Last night was a rough outcome for Florida strictly based on whether they won the game and being down 26 at one point... However - I think if UF is to win the national title - last night's game will be a big reason why.
Prior to all the injuries - it was a very easy rotation - Will, Walter & Alijah start in the backcourt with Denzel giving each a breather to capture his minutes. In the front court it was Alex & Rueben starting with Hauck getting the primary front court minutes and Alexis the secondary front court minutes. Everyone knew their role and exactly when they would be coming in/out.
When Walter and then Alijah got hurt - it added a challenge, but Denzel absorbed the starter minutes and allowed an opportunity for Urban to shine and take advantage of his opportunity... Essentially the back court rotation integrity remained and allowed Golden to not rush Alijah back from his injury.
The front court became more challenging when Alex & Sam got hurt - but with the addition of Micah - it allowed Hauck to get into the starting lineup - expand his role into greater minutes and allow Micah to get back to the flow - we kept winning - however foul trouble and rotational integrity started to blur.
The rotational blur increased as Alijah returned from off the bench to full time starter. Now Aberdeen is having to readjust from starter minutes to sharing backup minutes with Urban. I think some of this can be explained why the first halves the last couple of games (Oklahoma aside) have been so volatile and barren at times.
Georgia saw the full rotational challenge with Alex back... the first half between a desperate Georgia team, a Florida team that is trying to establish rotational consistency (and mental challenge of coming back from deficits - which I'll point out next) and not making FT's in a hostile environment - led to this loss.
We all had watershed moments in life... one watershed moment personally for me was in 6th grade. I had a book report due and didn't start it until the morning it was due, despite having weeks to complete it. It was rushed and certainly could've been better written... My grade - A+. I then started procrastinating more and more - with more and more challenging assignments - still getting A+ - however I was tempting fate... It was not until I finally waited to long where I finally got burnt and wasn't able to accomplish the objective and had to do the walk of shame before I truly learned my lesson...
Why do I bring this up... recently - Florida has been giving up big leads/trailing from behind - and finding a way to win - each outdoing the previous time - whether it was SC on the road, Auburn early, LSU and finally Georgia. They nearly did the unthinkable - coming back to hold a 2 pt lead late... and while it would've been great to win against a rival and prevent White from getting his first win against UF - the final outcome will serve as a great teaching point.
Lots of positives from this game
* Alex returning - he'll only get better with additional games remaining
* FT shooting couldn't have been worse - and yet we nearly won the game. Don't expect a repeat performance as Florida has no more games remaining in Mickey Mouse gyms
* Walter was off all game until the final 5 minutes... missed FT's, missed shots that he normally drains in his sleep, the occasional lazy pass - with only ranked games remaining - I fully expect him to elevate his performance the rest of the season - starting with an A&M team that's had our # lately.
* Golden gave the team lots of rope to figure out on their own how to deal with the adversity... the fact they came back from 26 down - speaks volumes
* Golden will use this game to shorten his rotation - expect Urban to be odd man out - with him subbing in only if Will, Alijah or Denzel is having a horrific game. Also expect Alex back in the starting lineup and Micah assuming the Alexis role.
* Georgia had a historic 1st half shooting the ball - that's what it took to barely beat Florida.
Florida controls its destiny for a #1 seed... however they won't become #1 overall seed (Auburn - South) and unless Duke loses again - won't become the #2 overall seed (East)... so the final 2 #1 seeds will be decided amongst, Bama, UF, Tenn and Houston. Unless Florida loses the remainder of the games - expect them to either be paired with Houston (the #1/2 seeds out west) or #2 seed paired with Duke (which would be a good matchup for Florida).
Prior to all the injuries - it was a very easy rotation - Will, Walter & Alijah start in the backcourt with Denzel giving each a breather to capture his minutes. In the front court it was Alex & Rueben starting with Hauck getting the primary front court minutes and Alexis the secondary front court minutes. Everyone knew their role and exactly when they would be coming in/out.
When Walter and then Alijah got hurt - it added a challenge, but Denzel absorbed the starter minutes and allowed an opportunity for Urban to shine and take advantage of his opportunity... Essentially the back court rotation integrity remained and allowed Golden to not rush Alijah back from his injury.
The front court became more challenging when Alex & Sam got hurt - but with the addition of Micah - it allowed Hauck to get into the starting lineup - expand his role into greater minutes and allow Micah to get back to the flow - we kept winning - however foul trouble and rotational integrity started to blur.
The rotational blur increased as Alijah returned from off the bench to full time starter. Now Aberdeen is having to readjust from starter minutes to sharing backup minutes with Urban. I think some of this can be explained why the first halves the last couple of games (Oklahoma aside) have been so volatile and barren at times.
Georgia saw the full rotational challenge with Alex back... the first half between a desperate Georgia team, a Florida team that is trying to establish rotational consistency (and mental challenge of coming back from deficits - which I'll point out next) and not making FT's in a hostile environment - led to this loss.
We all had watershed moments in life... one watershed moment personally for me was in 6th grade. I had a book report due and didn't start it until the morning it was due, despite having weeks to complete it. It was rushed and certainly could've been better written... My grade - A+. I then started procrastinating more and more - with more and more challenging assignments - still getting A+ - however I was tempting fate... It was not until I finally waited to long where I finally got burnt and wasn't able to accomplish the objective and had to do the walk of shame before I truly learned my lesson...
Why do I bring this up... recently - Florida has been giving up big leads/trailing from behind - and finding a way to win - each outdoing the previous time - whether it was SC on the road, Auburn early, LSU and finally Georgia. They nearly did the unthinkable - coming back to hold a 2 pt lead late... and while it would've been great to win against a rival and prevent White from getting his first win against UF - the final outcome will serve as a great teaching point.
Lots of positives from this game
* Alex returning - he'll only get better with additional games remaining
* FT shooting couldn't have been worse - and yet we nearly won the game. Don't expect a repeat performance as Florida has no more games remaining in Mickey Mouse gyms
* Walter was off all game until the final 5 minutes... missed FT's, missed shots that he normally drains in his sleep, the occasional lazy pass - with only ranked games remaining - I fully expect him to elevate his performance the rest of the season - starting with an A&M team that's had our # lately.
* Golden gave the team lots of rope to figure out on their own how to deal with the adversity... the fact they came back from 26 down - speaks volumes
* Golden will use this game to shorten his rotation - expect Urban to be odd man out - with him subbing in only if Will, Alijah or Denzel is having a horrific game. Also expect Alex back in the starting lineup and Micah assuming the Alexis role.
* Georgia had a historic 1st half shooting the ball - that's what it took to barely beat Florida.
Florida controls its destiny for a #1 seed... however they won't become #1 overall seed (Auburn - South) and unless Duke loses again - won't become the #2 overall seed (East)... so the final 2 #1 seeds will be decided amongst, Bama, UF, Tenn and Houston. Unless Florida loses the remainder of the games - expect them to either be paired with Houston (the #1/2 seeds out west) or #2 seed paired with Duke (which would be a good matchup for Florida).
