Where does SW rank among the other PGs in the Billy D era?

[madgator]

Originally Posted by GatorRade

I thought this at first as well, but I now think that he is exceptional. I don't know if that means he isn't "overrated" because it is hard to tell exactly how highly he is rated. However, I'd venture to say that if he was on our team, you'd see a lot of posters on this board claiming we had the "best perimeter defender ever".

He's really good defensively no doubt. I just am in awe of what I am seeing out of SW. The area where I am most impressed is his off the ball man defense coming off screens. He just is not seeming to get caught up in them.

His positioning and anticipation have been near perfection.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by tommyuf21

Scottie still has some work to do, in regards to becoming a little more consistent. He's prone to some really bad turnovers, but I'm confident that will go away with more experience.

He is averaging less turnovers than our previous PG did in any of his seasons starting at point guard. not to mention how many hidden "bad shot" turnovers we had to suffer through. SW is shooting 47% from the field this year and his 3 point shot production is way more efficient than our previous point guard.

He is also averaging more assists per game

and more steals

our offensive team production and efficiency is as good as it's been since the '04s. Scoring an almost equal amount of points with less total shots per game and possessions. which means we are disciplined, patient, and getting good high percentage shots. all attributed to solid point guard play as that is where it all starts.

couple that with outstanding defensive effort.

what you have is a floor leader that is dictating the style of our team. Defensive tenacity and offensive discipline. The point guard pretty much always determines the teams style. in years past, we were fast paced, undisciplined, prone to bad decisions, which led to us having a hard time putting teams away.

look at our team's shot distribution this year compared to years past. All 5 starters are extremely close in number of shots taken. no huge discrepencies. compare that to the last few years. wide discrepencies. not an indicator of a well run offensive unit.


I can go on until I'm blue in the face but the difference in the quality of basketball should be obvious at this point.


but yeah......SW is prone to really bad turnovers

[iam4uf]

Many have remarked negatively about SW's ball handling, and I have to agree that he makes some careless turnovers. However, I have been very impressed with his ability to keep his dribble alive in almost every imaginable situation. This allows him to remain a triple threat (dribble, pass, shoot) offensively which helps with our offensive flow. Many times I see SW probe the defense on the dribble, get challenged & back out so he can try again or set something else up.

Most college point guards I've noticed seem to get cut off then stop & pass the ball. When they stop dribbling because of a defender they lose the threat of dribbling (of course), but also with a defender right there these other point guards lose the threat to shoot (or try to force a bad shot over the defender) so passing is all that is left. A lot of times the ball gets passed right back to the point guard, who then sets the play back up but at the cost of some continuity.

[themistocles]

Originally Posted by demosthenes

1. Jason Williams
-------
2. Calathes
3. Nelson
4. Green
5. Wilbekin

And, where did the Gators play at the end of both Calathes seasons?????

NIT

His defensive weaknesses limited the overall Gator defensive ability, even worse that Walker (who, at least could be a pest, although he was easy to pass or shoot over).

Putting Calathes in there because of his offensive abilities simply does not reflect Greatness in any way, shape or form. A GREAT player is a balanced player, one who contributes to all aspects of the team game, and Calathes simply was not that by any stretch of the imagination.

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by iam4uf

Many have remarked negatively about SW's ball handling, and I have to agree that he makes some careless turnovers.

Some of what you may be thinking of a negative comments toward Wilbekin's ball handling is really praise at the amazing ball handler Green was. He almost literally had no help but handle presses with no problem.

I remember all the pre-game hype for the 2007 championship game about how much trouble Ohio State PG Conley might give him. In the actual game Green had no real problem.

[GatorLurker]

I for one am totally impressed with SW's play this year this year. He has far exceeded my expectations. He has been outstanding.

I am just hoping that Madgator's man-crush of Scottie on NBN isn't just a passive-aggressive slap at Walker. EW brought lots of good things to the table for the good guys, but SW this year is certainly an upgrade and a bigger one that I could have ever hoped for.

