I think even MadGator will concede....

[HALLGATOR]

Originally Posted by themistocles

The fact that the Gators fail at breaking pressure sometimes can be attributed to one thing, and one thing only: coaching.

.

Don't agree with that at all. The ability of the players also figures into it.

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by tampajack1

Erv is having a great season in Italy.

He is. Here are his stats through 13 games:

http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?C...am=5233&Page=3

[akaGatorhoops]

Thanks for the link! Well done, erv. Nearly 41% from the arc, nearly 90% from the line and over 17ppg.

[Row6]

Originally Posted by akaGatorhoops

True... my wording was poor and did not intend to direct blame only to Wilby. When I say inept, it is relating to his inability to simply dribble thru the pressure... which is something we took for granted the past few years.
Again... this team will rely on a more traditional press break, but has yet to master the spacing and passing. And true... not nearly all of that can be put on wilby.

+1

EW had a velcro handle.

[HALLGATOR]

It's real simple. The more points Erv scores the better he looks to the owners. The better he looks to the owners the more money they are willing to part with. The more money Erv makes the more tacos he can buy.

[gatordavisl]

Originally Posted by themistocles

The fact that the Gators fail at breaking pressure sometimes can be attributed to one thing, and one thing only: coaching.

Shirley you jest.

[rserina]

I loved Walker, but why...why...why do you invite this crap? It will go nowhere.

[akaGatorhoops]

Originally Posted by rserina

I loved Walker, but why...why...why do you invite this crap? It will go nowhere.

I disagree. We have seen some admittedly strong erv critics acknowledge this lost aspect. That is progress for any discussion relating to waker!

[Killer_Rabbits]

Erv, oh, how I love thee.

[SwampFox]

Originally Posted by HALLGATOR

It's real simple. The more points Erv scores the better he looks to the owners. The better he looks to the owners the more money they are willing to part with. The more money Erv makes the more tacos he can buy.

That part was just cold, man....

[HALLGATOR]

Originally Posted by SwampFox

That part was just cold, man....

Yeah, it was but I couldn't help myself.

[MJGator8104]

Question...would the team (esp the upper classmen) handle the press better if they had not had a great one man press breaker on the team for four years? Not that I wish we hadn't had Walker but just alluding to the fact that, maybe, because the team expected and relied upon Walker to be a one man press breaker, their skill at team breaking the press was stifled a bit...

[akaGatorhoops]

Originally Posted by MJGator8104

Question...would the team (esp the upper classmen) handle the press better if they had not had a great one man press breaker on the team for four years? Not that I wish we hadn't had Walker but just alluding to the fact that, maybe, because the team expected and relied upon Walker to be a one man press breaker, their skill at team breaking the press was stifled a bit...

Yeah... Definitelyossible that the team practiced less a traditional press break bc it knew it could often dribble thru pressure. That said, a press break is somewhat fundamental, and the team should not need seasons off practice. This is especially true since they likely practice against their own press each day.

[rserina]

Donovan said in post game that it was essentially two things: 1) Bigs weren't coming to the ball and making themselves available for the pass when the ballhandler is trapped, and 2) when we beat the press, the ballhandler is picking up his dribble and ends up getting trapped in the halfcourt. One thing easy to overlook is how in the past we've had really smart passing/ballhandling froncourt players, from Parsons, Macklin, or Werner back to Horford and Noah. Those guys bailed out our guards a ton over the years.

[ofmgator]

Walker was a great player but his fearlessness used to drive me crazy. He'd drive the lane, go in too far and then lose the ball or be blocked. Based on that I'll always feel he hurt the team in critical moments. This team is just fine without him.

[ReggieNelson]

wilbekin is a below average ball handler for a pg

also seems like we picked up our dribble too close to the sidelines

[madgator]

for as critical as I always was regarding Walker's play. I always said that in the end he was zero-sum. So for all of those criticisms, there had to be positives.

yes, press breaking single-handidly was one of those strengths.


All in all, at 12-2 I am not in any sort of panic mode on any particular facet or issue with this team. Both loses were road losses against quality teams. In fact, I thought we played near perfect basketball against Zona for 37 1/2 minutes. The K-St. loss was just one of those games. We didn't match up well against them, they hit a lot of shots to kill every momentum run we made, and overall we were cold and generally sloppy.

If I do have any minor concerns it would be front court depth and the fact that we don't have a go to scorer (would kill to have Beal around this season).

I'm looking forward to our matchup with Mizzou on Saturday. That game will be a big progress meter as to where our team is at, especially our guard play.


as for walker, I am glad to see that he is playing well in the in the B league. perhaps this strong showing will earn him a promotion to either the A league or to a stronger league in another country.

always good to see a Gator succeed.

[tampajack1]

Originally Posted by ofmgator

Walker was a great player but his fearlessness used to drive me crazy. He'd drive the lane, go in too far and then lose the ball or be blocked. Based on that I'll always feel he hurt the team in critical moments. This team is just fine without him.

Walker handled the ball a lot and averaged 2 turnovers per game.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by tampajack1

Walker handled the ball a lot and averaged 2 turnovers per game.

extremely misleading stat. Walker was one of the worst I have seen as a Gator point guard in terms of both setting up team mates and giving passes that were received in the "right spots" for shot rhythm.


a very basic but extremely important fine point.


way too often Walker's passes would be caught at the knees or off and high to a side or on the defender side.

as was stated, Walker played a ton of minutes and handled the ball a whole bunch to only average 4.3 assists per game for his 3 year time as the primary point guard while averaging 2.33 turnovers during that same time.

[REM08]

Originally Posted by HALLGATOR

Yeah, it was but I couldn't help myself.

Haha, I didn't even catch it the first time.