Sweet 16 Haiku
Maryland has Queen
Gators have a brotherhood
Depth defeats Crab Five
So yesterday was fun... first half was annoying as a younger sibling tugging your leg back when you were a teenager watching a "make-out" movie with your girlfriend/boyfriend. Thankfully the 2nd half was bed time for sibling and the Gators were able to get some SF lovin' going on.
Some quick hitters before moving to the prognostication of tomorrow's Elite 8 matchup...
- While I believed we would win against UConn (game thread as evidence) - I always felt that was going to be our Maalox Masher to the Final Four. The game held true till the very end. There were things UConn were accomplishing that were directly caused by them and it took a long time to finally adjust.
- The Maryland matchup was opposite... Maryland has an amazing future NBA player (Queen) but the first half was not a direct result of them... it was self-inflected TO's and watching the Gators play - their minds were going faster than their bodies and they were playing with hand grenades instead of basketballs.
Game thoughts:
- Condon's ankle injury - scary - still don't know long term impact - however experiencing Miss St game in same earlier fashion - adjusting and dominating that game - provided a positive reinforcement that Gators are ok and can pull through
- Predicted Aberdeen to play a larger role and he really came through and provided some mental relief for Clayton who didn't have to wear the "S" in this game.
- Thought when tourney started that Urban revert back to his form before the coming out party (which coincided with Clayton & Martin being on the shelf). With limited opportunities to make a positive impression - Urban is pressing and has unfortunately created negative outcomes with his defense and TO's on offense. Unless the future games are a blowout or an injury occurs where Urban can get 10+ min game time - Urban is a liability on the floor and the rotation needs to give more PT the 4 player back court.
- How good is Haugh... really played an amazing game and absorbed the minutes lost from Condon's injury. Can you imagine next season with 10+extra lbs of muscle - how great he can be - a likely future SEC Player of the Year candidate.
- Give credit to Reuben - His dunks in the 2nd half juiced the Gator margin and played solid defense... had a couple of tough calls on him before fouling out
- For all the media slant of Golden being a "rookie tourney coach" - he completely outcoached Willard - who gave the same postgame speech last night as he did when Seton Hall lost their last game in the tourney (and then carpetbagged to Maryland) - it's actually quite funny to sync the videos if you haven't)
- Going back to Golden - a hidden impact was his comfort in playing in SF. You can see this was home for him once... The ability to share this experience with the team - balancing the culture, sites, sounds and food with the basketball - provides a well-rounded release from the pressure initially experienced in Raleigh.
- Meanwhile - with Willard appearing to be one foot out the door - the Condon floor shovel to Micah at the buzzer was the KO punch and Maryland about gave up (and certainly waived the white flag with 2+ min to go) - funny how Texas Tech treated those precious remaining minutes - so don't expect a deja vu
Ok... Elite 8 time.
Interesting statistic that impacts the Gators:
Did you know the 3 largest comebacks in the Sweet 16 were:
20 pts - 2007 Ohio St over Tennessee
17 pts - 2006 UCLA over Gonzaga
16 pts - 2025 Texas Tech over Arkansas
The first 2 met their demise at the hands of the Gators in the championship game and now we have an opportunity to eliminate the 3rd.
Here's how I see this game.
TT is going to come out early with a lot of energy and try to blitzkreig Florida - it wouldn't surprise me to see TT lead by low double digits (10-13 pts) and get our bigs into some early foul trouble - through offensive displacement on missed shot attempts and being quicker feet wise (blocking calls).
The Gators are not going to panic and instead the TV timeouts will drain the initial adrenaline from TT's bench and Florida like a metronome will be slowly chopping wood ... That 12 point lead down to 8 at the next timeout and before you know it - come half time it's a 1-2 possession game.
Golden at HT breaks out the CD player and plays ABBA "The Winner Takes It ALL" - after getting curious looks from the team - realize the specific chorus lyrics that were played... The Winner Takes it All... The loser has to fall... It's simple and its plain... why should I complain (forget the officiating and just play Gator ball - take care of the ball, rebound and defend)
This leads to a Gators team possessed and immediate goes on an absurd 22-5 run led by the Gators back court raining 3's and culminates with a Alijah Martin thunder dunk. The defense stiffens, Tech is exhausted and has no response.
The first half is quickly forgotten as the Gators smell the Final Four feast and chomp Tech 83-71. While Clayton receives regional MVP honors - it was a truly team effort as 5 players go for double figures... Clayton & Martin with 18 pts each, Richard with 14, Haugh & Aberdeen with 11 points each.
In the postgame locker - Golden replaces the CD player with this video feed from Gainesville...about heading to the final four
Go Gators !!!!
