Golden saved the day

Good call to both of you. Donovan definitely had the horses that year to pull it off. I remember Oden saying after the game, they took Horford out, and then suddenly I was going up against this football player (Richard).

 

I want our staff to work hard this offseason with Chinyelu to turn him into a bigger version of Williams. Chins already has a soft touch around the rim. Now he needs to develop those bully plays to push your guy all the way to the hoop. I hate it because the refs always let the guy with the ball get away with it but if that's what they do now, so be it.

 

After the timeout when we doubled down low, TT twice did the obvious kickout to a wide open 3. Both rattled around and went out, we got the rebound. Either would have been a disaster for us.

It's a reminder than analytics is about changing small margins of outcomes.

 

Did he though? Here's the sequence of TT offensive possessions after that timeout:

1) Foul on Haugh during press away from the basket - Williams misses front-end of 1-1
2) Foul on Condon - Toppin misses front-end of 1-1
3) Darrion Williams 2-pt basket in paint versus Haugh isolation

It was only after those three possessions that Florida collapsed in the paint and eventually forced him to take a couple (very open) threes.

The comeback was fueled by clutch 3s from Haugh/Clayton, clutch FTs from the other guards, and lets be honest a good amount of choking from TT. Gators probably don't win without TT missing both front ends and the incredibly dumb foul by Williams when Florida was about to take a 10 second violation.

 

The fouls were part of the strategy. They missed their front ends and gave us extra possessions, and them no points, which was the goal if you listened to Golden’s presser. It was ballsy and dangerous, but those moves are what got us back in it.

 

Pushed around and outplayed our bigs is over playing your hand. CTG could have doubled down earlier with the same devastating effect.

I thought UF would win going away in the second half so that is good enough for me. I just thought we'd have made the start of the pull away at 10 minutes instead of at 4 minutes.

The biggest issue is the Gators need to cease with the turnovers. That's more of a guard problem than a big problem. TT got a lot of their points off of turnovers.

 

I want us to go after Elliot Cadeau from UNC but it sounds like Arizona is already in the lead there

 

if you’re in position and get pushed around, that’s supposed to be a charge. They called against Bammer last night. Spears looked flabbergasted when he got called for his routine SEC moves.

 

Seems we've had issue guarding huskier forwards or centers. Our guys get outmuscled which begs finding a huskier big man to defend fat post players.

 

Condon played well against Broome. I think he's protecting the ankle. Williams is really good in the paint and I'd like to have a guy like him on offense.

All of our bigs need to be more aggressive to the hoop. Still developing though. Next year they should be monster.

 

Big Dez coulda put an end to pretty much all of that in-the-paint bs last night.

 

Find us a Barkley type player and I'll be happy.

 

I’d be ok with a first ballot hall of famer!

 

I would think chinyelu would be a better defender down low but he gets so many fouls. He’s got to fix that.

 

Not sure if has been mentioned herein, I think Condon was suffering from his ankle sprain in our previous game. It wasn't obvious but he didn't play with his usual pace. To his credit, he battled as best he could against TT's two big guys who excelled in pushing us about. I've played basketball my whole life and never had a sprained ankle. My brother was prone to ankle sprains and I recall they took a long time to heal. Maybe the rest until the semi-final game will help him.

 

Yes, he needs to develop more offense prowess. The baby hook is good but he should learn how to pivot to the basket and use the backboard (like Broome) He is coordinated so he just has to be taught and practice a ton. He can also improve his FT shooting. Sometimes, his stroke is pure and he makes them, at other times, he is just clanging it off the basket. This can be improved for sure. (suggest not letting Handy tutor him, he almost knocks the backboard down lately!) I thought he had a good stroke before he was injured. Watch Clayton, Richard, and Hough for classic free throw shooting form.

 

Only Haugh got “outmuscled” by Williams, and I don’t think anyone wants to recruit over him. Most of Toppin’s looks came off pick and rolls. He didn’t bully anyone and he only shot 7-19 from 2.

Our bigs certainly didn’t control the defensive glass all the time, and that hurt us. Not were they effective scoring in the paint (at least Condon and Chinyelu). But the great thing about having four bigs is that you can overcome a guy or two struggling with matchups because the others are still effective, like Haugh going for 20 and 11, or Handlogten going 3-3 in limited minutes.

 

we finished the game with an 18-4 run. TT was gassed at the end.

 

As long as he doesn't shoot from long range. I saw the Capital One commercial.

He is TURRRRRIBLE!

 

I think Chinyelu, with the right techniques, can solve that issue next season. Has to learn to avoid the cheap fouls so that he can body up these guys.