Things Fall Apart

by mlmintampa on Mar 9, 2008 3:02 PM EDT in Basketball Comment 5 comments

Kentucky Wildcats defeat Florida Gators 75-70.

Kentucky shoots 46% from the field in SEC play and 37% from 3-point range. Today that was 58% and 56%. There was no way Florida could have won this game with UK shooting like that. They even banked in a 3 from the left wing and had a jumper at the end of the shot clock bounce straight up off the back rim and in. Sometimes a team is due for a game like this (UF had won seven in a row in the series) but the law of averages does not include the Gators only playing defense in the last five minutes.
Joe Crawford had 16 points but it seemed like more because Walt Hodge had no chance in guarding him. I can only assume he was Hodge's responsibility because he can be active on defense without fouling, unlike Parsons or Werner.
This might have been the best game Lucas played all year. He was stuck guarding Bradley, but it may have actually inspired him to play better offense. Late in the game, Bradley knocked him on his back, but Lucas was called for a reach. On the next possession, Lucas drove to the rim around Bradley and got the layup and foul. Lucas had 13 points and wasn't shy (4-9 shooting), which should have been the case all season.
Werner was active and nasty when needed (8 boards, 4 offensive). But of his seven shots, four were 3-pointers. It's like Werner is doing what David Lee did in his junior year where he wanted to shoot threes so Roberson and Walsh would pass to him. Just get inside and someone will find you. Imagine how good UF would be if Speights and Werner could pull off the pick and roll with Calathes.
At one point in the second half, I actually wondered aloud if the team had any pride and could play defense. They do. The difference is that UF used to have two super-competitive guys (Horford, Noah), two cut-throat good ole' boys (Brewer, Humphrey), a NBA-like point (Green), and now we don't. It's like trading a Cadillac CTS for a Chevy Malibu. Sure they are both GM and can get you from place to place. But you feel second class driving that Malibu. (If you have a Malibu, my apologizes.)
By the way, Hello NIT! I will not be buying a NIT champions hat and t-shirt, though. At least I'm saving 50 bucks this year.

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The centre cannot hold

- madre de dios, Yeats was right, we do need another big man!

Now, does this make Kadji or Vargas the rough beast?

by peachy rex on Mar 9, 2008 3:21 PM EDT reply actions

Mississippi State.

Looking at the seeding for the SEC Tourney, I see one major roadblock to our improbable run for our beloved Gators.

Round 1 - Alabama Crimson Tide
Notes: We opened up the SEC schedule with a trip to Tuscaloosa on January 8th. Though we didn't take our first lead until 13:30 left in the second half and the game was in question through to a run that started with 7 minutes left, we came away with a comfortable win in the end.

Round 2 - Mississippi State Bulldogs
Notes: The Gators led for all of 18 seconds in this March 1st tilt, so I have very little reason to hope for a different outcome, but if we make it past these guys, we have a shot at to shock the world

Round 3 - Georgia/Mississippi or Kentucky
Notes: We defeated UGA by double digits twice, but they likely won't make it past their first round match-up, let alone UK in the second. We only led for the first five minutes against the Rebels in the regular season, but we closed the gap at the end, so we can definitely compete with them. We split our series with the Wildcats this year, losing the second game on the road. No matter the match-up, we'd have a puncher's chance.

If we make it to the finals, then I think we could convince the selection committee to sneak us into the field and the momentum could lead to our making some noise. I know this is too optimistic, but I'll keep the faith for as long as I can. Cheers.

by ejruiz on Mar 10, 2008 7:43 PM EDT reply actions

one and done

this team has already mailed it in...what makes you think they will suddenly win more games in a weekend than they have in the past month?

by skigator93 on Mar 10, 2008 9:20 PM EDT reply actions

I Disagree.

I don't think they've "mailed it in" and anyone that's seen them play would agree. They've come up short playing against one of the few elite teams in the country (Tennessee) and on the road another team fighting for their tournament life (Kentucky). I'm not saying this is a good team that will start playing great, but rather a that they have nothing to lose, everything to gain and perhaps some favorable match-ups along the way.

by ejruiz on Mar 11, 2008 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Reality Check

We have lost 7 of our last 10 games. The 3 wins have come against UGA (twice) and USC. Those are the 2 worst teams in the east and we'll meet neither of those 2 in the tourney.

by skigator93 on Mar 11, 2008 11:17 PM EDT reply actions