Something to keep in mind about the '05-'06 champs

[MadduxFanII]

The 2005-2006 team, aka our first National Championship squad, aka the team with a truly staggering amount of future NBA talent, lost six games, all in the regular season, all in-conference. This during a 16-game SEC schedule. I suspect most of us remember that.

Things to remember:
1. All six of our losses were by six points or less.
2. During the regular season, our closest wins were by five points (a few times)
3. We did not win a one-possession game until the postseason (two in the SEC Tournament, one in the NCAA tournament)

Specific games:

1. Jan 21 at Tennessee. First loss of the season. There's no play-by-play available on GatorZone, but the game story does include this description with the game tied:

In a key play, Tennessee’s Chris Lofton missed a three-pointer at the other end of the floor, where Brewer gathered the rebound. Brewer quickly broke up the court, however, Instead of taking the ball strong to the basket he opted to pass, which Lofton intercepted.

With the clock still running, Lofton alertly threw a long pass over the Gator defense to Dane Bradshaw, who was wide open for the game-winning layup with 20 seconds left.

2. February 8, home against a .500 South Carolina team. Again, no PBP, but this from GZ:

The Gators took their first lead of the half at the 13:52 mark on a three by Green and led by as many as five points before South Carolina seized the advantage for the final time with 3:07 remaining. A long three-pointer with 21 seconds to go by Humphrey narrowed the deficit to two points and gave the Gators hope, but clutch free throw shooting in the final seconds by the Gamecocks gave them a 71-67 win.

3. February 18, at Arkansas. With Florida up 73-72 late in the game, Horford blocks a shot. We then get this series of plays:

MISSED JUMPER by Townes, Darian 00:38 BLOCK by Horford, Al
00:34 REBOUND (DEF) by Green, Taurean
00:27 TURNOVR by Green, Taurean
STEAL by Modica, Jonathon 00:26

Bad enough. What the PBP doesn't tell you, and which a few us likely remember, is that Modica went flying out of bounds before the shot. Green corralled the rebound, got lackadaisical as everyone trotted up the court, then had his pocket picked from behind by Modica who came sneaking out of the crowd.

A couple of missed shots later, an Arkansas player hit a free throw and we went to overtime. At the end of the game, down three with a chance to play for the last shot, Humphrey turned the ball over.

4. February 22, home vs. Tennessee. With the game tied at 72, we have the ball out bounds with 18 seconds left. We have a timeout to burn. We then get this:

TURNOVR by Brewer, Corey 00:18
00:17 STEAL by Bradshaw, Dane
00:16 72-74 V 2 GOOD! LAYUP by Bradshaw, Dane
[FB/PNT]
MISSED 3 PTR by Brewer, Corey 00:04

5. February 26, at Alabama, and one of my angriest experiences as a Gator fan. We're down 76-71 with a little more than a minute left. We then had this hair-pullingly-frustrating sequence:

GOOD! FT SHOT by Jean Felix 01:05 76-71 H 5 FOUL by Noah, Joakim
MISSED FT SHOT by Jean Felix 01:04
REBOUND (OFF) by (TEAM) 01:04
TIMEOUT 30sec 01:04
MISSED 3 PTR by Jean Felix 00:40
REBOUND (OFF) by Hendrix, Richard 00:40
MISSED FT SHOT by Hendrix, Richard 00:36 FOUL by Horford, Al
REBOUND (OFF) by (DEADBALL) 00:36
MISSED FT SHOT by Hendrix, Richard 00:36
REBOUND (OFF) by Davidson, Jermareo 00:36
TIMEOUT TEAM 00:27
GOOD! FT SHOT by Steele, Ronald 00:25 77-71 H 6 FOUL by Brewer, Corey
GOOD! FT SHOT by Steele, Ronald 00:25 78-71 H 7

[InstiGATOR1]

Originally Posted by MadduxFanII

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Bad enough. What the PBP doesn't tell you, and which a few us likely remember, is that Modica went flying out of bounds before the shot. Green corralled the rebound, got lackadaisical as everyone trotted up the court, then had his pocket picked from behind by Modica who came sneaking out of the crowd.

