Florida’s 2006 National Championship win over UCLA was a monumental victory and a game that is forever in the minds of us Gator fans. Given that this is one of the greatest games in Florida history it warranted another viewing and this time, I’ll be jotting down notes all the way throughout making for an informative companion to watch the game alongside. This will be a companion to read along with as you rewatch the game, and hopefully the insights will help enrich the experience even more.
For those of you taking part in the journey I’ll be referencing time codes from this YouTube link. It’s from the official March Madness YouTube page and it nicely cuts out the commercials and halftime making for as quick as possible of viewing. Also, I know many televisions are optimized for YouTube viewing and that could make the rewatch experience better for some of you. Because I’ll be using time codes from this particular upload of the game it’s going to be your best option to watch alongside with, but any way you want to watch the game works.
For those of you who don’t want to watch the game again (I don’t know why you wouldn’t!) there should still be some great notes in this article that you’ll find interesting so it will hopefully be worth the read!
Anyways, grab your beverage and snack of choice and then kick back and relax. Let’s enjoy one of the greatest games in Florida basketball history!
0:05—Okay, I know this is only five seconds into the game but I’ve got to make a note of this—UCLA was good! I say this because, well, we know the end outcome of this game and it wasn’t exactly a nail biter. When we look back at historic games like this and see a team lose badly, sometimes in our memory that losing team is remembered as not being particularly good. Make no mistake, UCLA was a really, really good team. Something that really shocks me is that they had six future NBA players on the roster! Six! Even for this era of college basketball that’s a lot of future pros, and the fact that Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ryan Hollins, and Cedric Bozeman all went on to play in the League should be in indication of how good they are.
And because of how good they are, Florida’s dominance in this game should be respected even more.
0:53—Jordan Farmer hits the first bucket of the game for UCLA here but it was an incredibly difficult shot made tough by Lee Humphrey’s defense. Humphrey will always be remembered for his shooting but his on-ball defense was extremely underrated. Even the fact that Billy Donovan had him as the primary defender on Farmer speaks to how good he was on that end. Watch throughout this game for Humphrey’s tremendous defense on the ball.
2:04—Florida’s first bucket of the game comes on a play that perfectly embodied this team—Horford gets double-teamed on the block and he hits his partner Joakim Noah diving towards the rim.
3:40—Corey Brewer draws an offensive foul the possession immediately after hitting a nice jumper in close. He was always a big-game player. Also, I love the baggy shorts-baggy tee look on Brewer (on replay of the charge he took, that baggy shirt may have played a role). Someone on the current Gators needs to bring that look back.
3:56—This offensive possession by the Gators starting at 3:56 is GORGEOUS. Watch how it starts in a “horns” look before everyone moves. Then the key action is a “flex” screen (a screen for a player to cut across the lane) set by Horford. He sets the flex screen for Noah and since the defense doesn’t want Noah to be freed up that close to the hoop they have to respond to him, opening up an easy passing lane and finish for Horford. The flex offense isn’t as popular as it used to be but you still see it on the west coast with Oregon and in the SEC with Tennessee.
6:00—Joakim Noah was 24th in the country in block percentage this season and showed his rim protection here, recovering for a swat after being a step late on the diving big man. He could cover all kinds of defensive mistakes. Then, watch him take the ball out on the break and show the ball handling!
8:23—Another good offensive possession sees the Gators hitting Brewer on the curl and when the defense slides over he makes a great dish to Chris Richard who finishes strong. What a luxury it was to have a senior like Richard coming off the bench.
8:50—Oh, and what a luxury it is to have Adrian Moss coming off the bench in the frontcourt too! Moss and Richard could have been the starting frontcourt for any team in the country and that team would have success. Anyways, at 8:50 Moss puts together an incredible two-possession series. First he gets a massive offensive rebound off a Brewer miss before laying it in, and then he sprints back on the other end and takes a charge. Just incredible energy and toughness from Moss.
11:25—You’re seeing UCLA play some pretty methodical possessions the last few times down. They were 298th in the country in tempo this season and definitely were a half court oriented team.
15:03—Watch Horford get this rebound and then lead the break with the dribble. Florida’s ability to have big bodies like Horford and Noah dribble the ball made them different than any other team in the country. He even finds Humphrey for what should have been a wide-open three but he made the unselfish pass. This is one of the plays that’s kind of funny to watch now because in 2020 that three-point shot is taken 100% of the time.
15:45—Horford gets a massive block here. He was 98th in the country in block percentage.
16:48—Since playing fast has been a conversation around Florida basketball the past two seasons this has to be pointed out—Florida shows what playing fast is right here. They get a defensive board (Noah) and the other big immediately starts “rim running” (running in a straight line down the court towards the rim). While that’s happening the point guard goes back to get the ball and the two wings run wide. Horford gets an early seal, occupying a key help defender who ends up fouling Noah on the roll.
18:30—Humphrey ends this possession with a big 4-point play and I wanted to point out how he got the shot because it’s on a set similar to what the current Gators run. Watch how Humphrey passes the ball and then gets a “chin” screen for Humphrey to go towards the hoop. After the initial pass for the layup isn’t there he curls back and gets a pin down screen from Noah which frees him up for the three. That chin screen is something you’ll see all the time in Florida’s offense now under Mike White.
