The Gators are in the Phil Knight Legacy event along with Gonzaga, Duke, Xavier, Purdue, West Virginia, Oregon State and Portland State. The Gators open with a rematch against Xavier. It should be fun (hopefully).
We have more wings and guards that are all talented, can I say quality depth. Even our bigs, we have talent. I would be surprised if we lost. I believe that this team is hungry to show we can play with anybody. The key will be playing a lot of guys to get them jelling as a soon as possible, the right rotation. We have a tough preseason coming up, CTG is going to show us the path. We will get some bruised egos early but these teaching lessons after that, will get us playing as a team and to the NCAA tournament. I say book it!
Glad to see that your pessimism has been replaced by optimism. Was it the signing of the German kid that pushed you over the top? As to the tournament, Xavier appears to be better than they were last year when they hammered us in the NIT. However, I am with you that we will be greatly improved.
Regardless of the result of the first game, it’s a chance for our new program to measure itself against 2 other high major opponents
Better players, better coach, all good! Yes getting the German forward, shows he gets it! I hope Tony can deliver on the sidelines, but we have the talent. Instead of going into a year without good depth, he has brought it in, not pulling someone who isn’t SEC worthy and settling for a short roster. He has good assistants around him and they are practicing hard. My pessimism came from hearing we might settle for twelve. CTG had a plan and he completed the goal, this is the type of coach we need. Aleksander can shoot the rock and has a nice athletic body which hopefully the coaches will train him on his strengths within their goals of of team basketball, scoring, rebounding and defending. A very nice addition I think will surprise. As for the season, it is getting the talent to mesh and play together as a team. Easier said then done. With our early tough schedule, we will take some losses but we will continue to get better as the season gets into the SEC. If our Coach can get this done we can get back to the NCAA regularly and recruiting will heat up. Optimism reigns over me. LOL
Xavier may have made the best coaching hire last year. Miller had issue at AZ, but won everywhere he has been and a great winning percentage in major college ball. UF went with an up and comer still learning as a coach. Sean Miller Introduced As The Sedler Family Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Xavier - Xavier University Athletics
Hopefully this goes like the Fort Myers Tip-off tournament went, but we keep on that trajectory instead of what happened last year.
That’s a pretty solid lineup. Hopefully we can come out of there with a couple solid wins. Looks like (based on round 1 game times, I didn’t see a proper bracket) we’d play Duke in game 2 if we beat Xavier. Otherwise Oregon State in game 2. Losing to Xavier wouldn’t be a disaster, you just obviously want to leave those pre-season tourneys with at least 1 good quality win under the belt.
Oregon State, which went to the Elite Eight in 2021 hasn’t been the same since Glover showed up in Oregon with his team last season and beat them.
I continue to be impressed by every move Golden and the program is taking. Love going right to the top of the competitive food chain, early. Hope the team finds a symmetry and flow In practice, builds on it, develops trust with each other and maximizes their potential heading into and during the season. As bullish says, a challenging early schedule will test the team early. I am excited in the potential of the roster and have hope that UF may be able to take a step forward from the .620 winning % and second round exit of recent years.
We were rolling and catching much attention in that tournament (one talking head called us "must see TV"), right up until the final game and our defense was exposed.
This should be fun regardless. Fans have whined and complained about scheduling in the past that's too soft or uninteresting or that it's the reason only a few attend the games in football season. That's changed over the past decade so get ready for what you want. It should be fun.
Is anyone on here planning on going? Looking to book flights for about 8 of us. Thanksgiving in Portland it is!
I have family in Portland and just visited them. This trip sounds intriguing. By dumb luck I was in NYC when the Gators played Seton Hall in the Big Apple NIT finals. Didn't get to go to the game at MSG, though. Family stuff.
