Provided we stay healthy; I predict we win it all!

[tgatorstew]

I know! Some of you will call this premature, or even better that I am just seeing things as they miraculously appear in those old orange and blue colored glasses. Truth is, when it comes to college sports; I am blind without that particular prescription of eye ware. I will even dig the ditch even deeper and predict that we will be a 2 seed in the South or East with Duke as the number 1 seed in our region. Why do I feel confident in my prediction?

1. Billy the Kid will have us ready for the tournament. He has done a great job getting us prepared for the tournament for the past two years with two elite eight performances. When it comes to tournament readiness; BD is a top 3 coach in my humble opinion. Frankly, there is no one I would rather have getting a team tournament ready. That includes Coach K and Izzo.
2. Full compliment of players that are healthy. We have been beat up all year. If the group of 8 gets time together and develops the rhythm we had before, then we will be awfully tough.
3. Kenny Boynton will get hot in the NCAA tournament. I realize he has been cold shooting just over 30% from beyond the arc, and can't seem to hit a big shot. However, he has maintained a positive leadership role and has continued to contribute significantly in other areas. I just have this gut feeling that come tournament time he will get hot from behind the arc.
4. Team Defense! When we have our full compliment of players, especially Yuegette, our team defense the best in the country. Not only do we have great individual defenders but our guys rotate extremely well, and Donovan's game planning is as good as it gets.
5. Michael Frazier- he is the best 3 point shooter I have seen since Humph. I think the kid will get hot in the tournament and will have close to a 20 point game in a close game.

These predictions are biased because I am biased. I have tried to reconcile my passions with as much truth as I can find. For those of you who are experts; I hope my rant was not too insulting. I just had to say.

Florida Gators 2013 National Champions!

[malscott]

Optimism is good. And, I hope you are right. I believe you hit it on the head with #2. If we can have a healthy group and develop that rhythm again...anything is possible. If Boynton could be a bit more clutch, that would be tits. With everyone healthy we have enough talent to go around and fill the gaps when someone is a little off. Here's to their success come tournament time. Go Gators.

[ThePlayer]

Hope you're right...but I'll believe it when I see it.

Our lack of rebounding won't get us very far when the 3's aren't falling.

[tommyuf21]

I woudn't bet on it.

I would be thrilled with a final four appearance. I see this team as an elite 8 team, with a shot at the final four if we luck out on matchups.

Someone is going to have to get hot and become a go to guy for us to win one those tough games. We're going to have to shoot really well in order to have a chance, because our low post game isn't going to get it done against the better teams.

[1982Gator]

If WY can get his legs back and MF II gets back to his game, we've got a shot.

Go Gators!

[gatorbogey]

need everyone healthy and performing at a high level.
when we are and performing well we're a top 5 team defensively and a top 5 team offensively. when we're at our peak or near it, it's awfully tough to beat us. will take a team playing out of their mind to beat us.

[UFreak]

It's not really that crazy of a prediction. We have a legitimate shot assuming we are at full health.

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

I know! Some of you will call this premature, or even better that I am just seeing things as they miraculously appear in those old orange and blue colored glasses. Truth is, when it comes to college sports; I am blind without that particular prescription of eye ware. I will even dig the ditch even deeper and predict that we will be a 2 seed in the South or East with Duke as the number 1 seed in our region. Why do I feel confident in my prediction?

I happen to have glasses that are even MORE orange and blue than yours. Watch this...

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

1. Billy the Kid will have us ready for the tournament. He has done a great job getting us prepared for the tournament for the past two years with two elite eight performances. When it comes to tournament readiness; BD is a top 3 coach in my humble opinion. Frankly, there is no one I would rather have getting a team tournament ready. That includes Coach K and Izzo.

Top 3? Try more like Top 1. This team is better than last year's team, which he took to the Elite 8. The competition this year is much easier. End Result: National Championship.

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

2. Full compliment of players that are healthy. We have been beat up all year. If the group of 8 gets time together and develops the rhythm we had before, then we will be awfully tough.

Exactly. Timing is everything. Now that we finally got everyone healthy, we will be peaking at the exact right time. This is all part of Billy's Master Plan. He's a genius. End Result: National Championship.

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

3. Kenny Boynton will get hot in the NCAA tournament. I realize he has been cold shooting just over 30% from beyond the arc, and can't seem to hit a big shot. However, he has maintained a positive leadership role and has continued to contribute significantly in other areas. I just have this gut feeling that come tournament time he will get hot from behind the arc.

I actually have posted something similar to this on numerous other threads. KB is a senior. Seniors don't just "get cold" after three years. He's definitely holding back and saving it for the tournament. If he shoots under 65% from three-point land, I'll be disappointed. Result: National Championship.

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

4. Team Defense! When we have our full compliment of players, especially Yuegette, our team defense the best in the country. Not only do we have great individual defenders but our guys rotate extremely well, and Donovan's game planning is as good as it gets.

Try best defense that ever existed. Our numbers are awesome, but think about how much more awesome they would be if we weren't blowing out the competition. We give up so many "mercy" points at the end of games. This is probably also part of Billy's Master Plan in order to not let it go to our team's heads. They are defensive Gods. Result: National Championship.

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

5. Michael Frazier- he is the best 3 point shooter I have seen since Humph. I think the kid will get hot in the tournament and will have close to a 20 point game in a close game.

He's really good, but not as good as Boynton. He'll probably only shoot something llike 60%, not 65% like KB. Result: National Championship where we win all 6 games by a combined 174 points.

