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re: 2024-25 Florida Men’s Basketball
Posted on 1/6/25 at 4:33 pm to Partha
Posted on 1/6/25 at 4:33 pm to Partha
quote:
On Rueben's performance in the first half:
"I thought he was awesome. Our front court had a tough game Saturday. I mean, everybody. We struggled in some coverages we're usually pretty good at. But I thought he did an incredible job setting the tone on the glass. I think he had three offensive rebound putbacks in the first 10 minutes of the game. He just made his presence felt. It was awesome. Great rim protection. I think he blocked Oweh when he tried to dunk on him and I think he blocked someone else, Amari Williams I think tried to crush it on him and he was, like, 'No.' We saw him in Orlando have some really nice moments. Offensively, sometimes, the awkwardness, but he's a really, really good player in this league. You saw him go against Amari Williams, who is a much older player, and match his physicality. So, yes, I think we obviously need him, especially in league play where physicality is more prevalent and important. I was just really proud of him and just of taking on the moment. Listen, man, there was like [24,000] people in there. ESPN game. It was kind of his first moment in that setting for us and he answered the bell. I thought he did a really good job for us."
On how Kentucky adjusted defensively:
"That's an area where I need to do a better job of. I hate … I generally don't call a lot of timeouts, but I probably should have used one a little earlier on Saturday. That 16-0 run though, we obviously watched it yesterday and I'm like, we got some good looks during that time. Not amazing, but Will had a good looking 3. Mart had a wide open 3. Zell had an open 3. You know, it could have gone different ways. So in the moment, I'm like, I thought we were still playing pretty well. We just weren't making some shots. And then we had some defensive breakdowns. Yeah, I just thought, we weren't able to sustain our ball pressure the last 10 minutes of the first half. I thought that affected us, but I think we were tied 42-42 with two minutes or so to go in the first half, and then our ball handling and turnovers hurt us. We had like, three swing plays that affected the last two minutes of the first half. That obviously put us beyond us beyond the eight ball. And, you know, they run good stuff. They're hard to guard. They're unique for this league, having kind of more of a five out, playing off their big in the middle of the floor, and that kind of challenges the way we guard a little bit, and not a lot of teams play that way. So you know, if we see them in the conference tournament, we'll think of different ways to adjust. But again, it never felt, for me, like an offensive issue for us. I think we only got stopped one time in the last 10 minutes of the game, or something crazy like that. But, to their credit, they took advantage of our breakdowns and even when we guarded them well, they made big time shots. The Koby Brea side step 3 in front of their bench was just an insane shot. Like, it's one of those where you tip your cap and you say, listen, he made a big play. And then Carr's 3, not a great coverage, but he still has to knock it down. He's not an amazing 3-point shooter. He's good with time. Butler, big 3 in the corner. Like, sometimes people can miss, even when they're open, and that didn't happen a whole lot on Saturday. So yeah, again, high level game. Thought they played great. I think we did a pretty dang good job. And on our home floor, I expect us to play a little better."
On the live ball turnovers:
"Listen, we only had nine for the game. I think he had a couple uncharacteristic ones that were a little, I don't want to say fluky, but just don't happen very often. And again, I think we were the most efficient offense against the Tennessee defense over the last 10 years, or something like that. It was 1.37. So, you're gonna make some mistakes. We were still able to be efficient. We were still able to be aggressive. I thought he did a great job attacking the rim late him and Alijah. And Will did a good job getting in the paint. I was very pleased with our offensive performance. We're gonna have some turnovers some games, but I don't anticipate changing a whole lot that way. But to your question, it can help with Denzel and Alijah taking a little more time on the ball in specific situations to maybe give them a little rest."
