Glad to see Nick is still playing at a high level. Former Florida Gators Guard Punches Ticket to the Paris Olympics
Thanks for sharing. I always forget just how good he was for us...That article is hopefully the LAST reminder I'll need going forward!
Nick has kind of an odd legacy here, as so many fans don’t include him among Florida’s best PGs. This seems to be because the teams he was on weren’t among our most successful, because from a statistical standpoint, he is one of Florida’s best players ever. I calculated that if he stayed for four years and simply maintained his freshman and sophomore numbers, he would have broken the gator career records for scoring, assists (he actually did that in 2 years), and steals. He might have even cracked the top 10 for rebounds!
Matt Bonner is on Line One. The Norwegian Collegian graduated with his civil engineering degree on time so also a pretty smart guy. If we are talking basketball IQ Nick is WAY up there.
He was the most productive freshman and sophomore PG in Gator history. I think he's been unfairly blamed for his Gator teams not making the Tourney. As a big fan of Calathes' and Nembhard's games, I feel like I'm definitely swimming against the tide in this forum. The article notes that Calathes averaged an "astounding" 10.5 assists per game in Greece's four qualifying games. That's so Nick!
Nick was very good at UF, but he couldn’t shoot a jump shot off the dribble, and he was part of a team that played middling defense. His defense improved dramatically after his college days. Nembhard is a terrific player, but he got stuck in a Mike White system that didn’t take advantage of his skill set.
I m not sure about Nick not being to score off the dribble. I think the Corey Brewer got the first Gator triple double and Nick got the next two. That might be all of them. Maybe Cheeze got another.
Nick did not have a jump shot off the dribble. He never learned how to get the push that he needed. He shot a one-handed push shot from outside on spot ups. Same thing with his big brother, Pat. It must have been how they were taught growing up.
Correct about Nick's "jump shot" which didn't actually exist. He shot flat-footed and not from the standard over-the-head release. As his pal Chandler Parson's said, "the kid can't jump over a newspaper." So he had to be wide open in order to even get his shot up. But as an assist guy and floor general, he was fantastic.
Chandler Parsons was famously quoted saying Nick couldn't jump over a newspaper. The chemistry wasn't right between Nick and Coach Donovan. That was a real disappointment, I wanted to watch Nick ball out, he is a unique talent.
I'm glad you mentioned the Nick and BD chemistry. I remember a game in the O-Dome, can't remember which one or if I was there or watching on TV, but it was an SEC game. BD wasn't happy with the team's performance and was giving Nick an earful during a break in the action. Nick just glared, put his hands on his hips, and turned his back on his coach. Not a good look and not what a kid needs to do. He left as soon as the season ended.
I think I remember Nick taking himself out of a game, maybe the game you're talking about. Anyone, please correct me if I'm wrong.
My recollection is of a game near the end of Nick's 2nd season where Donovan benched Nick because (as Donovan indicated afterward) he was trying to do it all himself. It's the only time I recall ever completely disagreeing with Donovan's coaching. That team needed Nick to force some stuff at times as he didn't have a great supporting cast IMO. Some posters got on Nick sometimes for not trying to do more himself. I think he was in a no-win situation. I don't recall specifically how bad Nick's jump shot was off the dribble, but I do know he was still a pretty good/productive scorer in addition to his great playmaking/passing. Like some others, I also generally wanted him to look for his own offense even more than he did (because I felt the team needed it), so I was frustrated when Donovan benched him for doing that. I don't think Nick was ever the same after the benching and the season fizzled out to a mediocre ending following that episode. My sense was that Nick was confused about how aggressive he should be versus "trusting his teammates" more and I was confused for him. Just my perception, which could be full of doo-doo.
With Nick on the floor there was a lot of standing around to watch Nick do his thing. I don't know if Nick was doing too much freelancing outside the offense that caught BD's ire. No denying Nick's abilities. IIRC he is the only Gator to have two triple doubles. Brewer had the first ever.
Nick didn’t have a jump shot. At crunch time of close games in Nick’s second season, I recall him dumping the ball off to Erving Walker who would then try to score. By the way, when you look at the rosters for Nick’s 2 seasons at UF, there were 6 or so good players on each roster, and then a big drop off. That said, I am not blaming Nick for the team’s performance in his 2 seasons.
Anything negative (i.e. attitude, inflating personal stats, etc.) about Calathes can most likely be attributed to his daddy who wanted him to turn pro asap.
Doesn’t count. He is an Olympian, but it is misleading to say that he is playing Olympic basketball. He is playing 3 on 3 Olympic basketball:
