Florida Elite Eight Full Comeback Against Texas Tech

Texas Tech didn't give us the game with the possible exception of missing two front ends. We took it from them.

The commentators were full of it saying that we never played any close games and wouldn't know what to do. We came back hugely against UNC in the last few minutes to win, came back hugely against South Carolina in the last few minutes to win and very recently came back hugely against UConn to win.

 

Without question he traveled in at least one of them. Shifted his pivot foot several times, walked backwards, it was a mess.

 

Read Alijah Martin's lips just prior to the 2d foul shot at 14:39. Damn sure glad A) he sank it and B) we won.

 

Meh. They have to talk in front of millions for hours at a time. They are going to get some things wrong. We did have BIG victory margins in most of our games. we had some squeakers too but prob not that one guy was aware of.

On the whole I think these announcers were very balanced and were supportive of the players from both schools.

 

I thought it was interesting that they thought we didn't want the foul after the timeout when that was exactly what Todd told them to do, the refs just didn't call it on Condon when he was fouling the guy who got the inbound pass, so they called it on Haugh when he intentionally fouled the guy it was passed to. Also, odd that when Clayton hit the 3 to tie, neither announcer said a word until TT was already down on the other side and it was just "Clayton on McMillan." What? Nothing to say about Clayton hittiing a clutch fade away 3 to tie it after being down nine 1 minute earlier? Maybe they were just stunned into silence.

 

I seem destined to have a different POV in this thread.

Go watch the Al Michaels coverage of the 1980 Lake Placid hockey game against the Soviets. "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" and then he and Ken Dryden go silent for what seems like minutes, probably just 30 seconds of crowd noise, and images of celebrating players. I have heard Michaels talk about that, that announcers sometimes detract from what we can SEE by inserting their voice. Mick Hubert's iconic calls ("Doering's got a touchdown!" "He's going to score! He's going to score!") were built for radio, when we couldn't see the event.

I honestly think the PBP guys were stunned by what they were seeing, but had the presence of mind to let the crowd's voice fill the void.

 

All I know is Kevin Harlan was on the call, and this is among his more famous calls. No hesitation, just caught up in the moment like everyone else. I guess I found the Clayton 3 more exciting than he did because I'm a Gator. Granted, it wasn't the last shot of the game or a 16 beating a 1, but it was pretty special.

https://youtube.com/shorts/BUXSAcZXUYw?si=Ji5Un1RZmtV1IRmf

 

To me its a high-stakes gambit, not just talking trash.
On the one hand, it could be what stokes some player to get ice in his veins and nail a 3 for TT
On the other, there are plenty of examples of NBA players who basically made their money trash talking and getting in the head of their opponent.
That's what I really think was going through his head. Get in their head the last few seconds and really throw them off balance for their final shots.

 

What still amazes me about that comeback is how the law of averages essentially worked out. A much worse shooting Tech was unconscious from the arc early, then cooled off and Williams missed two good looks in that final run. We, otoh, were insanely cold. Martin and Richard were 0-6. Clayton didn’t make his first until we were under 6 mins left. Then we somehow made 4 straight in 2 minutes to get the lead. We were 5-20 through 37 minutes, 4-4 thereafter.

And I can’t believe what Haugh was able to do. No way in a million years could I have imagined last year that a 25% shooter from the arc who averaged 4 pts a game would go for 20 and 11 in an Elite 8 win, 4-6 from the arc, and hitting two of the most clutch, needed 3s to key that 18-4 run. And going into that game, he was 1-11 in the tournament.

 

That's what I kept saying while watching it - "take it!" And they did. What an amazing team this is.

 

I think sometimes the announcers get quiet in that moment to allow the crowd to speak for the game. Harlan is one of my faves. If he didn't have the stooge VanGundy dragging him down, he'd be that much better.

 

I love how Harlan basically clotheslines VanGundy during that call as if to suggest "don't you dare step on my call right now."

 

UK, Mizz and UGA too. We didn’t win but we definitely came back. Only game that we lost and wasn’t close was UT the 2nd time around

 

It looked to me like he turned to Haugh and said to "box out."

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

Thanks for posting this. One thing that stands out in retrospect that I didn't fully appreciate while watching it live is how engaged the fans were late in the game...in San-Fran-Freakin'-Cisco! That crowd sounded awesome!

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

I suppose you might be right! Someone should ask AMart!

 

Nope, definitely said “Ball Game”

 

I could see that.

To that point. He was a .667 FT shooter coming into the tournament. He's 14-17 in the NCAAT. Locked in.

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS