Uplifting Gators Bball article
- Thread starter NorthJerseyGator
- Start date
Good article. But his starting 5 he mentions at the end of article doesn't include Lewis. No way that kid won't be on the floor.
To me this year will tell whether or not Mike White is a championship-caliber coach. Barring injuries, there are no excuses for this team not being in contention for the SEC title as well as the Final 4. He's done pretty good his first 3 years, especially being hampered by a string of key injuries. I'm really hoping White succeeds
That's the first thing I thought too. I figure the starting 5 to be Nembhard, Locke, Lewis, Johnson, Blackshear with Mann subbing for either of Nembhard or Locke and Bassett, Gak, Payne subbing for Johnson and Blackshear and Juruji subbing for Lewis or Johnson.
Just hope all this talent gels quickly. Caliperi shows us year after year that having a bunch of NBA-type talent doesn't automatically translate into championships. You have to have guys who can play together, communicate on and off the floor, are unselfish and not just interested in impressing the NBA scouts, plus are willing to play team defense.
NJG, SF Jurji is a LaTech xfer, he sits out for 2019-20.
"Lewis is a 6’4 wing"
No, he's a 6-5 Wing with a 40+ vertical that could play CG if needed.
The new Gator roster actually lists him as a guard.
Sr, he averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.5 blocks.
In HS Track, he ran a 10.6 in the 100, 21.6 in the 200 and a 6’6.5” high jump.
JMOHO, but Mike has already proven himself as the Gator's HC.
If winning championships was the only standard, then about 340 coaches would be fried annually....
In UF B-Ball history, only one HC has won a NC, and he only got 2 in his 19 years.
The building SEC B-Ball strength will make even winning the SEC-C a lot more difficult.
Mike has already put UF back in the conversation though.
Starters don't really matter that much, because I see at least 10 playing in the game rotations. Rotating Starters imo. Starting will likely be a reward for each weeks practice output.
"There’s a case to be made that no program in America added more talent this offseason than Florida."
A case that iG's been making for months already...
PS -- The article left out the fact that BillyD left UF on a 16-17 losing season.
Mike immediately took those guys to the NIT Quarter-Finals, with zero home games due to the O'Dome renovations.
Here is the new Gator B-Ball roster for anyone that's interested.
https://floridagators.com/roster.aspx?path=basketball-men
"Lewis is a 6’4 wing"
No, he's a 6-5 Wing with a 40+ vertical that could play CG if needed.
The new Gator roster actually lists him as a guard.
Sr, he averaged 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.5 blocks.
In HS Track, he ran a 10.6 in the 100, 21.6 in the 200 and a 6’6.5” high jump.
JMOHO, but Mike has already proven himself as the Gator's HC.
If winning championships was the only standard, then about 340 coaches would be fried annually....
In UF B-Ball history, only one HC has won a NC, and he only got 2 in his 19 years.
The building SEC B-Ball strength will make even winning the SEC-C a lot more difficult.
Mike has already put UF back in the conversation though.
Starters don't really matter that much, because I see at least 10 playing in the game rotations. Rotating Starters imo. Starting will likely be a reward for each weeks practice output.
"There’s a case to be made that no program in America added more talent this offseason than Florida."
A case that iG's been making for months already...
PS -- The article left out the fact that BillyD left UF on a 16-17 losing season.
Mike immediately took those guys to the NIT Quarter-Finals, with zero home games due to the O'Dome renovations.
Here is the new Gator B-Ball roster for anyone that's interested.
https://floridagators.com/roster.aspx?path=basketball-men
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Well, White definitely has the team defense buy in since he's been here. It's getting his high octane up tempo run and gun offense running again. It ran wild his second season when we were scoring 100+ in multiple games. The last two seasons it has withered due to personnel/depth/injury issues. This season though looks like we can let the horses run unbridled again, we got fast/quick athletes all over and depth and no injuries, knock on wood. Shoot, let's have the Pamplona running of the bulls this year fast break offense (current events nod, lol). White has proven we dont have to worry much about team defense.
I'd say Florida has the best chance of anyone in the nation to win both the basketball and football titles this sports season. That "best chance" is obviously very low. Based on some Vegas odds I've seen it's about 800-1. 40-1 for football and 20-1 for basketball.
The sure thing imo, is that the Gator fans are going to get to see 'high quality team play' for the 2019 season, in both football and basketball. How that turns out in the W/L count and/or championships, is one of those yet to be seen thingy's...
