MBB OGT: NCAA Tournament -- March 21, 2025 -- (1) FLORIDA v. (16) Norfolk State -- 6:50 PM [TNT]

A noon game on a Sunday? Going for that after church sports bar crowd? Lol.

 

If you say so. Play smart and take care of the ball and it won't be that close. Oklahoma was absolutely abysmal last night. Couldn't hit wide open 3s and missed a ton of layups and were still in the game at the end. Our front line will dominate.

 

They will be better offensively, I suspect. Biggest matchup for me to watch is pace and, by implication, turnovers. They will hit shots and rebound the offensive glass well. But their guards can easily be turned over, especially Diarra. If we can force them into some live ball turnovers, we will be able to speed up the tempo, get more shots, and ultimately more easy shots. The slower the pace, the better they will be and the less margin for error we have. They can’t win a game in the 90. Probably not in the 80s. But definitely in the 70s.

 

oh I hope you’re right but mentality wise this time of year you can’t take anybody for granted, especially Dani Hurley and the back-to-back national champions. I’ve not heard any gator fan. They think this will be an easy game. In fact, the national pundits feel exactly as I do

 

I certainly wouldn’t use the term “easy”, but I do expect a final score that isn’t particularly close. If the Gators aren’t playing at full effort, UConn can definitely win. I just expect the Gators to play at full effort.

 

They always play at full effort. It’s about execution and the fact that UConn has been there and done that and has been arguably been one of the best teams in college basketball the last 15years

 

Kudos to all on this board!! Been involved here for 12 years and lots of other boards. You all call it like you see it and aren’t afraid to be honest and hear honest criticisms when our teams are not performing well. Too often, the O and B glasses stay on and are not open to honest opinions, not here. When we are bad we call it and we are good we celebrate it.

 

It would be fitting for this years NC to end the streak of the defending national champs!

 

And the second Raleigh game being Duke

 

Fortunately, none of these guys played in 2014, or any of those other seasons. And most of them didn't play--or contribute much--to last year's team. Karaban is solid as a stretch four. Diarra was buried on the bench last year. Johnson played even less. Ball and Steward were there, but didn't play at all. McNeeley is by far the best player, and he is a true frosh. They may run the same stuff as the last two years, but their offense isn't near as clinically effective as last year, and their hard hedge defense isn't in the ballpark. This not the same team. Hurley is good. You also know what you are getting.

 

I take your point Shane. Our team lost to Georgia. Clearly they can lose to UConn. Still, they shouldn’t lose to Georgia. Or UConn. And I agree that UConn the program deserves the utmost respect, but every team is its own entity. Similarly, the Gators shouldn’t be taken extra lightly just because the program has been down the last few years.

 

Great post!!

 

Karaban very good. Diarra solid. Bigs tough. Solo good and McNeeley very good. Add in a great coach to match our great coach and we got a battle. we execute the way we should and we win, but they are a very solid team that have been there and done that with at least a couple of the guys and the Coach

 

Again, though, most of their guys haven’t been there or done that. This game will be tough, but they have very little in common with the last two teams. Their fives can’t remotely do what Sanogo or Clingan could. Their wings don’t have the elite athleticism or skill of Hawkins or Castle. Nor do their guards have the experience or intelligence of Jackson, Newton, or Spencer. Their best player is a freshman wing. There is a reason they are an 8-seed. That’s not to say they aren’t talented or long or athletic, let alone that they won’t be competitive. But they aren’t in the same stratosphere as the last two seasons.

 

Don’t disagree. But as the shirt says nothing easy. Karaban better than given credit for and Diarra is way underrated. Bigs are not soft.

 

I would rate this performance as sloppy dominance. If they'd hit a third of their threes we would have been sweating. I love that Todd father the Golden child broke a whiteboard at halftime because they were only up twenty. I do not expect that type of play moving forward. Go Gators!

 

Diarra is solid defensively and creates well, but shoots 42% from the floor and 28% from the arc, and his turnover rate is way worse than anyone on our team.

Their bigs aren’t soft, but they are limited on both ends. Johnson’s foul rate is insanely high, and Reed’s isn’t low. They don’t have great depth there at all. Reed has been very productive for a bench player, but our length, depth, and skill are much better at the 4-5. It’s the experience factor that hurts us there, IMO. Absolutely need our bigs to come ready to play in both ends. We need to get them in foul trouble and/or run them ragged—that’s why pace is so important for us.

 

I think the one big thing that is not being taken into account by many, not you or me, is there experience. Even if many of them have not been in the starting lineup, they’ve been there… And a couple of them have played roles. ​

 

I think you are putting WAY more credit to all of that. Good coaches can have bad teams, good coaches can lose games. You are talking up UCONN more than my UCONN friends are lol. Using the past 2 UCONN teams doesn’t factor into this tournament just like what happened in the regular season has no bearing on the rest of this tournament. We are better team than UCONN, there is zero reason to fear them, only need to acknowledge the ball may not roll our way….just like any other team. No more, no less

 

Some concern or fear is healthy. can’t forget they are the two time raining national champ last team to do it was a team called the Florida Gators