On Walter Clayton's performance:
"I thought there were a lot of things that happened in that game where if we looked up and said, 'Man, we're down 30.' The runs, the runs, the runs, the missed free throws, and we lost by 6. Like we were right there. There's a lot of different things you can point at. Obviously, I think we missed 13 free throws. We got the line 35 times, went 22 for 35. We make half of those, it's a different game. So listen, he's an incredible player. We talked about the shot making of Brea. How about the shot making of Walt and Alijah? I mean, there was some ridiculously high level plays out there. And honestly I think it says more about our league and more about just how much better college basketball is getting. It felt like an NBA game, just watching guys make plays. And put them in situations, they're making reads and making shots. Kentucky doesn't run a lot of targeted actions where they're looking for one shot. They're read and react, playing five-out, making shot, shot, shot, whereas it was back and forth and a head-to-head match that way. Walt is playing at a really high level right now. I hope he'll continue it up the next 17 games."
On if offensive rebounding, second-chance points kept the Gators in the game against Kentucky:
"Obviously that was a big part of it, I think in the second half we kind of did a great job getting back in it, getting on the glass, Will (Richard) did a wonderful job creating second chances and obviously Rueben, you know, all of our guys, I think we got back 40 percent of our misses, but as we talked about a lot, it is a big part of our offense, being able to crash and provide second chances so it was hugely important and if we wouldn't have been able to rebound like that it would have been a different result."
On Tennessee plays though Igor Milicic at power forward, Golden's impressions of him:
"He's unique, they start him at the four, they'll play him a little bit at the small ball five, play him a lot in the middle of the floor, and they'll have him set a lot of ball screens, hasn't shot it great this year but he's more than capable, he's shot it well over his career at Charlotte, and just to your point a unique cover, someone that we have to be aware of, I think we've got to be mindful of his ability to shoot, but we can't sell out to take that away and allow them to get in lanes because we're so hugged up and attached on him, but he is very, very important to their deal along with Ziegler and Lanier, and I think Gainey is a tricky one, too, because he comes off the bench but he's a double-figure scorer, he's a guy that we can't let come in here tomorrow, and get a bunch of 3s up, I think Brea's performance on Saturday is a great example of what I'd say a lot in here, is the best 3-point defense is when you don't allow these guys the opportunity to get these shots up, because he had a couple of open ones that we had breakdowns on but I think three or four of his makes were crazily contested, and he still was able to knock them down, so gotta find a way to not let him get it up, so we gotta do that with Lanier tomorrow and got to do that with Gainey when he gets into the game, and we've got to make sure we're keeping good ball pressure on Milicic and not let him kind of be a good decision maker out on the perimeter."
1
Posted on 1/6/25 at 4:33 pm to Partha
quote:
On how important it is for Florida to match Tennessee's physicality:
"It's everything. I think we, knock on wood, we're getting to the point in our program where we are, even with, we're respecting Tennessee obviously, we have great respect for them as a program, but we're not changing what we do. We're gonna be us, to Walt and Will's point we gotta be physical, we've got to attack and we've got to get second chances, they run a lot of floppy action, they run off a lot of pin downs, like, we can't allow ourselves to get screened, we've got to find a way to get through and take away those curls and take away those 3s, and again, just excited to get back home and playing in front of our crowd here. It should be an incredible environment and I think our guys, we should be ready for the moment."
On UF's crowd being a factor against Tennessee:
"Our crowd has been great all year. I thought it said a lot about where our program is at when we were hosting Stetson who obviously had struggled at the beginning of the year, and we sold that game out on a weekend of break, that's awesome and we appreciate the support. I know our guys are grateful for it and love it and you know, we expect them to bring the noise tomorrow night for sure. It should be an incredible environment."
On if Golden would like to see Florida and Kentucky play twice a season:
"Absolutely, I think that goes without saying. I learned very quickly when I got down here, how important that rivalry was, and how much it meant to people to be able to see these teams play. You know, you go on the road and play them and you don't get them at home, so what I would really like is next year for them to come play us here, us not return it to Rupp, and then the next year (play twice) that would be fair."
On Golden's philosophy on calling timeouts:
"I don't think necessarily calling a timeout after giving up a basket makes it easier on your offense, obviously you can run something and be super targeted on what you want to execute but you're allowing the defense to set as opposed to getting the ball out of the net and playing fast. So it's kind of a Bruce Pearl thing. He wasn't big on calling timeouts. I like to use them later in games to set up our defense after a big shot, and execute them that way, but, hindsight being 20-20, I probably would have used one at some point during that run before we allowed them to get a five-point lead, but hey, hindsight is 20-20.
