UK vs UF game talk

[SwampFox]

Originally Posted by 60sDCGator

I would feel a little better about this game if Young had a presence inside offensively. Noel will make it very tough for us to do much if anything inside, so we better be shooting the ball well from the outside to loosen things up a bit. He had 12 blocked shots against two very good inside players at Ole Miss and we are basically down to just one. We looked great last night, but Miss. State is awful, so don't let that game fool anyone.

We were a little thin inside heading into the season, so obviously the loss of Yeguete is huge right now and we really do not have anyone else left. That being said, I believe in Billy and he will find a way to adjust his offense using 3 or 4 guards at times and rotating Young & Murphy, but Yeguete's length, rebounding ability and non stop motor are going to very hard to replace against good teams, much like what happened last year when was injured. This UK team is obviously not nearly as good as last years squad, but they are getting better & better and we are not as good without Yeguete, so watch out. If Frazier continues to play & shoot well and rebound and Prather continues to improve and get 100% healthy and we don't have another freakish night where the whole team had an off night, we have a chance to hold on until we can get Yeguete back. I guess you can see how important I believe Yeguete is to this team. I do believe we will win at home, but it could be very difficult to beat UK at Rupp by the time that game rolls around, but we'll see.

By the way, isn't college basketball, especially this year in the SEC a strange animal. We got blown out by a very average Arkansas team at their place and then they travel to play another average at best Vandy team and get beat by 18. Arkansas earlier this year got beat by 21 at South Carolina and then we hammered South Carolina at home the very next game. The fact that so many average teams every year are almost unbeatable at home has always been strange to me. I think it sometimes has a lot more to do with the the refs than the venue in my opinion.

You might want to revisit Young's stats from last year's games against better UK personnel..........and then, reassess.

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by SwampFox

You might want to revisit Young's stats from last year's games against better UK personnel..........and then, reassess.

It really is remarkable how much people have missed how well Young has stepped up against other big name centers in his career.

[rserina]

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

In this game I worry about size.

1. I worry that Cauley is 7' tall and Noel and Wiltjer are 6'10" tall compared to UF having only Young and Murphy and the next guy off the bench is Prather at 6'6" tall.

2. I worry that Goodwin is 6'5" tall and UF does not have big guards to defend him.

I expect UF to win, but t size is my worry in this game.

Not sure a 6'5" guard being matched up with good 6'2" defenses is that big of a concern. It isn't like he will be posting up Boynton and Wilbekin. And given his discretion on the perimeter, that doesn't bother me as much either.

Size in then post is a little challenging, but only once you get to that third guy. And again none of their guys are great post threats offensively, so the biggest obstacle becomes their ability to protect the rim. But that is where increased floor spacing really helps. Put Frazier at the four next to Young and they have to go small. Play Murphy at the five and those bigs have to chase you out to the arc.

[gatorlife]

If Billy plays Murphy at the 5 with 4 guards against Noel, would that draw Noel out of the paint to have to guard the 3 point line?

[CFITB]

Originally Posted by gatorlife

If Billy plays Murphy at the 5 with 4 guards against Noel, would that draw Noel out of the paint to have to guard the 3 point line?

I would think that Cal would have Wiltjer or Cauley-Stein guard Murphy in that scenario. Auburn tried to draw Noel out and it worked to a degree so I hope Cal finds a way to keep Nerlens under the basket.

[richardtangeman]

Determinants are bench depth and speed. UF must hustle upcourt on O and D. UK has equal physical speed; but appears youth of UK are not as relaxed in transiting 94 feet as fast as possible because of their youth. UK appears to use their speed of foot and quickness of reaction far better on D. To date UK's bench looks to be a better half court scoring team. UF needs to get out fast at start of halfs due to the lack of bench numbers because of injury impact. Believe Prather will be near 100% physically. Guards and Prather must rebound, particularly long 3 pt rebounds on defense. Court comfort should help gators handle potential UK runs. Hope Young will shot taking his body into UK's height. Go Gators...Work 'em silly.

[rserina]

Originally Posted by CFITB

I would think that Cal would have Wiltjer or Cauley-Stein guard Murphy in that scenario. Auburn tried to draw Noel out and it worked to a degree so I hope Cal finds a way to keep Nerlens under the basket.

What interests me is how Calipari plays it when Murphy is at the five with Frazier or Prather at the four. Without Yeguete, Murphy and Young will play even less together, meaning that you not only have to account for Murphy spacing the floor, but another post player, too. That could legitimately be five three-point threats on the floor at a time.

So, does Calipari go small with Poythress at the four, which would enable you to match quickness on the perimeter? Or does he stay big? Lots of complications with so little film since Yeguete went out. I suspect he revisits the tournament game from last year to see how we attacked with a similar lineup. It really opened things up from the arc and on the pick and roll, though we got killed on the glass and at the free throw line.