Maryland has Queen
Gators have a brotherhood
Depth defeats Crab Five
So yesterday was fun... first half was annoying as a younger sibling tugging your leg back when you were a teenager watching a "make-out" movie with your girlfriend/boyfriend. Thankfully the 2nd half was bed time for sibling and the Gators were able to get some SF lovin' going on.
Some quick hitters before moving to the prognostication of tomorrow's Elite 8 matchup...
- While I believed we would win against UConn (game thread as evidence) - I always felt that was going to be our Maalox Masher to the Final Four. The game held true till the very end. There were things UConn were accomplishing that were directly caused by them and it took a long time to finally adjust.
- The Maryland matchup was opposite... Maryland has an amazing future NBA player (Queen) but the first half was not a direct result of them... it was self-inflected TO's and watching the Gators play - their minds were going faster than their bodies and they were playing with hand grenades instead of basketballs.
Game thoughts:
- Condon's ankle injury - scary - still don't know long term impact - however experiencing Miss St game in same earlier fashion - adjusting and dominating that game - provided a positive reinforcement that Gators are ok and can pull through
- Predicted Aberdeen to play a larger role and he really came through and provided some mental relief for Clayton who didn't have to wear the "S" in this game.
- Thought when tourney started that Urban revert back to his form before the coming out party (which coincided with Clayton & Martin being on the shelf). With limited opportunities to make a positive impression - Urban is pressing and has unfortunately created negative outcomes with his defense and TO's on offense. Unless the future games are a blowout or an injury occurs where Urban can get 10+ min game time - Urban is a liability on the floor and the rotation needs to give more PT the 4 player back court.
- How good is Haugh... really played an amazing game and absorbed the minutes lost from Condon's injury. Can you imagine next season with 10+extra lbs of muscle - how great he can be - a likely future SEC Player of the Year candidate.
- Give credit to Reuben - His dunks in the 2nd half juiced the Gator margin and played solid defense... had a couple of tough calls on him before fouling out
- For all the media slant of Golden being a "rookie tourney coach" - he completely outcoached Willard - who gave the same postgame speech last night as he did when Seton Hall lost their last game in the tourney (and then carpetbagged to Maryland) - it's actually quite funny to sync the videos if you haven't)
- Going back to Golden - a hidden impact was his comfort in playing in SF. You can see this was home for him once... The ability to share this experience with the team - balancing the culture, sites, sounds and food with the basketball - provides a well-rounded release from the pressure initially experienced in Raleigh.
- Meanwhile - with Willard appearing to be one foot out the door - the Condon floor shovel to Micah at the buzzer was the KO punch and Maryland about gave up (and certainly waived the white flag with 2+ min to go) - funny how Texas Tech treated those precious remaining minutes - so don't expect a deja vu
Ok... Elite 8 time.
Interesting statistic that impacts the Gators:
Did you know the 3 largest comebacks in the Sweet 16 were:
20 pts - 2007 Ohio St over Tennessee
17 pts - 2006 UCLA over Gonzaga
16 pts - 2025 Texas Tech over Arkansas
The first 2 met their demise at the hands of the Gators in the championship game and now we have an opportunity to eliminate the 3rd.
Here's how I see this game.
TT is going to come out early with a lot of energy and try to blitzkreig Florida - it wouldn't surprise me to see TT lead by low double digits (10-13 pts) and get our bigs into some early foul trouble - through offensive displacement on missed shot attempts and being quicker feet wise (blocking calls).
The Gators are not going to panic and instead the TV timeouts will drain the initial adrenaline from TT's bench and Florida like a metronome will be slowly chopping wood ... That 12 point lead down to 8 at the next timeout and before you know it - come half time it's a 1-2 possession game.
Golden at HT breaks out the CD player and plays ABBA "The Winner Takes It ALL" - after getting curious looks from the team - realize the specific chorus lyrics that were played... The Winner Takes it All... The loser has to fall... It's simple and its plain... why should I complain (forget the officiating and just play Gator ball - take care of the ball, rebound and defend)
This leads to a Gators team possessed and immediate goes on an absurd 22-5 run led by the Gators back court raining 3's and culminates with a Alijah Martin thunder dunk. The defense stiffens, Tech is exhausted and has no response.
The first half is quickly forgotten as the Gators smell the Final Four feast and chomp Tech 83-71. While Clayton receives regional MVP honors - it was a truly team effort as 5 players go for double figures... Clayton & Martin with 18 pts each, Richard with 14, Haugh & Aberdeen with 11 points each.
In the postgame locker - Golden replaces the CD player with this video feed from Gainesville...about heading to the final four
Go Gators !!!!
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