Most of us WANT to see UF in the dance. So do I. Sadly the O&B glasses came off during football season. Myself, I see the odds of UF making the dance at or below 25%. I do not see the Gators winning the last 7 games. I would spot them 1 SEC tourney win at most. = NIT (IMO) Prove me WRONG, UF, I want to be wrong.
I totally agree with you. It is the NIT if we win 4 more games. But I don't know where those 4 games are coming from. I too would love to be wrong.
Right- my hope for this season is... Win the following... Home vs LSU, Ole Miss and Vandy Away vs UGA That's 4 more wins. We are now 9-9 at worst. Also go 2-4 vs the following... at Vandy home or away vs UK at Arky home vs UT, away vs Bama (unlikely) With the most likely wins being at Vandy, splitting w/ UK, and at ARky. This puts us at 11-7 in the SEC and 18 wins. Win 1 in the SECCT and we have 19 wins vs a tough schedule, including multiple top 5 teams. I have to think that gives us a fighting chance.
Good breakdown. I said earlier that if we win one of the three in the gauntlet, there would be a path to 11 wins.
Thread started by member who is adamant Golden was a bad hire then makes one drive by comment about the NIT, then fails to comment about beating the #2 team in the country. Nice! The team is limited because of the lack of shooters and the NCAA tournament is still a long shot but you can't deny the progress and positives from a 1st year coach.
Completely agree- and I would have said this yesterday. I was ambivalent about Golden until a few weeks ago- then I started noticing a few things... 1) Our defense is solid. Our record of holding teams under their average is remarkable. 2) The guys are learning to play together as a team- using their strengths to maximize performance. That's coaching. 3) Good improvement during the year- another sign of good coaching. There was one moment where I got on the Golden train. It was a few games ago- don't remember which one. Golden slapped Kugel on the back and gave him the biggest smile. (I couldnt' see Kugel- I'm sure he was smiling back.) I saw a connection between player and coach I had not seen in the CMW era. (Poor Mike White- wound so tight he squeaked.) I know it's early- but I think we got a good coach.
The slow starts have been my biggest gripes along with some of the rotations at times but I'm no expert and it was never enough for me to be off of the bandwagon. He's young, energetic, and engaging along with all of the things you mention. The fact our defense is so good is promising. The offensive issues can be corrected with just a better shooter or two. We have fallen too far behind at times and lost some close ones during comeback attempts but I'd rather have a team that finishes strong than one that blows leads inevitably each game like we used to have.
One thing that stood out to me from the box score Fast Break Points Gators…..10 Vols……0 That is a Golden Egg
One thing about the defense (and the offense for thay matter) is the fact that it is fun to watch as a fan. I mean you can just see the intensity they play with when they are locked in. I think it is going to take some time but you can see the foundation being laid. With Mike White for some reason he required all five positions to switch when goung man to man. Obviously that has its advantages but a lot of time it created a disadvantage because teams knew this and would often time create favorable match ups for them. I personally didn't like it. With Golden you can tell he doesn't believe in that and I personally find it better to watch.
Nice stat. I think that correlates somewhat with the lack of offensive rebounding tho. Our guards often bail after the shot to guard against fast breaks. At least thats how it looks to me.
Another thing: he isn't afraid to bench "stars". Reeves must be wondering why he didn't hit the portal. Pre-season he was going to be The Man.
If you look at Kenpom we are not favored to win either at Rupp or away against Bama, but less likely to win at Bama. Winning at Rupp is hard because you have a huge crowd of people booing every call against UK even if it is an obvious foul. Calls will go their way in the paint all game long. I am guessing that CC has two fouls early on just for being on the floor. Now Bama is a more interesting story. They are really good but depend on their three point shooting and the Gators are really good at defending the arc. We are given a really low probablity of winning by Kenpom, but I think that our chances are better than that but still not that great. Winning either one of these games woud be HUGE but losing both and being solid the rest of the season woud give us a plus 500 conference record and that might be enough.
Reeves, Fudge and Bonham are constantly making ill-advised plays. That’s why they come off the bench.
Both KR and Bonham, and to a lesser extent Fudge (IMO), seem to be trying to force things too much. I've said before and still wish KR would slow down and play patiently. Bonham too. KR appears used to defenders biting on one of his many early possession fakes and when they just wait and play back he shoots a quick 3 (usually). Effort is there defensively from all. I dream about CC on one post and KR out on the other side and Richard or Keugel roaming off screens and having deadly scoring potential from all 3 spots. Add that to the defense and this team could be really tough and dangerous.
Winning either and we are back in GREAT shape adding it to the UT win. Losing both, and we wouldn’t quite need to run the table, but the margin gets more razor thin or even comes down to SECT putting us over the hump.
Starting to wonder what we really have in Reeves. It’s been high hopes and athletic potential, but solid performances few and far between. it would be huge for the team if he could find a way to contribute consistently
