Only One Man Can Save UF Now

by mlmintampa on Mar 1, 2009 5:15 PM EST in Basketball Comment 20 comments

...And you know who that is.

The Gators (21-8, 8-6) have lost to Tennessee (18-10, 9-5) and their poorly dressed coach, 79-75. UF decided to tease all of us by making it close, but when you allow your opponent to shoot nearly 53%, winning is not in the cards. Once again, Nick Calathes (20 pts, 7 asts) pulled his weight, but a normally serviceable Alex Tyus struggled (6 pts).

Tyus, Dan Werner and anyone in a white jersey struggled on defense. Part of it was Wayne Chism (18 pts) and Tyler Smith (19 pts) owning them. Part of it also was allowing Tennessee to shoot at will with the expectation they would eventally get cold. Tennessee did get cold, but they built up enough of a lead to protect them late. The same thing happed at Tennessee earlier this season.

We keep waiting for UF to Man Up and win one of these games. Maybe Tebow can get to these guys before the last two regular season games and whip them into shape.

0 recs | Comment 20 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

He was at the game today.

As was Coach.

WBULTV - BDale TV Prod

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Mar 1, 2009 6:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Game over

I am finished trying to defend this team. They are NIT bound and I really don’t care how well they do in a tournament that pits together all the losers who weren’t good enough to make the real tourney.

I am hopeful that next season will be better.

by skigator93 on Mar 1, 2009 8:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Just a bad weekend

The baseball team got swept at home by Miami and bascially every Gator squad that doesn’t play women’s softball got owned this weekend by a big rival. Great.

Go Gator softball – the best spring sports sqaud by a mile.

by skigator93 on Mar 1, 2009 8:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I thought baseball played decent. Until the crap fest today. I hate Miami.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 1, 2009 9:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Decent?

a 3 game sweep at home is never decent – it is decrepit.

by skigator93 on Mar 2, 2009 8:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Miami is about three-runs better than UF right now, that’s why game 1 and 2 was no shock. Plus, getting swept at home sucks, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 2, 2009 12:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It was enough to tell me

we’re not ready for prime time.

It has always baffled me that FSU and Miami could field top 10 teams every year, yet the Gators struggle to middle of the road SEC finishes every year. The level of talent in the state should be enough to stock 5 NCAA teams.

by skigator93 on Mar 2, 2009 3:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I had a Blue Jays scout tell me that Florida will always have less talent because they have less money. Basically, UM and FSU have the NCAA scholarships plus extra funding designated for baseball scholarships. If UF did not have a great women’s sports program and very good men’s basketball, perhaps more would donate to baseball like at FSU or UM. The extra funding would take care of any gap, essentially creating a full scholarship, instead of the 11.7 they all get. Florida and FSU have Bright Futures too, but UF does not have extra funding. The scout, was based in the Southeast, said this is also the reason why UF Baseball aims for smarter kids; they won’t lose their Bright Futures.
By the way, I don’t know how accurate all of this is, considering I never heard any of it when I covered UF Baseball and worked for Gatorzone. However, it seems to make some sense. It is a lot harder to build a baseball program because of the huge amount of cash needed from donations. This is also why when schools cut sports, baseball is the first to go.
Sorry, for the long response, but it’s part of my patience for Gator Baseball over basketball or anyone else. You’re right in that UF has been third too long in the state and they have never recovered from that. (UF was even third in updating their ballpark and facilities.)

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 2, 2009 4:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I could see this being completely true...

…I had a talk with Becky Burleigh a while ago (not long after they won the national championship) and she said it’s harder than people think for programs other than football and men’s basketball to be successful for basically the same reasons you stated. They only get their handful of scholarships and have to figure out a way to work with them and also get kids in that can compete at a very high level who might have to be willing to pay part of their way even though they could get a full ride elsewhere. Makes it that much more impressive when those other squads do exceptionally well.

Buc 'Em - A Tampa Bay Bucs Blog
The Bull Gator - USF Bulls, Florida Gators, College Football, and More...

by The Bull Gator on Mar 2, 2009 8:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I thought under Title (8, 9, or whatever)

Schools had to offer the same number of scholarships to mens and womens teams, no?
How come Mary Wise has no problem restocking the cupboard every single year with voleyball players who absolutely dominate the SEC?

by skigator93 on Mar 2, 2009 11:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Partly true.