Posted on 1/8/25 at 11:25 am to Partha
Welp, last night was fun. 
I want moar games like that.
I want moar games like that.
Posted on 1/8/25 at 2:03 pm to bigDgator
quote:Beating the #1 team like that is always fun. It's even more fun when it is a shite bag shite talking fanbase like the Vols.
Welp, last night was fun.
I want moar games like that.
Posted on 1/8/25 at 5:20 pm to Partha
I learned a new term today. BVS
Battered Vol Syndrome
I swear they do it to themselves but I feel bad for them still. They have a lot of good fans that have to put up with the idiots.
Battered Vol Syndrome
I swear they do it to themselves but I feel bad for them still. They have a lot of good fans that have to put up with the idiots.
Posted on 1/8/25 at 5:56 pm to bigDgator
quote:I went to the game at Neyland this year and was surprised how friendly Vol fans were in person.
They have a lot of good fans that have to put up with the idiots.
Nothing like the d-bags on this site or Twitter.
There are quite a few decent Vol fans online too but the morons drown them out.
Posted on 1/8/25 at 10:16 pm to Partha
Posted on 1/11/25 at 1:50 pm to Partha
https://247sports.com/college/florida/article/behind-enemy-lines-a-closer-look-at-the-arkansas-razorbacks-243936595/
quote:
Ahead of No. 8 Florida's contest today at 4 p.m. ET at Bud Walton Arena against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Swamp247 went Behind Enemy Lines to ask HawgSports' Connor Goodson six questions about UF's foe:
What's the level of concern around the program for the Razorbacks after an 0-2 start to conference play after an 11-2 non-conference record?
I think there's a fair amount of concern from fans right now. Not necessarily because Arkansas lost those two games, but how they lost those games. They lacked the energy and effort to match Tennessee's physicality last weekend and then the Ole Miss matchup zone had them in a pretzel for all but about 13 minutes on Wednesday.
Some of it is still the fact they've had a rash of injuries and illnesses since the preseason which put them really behind schedule, but you can't hide behind that excuse forever. It also doesn't help how the same criticisms Kentucky fans and analysts had over the last few years are starting to pop again in Fayetteville. There's still a lot of basketball left to play, though, so no shortage of chances to change the narrative.
What went wrong for the Razorbacks in their latest contest, Wednesday's 73-66 loss to Ole Miss at home?
After Arkansas jumped out to a 27-18 lead with 7:06 left in the first half, Ole Miss adjusted its defense and made life difficult for the Hogs in the half-court. The Razorbacks couldn't figure out the Rebels' matchup zone and there were multiple stretches where the ball movement was non-existent, minimal off-ball movement, terrible shot selection and plenty of lapses leading to open looks at the defensive end.
The Hogs also got next to zero production from players not named Adou Thiero, Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis. Former All-SEC First Team forward Jonas Aidoo didn't attempt a single field goal all night. Forward Trevon Brazile was solid defensively at times but only attempt one shot. Guard DJ Wagner played 39 minutes without dishing out a single assist or making a single 3-point shot. The list goes on. The Hogs looked like a team with plenty left to figure out and Ole Miss took full advantage.
Attendance hasn't necessarily been fantastic at Bud Walton Arena this season. With the winter storm moving into Fayetteville, do you expect the crowd to be sizable considering the Razorbacks will be facing a top-10 team or will the conditions and the program's recent play impact the home atmosphere in your opinion?
Since it's the first Saturday SEC home game, I tend to believe the crowd will still be pretty strong. The worst of the storm was more toward the central and southwest part of the state, so there's a good chance the roads clear up enough prior to tip-off for a significant turnout. The university has done a good job promoting this game as a "stripe out" so all signs point to a raucous environment.
For Arkansas to pull off the upset, what would have to happen?
They have to force turnovers and get out in transition. Florida is more than capable of keeping up in a track meet, but if I'm Arkansas I take my chances in an up-and-down, frantic track meet over a half-court, grind-it-out, slug fest.