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by rserina

Not sure a 6'5" guard being matched up with good 6'2" defenses is that big of a concern. It isn't like he will be posting up Boynton and Wilbekin. And given his discretion on the perimeter, that doesn't bother me as much either.

Size in then post is a little challenging, but only once you get to that third guy. And again none of their guys are great post threats offensively, so the biggest obstacle becomes their ability to protect the rim. But that is where increased floor spacing really helps. Put Frazier at the four next to Young and they have to go small. Play Murphy at the five and those bigs have to chase you out to the arc.

I agree. The real issue is what do you do with the UK 4/5 backups. Certainly in the case of Cauley an argument can be made for having a guy like D. Walker just hack him if he gets the ball down low.

[sec1]

i think noel will shut down young and murphy will have a good game but we will miss Yeguette on D for sure .. UK is athletic enough to give us problems , we will win a very close one if we can make our free throws....

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by sec1

i think noel will shut down young and murphy will have a good game but we will miss Yeguette on D for sure .. UK is athletic enough to give us problems , we will win a very close one if we can make our free throws....

Young scored in double figures every game and totaled 43 points in 3 games against UK and Davis last year.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...2/patric-young

Noel is of course so much better than Davis that of course he will shut down Young. Good grief.

[UFSECKINGS]

We're at home.. UF don't play around at home.

[UFSECKINGS]

Keep a hand in Wiltjers face... Cannot let him have open 3's

[fox]

Not much mystery this season. We win at home on energy and hot shooting. Lose a close one at UK on Senior day.

[REM08]

If Young is in the game, Noel can guard him and sag off anytime he's near the perimeter. If Murphy is at the 5, its another story. Noel will be forced to guard him wherever he's at. This means he'll be pulled away from the basket. The only other option is zoning.

I don't think Noel will "shut down" Young. But I do expect him to guard him better than Davis did. Davis wasn't nearly the defender (on ball) that Noel is. Noel is also surprisingly good at dealing with bigs that have a lot more weight on them than he does. That being said, I don't see Noel blocking Young's hook shots in the lane. Young is wide enough he should be able to get good enough separation to prevent that. He hit those all day over Davis also.

[ufgator4ever]

Originally Posted by fox

Not much mystery this season. We win at home on energy and hot shooting. Lose a close one at UK on Senior day.

Correct. Except now it's Sophomore day.

[Brewski]

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

Young scored in double figures every game and totaled 43 points in 3 games against UK and Davis last year.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...2/patric-young

Noel is of course so much better than Davis that of course he will shut down Young. Good grief.

That guy doesn't let stats get in his way. Always the doom and gloom.

[60sDCGator]

Hey SwampFox, that was last year my man. Different Gator team and different Kentucky team, therefore, what Young did last year is like comparing Apples to Oranges. I like Patric and a lot of what he brings, but offensive skills around the basket are not among them. His one little move across the middle of the lane hook shot over his tight shoulder will most likely be swatted away by Noel the majority of the time. I hope he does stay another year, because he needs it to work on his offensive moves around the basket to succeed in the NBA. I was talking to Bill Koss recently at a local Gator Club meeting and he agreed that while he likes a lot of Patric's game, he said that he does not have very good footwork; not real good hands and really needs some work on his overall offensive skills. That being said, he may have a big night Tuesday and I'm hoping he does, because I believe we may need him to be at his best, which by the way, he was not against Arkansas. Arkansas went right at him, succeeded in getting him extremely frustrated early on and in the process took him right out of the game.

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by InstiGATOR1

It really is remarkable how much people have missed how well Young has stepped up against other big name centers in his career.

Yep.

I'm not really concerned about Noel possibly blocking Young's shot once or twice (which could happen although Young is pretty good at creating some space, if needed, to get his shots off). I'm much more worried about Noel blocking a half dozen or more of our guards' shots if they try to take it all the way to the rim even though Noel is waiting there.



Young's production is usually more dependent on how the defense plays us and on how adept we are at getting him the ball in position than on whether Young is individually "bringing it" or not.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by regurgigator

Yep.

I'm not really concerned about Noel possibly blocking Young's shot once or twice (which could happen although Young is pretty good at creating some space, if needed, to get his shots off). I'm much more worried about Noel blocking a half dozen or more of our guards' shots if they try to take it all the way to the rim even though Noel is waiting there.


Young's production is usually more dependent on how the defense plays us and on how adept we are at getting him the ball in position than on whether Young is individually "bringing it" or not.

You would think that after watching him do this for the past several months, our guards will get the message that one on one is not the way to go.

[gatorbogey]

i sorta want noel to come over to the guards on the drive - that will leave young open underneath for the flush, if properly dished to him (and he doesn't fumble)...
last year, davis would block from the weakside (right)?