Gator Country

gogators73 · 03-11-2013, 11:12 AM

I'm sorry but we need to go THROUGH Prather on offense. Through him and Young until teams will let us shoot more 3's.

After getting rushed back and playing 18 minutes vs. Arkansas, he played 22 minutes vs. Miss State and since then has been superb.

In the past 9 games he is shooting 62% (33/53) and averaging 4.2 rebounds per game. In those 9 games he is playing 20.4 minutes per game.

His stats when playing 24 or more minutes during this stretch:
vs. Arkansas- 27 minutes, 9 rebounds, 8 points
vs. Alabama- 24 minutes, 9 rebounds, 10 points
vs. Kentucky- 24 minutes, 9 rebounds, 4 points (small points but shot 2-6, not 2-11 like some of our players)

If he played the minutes of the starters he would be our best player IMO.

He isn't hesitating anymore. He now makes a move to the basket or keeps the ball moving. He knocks down open jumpers. He creates his own shot. He REBOUNDS.

#TeamPrather

MadduxFanII · 03-11-2013, 11:38 AM

I like Casey, and I find myself growing increasingly confident in his offensive game (he's got himself a nice little jump shot), but we can't just cite his shooting percentages and conclude that he needs to be the focal point of this offense. At least part of the reason he's shooting so well is the limited nature of what we ask him to do on his offense; he shoots in close or when he has a wide open jump shot. If we asked him to be The Creator and Playmaker those percentages would invariably decline as he took on the burden of making more difficult shots.

Jaggator · 03-11-2013, 11:50 AM

http://www.gatorcountry.com/swampgas...d.php?t=258646

phideltdj · 03-11-2013, 11:51 AM

We definitely need to recognize when their is a defensive mismatch in Casey's favor as I think against UK he had Mays or one of the other guards on him several times.

**ThePlayer** · 03-11-2013, 12:07 PM

Count me as a huge fan.
Prather is totally fearless.

If he doesn't start or play significant minutes next year, it would be a crime.

xenythx · 03-11-2013, 12:19 PM

Just like in football... the backups are always the favorite and better than the starters.

gatordd · 03-11-2013, 12:35 PM

LOL have you seen him dribble on the perimeter? He has a sweet mid range, and can dunk with the best of them; but you're kidding yourself if you think we can run our offense through him.

gogators73 · 03-11-2013, 12:39 PM

Who says he has to dribble out on the perimeter? Plays need to be set up so he can be back shorter guys down on the post or so he can beat bigs to the rim.

Prather is completely underutilized.

GatorPlanet · 03-11-2013, 12:44 PM

He's a great athlete, but not a great scorer, and not a good ballhandler. He missed two open 5-footers late against UK. I'm not knocking him; love having him come in and give us that spark. But his game still has some deficiencies. Of course, you could say that about all our guys...

Colin · 03-11-2013, 12:49 PM

To say someone playing 25 minutes a game or so is being "underutilized" seems odd to me.

Next year he will play behind DFS.

I agree that he has shown more confidence and certainly has been much better about not turning it over. I am confident Billy knows what he is doing with Casey and the team in general.

gogators73 · 03-11-2013, 01:21 PM

He is playing 20.4 in the past 9 games. Not 25. That is a big difference. That's 1/8th of a game.

108 · 03-11-2013, 02:07 PM

If not Casey, who?

Who should be getting more touches?

MichaelJoeWilliamson · 03-11-2013, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePlayer

If he doesn't start or play significant minutes next year, it would be a crime.

He will have to. He might be the only true three we have next year that has both good offense and defense.

gatordd · 03-11-2013, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 108

If not Casey, who?

Who should be getting more touches?

ummm our best option, Erik Murphy

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelJoeWilliamson

He will have to. He might be the only true three we have next year that has both good offense and defense.

False, DFS was built for the 3 in our system.. If Pat goes and Walker doesn't qualify, well then maybe...

themistocles · 03-11-2013, 02:43 PM

Well, I too am a Prather advocate. Per minute played, he and Yeguete and formerly Wilbekin, are the best overall players on the team, if for no other reason than it is exceedingly difficult to score over any of them and they play team ball to the T.

However, I think we need to trust Billy D's judgment on this.

**67walkon** · 03-11-2013, 03:06 PM

Surely not another drunken dribbler?

The kid has great athleticism. He's finding his way and is a key contributor. Leave him alone or at least just cheer for him.

mikechap93 · 03-11-2013, 05:01 PM

the only faults on this thread about prather are his ball handling skills and missing a couple 5 footers.

rosario is perhaps the worst on the team when it comes to handling the ball (not saying he is the worst dribbler, worst ball handler) he has some of the worst turnovers. he over dribbles too many times for a senior. then when he doesnt dribble, his passing is suspect. if rosario isnt sitting in the corner to shoot with the occasional drive to the basket, id much rather prather in over him. Mike is a great scorer but consistently tries to do too much.

then there are the missed easy shots as prather's other flaw. in traffic wilbekin misses more than too many layups. they said he was "trying to draw a foul" late vs uk but he was going away from the hoop and threw up a backwards circus shot. along with that i remember him missing 1 or 2 other layups down the stretch that were much easier than the miss i remember from prather.

so late in the game, id love to see kenny run a rub screen hand off to scottie, scottie drive in and hit prather or murphy for the midrange jumper/short drive

gtr2x · 03-12-2013, 04:06 PM

Prather is getting better, finally makes over 60% of his free throws and has a nice little jumper near the basket and plays defense aggressively. At this point, Im happy with that. His shortcomings are well documented above. Probably has the most turnovers per minute played (since some folks like to break things down that way).

MichaelJoeWilliamson · 03-12-2013, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatordd

False, DFS was built for the 3 in our system.. If Pat goes and Walker doesn't qualify, well then maybe...

But if Young goes pro and given who else we have coming back, DFS will be forced to play the 4 most of the time.

gatordd · 03-12-2013, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelJoeWilliamson

But if Young goes pro and given who else we have coming back, DFS will be forced to play the 4 most of the time.

which is why I said well then maybe... but this isn't the plan if Walker gets in..