Missouri Game Box Score MVG: Scottie Wilbekin

[GatorJason]

Scottie Wilbekin was the biggest star among several oustanding performances as the Gators routed the #17 ranked Missouri Tigers 83-52. Wilbekin had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists to go with 3 steals, 3 rebounds and 3 turnovers in 33 minutes to register a team high 98 value credits. Even more impressive was Scottie's defense as he helped hold star guard Phil Pressey to 2 points on 1/7 shooting and forced him into 10 turnovers. Tied for second were Kenny Boynton and Will Yeguete with 74 value credits each. Boynton scored 14 points with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal with no turnovers. Yeguete quietly had a very impressive game scoring 13 points on 6/7 shooting from the field along with 6 rebounds 2 blocks and 2 steals.

The Gators came out smoking taking an 11-0 lead and never looked back. Florida shot 59% from the field versus 33% for the Tigers as Missouri had their season low in points scored. Overall, this was a very balanced game for the Gators as their leading scorer (Murphy, 15) and leading rebounder (Young, 8) were not even among the top three value score leaders for the team. This was the 5th straight 20 point victory for the Gators. Next game will be an early season rematch with the Georgia Bulldogs who hope to avenge their 77-44 blowout loss at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

Box Score Value Leaders:
Wilbekin............98
Boynton......'......74
Yeguete.....''......74

Click on this link (http://www.gatorcountry.com/swampgas/picture.php?albumid=221&pictureid=2377) to see all player value scores for this game

Value Credits* are assigned as follows:
+5 credits for each Steal and Assist
+4 credits for each Point scored, Rebound and Block
.-5 credits for each Turnover
.-2 credits for each Field Goal Attempt
.-1 credit for each Free Throw Attempt

* Value Credits are based solely on Box Score data and do not reflect total game contributions by players

Missouri Game Official Box Score (http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=330190057)

The Gators next game will be against UGA (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/61/georgia-bulldogs) on Wednesday, Jan 23rd at 8:00. ESPN-850AM WRUF (http://tunein.com/radio/ESPN-850-s22624/)

[GatorLurker]

Somebody must have had a keen scouting eye on Pressey that he tends to dribble a bit too far from his body at times because the Gator Boys were looking for it and struck like a mongoose when it was available.

[HALLGATOR]

Scottie has some very quick hands and I believe Pressey found that out today.

[gatorbogey]

team basketball. balanced.

the effort on D is something else!

[austingtr]

I love watching this team. Scottie is becoming a great point guard. I just want to get healthy!

Go Gators!

[GatorJason]

Elston Turner scored 40 for Texas A&M at Rupp and then went 1-10 for 4 points at home against the Gators. I'd say we can call Mr Wilbekin a defensive wizard. I could imagine Coach Donovan telling Scottie how impressive the opponent's best guard is before each game and then sig Wilbekin on him like mad dog with rabies. The question is whether Scottie (and Boynton) can continue to play big minutes with high energy over the course of the season.

It would be nice if another freshman stepped up and could play minutes during the earlier stages of the game. That would help keep our starting guards fresh at the end of the season and give the Gators another trusted bench guy during tournament time.

[gatorbogey]

not sure - is there a nat'l defensive player of the year award for basketball? if so, who's on the short list for the award. it would be an absolute CRIME if Scottie wasn't on that list.

[ApexNC]

Might have been the best all-around game of Scottie's career. Great performance.

[108]

Scotty is starting to turn the corner at PG

You can tell he is getting more confident with the ball in his hands

[themistocles]

Jason, the thing is that most SEC teams don't really have scorers like Turner or Pressey.

The fact that Wilbekin was able to shut down two excellent scorers in successive games shows just how good a defender he is. And then, when Wilby takes a rest, the poor scorer has to contend with Boynton. EGADS!!!!! Wing Scorers must really be looking forward to playing the Gators, and right now, ole Shut Down Prather isn't even suiting up. EGADS TIMES TWO!!!

