Larson Leaving the Program

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Originally Posted by bullish

Rserina, Donovan has played a short bench his whole Florida career. It has caused a lot of transfers. This year adds to that list. We are now playing against Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama and others that have big men. One turned ankle and we are toast against decent teams. Larson could have given a few minutes of rest for Patrick. Div 1 seasons are long and our schedule is tough. Another body would have helped even knowing he is not Patrick. Not many people are. We need bigs and we have turned one off that we have just gotten a commitment from. If we don't get two bigs to go with Kasey and Chris, we will still be short on bigs. I guess Billy could go and sign another guard, LOL! He has put all his chips on a couple of bigs, I hope he can pull even one of them, we need depth on the front line.

I think it was the lack of scholarship that lead to the transfer, not the lack of minutes

[tupacbiff]

Originally Posted by NorthCaptivaGator

I think it was the lack of scholarship that lead to the transfer, not the lack of minutes

Based on what?

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Originally Posted by tupacbiff

Based on what?

Based on he fact that he transferred after his scholarship was taken away and not after he played limited minutes last season.

[tupacbiff]

Originally Posted by NorthCaptivaGator

Based on he fact that he transferred after his scholarship was taken away and not after he played limited minutes last season.

Could he have decided to transfer once he realized he wouldn't be gettin min this year?

[bullish]

In reply to Gators Gators, another big would give us flexibillity. Next year another torn Labrum or high ankle sprain, we are short again on bigs. Yes we can wear down any of these young athletes, I would hope Billy would give a few minutes rest to the starters when we play Stetson, Flager, JU and other teams we out talent. The seasons are longer nearly each year and injuries happen. Billy I know has recruited for next year extremely well/great even. He needs a project like Emblid to help get him ready for D-1 Ball defense and banging in the SEC. Randle I know likes Billy, but in high stakes B-ball recruiting, one thing for certain, is nothing is a lock, I hope he decides to come aboard. He would probably one and done which means the following year Billy would have to have a couple of more bigs to have depth. This allows for development and a stronger finish most years. This year we will have to hope for Herculean efforts by Pat, Murphy and Will Y on the front line. Even Prather who could be a top wing with development now has to provide depth there just like last year. This is not a bad thing, but like last year we couldn't get over the hump of beating Ky due to inside play. Kentucky went big and deep on the front line. We will be a tough out this year and even tougher the next. I am all for keeping the recruiting momentum and loading up, that is all.

[bullish]

In reply to Gators Gators, another big would give us flexibillity. Next year another torn Labrum or high ankle sprain, we are short again on bigs. Yes we can wear down any of these young athletes, I would hope Billy would give a few minutes rest to the starters when we play Stetson, Flager, JU and other teams we out talent. The seasons are longer nearly each year and injuries happen. Billy I know has recruited for next year extremely well/great even. He needs a project like Emblid to help get him ready for D-1 Ball defense and banging in the SEC. Randle I know likes Billy, but in high stakes B-ball recruiting, one thing for certain, is nothing is a lock, I hope he decides to come aboard. He would probably one and done which means the following year Billy would have to have a couple of more bigs to have depth. This allows for development and a stronger finish most years. This year we will have to hope for Herculean efforts by Pat, Murphy and Will Y on the front line. Even Prather who could be a top wing with development now has to provide depth there just like last year. This is not a bad thing, but like last year we couldn't get over the hump of beating Ky due to inside play. Kentucky went big and deep on the front line. We will be a tough out this year and even tougher the next. I am all for keeping the recruiting momentum and loading up, that is all.

[rserina]

Originally Posted by tampajack1

Billy played 10 guys when he had 10 guys who could play. In 1999-2000, Matt Bonner played 13.5 minutes per game, which was the 10th most on the team.

Exactly. He also played four bigs in 2005-06, five bigs at times in 2004-05, and four bigs in 2010-11 because we had guys who were ready to play.

That's the issue. Larson had not proven he was ready to play yet. I disagree with those who say he isn't SEC-caliber. There are some pretty bad players out there on our league's benches. He can play SEC ball. He is big, athletic, and skilled. His problem initially was that he came off essentially two years away from basketball (senior year due to the suspension, freshmen year due to redshirt) and was adjusting to a new position with new responsibilities in a new offense. I personally think he could have given us a good 10-12 minutes per game because I thought he was decent defensively last year and just needed to find a role offensively.

But that doesn't mean he would have been a contributor next year. I find it pretty odd to bemoan the loss of your fourth-post player and predict calamity if one of your other bigs gets hurt when in fact the same post rotation was in place last year and one of them did get hurt, yet Larson saw only a scant increase in minutes. For the season, he averaged 5.7 minutes and during the nine games following Yeguete's injury, he only saw the floor in six of those games for a total of 32 minutes, or 5.5 minutes per game--less than his average.

Yet Prather, who averaged 9.5 minutes per game on the year, played in eight games for a total of 86 minutes, or 10.8 minutes per game--more than his average. What that tells me is that when the exact situation some are concerned about did materialize (loss of post player to injury) and Larson had a chance to play, it was instead Prather who took the majority of the new minutes in the rotation, not Larson. Why would it be different this year? Or next year?