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Originally Posted by iam4uf

Many have remarked negatively about SW's ball handling, and I have to agree that he makes some careless turnovers. However, I have been very impressed with his ability to keep his dribble alive in almost every imaginable situation. This allows him to remain a triple threat (dribble, pass, shoot) offensively which helps with our offensive flow. Many times I see SW probe the defense on the dribble, get challenged & back out so he can try again or set something else up.

Most college point guards I've noticed seem to get cut off then stop & pass the ball. When they stop dribbling because of a defender they lose the threat of dribbling (of course), but also with a defender right there these other point guards lose the threat to shoot (or try to force a bad shot over the defender) so passing is all that is left. A lot of times the ball gets passed right back to the point guard, who then sets the play back up but at the cost of some continuity.

I agree, he is great at getting into the lane, keeping his dribble and pulling it back out to start again, sometimes only to quickly dart back in and to the rim, this is where he has improved the most, until this year he was really hesitant to do anything other than pass it around the perimeter and take the occasional wide open 3, his offensive game has really progressed.

[tampajack1]

Originally Posted by NorthCaptivaGator

I agree, he is great at getting into the lane, keeping his dribble and pulling it back out to start again, sometimes only to quickly dart back in and to the rim, this is where he has improved the most, until this year he was really hesitant to do anything other than pass it around the perimeter and take the occasional wide open 3, his offensive game has really progressed.

It is amazing to me the transformation that Scottie has made in the last month or so. His confidence and progress grows every game. He might end up as the best point guard at UF in the Donovan era.

[ApexNC]

Originally Posted by madgator

He is averaging less turnovers than our previous PG did in any of his seasons starting at point guard. not to mention how many hidden "bad shot" turnovers we had to suffer through. SW is shooting 47% from the field this year and his 3 point shot production is way more efficient than our previous point guard.

He is also averaging more assists per game

and more steals

our offensive team production and efficiency is as good as it's been since the '04s. Scoring an almost equal amount of points with less total shots per game and possessions. which means we are disciplined, patient, and getting good high percentage shots. all attributed to solid point guard play as that is where it all starts.

couple that with outstanding defensive effort.

what you have is a floor leader that is dictating the style of our team. Defensive tenacity and offensive discipline. The point guard pretty much always determines the teams style. in years past, we were fast paced, undisciplined, prone to bad decisions, which led to us having a hard time putting teams away.

look at our team's shot distribution this year compared to years past. All 5 starters are extremely close in number of shots taken. no huge discrepencies. compare that to the last few years. wide discrepencies. not an indicator of a well run offensive unit.


I can go on until I'm blue in the face but the difference in the quality of basketball should be obvious at this point.


but yeah......SW is prone to really bad turnovers

Now you see how the rest of us feel about you harping on Walker's shortcomings. Every player is different. Walker, the career leader in assists and top 5 in scoring, was great for UF. Scottie is working out great too. Let's just enjoy that we got to watch both play.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by themistocles

And, where did the Gators play at the end of both Calathes seasons?????

NIT

His defensive weaknesses limited the overall Gator defensive ability, even worse that Walker (who, at least could be a pest, although he was easy to pass or shoot over).

Putting Calathes in there because of his offensive abilities simply does not reflect Greatness in any way, shape or form. A GREAT player is a balanced player, one who contributes to all aspects of the team game, and Calathes simply was not that by any stretch of the imagination.

Nick saw the floor really well. I'll give him credit for that and when he was on, he could light it up from outside.

However, he was noticeably absent in crunch time and I think the team really could've used some leadership from him.

When I think of Calathes, two instances come to my mind. Watching him whiff three straight free throws against UK that could have tied the game and his final SEC tourney game against Auburn when he (and noone but Walker) was willing to put his neck on the line and try to make a shot with the clock winding down.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by GatorLurker

I for one am totally impressed with SW's play this year this year. He has far exceeded my expectations. He has been outstanding.

I am just hoping that Madgator's man-crush of Scottie on NBN isn't just a passive-aggressive slap at Walker. EW brought lots of good things to the table for the good guys, but SW this year is certainly an upgrade and a bigger one that I could have ever hoped for.