[gatorbogey]

Scotty is starting to turn the corner at PG

You can tell he is getting more confident with the ball in his hands

i was saying the same thing in the stands - he was playing great, making the passes, making the drives, knowing when to shoot and when to distribute and when to dribble. he was a great PG today. that was really an MVP performance today.

[67walkon]

If Pressey is a NBA draftee, Scottie is a lock for the NBA all star game when he leaves. I love the way he is playing.

[GatorPlanet]

Scottie just dominated the supposedly best point guard in the SEC. Definitely his best game yet as a Gator. The guy has been improving each week this season, and is really taking good care of the ball now, which was his greatest drawback earlier.

[GatorJason]

Shout out to the Gator freshmen Graham, Ogbueze, Walker and walk-on Jacob Kurtz. Though they only played 3 minutes each, they all put up positive value scores by scoring points, rebounding, stealing the ball and providing an assist while collectively having "0" turnovers. That was a huge improvement over the Texas A&M debacle and hopefully a sign of good things to come.

[Bullgator40509]

Yes much better focus and effort from our freshmen to close the game!

[HALLGATOR]

I don't think the pros and Scottie have been mentioned often but he has another season and a half to improve and that may start changing. I can't help but believe he is going to get some looks if he continues in the manner he has been showing so far this year. If he can shut a guy like Pressey out then he doesn't have to be a prolific scorer to be valuable. With stat lines like he had today his value will continue to grow.

[bofusgators]

Way to go Scottie. You played a great game.

[NoahBeanBizzel]

Scottie has really turned it up this season. He looks far more comfortable handling the ball, even though he occasionally has moments where he plays a bit out of control. His game has a lot of upside. Great defender, plays with great passion, very unselfish (as proven by his first couple of seasons on campus), and now he's become more comfortable with Donovan's offense.

He was never really one to turn the ball over much, and he seems like a really bright kid. Watching him evolve has been a treat.

[rserina]

No doubt Wilbekin was phenomenal, but the team defense on Pressey was the difference. We did a great job clogging the lane with help and hedging on those screens and in general picking Pressey up in transition before he could set anything up.

The other guy that stuck out to me was Young. The six turnovers absolutely killed his stat line, but a game like he had today makes you think of Horford: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. He has been unbelievably active on the defensive end this month.

[gatorbogey]

he [young] energized the crowd too w/ some of his play. [scottie too, btw]

one thing i noticed first hand is how the gator fans are getting alot more sophisticated in their appreciation of basketball: it's not just about the 3 or the dunk, [of course, those still bring the roof down] but "everyone" was really diggin' the defensive play today]

[InstiGATOR1]

Let's say you are the other team's star perimeter and you play say 38 minutes a game because you are the star. Well struggle at the start of the game because Wilbekin is in your grill. Then Wilbekin gets pulled out for a rest and you have friggin Boynton in your grill. Not a fun 38 minutes.

[gatordavisl]

Scotty is starting to turn the corner at PG

You can tell he is getting more confident with the ball in his hands I had my doubts about some 17 yr-old kid coming from a local private school. As if he would be able to fill the shoes of Gator players who are recruited nationally. Honestly, I thought SW was more of a "bandaid" recruit than anything. As it turns out, he is becoming a major contributor on this team. He shoots well when open, is an obvious defensive stopper, and is developing his handle and dribble-drive capabilities. He's even developing the ability to create his own shot. So glad to see SW becoming a serious player.

[madgator]

No doubt Wilbekin was phenomenal, but the team defense on Pressey was the difference. We did a great job clogging the lane with help and hedging on those screens and in general picking Pressey up in transition before he could set anything up.

The other guy that stuck out to me was Young. The six turnovers absolutely killed his stat line, but a game like he had today makes you think of Horford: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. He has been unbelievably active on the defensive end this month.



time for Pat to start playing for the draft. He is going to have an UNBELIEVABLE March/April when it's time for him to earn him recognition/draft status.

look for him to shine against Kentucky where he is going to look to impress the scouts.

with P.young it's a question of want to and maintaining focus.