19:40—The Gators have another spectacular defensive possession here. It starts with effective full-court pressure that has been wearing down the Bruins and ends with an outstanding individual defensive effort from Noah who uses mobile feet to stay with Hollins before rejecting his shot.
20:25—Not only was Humphrey’s defense underrated but so was his ball handling. Watch as he uses a pair of through-the-legs crossovers here to beat his man and draw a foul.
22:25—Lorenzo Mata for UCLA misses a bunny in close and in doing so shows how intimidated the Bruins were of Florida’s shot blocking. Noah and Horford set the tone with shot blocking early and Moss and Richard took over off the bench. There wasn’t anything easy against the Gators on the inside.
24:40—The broadcast shows how the Gators only have 1 turnover at this point of the game. Surprisingly, the Gators were a good but not great team when it came to ball security this season ranking 141st in turnover percentage. They were generally okay at taking care of the rock but against UCLA they were excellent.
25:32—Noah and Horford enter the game together to roars of laughter from my couch. I laugh because the Gators’ frontcourt was just so, so good. UCLA’s bigs just had to grind with Moss and Richard, something that wasn’t going well for them, and then they saw those two leaving for Noah and Horford. It just never got any easier for the UCLA post players and the sight of Noah and Horford coming in cracked me up because I could feel the exasperation of the Bruins.
26:25—It felt like Brewer had 10 of these back taps running back in transition. He was just so much quicker than everyone and he had the long arms to swipe the ball.
28:02—Noah was such a good passer and always seemed to know exactly when a double team was coming. Perfect timing with the drop-off to Moss for an easy two.
29:00—Noah’s NBA career was centered around his defense and passing ability but at Florida we saw him demonstrate some great driving and scoring abilities. This was probably a travel, but still showed his dexterity and finishing skill.
32:20—Once again we see a Bruin miss a bunny at the rim and it’s because Hollins heard footsteps from Joakim Noah. All the early blocked shots from Florida did a number on the confidence of the Bruins when it came to finishing inside.
34:00—Noah easily blocks a jumper for his fourth(!) block of the game, tying the NCAA record. And it’s not even half time.
35:35—The broadcast shows a graphic indicating that the Gators’ current point total of 36 points is the most the Bruins have allowed in a half in this NCAA tournament. UCLA was 3rd in defense according to KenPom this season and their work on the defensive end was why they were so good so Florida’s ability to score in this first half was very impressive.
36:46—Noah gets his fifth block setting the NCAA record for blocks in a championship game. Oh yeah…and it’s still not even half time.
37:00—Halftime hits and Joakim Noah is Gator chomping. A beautiful sight.
38:40—Humphrey hits a three in transition and it’s really starting to look like the Bruins are outmatched.
39:57—Another three from Humphrey, this time from extremely deep and under extreme defensive pressure. I mentioned earlier that UCLA was a fantastic defensive team and a large part of why their defense was so good is that they were incredible at limiting three-point attempts from their opponents. They did a good job of limiting the Gators’ threes in the first half but ran into the Humphrey buzz saw in the second.
42:28—Brewer hits a three to put the Gators up big and it’s 5-13 on the night for Florida from behind the arc. The Gators were 14th in the country in three-point percentage this season, something that I don’t think this team was remembered enough for.
43:35—Once again Noah’s skills with the ball are put on display as he dribbles down his man and throws in down with authority. He was an absolute monster this game. And once again…this play was probably a travel.
44:10—The broadcast shows a graphic displaying how Farmar is 5-10 from the field and the rest of the team is 5-24. Particularly quiet in this game for UCLA was Arron Afflalo who was normally a major scorer for this team but really struggled with Florida’s defensive energy and length.
45:48—Death, taxes, and Horford going big to big for an easy bucket the moment the double team comes over.
48:13—I know we’re all Gator fans here but let’s show some respect for a dandy of a baseline out of bounds play by UCLA. Knowing the Gators were going to zone up they had a perfect play designed that led to a thunderous alley oop.
51:48—Taurean Green was quieter than some of his teammates in this game but he was playing solid, responsible basketball. On this play we see him use the speed off the pick and roll to open up the defense before serving up an easy bucket for Noah.
53:50—Farmar gets a wide-open three but misses it and it looks like he simply didn’t have enough legs. With that miss it really seemed like UCLA was out of energy and it would have taken a miracle for them to have gotten back in the game.
56:12—The flex cuts Noah and Horford would run are one of the plays that really define this team’s offense in my mind and another one of those defining plays is shown here. Corey Brewer curling off a pin down where he can either finish himself or drop off to a diving big was a play the Gators used a ton this season and with amazing results, as seen here.
58:05—I really admire Farmar’s effort in this game. He’s getting hounded by Florida’s perimeter plays and then running into mammoth shot blockers any time he goes into the paint and he’s the only one on UCLA who has anything going but he just keeps fighting. This was an outstanding game for him and I have a lot of respect for how he competed.
1:01:20—Noah gets his sixth block and in doing so entirely took the wind out of UCLA’s sails. They knew they could get nothing against Noah and Horford on the inside and with the way Florida’s perimeter players were taking away the three there was no way for the Bruins to score.
1:05:56—The dagger. Well, that’s not entirely accurate as this game has been over for a long time but Humphrey’s three here was just piling on what was an overwhelming performance by the Gators.
1:11:00—Your 2006 National Champions, the Florida Gators!
I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane! Please head to the Gator Country forums and post any thoughts you had while watching the game!