't be surprised one way or another.
That's true. The SEC looks stronger from top to bottom than it did a decade ago. The top half will be especially tough. So the Gators will have to be really good to finish in the top third.