I remember this play well. Green learned from it and was always careful from then on with the ball when an opponent was seeming trailing out of the play.

[DuPontGator]

Reaching...

[luciaboy]

no comparison, these players have no mental toughness and horford or noah would dominate young. i still say we peaked in january

[GatorJeff]

Very good analysis. How easily and conveniently fans forget reality. Some people just like to pout after a tough loss. It's predictable and there's no stopping it.

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by luciaboy

no comparison, these players have no mental toughness and horford or noah would dominate young. i still say we peaked in january

LOL... amazing...

[DuPontGator]

Originally Posted by GatorJeff

Very good analysis. How easily and conveniently fans forget reality. Some people just like to pout after a tough loss. It's predictable and there's no stopping it.

The reality is you can't compare the teams lol. Open your eyes man.

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by DuPontGator

The reality is you can't compare the teams lol. Open your eyes man.

I wish I could see the NBN board from this time period in 05-06. I would almost guarantee that it looked similar to what we're seeing now. People doubting the heart of Horford and Noah, people saying that we are sure to be out of the tournament before the Sweet 16, etc.

So, you might not be able to compare the teams, but you can compare the situation, which is what I think people are talking about. I think we will only be able to compare the teams once the season is over.

[DuPontGator]

Early exit is my prediction. The situations are totally different. This team will choke their season away. They have proved it many times. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by DuPontGator

Early exit is my prediction. The situations are totally different. This team will choke their season away. They have proved it many times. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Care to make a bet?

[whitelakegator]

Hindsight is 20/20. The 04s developed into two time national champs and three nba pros. Does anyone HONESTLY see that here today on this team? If you are being truly honest and not trying to somehow rationalize this team into something it's not...the answer is no.

It is a shame that people feel the need to create a false sense of whatever this is...oh well.

I will enjoy the games regardless. I am lowering my expectations so I can have fun instead of spending hours and hours trying to cookie cutter these guys into THOSE guys.

Let's just support the team and get behind whatever run they can ultimately put together.

[G8RNTN]

Originally Posted by DuPontGator

Reaching...

Yeah, this team is NOTHING like those guys.

[1bobcat]

I don't remember Billy having to call that team out like he did this week. Other than they play at the same school and for the same coach the similarities ends there.

[grant1]

Originally Posted by DuPontGator

The reality is you can't compare the teams lol. Open your eyes man.

Exactly, what happened then has no bearing on this season. Incidently, those teams were playing much better competition than this team.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

You could just as easily draw comparisons to teams that went out in the first or second round.

[Brewski]

Originally Posted by 1bobcat

I don't remember Billy having to call that team out like he did this week. Other than they play at the same school and for the same coach the similarities ends there.

Go read Billy's last press conference. He basically said he had to do the same with Noah and Horford....finding a way to motivate them.

[gator2109]

The main point in comparisons to the past is that regular season games mean close to nothing when it comes to how well of a tournament run a team will have. Lamenting over close road losses and pointing to "unclutch" performances as a basis for why we will go out early is basically a waste of time because it has been proven time and again across all seed lines that neutral court games in a one and done situation are a completely different animal.

Said it the last few weeks on here, but the SEC tourney is the real barometer at this point. Hopefully all of you predicting an early exit will be filling out your brackets accordingly.

[DuPontGator]

Originally Posted by SmootyGator

Care to make a bet?

I bet you one fat Asian hooker... Get real tough guy.

[HayGator]

Very similar and Billy called them out just like he's calling out this years team. The board sentiment was the same then too.

[SmootyGator]

Originally Posted by DuPontGator

I bet you one fat Asian hooker... Get real tough guy.

Well, I was thinking a signature bet. I'm not really that into fat Asian hookers... But it doesn't seem like you're interested.

Just curious, what is your definition of "early exit"?