I feel bad for Erving Walker. In another time, he would have been a black Lee Humphrey, just with a better free throw percentage. But instead of stabbing people in the chest like Humphrey would do by shooting threes from Archer and Hawthorne, Walker never gets the knife out of the case. When his attempt at a tying 3-point basket was blocked, securing a 61-58 win for Auburn, Walker did everything he was supposed to do. Unfortnately, not everyone on the Gators did the same.
It is still possible UF makes the tournament, but it doesn't look good today. The Gators only have themselves to blame for this; Donovan gets blame for not drawing a play to protect Walker's final shot (a SEC All-Defensive Team selection blocked Walker's attempt). Donovan also gets blame for not realizing until Friday that his best five includes Walker over Chandler Parsons.
As great as Nick Calathes has been this season, is he becoming our A-Rod? (The first comment on this story.) He had 11 rebounds, but was 3-13 shooting. That seems a bit unfair to Alex Rodriguez; he's been on the doorstep of the World Series three times. Calathes can't get past Tennessee or the SEC Quarters. I think Calathes' breakdown is more of a result of the rest of his teammates not picking up the pace. Walker can only do so much because of his size and youth. Alex Tyus has improved, but the right guys can shove him around (see Patrick Patterson). Tyus played well last night (21 pts, 11 rebs) because Auburn plays with a small lineup, giving Tyus mismatches about half the time. I'll do my best to not rip on Dan Werner, but should he be shooting 7 of 10 shots from 3-point range? This game was pretty even. It's not like they needed to be chucking to keep up.
Walker spent his time after the game in tears. If he's that sick about it, we should be happy he is coming back. That's the only bright spot in another disappointing season.