The Razorbacks also have to limit the damage on the glass at both ends. Against Tennessee, this was their biggest issue as the Vols out-rebounded the Hogs 51-29 (24-9 on the offensive glass). With how dominant Florida has been on the glass this season, it's a tough ask, but it's something that has to be done for Arkansas to walk out with a win.
Johnell Davis and Florida's Alijah Martin are well-acquainted, considering they're former teammates who led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four during the 2022-23 season. How has Davis settled in at Arkansas so far?
He's struggled to adjust to his role and, frankly, hasn't looked like the same player he was at FAU. He's being used primarily as a third or fourth scoring option who is typically stashed away in the corner awaiting spot up jumpers. He's battled a wrist injury since the summer and even missed the final two non-conference games prior to Tennessee, but both he and Calipari say he's 100% healthy now.
Davis scored 15 against Ole Miss which was nice, but when they desperately needed offense in the second half, he was an afterthought. Hopefully Calipari and the staff start utilizing him more as a primary option and manufacture him some creation responsibility because that's when he's been at his best. This Arkansas team isn't going to reach its full potential until Nelly Davis starts being Nelly Davis again, plain and simple.
Give me your prediction for this contest and how do you think this game unfolds?
I think Florida is just too good right now for me to envision the Razorbacks pulling off an upset tomorrow. On paper, this Arkansas team has more than enough talent to make it a game, but tomorrow isn't being played on paper. Nothing I've seen from the Hogs lately leads me to believe they can limit the Gators enough to win down the stretch. I think the Gators control the glass with relative ease while Clayton, Martin and Richard all have big days and take the crowd out of it early on. Florida 77, Arkansas 68
This post was edited on 1/11/25 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 1/11/25 at 3:34 pm to Partha
Posted on 1/11/25 at 5:21 pm to Partha
Posted on 1/11/25 at 6:53 pm to Partha
Ground out a road win, good job! Go Gators!
Posted on 1/12/25 at 12:22 am to UFMatt
Yep we are going to have to win some ugly games this year.
I like how hard this team plays.
I like how hard this team plays.
Posted on 1/14/25 at 11:43 pm to bigDgator
Poop
Posted on 1/15/25 at 12:17 pm to bigDgator
Tough loss especially since we had a chance to flip it the other way late in the game.
Mizzou is not a bad team but that was a game we needed to win at home if we want to win the SEC and get a 1-2 seed.
I guess we'll have to make it up down the road.
Mizzou is not a bad team but that was a game we needed to win at home if we want to win the SEC and get a 1-2 seed.
I guess we'll have to make it up down the road.
Posted on 1/23/25 at 6:15 pm to Partha
We didn't play all that well vs Texas, but we played hard and eventually wore them out. Last night we played poorly and Golden almost waited to long to put the press on. I'll take the dubya, but he is pretty stubborn about making certain adjustments.
Posted on 1/23/25 at 8:12 pm to bigDgator
Great comeback last night. Hopefully this will help them down the road when they get in similar situations. You know they are coming.
Posted on 1/24/25 at 10:02 am to Kirby59
We are gonna have some really tough games like this, home and away. Got to grind it out. I wish we had a deeper bench to keep our guys fresh down the stretch. Even if we go .500 down the stretch we will be OK. That would be 23-8 (10-8) and probably a 4 or 5 seed depending on what everyone else does and how we do in the SEC tourney.
Posted on 1/24/25 at 10:22 am to bigDgator
quote:He's slow to use TOs when the other team is going on a run too. Billy D wasn't the best at that either though and he ended up fine.
but he is pretty stubborn about making certain adjustments.
Posted on 1/25/25 at 1:30 am to Partha
IDK if this account is reliable but if this is true... 
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If tweet fails to load, click here. Posted on 1/26/25 at 5:19 am to Partha
In 2025 aren't many absolutes but for sure The Sun is Orange, The Sky is Blue, and Mike White still can not win in Gainesville just like when he was coaching here!!!
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