With only the currently signed class coming in we will be a significantly better team next year. Hayes has a huge heart but he has no hands. I wish nothing but the best for Jalen but he has hurt the team this year both with his playing and with the amount of time he has played because of last year. Allen is a great shooter and is a leader due to seniority but he is not very vocal and tends to disappear for long periods of time. Just with the two all Americans coming in and a solid, if a freshman, Power forward, we will be better, faster and able to score more. Plus, there is the three point specialist walk on, and most importantly, the open schollie that will be filled by a grad transfer big. We will make the tourney with a decent seed and probably make the Sweet Sixteen. Beyond that it’s a crapshoot but it is gonna be fun. Meanwhile pull hard and root for our gators every game!
I have not seen anyone calling for white to be let go this year. But next year will be really crucial for him, and you would have to make some guesses on next year’s performance: Assume all three talented freshmen come back, assume Stokes shows improvement so we have a low post scoring option, assume the freshmen live up to their potential, that the chemistry is good after a rough season. and we could be a top 15 or so type team. But there are also a lot of “ifs” in there. And I would remind folks, this board had the same kind of optimism coming into this year. There was a long thread here with many all but guaranteeing a top 4 league finish. The good news about next year, assuming Nembhard is here, is that we will have an experienced point guard and guys who can create their own shot if the frosh live up to the hype, will be a very different looking team. But top to bottom it will be one of the younger teams we have had too.
Improved, more balanced offense Continue the excellent defense Being able to close out games by avoiding 4+ minute scoring droughts I definitely expect us to make it to at least the 2nd game of the NCAA tournament next season
Here are a few that I need to see. 1) With the game on the line, your best players HAVE to be in the game. Against UT, I have no idea why in a tie game late, White would bench his best player and leading scorer that game. makes no sense. I was also unhappy designing a play down 1 to SC that involved getting the ball to arguably our worst offensive player who struggles to even catch a pass. MW may be a young coach, but no more head scratching decisions that even a novice fan can see. He's been a head coach for 8 years now. 2) Have to make the tourney and even have some success there. Hoping for a Sweet 16 or better. 3) Would like to see a more up tempo offense We should have the athletes. This slow it down O doesn't seem to be working. 4) No excuses. Not from him or posters. If the season goes South, the "we're young" excuse is there for the taking. And while it would be true, I'm hoping it's not used by anyone. This year he's getting a pass because we're being told how good next year will be. So no excuses. Others that I would like to see but don't have to are beating FSU finally. 0-4 against UK i could accept. But not FSU.
I'm not sure 100%, but I don't think that play vs USC was called for Hayes. I think Johnson got the ball at the top of the key (after setting a screen) and drove right and either lost it or passed it to Hayes. He got fouled and made 1 of 2 FTs. Not sure it was drawn up poorly. Just executed poorly. Johnson didn't go up strong enough. Was kinda indecisive. Kinda like the late game plays vs MSU with KeVaughn.
The play was botched and the ball just happened to get to Hayes. We'd never set a final play for Hayes.
—- And we would never sit a guy with 18 points on 6-9 shooting, including 5-6 from 3, in a tie game late against the #1 team in the country? Let’s don’t act like MW is above making poor decisions. Maybe he didn’t design a play for Hayes. And maybe the ball just appeared in his hands. None of us know. Man, I thought I had some other good points in my original post but immediately, MW defense goes into effect. So let’s just say White didn’t design a play for Hayes there and just leave it at that. Can we at least agree Allen should have been in the game or will someone defend MW’s decision on that too?
Yea, that was a bad call vs UT. Nobody is saying he hasn't made those. But we are saying he didn't draw up a play for a Hayes in the final 30 seconds vs an SEC team. You did have some other good points. And I don't listen to what he says in all of his PCs, so I don't know about the excuses. He usually seems very honest coming off the court at half and what the commentators say in game about their conversations.
I’ll say ... that was a mistake. And I said it at the time. It appeared white benched Allen after he took a very bad shot in the prior possession. Ok... I get it. The problem is.... you can’t spend two years imploring a kid to be aggressive, and then bench him when he overreaches a bit. Presuming the benching was something other than Allen checking himself out of the game... it was a bad move.
CMW did try to get him in sooner but the officials had stopped play for a clock issue and substitution wasn't allowed. His mistake there was he should have used a timeout to get him in.
Agreed, very good post.....and this part I agree with the most. Another thing that bothers me is that what over-analysis he is doing to himself seems to rub off on the players. Allen and Hudson are the obvious two that just don't seem comfortable playing basketball. I also like a lot of the "parts" of this years team. But there are 3 main criteria if we are going to have a 25-ish win season next year. 1. Stokes has to come in looking like a new person after off-season conditioning. We need a low post threat. I like what I see from Payne but see him more as a "Harvey-type" big rather than a polished low post threat. 2. Nembardt has to improve his shooting. He can be a top 15 pick in the NBA if he does. All the other tools are there and I expect him to make a BIG jump next year and be a potential All-American. He is special. 3. Keyonte Johnson has to improve his offensive game as he can be the type of 4 that would be perfect for White system. But the ball handling must improve.
I simply commented that the final play wasn't designed for Hayes, and you're assuming that I've never criticized MW. I've been pretty critical of him compared to others, but you've gotta stick with facts.
Not a “defense” : a “correction”. Every play has a variety of counters depending on what the D does....if the defense goes to stop a drive, you dish to the open man, hopefully, he can finish the job....
I think white may be willing to sacrifice this season on the alter of the future. Benching seniors at key moments may be bad for that moment...but 3 freshman who will play a lot pf games in that uni saw that no one is above sitting. Not saying I know that was White's intent, just a posibility. This team went from being led by 3 seniors to 3 fresman almost overnight....with even more youth coming. White may very well be sending a message to his very young future. Play hard on both ends. Do it at every moment....or sit. IF that was the reasoning for sitting Allen, then I am fine.
Just a guess but it looked like Allen went against what MW was wanting, if my memory is correct he went iso two straight trips which I doubt is what MW wanted. One went in by luck, the next missed badly. MW took him out after the miss. I had a similar experience in HS. My coach gave me the red light from outside during a timeout, said we needed to stick to the offense. Well, on the very next possession, the guy guarding me sagged off me even more. I decided to let it fly again since it was my favorite spot on the floor, it went in. Other team calls a timeout a few minutes later. On the way to our bench, my coach is eyeballing me. "You're lucky you made that". He continued playing me. But had I missed it, I would've been pulled immediately and maybe sat the rest of the game. Allen just so happened to miss in isolation.
