The Much Maligned Addazio And Werner

by mlmintampa on Feb 9, 2010 1:40 PM EST in Florida Basketball

Florida Football fans' Public Enemy Number One, Steve Addazio, has suddenly found himself some responsibility and new found respect. After spending the season as the target of our darts over the Gators' offensive production, Addazio pulled in Dominique Easley and Sharrif Floyd. Addazio also gets credit for offensive linemen Ian Silberman and Signing Day pull, Chaz Green. His work was good enough to be named Rivals' top SEC recruiter. Addazio also softened the blow of Urban Meyer's leave of absence. Many players, including Easley, said Addazio's work influenced their decision to stay with UF.

Addazio is now asked to do more behind the scenes work, finding the right guy for Florida's defense. Meyer will ultimately make the decision, but it is up to Addazio to find the right guy and remain within UF's budget. The Gainesville Sun's Robbie Andreu points at Clemson co-defensive coordinator Charlie Harbison as a likely candidate. Addazio also told the Sun's Pat Dooley that "a couple" of guys will visit with Florida staff Wednesday. Having Addazio at the controls is a long way from this season, when some of us (read: me) were thinking Addazio was something like Brutus ending the reign of Julius Caesar.

On the other side of North-South Drive, Dan Werner is not experiencing the same renaissance. You could make the case that Werner has gotten worse as a player in each of his four seasons. Since his sophomore season, Werner's points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and field goal percentage have dropped in each season. Finally removed from the lineup in favor of Chandler Parsons, Werner seems to think the problem is fat guys on message boards and bloggers in their parents' basement.

"I know there’s some stuff out there. People have been saying stuff," said Werner, UF’s only remaining link to the 2007 national title team. "I don’t read it, I just hear people telling me stuff on the computer."

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"I’m sure there are people out there who like me a lot, and there are a lot of people who don’t like me," Werner said. "I can’t really control that. I know I help this team win and play well. I know my teammates appreciate me. They tell me that. That’s all that matters."

But the numbers don't lie. Werner may be a nice kid who will give you change when you make a bucket in practice or wipe off the weight bench. But he is not an SEC starter. Now that Parsons is an SEC starter, Werner will have to learn to be mature about his new station on the team. Instead of sulking or worrying what people say about him, Werner needs to be the sixth man. With Kenny Kadji officially out for the season, Werner will remain the first big off the bench. He has to stop playing like the freshman who'd pass to the nearest Oh Four and act like a senior. And that doesn't mean using game time to shoot out of a year long slump. Billy Donovan gives Werner credit for getting back on defense and understanding the Gators' offense. If that is what Werner can contribute, lovely. But when it gets close to March, UF will have problems with deep teams. Werner is going to have to get over being benched and act like a senior.

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I for one

have been impressed with Addazio during this difficult off season. From what has come out about him, the players really seem to like and respect the guy. We all were a bit underwhelmed by the Gator offense this past season, but IMO the verdict is still out on how good coach Addazio can be. I know I’m excited to see his offense this coming year with Brantley under center.

by Cardsfan25 on Feb 9, 2010 4:42 PM EST reply actions

Addazio has done quite well this offseason

and I’m hoping the change in offensive schemes will lead to a more productive offense.

I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.

by kcscoliny on Feb 9, 2010 6:08 PM EST reply actions

Addazio makes a much better head coach then a play caller it seems. Can you be a OC and not call the plays?

Werner is funny. I would be bitter too if I was benched my senior year for a underclassmen. And that is exactly his style of play as you described.

He reminds me of myself in my urban middle school during PT and we would play bball, And this is how it would go down: pass pass pass pass, get rejected, then get made fun of for thinking I could shoot against players who probly ended up playing Varsity at their future HS. Then back to pass, pass, and maybe a turnover here and there, followed by a wide open shot because I am the only white guy on the floor so theres no point in guarding me, so I actually make it bank shot style even though it was not intentional and everyone knows it, “hey guys wanna play baseball next time”? “shut up and pass the ball”! Thats Werner style of play, just play hard and use your athletics to play a little defense and keep passing and hope no one notices u suck.

"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor

by Hook85 on Feb 9, 2010 11:30 PM EST reply actions

Best story ive ever heard haha

i play at my old high school with my friends i played with on my varsity basketball team, we usually play three on three full court and theres two brothers that play that never ever pass the ball once they have it in their hands. Especially the older , ironically his names dan. now im a pretty damn good shooter for a big guy and i can post up like my names Shaquille but once danny has the ball…its turnover, lucky move and basket or 5 minutes of dribbling around telling everyone to get open when we were open for the whole time. I call him Dan werener sometimes and laugh and no one else gets it…bunch of Big Ten fans… i need new friends.

by gatorempire127 on Feb 10, 2010 12:08 PM EST up reply actions

haha, its awesome to make fun of people and they dont know it.

"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor

by Hook85 on Feb 12, 2010 8:35 PM EST up reply actions

My $0.02

On Addazio – it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us that he is a great recruiter, because as we saw last year, he surely isn’t on staff because of his ability with the Xs and Os.

On Werner – he has gotten way worse each year. His sophomore year, he was actually decent. He hustled on D, crashed the boards and usually stole an inbounds pass on the press and laid it in at least once a game. But now, it seems he can’t get out of his own way. It’s like someone hid his sneakers and replaced them with Bozo’s clown shoes. Earlier this season during a home game (can’t remember who it was against), but the other team simply stopped guarding him. Everytime he got the ball, the students were screaming “SHOOT!” and he kept passing. Until one time he finally chucked up a terrible brick and the students stopped the shoot chant.

I think he should come off the bench after Murphy and Shipman. Both those guys suck too, but they have some potential at least. Murphy needs to put on 25 pounds of muscle in the offseason. Shipman just needs to get a little smarter.

by skigator93 on Feb 10, 2010 4:57 PM EST reply actions