A reenactment of every Gator fan and the Gators basketball team prior to any big game;
Fans: Come on, guys. Big game here. Play smart!
Team: [after third consecutive turnover] What? Are you talking to us?
Fans: FUKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
Seriously, it took about five beers (drank responsibly, of course) to wash the taste out after that display. I couldn't even get excited when the Gators shrunk the gap to 10 with 4:45 left because I already knew how it would end because it looked like every awful game last season. And at Tennessee? Watching Bruce Pearl makes me sick and not even knowing that the Vols will lose to a mid-major during the first weekend of the NCAAs can stop that.
At one point in the second half, I started to think Calathes and Parsons were the only guys who cared about winning. That's how terrible the team was playing. The officiating was terrible too, but not enough to make a difference in a 79-63 final. (There was one play when Hodge was going for a breakaway layup and a Tennessee player had his forearm on Hodge's shoulder from the free throw line to when Hodge put up the shot. It was like there was one set of rules when Florida went to the goal and Tennessee had another.)
Speaking of Hodge, 4 points, 4 turnovers, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 29 minutes is inexcusable. There are guys right now at Southwest Rec who could get that line. This is supposed to be a team leader? I know Hodge is not the caliber of some of the other guys he played with, but why give 29 minutes to him if that is his output? For the season, he is averaging 7.5 ppg and shooting 44%. That's probably where he should be. But Erving Walker is knocking on that door. The kid is a chucker and undersized, but Florida plays at a different level with him. I'm starting to think that a lineup of Tyus, Werner, Parsons, Calathes and Walker is the best bet because Walker can swing it around to Parsons and Calathes. Calathes is the best scorer and if he is out there without someone who can dish it to him, he struggles. (His turnovers come when he tries to do too much.)
As for the question that led us off; Florida has to ignore this outcome and know it only takes a few games to fall out of the postseason picture. The number of losses do not matter for Florida. It is how they lose. And last night they looked like crap.