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

These predictions are biased because I am biased. I have tried to reconcile my passions with as much truth as I can find. For those of you who are experts; I hope my rant was not too insulting. I just had to say.

I am totally not biased. I did the math and can prove everything I say. You were actually were just a bit insulting as you seemed to underrate our team a bit. You are forgiven!

Originally Posted by tgatorstew

Florida Gators 2013 National Champions!

Duh!


I love these posts! Keep up the good work everyone!

[gator2109]

Neutral and Away games are much different all the way around. This gets lost on some during the season's struggles - especially this year when all of ours have been away from home.

We have played one game back at full strength. I've said it a ton here but the SEC tourney will give us a glimpse of what this team will be in the big dance so I will wait and see.

Yes, we have flaws for a national title run, but please name me 5 other teams you feel a lot more comfortable taking in your bracket pool other than UF to win it all?

[gator0316]

It all depends on if we are hitting the threes, if not were done.

[mrgator]

Originally Posted by ThePlayer

Hope you're right...but I'll believe it when I see it.

Our lack of rebounding won't get us very far when the 3's aren't falling.

Don't forget that before Yugette was injured we were much stronger in rebounding and won most of the battles on the board. And with the emergence of Prather as a rebounding threat, we should be strong on the boards once Yugette is healthy.

As for the OP: I love the O&B tint to those glasses and will say the same thing. This Gator team (when healthy) is one of the best and has every bit the chance to win it all so I plan to start my bracket by advancing them all the way to the winner's bracket. The rest I can fill in for fun.

[dawny]

We will need for the Coach Billy the Kid to let the bb fly with Rosario and Frazier leading the shots,this should open up the inside game like the old days with Noan and Horford, but playing conservative and chewing out the player for taking the open shot will only put us back in Gainesville,good luck Gators

[REM08]

Research shows that those with higher levels of optimism and higher expectations actually end up happier than those of us who don't. This can seem illogical, but isn't. You'd think that, if in this instance the team doesn't live up to expectations, it would hurt people with the high expectations the most and the more realistic or even pesimistic wouldn't be as jolted. This doesn't end up being the case. The optimistic person has a sort of psychological immune system that helps them accept outcomes that dont' meet an expectation (much more open to extenuating circumstances and still high expectations in the future). This trait is the same one that helped produce the high expectations in the first place.

I may have bored most of you there, but this has always interested me - as I'm one of the (unfortunate IMO) realists.

[gatorjlm]

I've thought this. If we are 100% healthy, back in BB shape (WY), we can click and are certainly capable of winning everything. This field is pretty open with no unbeatables out there.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by gator2109

Neutral and Away games are much different all the way around. This gets lost on some during the season's struggles - especially this year when all of ours have been away from home.

We have played one game back at full strength. I've said it a ton here but the SEC tourney will give us a glimpse of what this team will be in the big dance so I will wait and see.

Yes, we have flaws for a national title run, but please name me 5 other teams you feel a lot more comfortable taking in your bracket pool other than UF to win it all?

It's a pretty open field and that's why we have a shot. In a typical year, with one or two very dominant teams, I would say no way.

I don't think you can name 5 teams, which is why I feel that we have a shot at the final four. However, I don't want to face Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State or even Kansas before the final weekend. I'm wary about teams with low post depth and size advantage, because we just don't matchup in that department.

[HALLGATOR]

Originally Posted by tommyuf21

It's a pretty open field and that's why we have a shot. In a typical year, with one or two very dominant teams, I would say no way.

I don't think you can name 5 teams, which is why I feel that we have a shot at the final four. However, I don't want to face Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State or even Kansas before the final weekend. I'm wary about teams with low post depth and size advantage, because we just don't matchup in that department.

I think it is much harder to make an accurate assessment of how we match up when we haven't played at full strength for most of the season. Although Will still isn't 100% I am hoping we will have a better overview of the team by Saturday or maybe next week.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by HALLGATOR

I think it is much harder to make an accurate assessment of how we match up when we haven't played at full strength for most of the season. Although Will still isn't 100% I am hoping we will have a better overview of the team by Saturday or maybe next week.

I agree the SEC tournament should be a good gauge. If we sweep it (and play good opposition in the process), that's going to increase the optimism on my part.

I want to see our low post game become more consistent. I want to see Scottie, Kenny and Rosario driving the lane and dishing to Patric, Will and Prather for easy baskets. I want to see good post entry passes. I want to see Patric establishing position close enough to the hoop.

If we get better in these areas, we can go all the way. I know our guards will shoot well enough and our team defense will keep us in every game we play. However, when we face teams that have length and can bother our guards, we can't rely on taking contested threes and hope that our post guys can rebound the misses.

[RealGatorFan]

Way too optimistic at this point so I'll wait until after the SEC tourney. Keys in making a run are:

1 - Beat Kentucky at Rupp (we need to get the road monkey off our back)
2 - Make it to the SECCG
3 - Get WY back in game shape
4 - KB turns it on
5 - Hit 70+% of our FT

[HALLGATOR]

Disagreeing with what the OP wrote is fine. It is not OK to insult him in doing so.

[GatorPlanet]

Originally Posted by ThePlayer

Hope you're right...but I'll believe it when I see it.

Our lack of rebounding won't get us very far when the 3's aren't falling.

We were outrebounding everyone when our team was healthy. I think we'll get back to that point, with Yeguete, FrazierII, and Prather--all good rebounders who have missed time--back at close to full speed as we enter the tourney.