The chatter about short benches gets old because it is as if there were some Platonic idea out there about the length of a bench of which all other benches are merely short shadows. Most NBA coaches run eight-man rotations, with a ninth ordinarily in the queue based upon matchups, contingencies, etc. In the playoffs, they often shorten that rotation by one. And that is an 82-game season with 48-minute games often playing three or four times per week with much older, more easily fatigued players and deeper benches with more experienced, capable players. Yet we complain because Donovan rotates eight?

[REM08]

Originally Posted by NorthCaptivaGator

Based on he fact that he transferred after his scholarship was taken away and not after he played limited minutes last season.

With absolutely no inside info - I tend to agree. Its either because of having his scholarship pulled or its a big coincidence timing wise.

[dalwood13]

Originally Posted by REM08

With absolutely no inside info - I tend to agree. Its either because of having his scholarship pulled or its a big coincidence timing wise.

Then why wait until the semester started and waste what could have been a transfer year? It's most definitely about minutes. Coach Donovan expected a bigger improvement out of Cody and Cody did not improve enough to warrant playing time.

[InstiGATOR1]

Interesting couple of tweets today about Larson:

Kevin Brockway‏@gatorhoops

Billy D said he would take Larson back, said that Larson lost his love for the game.

and

Kevin Brockway‏@gatorhoops

Billy D on taking Larson back if he asked "If anyone knows about changing his mind, it's me." Joking about Magic, 2007.

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

Interesting couple of tweets today about Larson:



and

Very interesting, seems we need someone like Jo Noah to give him a call, get his head on straight, but damn, it is a lot of work, you gotta love it, especially if you are paying your own way

[GatorLurker]

[quote=NorthCaptivaGator;6106571]Very interesting, seems we need someone like Jo Noah to give him a call, get his head on straight.../QUOTE]

LOL

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Lurker, I was serious, I swear I read somewhere last year that Noah talked to Young about his commitment to playing and practicing at 100% all the time and we all know Noah had some issues with just how hard he needed to work after his freshman year, Billu helped him see the light and the rest is history

[InstiGATOR1]

Broadway turns the possibility of Larson coming back into an article. One wonders if Donovan is trying to turn encourage him to come back? He is part of the article:

Billy D would welcome Larson back
by Kevin Brockway

Florida coach Billy Donovan kept the door open for Cody Larson. But he doesn’t expect the 6-foot-9 big man from South Dakota to walk through it.

Donovan said he would let Larson back on the team if he decided he wanted to come back. Larson left the team on Friday to focus on his personal life and academics.

“If there’s anyone who knows about changing his mind, it’s me,” said Donovan, a self-deprecating jab at his six-day stint with the Orlando Magic in 2007. “I think right now for Cody if he legitimately felt like you know what, a week, two weeks from now, I miss this, I made a huge mistake, we’re not bringing anyone in right now, he could come back to our team.”

There is precedence. In 2009, Donovan welcomed forward Alex Tyus back to the team after he said he was transferring following his sophomore season. The 6-foot-8 Tyus was upset at the prospect of having to play center for a second straight season.

Hit the link to read the rest of his article.

http://brockway.blogs.gatorsports.co...e-larson-back/

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by rserina

And that is an 82-game season with 48-minute games often playing three or four times per week with much older, more easily fatigued players and deeper benches with more experienced, capable players. Yet we complain because Donovan rotates eight?

I don't disagree with much of your argument but NBA players are not more easily fatigued than college players. The opposite is generally true.

[bullish]

Rserina, the pros have centers backing up centers, forwards backing up forwards, we have guards backing up everyone this year if Pat and/or Murph get hurt. Eight man rotations, in the pros the Heat had at least five other backups that played and won it all. Depth got them through a long season.
My being wants to support the Gators and to discuss the basketball program for better or worse. Billy is a good coach who has done a lot of good for Florida basketball. He knows just like I do, we need bigs to back up bigs to compete with Kentucky and final fours slots. Hopefully Randle comes aboard and Emblid too. This would give us depth, weather the growing pains of 18 yr olds and get us back to the final four.

I hope Billy doesn't turn down Emblid waiting on Randle, Randle would be a capper to an amazing stretch of recruiting but he is waiting. If Emblid commits, we need him to come and grow into an amazing center.

My short bench rant is frustration for another year with razor thin depth and tough love has been played once again. I know he has had a few years with big depth but he always plays tough love with some backups and some of them have shoved off. I know he is trying to get these guys to buy in and get better, but sometimes it doesn't work out. I am sure I am not the only one who is frustrated and concerned about this current situation. All the pre season mags support our lack of depth. I also know 2013/14 we will be better in this regard to big depth

[GatorChoice]

Has anyone heard something further about Cody?

[MadduxFanII]

Nothing on Google and his Twitter feed hasn't been touched since April. He was apparently going to "step away from basketball" for a while, so it's possible we won't hear much from him for a bit.