[NoahBeanBizzel]

For two years Young was an energetic defender, who was just really raw on the other end of the floor. Offensively he needed to polish his game up a bit. And as madgator pointed out, it's about focus with Young, and he can be as good as wants to be.

Again, Donovan shows again that he can develop players as well as anybody. Look at how far Murphy, Wilbekin, Young, Rosario and even Prather have come since that loss to Georgia last season. Those are five players who have become more consistent and effective in almost every aspect of their game in less than a year.

Billy's the man.

[NoahBeanBizzel]

I had my doubts about some 17 yr-old kid coming from a local private school. As if he would be able to fill the shoes of Gator players who are recruited nationally. Honestly, I thought SW was more of a "bandaid" recruit than anything. As it turns out, he is becoming a major contributor on this team. He shoots well when open, is an obvious defensive stopper, and is developing his handle and dribble-drive capabilities. He's even developing the ability to create his own shot. So glad to see SW becoming a serious player.

His game has as much upside as any player at Florida right now. He has the ability to become a future pro.

[rserina]

I had my doubts about some 17 yr-old kid coming from a local private school. As if he would be able to fill the shoes of Gator players who are recruited nationally. Honestly, I thought SW was more of a "bandaid" recruit than anything. As it turns out, he is becoming a major contributor on this team. He shoots well when open, is an obvious defensive stopper, and is developing his handle and dribble-drive capabilities. He's even developing the ability to create his own shot. So glad to see SW becoming a serious player.
Some of it was that I believe he only played one season of travel ball (which I netted him offer sfrom Tennessee and Maryland), but he just had no publicity. The travel circuit is really weird that way. You get a reputation established with the regional and national websites, as well as assistants on the road, from the 14-U days forward. If you listened to Bill Simmons' interview with David Lee and Stephan Curry the other day, Curry mentioned that he didn't play much in the travel circuit after moving back from Canada and that is why no one recruited. Then, somehow, the same darn thing happened to his brother, who ended up at Liberty before transferring to Duke.

Wilbekin was without question a top-100 player in his class and may have ended up with that rating had he continued playing with Team Florida. He was already showing a nice handle and mid range game to go along with great size and athleticism for a collegiate point guard. What surprised me, though, was his willing commitment to defense--and his effectiveness--from the start.

[ApexNC]

No doubt Wilbekin was phenomenal, but the team defense on Pressey was the difference. We did a great job clogging the lane with help and hedging on those screens and in general picking Pressey up in transition before he could set anything up.

The other guy that stuck out to me was Young. The six turnovers absolutely killed his stat line, but a game like he had today makes you think of Horford: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. He has been unbelievably active on the defensive end this month.

I was going to say this too...taking NOTHING away from Scottie's game yesterday, but the team defense contributes to shutting down opponents' stars.

[Gatuar]

I notice Scottie is getting into the lane off the dribble much easier...it's almost uncharted territory for him he seems a but unsure

Will only get better and it creates plays for PY....easy dunks

[regurgigator]

I'll go along with that being Wilbekin's best overall game to date.

He's been doing a much better job breaking the press with both his dribbling and passing - and avoiding the double teams (with pass or dribble re-direction) before they can trap him hard. It seems to be key that he avoid getting trapped as his biggest weakness in passing the ball is not his decisions on where to throw it, but that his passes get deflected too often by the player(s) that's guarding him.

Wilbekin doesn't seem like a naturally gifted passer to me (like Pressey appears to be despite his poor game against us). It seems more that he's just a fine all-around athlete whose hard work at getting into the lane and reading the defense to figure out who to pass to is paying off. He still had a couple of head-scratching turnovers, but all the good plays far outweighed the couple of bad.


A lot of good play from Young also, but wow did he have some ugly turnovers also :joecool: