GatorsFirst
Gator Fan
Written by James Brown
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Thanks to each team losing last night, Florida faces off with Washington tonight in Kansas City. While they aren’t 6’20” and killing for fun, I’m sure there are other correlations with this college basketball team, and the 1st President of the US, for which they are named. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA"]click here[/ame]). As far as tonight’s game, and some observations from last night’s game, you’ll have to continue reading below…
Florida’s frontcourt was exposed last night. In a big way. This does not bode well for their hopes of rebounding against Jon Brockman. At 6’7” and 255 lbs., he is the two-time defending rebounding champion in the PAC-10. He’s big and strong, and if our two most physical players, Dan Werner and Allan Chaney, get in foul trouble again, he could have his way with us.
We match up, overall, much better with Washington than we did with Syracuse. They could go with a 3-guard lineup (as we did all last season), and have a couple small guards that could allow us to play some different combinations than we can against bigger teams. Washington’s incoming freshman point guard is Isaiah Thomas. That should help, as presumably he’s shaken off the effects of the Knicks disaster, including the sexual harassment suit and the overdose thing. Seriously, though, this new Isaiah is a very quick 5’8” guard. He’s not worse than the other guys we’ve had to play, but we should be able to matchup better with someone more similar to the personnel on our own team. Senior Justin Dentmon is their other starting guard, and at times he played the point last year. He’s also small, at 5’11”, but having these guys allows them to run their preferred up-tempo style of play. We are also supposed to like to play quick games, so I don’t see that as being an advantage one way or the other.
While we’re on the topic of guards, I’ve been banging on Walter Hodge since last year, and even Dick Vitale (who loves everyone who ever touched a basketball) started to openly question him last night. In fairness, I think Dickie V was drunk. Because he also brought up that Horford over Noah thing again, and that wasn’t exactly a high point in his relationship with the University of Florida. Back to Hodge, you have no idea he’s even on the court most of the time. He took 2 shots in 24 minutes, going scoreless. And it’s not just his size- Erving Walker can create his own shot, can penetrate the lane and make some things happen. It seems like Hodge is just hanging around on the court, waiting for wide open three pointers to come to him. And he’s a defensive liability in every other game (luckily, Washington also has some small guys). I’d like to see him attempt some two point shots, and actually drive the lane. I can’t believe I once defended this guy and thought he could play a Devin Harris-type role (meaning: creating things with his speed, among other stuff) on our team.
Another key player in this game could be Quincy Pondexter. The 6’6” junior has always been labeled a ‘potential breakout player’. Let’s hope that breakout isn’t against our sorry defense- as he’s a matchup problem for our team. He’s too fast for Calathes, so Chandler Parsons or Ray Shipman (depending on who else is on the floor) could draw the assignment. Werner will most likely be playing their 4 or 5, so I don’t expect him to guard Pondexter much.
Another big concern in the last two games is the terrible shooting of Chandler Parsons. I know he capable of playing a lot better, and overall, he seems to be improved with his effort (9 rebounds last night), and general court presence. But his scoring hasn’t come around yet, and I don’t know if he could be putting too much pressure on himself at this point. Especially as he is the new starter. We’ve already heard Kenny Kadji say he felt better after a pep talk from Billy Donovan- I think it’s time for Billy to light a fire under Hodge, and somehow get Chandler to relax until the shots start falling. Dickie V also called out Dan Werner as needing to step up (“He’s been too quiet”- same thing he said about Hodge), but I think Werner was limited by the foul trouble, and that this isn’t as disturbing a trend as Hodge’s play all season long.
We really need this nonconference win, both as a confidence booster, and to enhance our resume, as we won’t get many nonconference chances- I told you in the season preview we have very few games against anyone but St Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind before SEC play starts in January. And while the SEC slate is the meat of our schedule, if we find ourselves on the bubble again (saying we were on the bubble a year ago may be generous), we need some other wins against BCS conference teams.
I think Billy D is too good of a coach to allow us to lose again, and Washington is hardly a top-25 caliber team (they missed the NCAAs and NIT, to lose in the first round of the inaugural CBI last year). I expect us to win tonight, but more importantly is how we look while winning- are we going to see improved play from our frontcourt, and improved leadership from our veterans? Will we make love like an eagle, falling out of the sky? Or will we come up short against Washington? …Washington. Twelve stories high, made of radiation.
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Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Thanks to each team losing last night, Florida faces off with Washington tonight in Kansas City. While they aren’t 6’20” and killing for fun, I’m sure there are other correlations with this college basketball team, and the 1st President of the US, for which they are named. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA"]click here[/ame]). As far as tonight’s game, and some observations from last night’s game, you’ll have to continue reading below…
Florida’s frontcourt was exposed last night. In a big way. This does not bode well for their hopes of rebounding against Jon Brockman. At 6’7” and 255 lbs., he is the two-time defending rebounding champion in the PAC-10. He’s big and strong, and if our two most physical players, Dan Werner and Allan Chaney, get in foul trouble again, he could have his way with us.
We match up, overall, much better with Washington than we did with Syracuse. They could go with a 3-guard lineup (as we did all last season), and have a couple small guards that could allow us to play some different combinations than we can against bigger teams. Washington’s incoming freshman point guard is Isaiah Thomas. That should help, as presumably he’s shaken off the effects of the Knicks disaster, including the sexual harassment suit and the overdose thing. Seriously, though, this new Isaiah is a very quick 5’8” guard. He’s not worse than the other guys we’ve had to play, but we should be able to matchup better with someone more similar to the personnel on our own team. Senior Justin Dentmon is their other starting guard, and at times he played the point last year. He’s also small, at 5’11”, but having these guys allows them to run their preferred up-tempo style of play. We are also supposed to like to play quick games, so I don’t see that as being an advantage one way or the other.
While we’re on the topic of guards, I’ve been banging on Walter Hodge since last year, and even Dick Vitale (who loves everyone who ever touched a basketball) started to openly question him last night. In fairness, I think Dickie V was drunk. Because he also brought up that Horford over Noah thing again, and that wasn’t exactly a high point in his relationship with the University of Florida. Back to Hodge, you have no idea he’s even on the court most of the time. He took 2 shots in 24 minutes, going scoreless. And it’s not just his size- Erving Walker can create his own shot, can penetrate the lane and make some things happen. It seems like Hodge is just hanging around on the court, waiting for wide open three pointers to come to him. And he’s a defensive liability in every other game (luckily, Washington also has some small guys). I’d like to see him attempt some two point shots, and actually drive the lane. I can’t believe I once defended this guy and thought he could play a Devin Harris-type role (meaning: creating things with his speed, among other stuff) on our team.
Another key player in this game could be Quincy Pondexter. The 6’6” junior has always been labeled a ‘potential breakout player’. Let’s hope that breakout isn’t against our sorry defense- as he’s a matchup problem for our team. He’s too fast for Calathes, so Chandler Parsons or Ray Shipman (depending on who else is on the floor) could draw the assignment. Werner will most likely be playing their 4 or 5, so I don’t expect him to guard Pondexter much.
Another big concern in the last two games is the terrible shooting of Chandler Parsons. I know he capable of playing a lot better, and overall, he seems to be improved with his effort (9 rebounds last night), and general court presence. But his scoring hasn’t come around yet, and I don’t know if he could be putting too much pressure on himself at this point. Especially as he is the new starter. We’ve already heard Kenny Kadji say he felt better after a pep talk from Billy Donovan- I think it’s time for Billy to light a fire under Hodge, and somehow get Chandler to relax until the shots start falling. Dickie V also called out Dan Werner as needing to step up (“He’s been too quiet”- same thing he said about Hodge), but I think Werner was limited by the foul trouble, and that this isn’t as disturbing a trend as Hodge’s play all season long.
We really need this nonconference win, both as a confidence booster, and to enhance our resume, as we won’t get many nonconference chances- I told you in the season preview we have very few games against anyone but St Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind before SEC play starts in January. And while the SEC slate is the meat of our schedule, if we find ourselves on the bubble again (saying we were on the bubble a year ago may be generous), we need some other wins against BCS conference teams.
I think Billy D is too good of a coach to allow us to lose again, and Washington is hardly a top-25 caliber team (they missed the NCAAs and NIT, to lose in the first round of the inaugural CBI last year). I expect us to win tonight, but more importantly is how we look while winning- are we going to see improved play from our frontcourt, and improved leadership from our veterans? Will we make love like an eagle, falling out of the sky? Or will we come up short against Washington? …Washington. Twelve stories high, made of radiation.
Click here to view original article
