OGT- Nov 14 (Tue) 7 PM vs Florida A&M Connell Center 11/14 7:00 pm SECN+

He still stinks.
Sorry.

 

Just read a couple of pages in this thread. Man, perceptions change quickly around here. It's the third game of the season against a very underwhelming opponent, sandwiched between a tough neutral site loss against a good opponent and a major rival coming into town on Friday. That's pretty much a recipe for a letdown game.

We completely sucked last night, but that's also sort of deceiving. There was plenty of good to see out there. Clayton had a terrific floor game after two rough games to open the season. Yes, Aberdeen was pressing, but that's exactly what I wanted to see from him. He had been entirely too passive the first two games. Condon really bounced back after a terrible game against UVA. Scored, played with confidence, had high energy on both ends. We missed a ton of easy shots early, struggling from the arc again, and gave up way too many open looks to Bettis (who we had no film on) and Grant. But we also dominated on the glass (again), took much better care of the ball given the number of possessions, and actually defended better from the field than we did against Loyola.

I also think it's laughable that someone says we are 10th or 11th in the league. We weren't that bad last year in a better league, and we were completely dependent on one player offensively (CC), couldn't rebound, shoot, or create in the half court, let alone get early offense, and got killed on ball screens in November and December. This team is far bigger and more physical, it is far more balanced and effective offensively, we are playing with better pace and aggressiveness, if we aren't necessarily playing smarter right now. We also have a ton of new players still gelling, we are still without a possible starter in Pullin (who brings an entirely different skill set than anyone on the team given his mid range game and experience running teams), and we have already seen how Golden coached this team through early defensive struggles last year by adapting ball screen coverages.

I've seen enough from this team so far to say we are massively improved, will make the tournament, and could cause real trouble in league play and in March.

 

I think also that people ASSUME that FAMU stinks. They stank last season, for sure. But their coach says that they're much better this season, and I don't have reason to doubt him, and think their #345 RPI will go up considerably. Now, that's not to overstate their strength; they'd finish dead last in the SEC. But even the worst team in the SEC can put up a fight.

One guy in the game thread was worrying himself to death that Creighton (an excellent team) beat FAMU by 50, yet we couldn't. But Bettis, FAMU's best player by far, hasn't even played until last night. CTG says even the staff was surprised by him. That guy would start for most SEC teams.

All in all, CTG said postgame that we were bad in the first half, much better in the second. The reason being, as we could all see, that the Gators weren't really focused to start the game. So he had to give them a little pep talk during the break.

 

FAMU's D took a page from some old Georgetown teams coached by John Thompson: No lay-ups. They would rather give a HARD foul and send the shooter to the line.

 

Since you’re referring to me and taking what I said out of context, I might as well reply. What I said was “Things can change in a hurry, but, right now, the Gators might be only the 10th or 11th best team in the SEC.” You conveniently left out the “right now,” the “might be” and the “things can change in a hurry.” Yes, Pullin might materially improve the team. Yes, our young guys have plenty of room for improvement. Yes, Kugel can get better. But, we have been taken advantage of by big men in all 3 games. That kid from Virginia who came off the bench and kicked the crap out of our bigs followed up with 6 points against a low major team. Virginia is not necessarily a real good team. No, the SEC wasn’t a better conference last year. The top end teams are better this year, and the conference is deeper. Last season, we finished 9th in the conference. This season, it appears that, right now, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State are all better than us. In addition, Mississippi and Missouri might be better than us right now. That’s 9 teams. That leaves LSU, South Carolina, Georgia, Vandy and us. Are we better than all 4 of those teams right now? Maybe. Now, I don’t have a problem with posters disagreeing with me. I said “might be” for a reason. But, to say it’s laughable is laughable.