Not at all. As stated, I enjoy aesthetically pleasing basketball. Solid fundamentals, good decision making, proper execution. Team play on both offense and defense.

this team is everything I hope to see. I love when my team is the model of good basketball.

the past three years, we may have won a lot of games. We may have made 2 elite 8's. but I believe we were capable of more. why? because our floor leader was poor in some very key areas.

this year, I am thoroughly enjoying the way our team is playing. even after the arizona game. I wasn't upset or angry. I thought, for 38 minutes of the game, we played at an optimal level.

I'm strange in that regard. For example, I really didn't watch Gator basketball for a good stretch during the Walsh/Roberson years. Not that I wasn't pulling for the team or I didn't want them to win. I just couldn't stand watching the way they played the game.

I have to enjoy what I am watching and it is certainly not always predicated on Ws and Ls

[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by GatorRade

I thought this at first as well, but I now think that he is exceptional. I don't know if that means he isn't "overrated" because it is hard to tell exactly how highly he is rated. However, I'd venture to say that if he was on our team, you'd see a lot of posters on this board claiming we had the "best perimeter defender ever".

My thoughts as well. I rolled my eyes at the announcers fawning over him but after watching him play in several games I found myself more surprised at his defensive game than other players I've seen. Offensively and his passing ability/creativity are just meh.

[609gjk]

Scottie is our best defensive point guard ever and what he is doing on offense this year has been crazy good. He is in complete control of our offense and the one quality that he has better than everyone else is to penetrate to the middle of the defense. And he keeps getting better in front of our eyes. It is very impressive.

Who would you take first on your team to be point guard. My choice is Scottie for his overall game.

[HALLGATOR]

I would take Jason Williams. Love Scottie's game but if I am putting together a team he is my first pick for PG.

[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by HALLGATOR

I would take Jason Williams. Love Scottie's game but if I am putting together a team he is my first pick for PG.

And it's not close.

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by tommyuf21

Nick saw the floor really well. I'll give him credit for that and when he was on, he could light it up from outside.

However, he was noticeably absent in crunch time and I think the team really could've used some leadership from him.

When I think of Calathes, two instances come to my mind. Watching him whiff three straight free throws against UK that could have tied the game and his final SEC tourney game against Auburn when he (and noone but Walker) was willing to put his neck on the line and try to make a shot with the clock winding down.

I think if you went back through Calathes' whole career you would find that he hit a lot of crunch-time shots and FT's for us.

For the UK game, I think that's the game I recall where Calathes put the first FT right on the front rim (where excellent FT shooters often put the shot because it will go in 90% of the time) and he got robbed by an unkind bounce. Don't really remember the 2nd FT anymore, but didn't Nick miss the last FT on purpose since there was hardly any time left on the clock and we needed a rebound and score to have a chance? You make it sound like a "4-brick Nick" type of choke (referencing Nick Anderson's 4 infamous misses for the Orlando Magic in the NBA Championship Series when making any one of the 4 FTs would have clinched Game 1, which they lost).

I'll agree that the last few games of Nick's career were a struggle as he couldn't seem to find the balance between trying to carry that limited team and not doing too much himself. After Donovan benched him in that one game for trying to do it all, Nick became a little overly cautious about avoiding taking over. It's the only time I pretty strongly disagreed with the way Donovan handled a situation as I think it backfired on that team, which didn't have much going for it beyond Calathes' individual excellence.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by demosthenes

And it's not close.

that's fair.....I just have a hard time putting Jason in my list considering he only played like 20 games for us.

but yes. he is our best and yes it's not even close

[gatordd]

I've known all along how much of a stud Scottie is. He is really showing it this year, great kid.

[GboroGator]

1) White Chocolate
------------------
Honorable mentions: Green, Nelson, Walker/Wilbekin

I was never a fan of Calathes. Just can't get over a 6'6 guy that can't dunk a basketball. Doubt he ever sniffs the NBA.

[ldgator]

I think he and Justin Hamilton are probably the two best defenders at the PG position we've ever had. JHam was LOCKDOWN.