MBB OGT: #7 FLORIDA at North Carolina -- Jumpman Invitational -- December 17, 2024 -- 7 PM [ESPN]

Yes to all this and more....
My sarcastic comment is to say how proud of the refs the UNC faithful must have been with 5 minutes to go. They worked hard to get the momentum back for the Tar Heels. I almost thought the refs sent over a note a half time to Coach Davis that no fouls would be called on UNC if they showed good hustle. Besides the refs wanted a close game down the stretch so ESPN would have enough replays for SportsCenter.

But in the end, the refs couldn't save them when they throw the ball out of bounds or miss their FTs. Sadly this was headed for another 20 point win for the Gators unless the refs stepped up. I'm just hoping it strengthens us more down the road in conference play and in the NCAAT.

 

I assume they wanted to foul if up 3 and must have discussed this in the timeout, and somehow Aberdeen got confused.

I’ve never been a fan regardless of what the analytics say, but the weird thing about Aberdeen’s foul was it was so quick. Even if you were up 3 and wanted to play analytics, you’d want to force them to chew some clock down to 2-3 seconds. The TV people also thought Golden was calling for the foul. My guess he was screaming at Aberdeen to still defend but was saying “don’t foul”, but the way Golden was motioning confused him into thinking he wanted the foul.

 

They have some real talent…a few McDonald’s all Americans. However, they are not overly big. Their quickness seemed to bother us. Clayton having an off night shooting helped them. It was really good to see us grind one out.

 

Overall, a VERY nice win. I like that we finally had to deal with some adversity. The beginning of the second half and UNC's faster play, especially on defense, got them some valuable experience. Both Clayton and Martin had less-than-stellar stats but the team did well. I know the depth of the front court gets most of the press but to me, the 4 back court players are beginning to be THE story of this season.

Nice team!

 

The last two minutes of the game were what sealed the game. Several things had to go our way, and they did.

 

Down goes Utah State too.

 

13-3 run, + 7 on the glass in final 3 minutes is sort of proof of concept for Golden this season.

 

Keep seeing folks say “Clayton had an off night” and I don’t agree. UNC has quick guards and they were not going to give Clayton 1 inch to shoot. All his shots were super deep or very contested. If “on night” means jacking up bad, contested shots, then an off night is better.

Teams are going to extend their d to stop our guards from 3, especially Clayton. That should open passing lanes to the bigs and rotation to other shooters (did last night). That is not an off night but adapting to the defense.

 

I lurked over on the UNC board just to see what their take of the game was...

Refs called fouls on them for contact thet let us get away with...lol

Florida isn't that good, they just were worse, mind you florida is 4 and 0 against the ACC.

They want Hubert Davis fired.

They also threw out a barage of attacks on several of their own players.

Just a terrible game thread that was as bad and likely worse than any of ours. Just saying

 

Indeed, but Clayton and Martin in particular. There will be times they need to put the team on their backs. Not that the other 2 can't make a difference but Clayton and Martin have to be able to take over games. More drives, fewer threes, more free throws.

 

Thought we didn't value the ball/possessions for the 1st 5 or so minutes of the 2nd half, team seemed to think UNC was going to lie down.
Glad a bunch of players came through down the stretch when down, I was worried Clayton would go into Hero mode, which he didn't.
Offensive rebounding was crucial then too.

 

Hahahahahaahahaha. Wow.

 

Yeah that one jumped out to me. Completely delusional

 

That was my thinking as well. Up by 3, foul so they can't get a 3-point shot. I think Aberdeen heard only that part of the message & was over-exuberant. One or two plays can't take away from the great game he had though.

 

It was good to see Aberdeen have a good night. Some times he seems to lack so confidence in himself, but when he is feeling it, he is really good.

 

Florida drops from 5 to 6 in NET due to picking up a Q1 win I guess…

 

One thing they did all night that we never adjusted to was to have Davis at the top of the key guarded by either Condon or Haugh. Total mismatch in their favor. We picked up a lot of fouls from that situatioon as well as have him drive around and by our guys over and over and over. Something to learn from and it's great to have teachable film coming out of a win.

 

Yea felt like we should have tried to hedge to stop him from turning the corner and then just fight through the screen. If that frees him up for a 3 you live with it as a 25% three point shooter. If they had one solid rebounder they’d probably be a one loss team.

 

Condon and Haugh both know this offense/defense and are continuing to get better. Rueben is a physical presence that UNC had a hard time with. His rebounding and putbacks are getting better. Now big Sam doesn’t get many minutes but playing against different teams/defenses he in this preseason has had some good moments. Last night when we were trying to get back the lead, he took an early three on one of our possessions. This
I am sure CTG will discuss with him. If he could make a high % this would be great, since he hasn’t shown that in this preseason, he should wait till we have DBL digit leads for now. But he seems to be smooth and powerful around the basket. The more he plays, he is going to be more of a strong depth presence. Young good frontcourt that hasn’t even barely reached how good they can be. Keep working we are behind you as serious Gator fans.

 

Aww come on, wing!