in mid-January this team was 1-3 in the SEC. They finished on a huge run that almost got them a top 4 SEC tournament seed. They found a way to make it to the SEC championship game even playing an extra game. Today was a tough loss but my expectations were to make the tourney and play hard. They accomplished both
It was a nice recovery for sure, but I wouldn’t say “A” just because I think the team was better than the record indicated at that time. Up to February we were more like a “C”. Ultimately the defense was the weak spot and that’s what finally did them in. Obviously we had a massive tourney excuse with Handlogten out, but defensive lapses were a theme for much of the year and this game was pretty much an exercise in futility on defense (for both teams, really). I’d say regular season ended as solid B or B+ (and other than Vandy, the last month was A+ ball). The SEC tourney was a solid A. NCAA is always hard to judge since crazy shit happens, but at the end of the day we were bounced… soooo… C grade? It was a satisfying season. But in the final analysis we were 6th in conference and 1st round NCAA exit. So hopefully the guys that return hunger for more. Don’t get me wrong. Most years you take 11 or 12 wins in conference play, as that gets you in the dance, but it isn’t an automatic A grade.
I still think this year was a success. No it didn't end like we all wanted it to, and I just hate that I won't be able to watch Pullin or Samuel put on the gator uniform again. This team we all knew had the potential for a run, or an early exit. They were just that volatile all year, we played better in big games than we had in 10 years. The Micah injury played a huge part, probably more than I originally thought going into the game. I thought this would be our guards vs theirs, and it kinda played out that way, but we also just didn't have a big body to throw at Lampkin and he killed us all game. It would have been nice to have another 5 fouls to throw at him with Micah, and I actually think yesterday's game would have been one where Micah played 30 mins and had decent production. I loved Pullin all year and still think he will be the toughest guy we have had to replace in a long time. Yesterday he went up against a real NBA talented PG and he didn't have his A game. I thought he played more sped up than we had seen most of the year, and just pressed a little on offense. On defense, I just think he went up against a guy who is super talented and just as crafty. Tip your cap to Colorado, yes the whistle benefited them all game, but they also hit some tough shots. Not to mention they went to the line, and shot lights out. Which if I'm not mistaken they shot as a team something like 79% for the season, so they have done this all year, yesterday wasn't a fluke. They were talented all year, just sort of underachieved. That team is good enough to make a run in the tournament if their big guy stays out of foul trouble. We see one of the play in teams make deep runs every year, and it just might be this Colorado team. Gotta give Clayton his flowers again. That dude, put everyone on his back for the final 5 mins. What we witnessed yesterday, had we won would of been one of the greatest gator moments ever. It's going to get lost over time because we lost, but damn that guy left it all on the court. The defense was so bad yesterday, but honestly I would still rather watch this team, than any team we have had in a decade. I got so burned out under the last guy watching 55-52 type games. I think we have a great core group and expect we get some preseason love next year that we did not benefit from this year. I believe we have the right guy at the top and I think losing this game will serve as a learning/teaching moment for him and our young guys. We played 2 freshmen yesterday that have come a long way and will only get better as they age. Go Gators.
This was a talented team that should have been better than a 7 seed, should have finished better than 6th in the conference and lost games it should have won. We went one and done in the tournament. We had some great wins and this squad was a ton of fun to watch, but the results are hardly “A” worthy.
If this were Goldens 5th year and this happened, you can be upset about it. I think it's still early and the progression from year 1 to year 2 was positive. Win at Rupp, won 2 of 3 vs Bama, 1-1 against Auburn, 3-0 against UGA, blew FSU off the court, made it to the SEC title game. Were there some lows, sure, and losing today was a blow, but to call the season anything less than a success is just being emotional about yesterday. Not many people had this team pegged to make the tournament or do any of the things I mentioned above. All I heard in the off season was we had guards from schools that can't play in the SEC and our high school recruiting was terrible. Both turned out to be absolutely false. Our basketball program is on the upswing, better get on board now.
I agree with some of this, but this was projected to be a tournament team from day 1 and beating this years fsu team doesn’t really mean much. We had a talented team and essentially at best, met expectations, that’s not an “A” for me, I’d give it a solid “B”.
Good year tough ending. I enjoyed the season and all the posts from good posters. Can't wait to start again next year. See 3 from portol if most come back.
Unless you make a deep run, it’s really not fair to evaluate a season on the basis of a single elimination tournament. Judging the season as a whole, there were some negatives: loss to Vandy, inability to hold leads, strange Kugel regression, much worse defensive performance than a year ago. But the positives fair outweighed that: all league honors for three newcomers, seamless turnover of nearly entire roster with great evaluations, massive increase in tempo, offensive boards, and shot volume led to an elite offense (that was downright fun to watch), dominant play at home, great wins in Rupp along with blowouts of Auburn and Bama (twice), and, most importantly, made the NCAAs—that should always be the goal at Florida, and Golden was firmly off the bubble in year 2 despite getting sorta screwed in terms of seeding/opponent (probably should have been a 6 against a team that wasn’t a top 30 opponent). The only “A” grades in the SEC probably go to Tennessee and South Carolina (because of the turnaround). Not sure I would take another season over ours given the circumstances (second year, roster turnover, untimely injuries/suspension).
I don't know about grades, but I'm really happy with the direction of the program. There's a lot to get excited about.
