Good point. That was a seriously stacked front court. I do think this one might be close though. First, we have to remember not to compare this group to the final form of the 04s, but instead the ones in the offseason between sophomore and junior seasons. Noah was preseason all-everything, but Richard and Speights were not stars. And Horford certainly improved in his last year. Brewer I don’t remember as much. Anyway, the Condon and co. we are getting this year will likely be better than the ones we last saw. While I can’t see Chin ever catching Horford, junior Condon could get close to junior Noah. And Handlogten could definitely jump past Richard. Who the heck knows on Speights v Mikic. I am not even ready to make a call between Brewer and Haugh. Man, I would pay serious money to see the 06 team play last years team.
A couple of days ago, I found this YouTube channel that was ranking the top tw You're probably right, but you're also comparing junior Noah to sophomore Condon, not to mention the others. I think we need to wait and see. I fully expect all of our bigs to be a little bit better this season.
We know sophomore Noah was better than sophomore Condon. He was MOP of the tournament. But Condon was close. I think sophomore Brewer and Haugh are fairly similar, but give the edge to Brewer because of his defense and because Haugh hasn't played the 3 like Brewer did his soph season. Brewer made a big leap in the 3point fg department from sophomore to junior. I expect Haugh to do the same. Chinny will never be the player Horford was. He was just so talented and smart and versatile in terms of who he could defend and the ability to pass and bring the ball up the floor. Just signed a 2 year deal with Golden State at age 39. Unbelievable. The Handy-Richard comparison is interesting because they were both one year ahead of the other guys and play the back up center role and both would start on most any other team.
Brewer was an exceptional perimeter defender, maybe the best we've ever had. His height and length and athleticism on the edge threw opponents off their game.
9/30 practice pics from The Gainesville Sun... You can see the extra muscle on Condon and Handlogten. Micah is leaner but stronger. Rueben looks as powerful as ever. This is a frontcourt built to dominate. Photos from Florida basketball's time on the practice court
watch:%20Florida%20basketball%20holds%20open%20practice%20during%20preseason%20camp https://share.google/fyPfKhT2QvvABKaEQ
2nd open practice highlights... A.J. Brown looks good. Viktor Mikic bags a couple of 3s. We have depth.
All the pieces are there for another special year. Team will be fun to watch that is for sure. We are big, long, can shoot the three and sounds like the PG spot is gonna be a strength again.
I agree, but this made me think some. We're all making a huge mistake if we EXPECT a similar level of success as last year. I do think we have the pieces...but am very excited to see: How do the returning players handle success? Last year we had that lean and hungry look about us. The drive was amazing, but some of the main drivers of that drive are now gone. How do we handle being the hunted instead of the hunters? Most of the games we play this year will be circled on the opponents' schedule. I'd bet 90% of our games will be "the game of the year" for the opponent. Crowds will be large and loud....and opposing players will be very much UP to playing us. Similarly, the team rode that "Island of Misfit Toys" mentality. We were the super team with no big name recruits. This year we added a couple of 5 stars...plus some of our returning players are now household names. Coach has to find different motivational tactics this season. How will the turnover in coaches impact the team? It all starts with Coach Golden, so I'm pretty sure it won't make a huge impact. However, now we'll have new coaches responsible for scouting and game planning. It'll be interesting to see how that evolves. Coach Golden himself is now a star in the profession....and he's been milking it a lot (rightfully so). It'll be interesting to see how he handles success too. Probably the biggest question mark is how will the team chemistry be? We're pretty sure Fland can be special. We think/hope Lee is the same. Those guys added to our stacked front court should have the skill for us to be a good-to-great team. But you never know how the chemistry will work out. Hopefully it will!
Winning a Natty requires talent and luck. The more talent you have the less luck you need. In 05 we were good enough to win it all with a bit of luck. Brewer's shot against Georgetown and George Mason knocking off the good teams on the other side of our potential FF semi match-up helped a lot. By the time we made the FF I thought we had the best shot at winning it all. In fact I cancelled my Tuesday morning after the championship game class because I told them they would be partying all night. In 06 we had the talent so really didn't need any luck other than avoiding bad luck to win it all. This year three of the four teams in the FF would have been worthy champions. Not Auburn in spite of being the overall #1 seed. They peaked too early. I was happy that we played them instead of Duke or Houston in the semis. If we could replay the Final Four 100 times do we win it 100 times? I think not. We got some bounces and had the opportunity and seized the moment. The Dance is not like the NBA playoffs. It is one and done. Crazy stuff can happen.
