I would take 3 16–17 seasons if we could even challenge for the SEC championship or tournament once in MW’s tenure. The fact is we have come close. What’s worse is that you would look at a man who was putting two - three people in the NBA every other year by way of draft critique him in an effort to defend a coach who has had two people drafted his entire 7 years. If you can’t see the cataclysmic fall off in this program’s trajectory, shame on you.
Brett Nelson was a point guard who had a great handle and a nice jump shot until he got assaulted by one of the Gator players. He was never those same after that. Gatkek needs to out on 25 pounds of muscle which can be done. He has the frame. He will be 6’9” and 195. Which is still rail thin for SEC standards. But perhaps he can develop into a 3 speed version of Corey Brewer!
That is not racist, and you are correct in that regard. I think with the right diet and weight room regiment (and given his youth), he can put on 25 pounds easily in the off season and completely rebuild his body. Keep in mind that 195 from 160 is a big jump if you are 5’10” but not 6’10”.
Connect the dots! We are relishing over the minuscule exploits of a player who has at best been inconsistent throughout the season and even on games and who made a video complimenting the Georgia Bulldogs for their national championship!1 We are salivating over mediocrity. This is what Florida basketball has been reduced to under MW. The topic is performance which under anyone’s rational observation, has been sub par during the seven years of MW. We have 7 seniors and 3 commits. What does that tell you? He does not want to develop new players. He does not want to pound the recruiting trail despite knowing at the start of the season he’s be in this predicament, and he’d rather take the dregs of outcasts from other programs where things went sideways for them. You don’t pay a CEO to being in makeshift temporary personnel who were disgruntled employees elsewhere. That is not how you bring sustainable success to a program. Fleming is a talent as is Appleby, Castleton, Duruji, McKissic, Felder, and Jones that had they come in as freshmen together and bonded, could have done special things at Florida. The notion that you can bring in people who were part of six different college programs and get them to buy in in one year what it takes to play for a championship is beyond foolishness and childishly unrealistic. Next year at least there is for the first time a real nucleus of players that came here as freshmen- Reeves, Kennedy, Jitoboh, Lane, and Gatkek (who came here as a sophomore from junior college) coupled with a SOLID freshman class in Reed, Reneau, and Aberdeen. Add Felder playing another year, and you need four portal people to fill out the roster. Last year, the four brought in were critical to the program and all four of them were needed to start significant games. This year the four transfers will not be as critical. We need one serviceable big who can back up Jitoboh, a swing man who can shoot from the perimeter, a power forward who can grab 4-5 boards a game, and a combo guard who can really shoot from outside. This is why MW MUST be given another year. If he leaves so be it as long as we keep all of the players we have and whoever we bring in can bring in quality transfers in a short period of time. I say he puts the weight of the program on Reeves. Let him score 30 a night which he is easily capable of doing. Aberdeen will excel in an offense where there is a primary go to target other than himself. And as defenses adjust to Reeves onslaught, Aberdeen will punish them from the other side. With 6’11” Jitoboh, 6’10” Reed, 6”9” Gatkek, 6’8” Reneau, and 6’7” Felder, it will be the FIRST time in MW’s 8 years that he will have a legitimate SEC front court. Add another 2 6’9” or 6’8” forward center types and another swing and combo guard in the portal and it will be a do or die year for MW. If he squanders the 4 portal picks with more 6’3”-6’5” guards, then he is effectively communicating to us that he does not ever want to be a viable coach in Division 1 ever again. Destiny is revealed by what you do and not what you desire to happen. I believe MW wants to win, but that he desires to do it by stuffing “small ball” down the NCAA’s throats. In our two championship seasons, Billy had 5 roster spots filled with players who were 6’9” or taller who could play meaningful minutes. That clearly for us is the blueprint for a successful front line to contend in the SEC. The first championship season we had Richard and Moss backing up Horford, Noah, and Brewer. The second championship season we had Richard and Speights backing up Horford, Noah, and Brewer. With one serviceable big in the portal (we should get two however), we will have 6 or 7 bigs on our squad. We already have 4 guards - two who can play the point and one who can play small forward (perhaps two with Lane). So the other two portal selections should be a swing man and a point guard. The experience of Lane, Reeves, Jitoboh, Gatkek, Kennedy and Felder is enough for 5 wins in the SEC on their own maybe 6. If we can get a breakout year from one of the three freshman (just one), that will add another 2-3 wins. And the four transfers have to translate to at least 3 wins or they are not worth bringing on board. That would translate to 12-6 in SEC play which would be the best MW has done since he’s been here with all of his own players (the 14-4 were almost all Billy Donovan recruits who learned Billy’s commitment to winning and success and played with a sense of what the program meant to the school and the SEC). Other than that Donovan procured season of 14-4, MW has reached 11-7 twice in the SEC as his best seasons with predominantly his players. 12-6 would have meant a 5th place finish this year which is basically what we did this year anyway at 9-9, but I believe that our standing at 12-6 would be better conference wise and national ranking wise if we can achieve it next season.
Lol. I stopped at "salivating" . No one is making overboard assertions about him. AKA complimented him on a couple plays. No one is claiming the guy is Trae Young.
Just to bring us back into focus you claimed I was off-topic. My original comment related to us spending time in a chat room talking about a 9-9 SEC conference team, that has basically fared only 2 wins better in any year that MW has been responsible for recruiting and development. I like Fleming, and I think he could have been a lot more had he come as a freshman. To get one year of him, McKissic, and Jones and expect miracles to happen was unrealistic. I hope MW sees now that you have to have a foundation to build transfers around not transfers that you build a foundation around.
You are of course referring to LaDarius Halton. That was not why he wasn't the same after that. He put on a lot of weight, but it wasn't muscle. And posters on NBN told him to put on weight.
He lost his shooting touch. How do you know that it wasn’t caused by the orbital fracture? That type of fracture clearly can affect your vision.
He will get stronger, quicker and if he dedicates himself to the right training, a much better shooter. Forget the bulging muscles.
Bulk is usually a predictor of stoutness. He can play stronger but can he keep the better big men from backing him down?
Good body mechanics and additional strength will help. I wouldn't discount his up side, however, outside of being a space eater or tree stump under the basket.
Would have liked him to not have tried to play hero ball at the end of overtime.. White’s never had a good grasp at teaching discipline though..
