My thoughts on Felder He doesn’t seem to bring an agressive demeanor. he should demand the ball when open. He should also get a game face on, excited and determined look that he means business. Even last night he seems to just float to different spots. I sure expected an more aggressive player when we got him. He seems to not want to be in the spotlight. As for more minutes, he is going to have to show in practice he won’t be denied! Then when he comes in he is going to have to move around more to get open and play aggressive defense. Both these things he can do but for some reason he comes in and looks lost. Just my opinion. Against Oscar coming up he should be told it is him and Alek in the post. CTG should also tell him he better be ready to ball aggressively. These two won’t stop him him but might at least slow him down playing aggressively and he better be ready to fight.
Oscar probably gonna eat our lunch on Wednesday. He'll probably hang out in the paint, make a sandwich, and eat it while dunking on JJ, CJ, & any other J we can put out there.
Golden has tremendously under impressed. At least with Napier, you see a bright future with the personnel he has brought in from HS and in the portal. Golden has NOTHING coming in and probably a host of transfers. if we see Aberdeen, Lane, Reeves, and perhaps Jitoboh transfer long with the loss of players who have reached their eligibility limits we are looking at as many as 6-7 people coming in the transfer portal. Calipari made it work with McDonalds All Americans coming every year, but bringing in people who are dissatisfied with their current team and expecting them to suddenly find bliss at a program that has done nothing in ten years is unrealistic.
Our program is in a free fall ever since we inked Mike White. Nothing that Golden has done NOTHING has stemmed the tide. Arguably, the team is performing worse than it did last year. if it is not Johnson, it’s Jitoboh, or Castleton. Debilitating and season ending injuries. Florida basketball is reeling right now.
He shreds the rules hanging out in the paint. Sometimes 10 seconds, in the paint, on offense is a violation. But, he is an energizing bunny who won’t be denied and muscular. Great footwork is his greatest ability. The big for Miss St Marble gave him fits, but he is big, strong and mean, NBA ready. I don’t see this on our team, we need this type of enforcer as one of our bigs. As for Oscar, we have to put body’s on him and block him as much as we can. Without CC, this is where we find out who wants to get better and be out on the floor. Tennessees bigs this week found out they weren’t tough enough. This is like a final test to see where every team falls. Tough assignment!
He joined and did not have time to recruit his first year. Lost the two best recruits in the Mike White signing class to LSU and Indiana. Would not have happened if brought in a name coach. Picked up Kugel and International kid after joining UF. Also got a few transfers o fill out roster. Still, no shooters and no power forward. This class will be telling. If can’t sign top 50 recruits, will not mage it here.
UF's all time greatest coach (Billy D) in basketball, and arguably greatest coach in anything went: 96/97: 13 - 17 97/98: 14 - 15 You guys sure your ready to send Golden packing?
That is undeniable. For Goldens future at UF I hope his recruiting gives him some rope to work with too.
Everything's so different now. On the one hand, UF is a far bigger name and player (still) on the national scene than it was when Coach Donovan started here. With our facilities and name, we should be able to "recruit" with the best of them. But that the other major difference. "Recruiting" is not what it was in 1996. Coach Donovan changed the world in college basketball recruiting, and pissed off a lot of people by out working them. He didn't break rules, but he did test out how far they might stretch a time or two. With NIL and the portal, I don't think there are as many ways for Coach Golden to flip the script. He's going to have to find the right fits and then coach his ass off. Hopefully he'll learn and improve as he goes. This year's been tough. I've seen flashes of progress, but it seems to be a one step forward, two steps back scenario.
Was gonna say the same. Nothing wrong with being critical, but the over-the-top cynicism and pure pessimism leaves something to be desired.
He has his work cut out for him and the odds at this moment are stacked against him. He'll get another year or two, but he better bring in better talent starting this offseason.
It's not just coaching. 247 had a good article link on SwampGas that shows the money spent on recruiting is almost directly correlated to success generally, and Alabama is right up there with the others regardless of any NIL complaints Saban may have. So guys and gals, empty your pockets if it really matters that much. I suspect that's the college part of Division I hoops now, right?
I see a lot I like about coach Golden pertaining to coaching. Recruiting on the other hand is 'wait and see' for me. How about we start throwing some money at these blue chippers? Isn't that what college athletics is about now? How hard could that be?
That was a different era. Back then it was Kentucky and everyone else. There was no transfer portal. There was no NIL. We had a winning football program. Billy benefitted from a confluence of a lot of factors that existed or didn't exist that fueled his success. 90% of Billy's commits wouldn't give Florida a first thought let alone a second one today. There simply is no reason for any blue-chip HS player to commit to our program right now. It is in total disarray. We have abysmal outside shooting. We are mired in the season-ending injury carousel. We do not have a blue-chip player on the team that will draw future talent. We play in a strong league but nowhere near the best conference in basketball. So there isn't even the incentive to play against the best talent in the country anymore. Absent bringing in someone who has WON an NC with another program and has a proven track record for landing behemoths in HS, we are going to see more of the same from this program. It has become the Grand Central Station of transfers in and out of the program which reeks of instability and inconsistency. It is sad. I don't even watch the games anymore.
Thank you for the response wci albeit a rather (dismal) one. But, as you know, sports success is a bit cyclical. Is UF in the cellar? Well, I agree this year has been a disappointment but Golden is not going anywhere now but back to the UF coaching office barring some terrible scandal. Perhaps, he may turn it around. But I will readily admit I do not see UF making many waves next year in either basketball or football. I suspect we are a good 2 years away from any coaching changes in either sport.
After the Kentucky game, this saga is going into bizarre mode. He should have never come back if this is the result. And on a team that needs front court help BAD!
