Lack of defensive intensity and defensive adjustments will make it hard for us to win games, especially if the offense isn't rolling.
Bingo. Golden is doing on the job training against experienced coaches in a tough league. Many gator fans blame NIL in both hoops and football, but that is not the limiting factor leading us to losing records in hoops/football….by a long shot.
I agree we aren't winning many more games this year. I'd say we go either 5-9 or 6-8 to finish the regular season. If we make the NIT half our players will already be shopping or ready to move on in life.
Now we have missed layups to go with missed FTs -- at least the latter was better this time out. FWIW.
Our athletic department is dedicated to hiring up and comers who have to learn on the job for both the football and basketball programs. So we will just have to hope they one or the other finds his way.
For perspective - Billy Donovan was the greatest FL basketball coach ever and will remain so during our lifetimes. We should not expect CTG to be as good as Billy's record at Florida, so I'm not comparing the two, simply adding a couple facts as a matter of perspective. During Donovan's third season, his team lost 56 - 91 at TN. Donovan went 6-12 at Tennessee during his FL career and I don't think the TN program was generally as good as it is now. Historically, it's been a very difficult place for the Gators to play.
I don’t think many here realized how big EJ’s departure was. I tried to tell you all he was possibly the most important guy we added. Not Golden’s fault as far as I know, but we really need his skills right now. But for the rest… relax. You guys keep doing the same thing in both football and basketball. Previous guy has us respectable, but one bad season and all of a sudden, he checked out… or he isn’t trying at recruiting or coaching. Then the public bashing begins. Soon, he’s on the hot seat and then we get a new coach. Rinse and repeat. Watch the games and enjoy your team giving max effort. We need to be patient… success isn’t always immediate. But… I know this will fall on deaf ears, because on the Internet, everyone is a successful CEO that accepts nothing but absolute perfection.
I disagree. Basketball is a rare sport where even 2 star players can win it all. It comes down to coaching and team chemistry - you have both, you can win it all. I've seen teams full of 5 stars go nowhere because the coach couldn't make good decisions during games or there was a lack of team chemistry. The 04s had no business winning back-2-back titles but they won because of good coaching and great team chemistry. I'm not seeing either with this program right now.
in a vacuum- you are 100% right… losing at UT wouldn’t be terribly alarming or without precedent. But that isn’t the entirety of the conversation: nor the season to date.
I mostly agree, and bristle at any reactionary response early in a coach’s tenure. That said… the landscape of college sports has dramatically changed; and the timeline for success is significantly shortened. It seems odd to even type… but kids are getting paid big money to win now. And so when an expensive roster is assembled… the second guessing will come fast. I do, of course, watch the games. There are aspects I really like about Golden as a program leader, and some things that make me very concerned about him as a game coach. I’ve always endorsed patience and allowing a guy with high upside to grow into his role at Florida basketball. But I’m not writing the checks, so that may be easier for me to say.
Was about to give you an agree green check, but I can’t get jiggy wit your comment about the 04’s. How could you possibly say they had no business winning back to back titles? They were very talented, and yes, well coached.
they do play defense in the NBA, it's just the shooters are so damn good...whereas in college you can leave guys open and they still miss shots. Unless they're playing us, then they make every circus shot they take.
We have to give Golden time. Right now, I would criticize our inbounds plays… as it seems we don’t have any. But other than that it’s going to take time to get where we want to be. I thought we’d be winning a little bit more, but man we had two very close losses against Baylor and UK that would change the entire feeling of the season. Sometimes, you just fall short. My biggest problem is that we ran off a good and successful coach for no credible reason other than people whining and complaining. Now, we have a young coach with potential to be great. I am willing to go the distance to see how it turns out.
i think we look good and compete against teams will to run and play open basketball… UK, Baylor. We will have a very difficult time with teams will to defend and force us to execute in the half court… ole miss, ut.
Hmmm, that got me to thinking about our track record of hiring up and comers. Obviously, BD, MW, and now TG were U&Pers, but what about before them. Looking at Norm Sloan (our irst full-time basketball coach), he coached at The Citadel for 5 years before his 1st stint at UF, so he was an up and comer. When he returned for his 2nd gig, he was established. Lon Kruger was at K State for 5 years before UF, so knid of established, but still young and inexperienced. Tommy Bartlett was a UT assistant (up and comer). John Lotz was an assistant at N Carolina (up and comer). Seems to me that UF has had a long history of hiring up and comers for men's basketball
Knecht has NBA all star all over him. Made us look Incapable of guarding anyone. The announcers were talking him and the coach Barnes up all night. Great half offense, great defense and great players, we were doomed when we got off the plane. Weak Defense, sloppy passing, not good with the ball around the basket and our coach who doesn’t understand refs and how you should work with them. Our half court offense is to look for someone open if hero ball doesn’t work. We also don’t spread out enough to work on offense. Our coach probably gets the same amount of time as White, further driving away kids that want money and a pretty good team for showing out. Our schedule has been rough and we have gotten worse as the year progresses. . CMW is going to beat us in Athens more than likely, the ultimate marker as to which way we are heading.
The part in bold is a fan expectation problem. Not saying it's a right or wrong thing; but it's definitely a choice as to whether or not one wants to buy into that line of thinking. People create their own madness and frustrations with this stuff; shortening the expectations doesn't make the game more enjoyable for me. Let's look at the Top 15 schools (arbitrary selection). Here are the schools that had coaches get off to hot starts in their first 2 years: Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Arizona, and Wisconsin (great records, and a combined 23-10 in the NCAA Tournament). Let's look at some of the others: Dan Hurley (UConn) Matt Painter (Purdue) Kelvin Sampson (Houston) Rick Barnes (Tennessee) Scott Drew (Baylor) Penny Hardaway (Memphis) Bruce Pearl (Auburn) Brad Underwood (Illinois) Porter Moser (Oklahoma) Combined 278-290 record in first two seasons, and a total of 1 NCAA Tournament win in 1 NCAA Tournament appearances in the collective 18 seasons (Matt Painter) - (sidenote: anybody recall who they lost to?). Only one of those coaches had a winning record in conference play (Penny Hardaway) after two seasons. Unless you are a rich in basketball tradition, the common trend among the successful teams seems to be patience (at least in the context of beginning to evaluate progress 4 games into the 2nd conference schedule). I know, but Nate Oats! Sure, there are always going to be exceptions. But even Dusty May isn't an exception in this regard. We should all be in, "let's hope he gets it figured out" phase rather than regret phase. Just my two bits. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