Numbers wise, the scholarships are in proportion to the population of the school. That’s the Title IX requirement. At UF, there are more women than men, which is why women’s lacrosse was added. When it was added in 2006 there was a theory that men’s soccer would be about 10 years down the road since women’s sports is pretty much filled up (it’s not likely the female-male pop goes beyond the 53-47 it is now).
Also, volleyball is a very special case. Wise can go to one or two AAU festivals and see the 100 best volleyball players in America. (Not that she does this, but it is how a lot of smaller programs work.) Plus, she’s recruiting for a sport with six starters. Baseball might be the hardest sport to recruit for because of the differences in AAU, high school, Legion and various other leagues. You’re also competing with Major League scouts. Gainesville might not be much different than Greenville. But Greenville is the South Atlantic League, and you’re three steps from the majors.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 3, 2009 12:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you're mixing up 2 difference arguments

Is the problem that we don’t have enough scholarships or that it is too difficult to recruit? I could understand the former, but the latter makes no sense. Doesn’t Miami and FSU (and Whichita State and Long Beach State for that matter) face the same recruiting obstacles in finding the talent?

Also, wouldn’t every other women’s volleyball coach in America have the same opporunity as Wise to go to a couple AAU festivals and see the same talent?

the problem obviously lies in recruiting. We are not getting the best baseball players, but the question is why? Is it because UF doesn’t have the tradition and kids know that by going to Miami or FSU that they’ll have a pretty good shot at making it to the CWS? Or is it that UF doesn’t ahve enough scholarships to give to the best players?

My prediction is that UF will excel in women’s lacrosse just as we have in soccer. Becky Burleigh has somehow managed to take a brand new program with no history and bring in top talent so that we are the best in the conference and can even compete with the best in the nation. There are 11 starters (I believe – never played the sport) on a soccer team. Are there more scholarships available for soccer than baseball? Same argument with softball.

by skigator93 on Mar 3, 2009 10:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

There isn’t a silver bullet for why UF Baseball is third in the state, just like there isn’t a silver bullet for why women’s basketball has never been as successful as the other women’s sports. You mention Wichita State and LB State; that is the best game in town for those schools. Their baseball is our football. Same with CS Fullerton. Kevin Costner has donated millions to Fullerton. At UF, the donors for baseball want their name on the building, not an elite catcher.
Also, I don’t know how much you follow women’s volleyball, but the Big 12 and Pac 10 schools always beat UF. The difference between those schools and UF is that they have better local talent, but all recruit nationally. The best Gainesville player I can think of is Marcie Hampton, who recently graduated. Hampton was all-conference, but not an All-American.
One more thing, lacrosse and softball have 12 scholarships while soccer gets 14. (I think. Correct me if I’m wrong.) If they use the schollys the same way, I’d expect UF to be competing for national titles in a decade. It will take that long to develop some Florida talent in lacrosse. For soccer and softball, the talent is all over Florida.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 3, 2009 1:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think you're right about the 14 for soccer...

…and you are right about the talent. There is a lot of high school talent in the state of Florida for soccer. So despite having to put together a squad of 30 (I always thought it was about 25, but Gatorzone lists 30 right now) with only 14 scholarships, they have a lot to fall back on basically in their own back yard. Being a good, consistent program helps them out of state, but it’s nice knowing they have a lot of talent in the area too.

Buc 'Em - A Tampa Bay Bucs Blog
The Bull Gator - USF Bulls, Florida Gators, College Football, and More...

by The Bull Gator on Mar 3, 2009 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

in-state talent doesn't matter

I have followed volleyball closely since I was a student at UF (‘93 grad) Take a look at the current volleyball roster. Of the 14 players listed, only 6 are from the state, and I think that is unusually high for UF volleyball teams. Wise recruited 2 players from Cali and 2 from Colorado, and 2 from Illinois. Usually, the roster has a few international athletes as well (it does not right now). I know wise has recruited players from Puerto Rico and I had a class with Goudy Staub back in the early 90s. She came to play volleyball at UF from Stutgard, Germany. Point being, you don’t necessarily need local talent to compete.

Same thing with swimming. On the mens team, there are 22 athletes from the State of Florida and 20 from elsewhere, including 10 from outside the U.S. On the soccer team, there are 14 Gators from Florida and 16 from out of state. That is what makes the baseball quandry so frustrating. We don’t even have to leave the state to recruit great players – we know that there is amazing talent within the state, so there is no excuse from not putting a more competitive team on the diamond. I just don’t buy the funding argument, as there are too many minor sports at UF that recruit top talent, yet baseball somehow cannot.

Regarding women’s basketball, I think it has just been proven that the problem was coaching. Since Amanda Butler was hired to lead the Gators – she has miraculously turned the program from an SEC bottom feeder, to a very viable program that can compete strongly in the SEC, and that is in less than 2 years. If she can recruit half as well as she can coach, the Lady Gators will soon be competing for SEC titles in womens basketball as well. This year they even beat UGA, which is the first time I can remember that happening….

by skigator93 on Mar 3, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

not the best title for my post....

of course in-state talent matters some, but it should not determine the success of a program.

by skigator93 on Mar 3, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree. However, if Florida does add one more Men’s sport, in-state talent will go a long way to determining it. When Foley announced women’s lacrosse it was in part because of UF’s very competitive women’s club team and the emergence of women’s lax in Florida. If they want to go big and add a men’s sport, soccer would be it because of the elite high school soccer played here. If they go small, it’s wrestling.
There is one more thing we haven’t mentioned. Of the sports at UF, baseball and women’s basketball have had the most instability. Which are the sports that have been most disappointing? Those two.

mlmintampa
UF C/O 06

by mlmintampa on Mar 3, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was talking soccer really...

…14 of the 30 on the current roster are from the state. In a sport like soccer where Florida is a very talent-rich state, it helps a lot when you don’t have 30 scholarships to offer, but 30 spots to fill. They get a good amount of their soccer talent out-of-state, but it helps to have the in-state talent to fall back on. No it doesn’t completely determine the success of the program, but it’s great when they can have some in-state athletes that may have wanted to come to Florida their entire life and don’t necessarily need the scholarship. It’s much easier for them to find a way to pay their way then it would be for someone coming from a further distance. That’s really what I was getting at. I think there is a difference when talking something like soccer vs. baseball. The 2 major in-state rivals have a very rich history in the sport that exceeds ours, helping them pull more talent than UF can. The state of our soccer team is such that they are higher up the ladder in comparison to the other schools around the state than baseball is. I hate saying that, but I think relative history also helps drives kids to FSU and Miami when it comes to baseball. That and when you look at who we play against every year, well, there are some top notch baseball programs on there. I don’t think there is such thing as a down year in terms of our baseball schedule. I know recently we had some dips in like 06 and 07, but look at the few years before that. We actually put together some pretty good seasons. At least in my opinion. Maybe we’re just a little spoiled by the recent basketball and football success and now want it to cascade down. Overall though, we have a great athletic program.

Buc 'Em - A Tampa Bay Bucs Blog
The Bull Gator - USF Bulls, Florida Gators, College Football, and More...

by The Bull Gator on Mar 3, 2009 5:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

By down year in terms of our baseball schedule...

…I meant I don’t think we’ve ever really benefited from a weak schedule year. Not I don’t think we’ve had a down year in terms of performance. Just wanted to clarify.

Buc 'Em - A Tampa Bay Bucs Blog
The Bull Gator - USF Bulls, Florida Gators, College Football, and More...

by The Bull Gator on Mar 3, 2009 5:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hear you

I think you can make an argument that the UFAA is the strongest in the country. Foley has done a fantastic job in raising the standard at UF from having competitive teams, to having championship teams.

He has done an A+ job in hiring the best coaches and raising the most money in order to make all our facilities top notch and all our sports teams solid. Zook was a rare mistake for him, but since you can never really follow a legend with another legend, Zook played the role of the fall guy perfectly in the end.

I agree with MLM that baseball and W basketball have been the 2 most disappointing sports as of late. But as I said earlier, I think coach Butler solves the W basketball problem, which is why baseball is so glaring now.

I’m not sure how I feel about adding a mens soccer program. No offense to soccer fans, but I just don’t get the sport. I don’t think it will ever have near the popularity in the states as it does abroad.

by skigator93 on Mar 3, 2009 5:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs