The Back Alley Archives

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:23 pm

Here we come. Our boys look like crap and the first half score shows it. Hopefully we can turn it around in hte 2nd half.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:25 pm

I fucking hate this basketball team this year. It's like they don't give a crap and I hate that so much. That is why I loved the last two years. Those guys cared and worked their asses off, winning was gravy because of the joy of watching them work hard on the court.

RickySlade · Post by **RickySlade** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:34 pm

Here we come. Our boys look like crap and the first half score shows it. Hopefully we can turn it around in hte 2nd half.

Yeah, hopefully we can turn it around and keep the deficit under 30. [smilie=vcry.gif] -->

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:14 pm

Normal Gator fans. :lmao: Cuz, see, we have FOUGHT BACK. Don't question this team's heart--totally unfair, IMO. We're just not that good, in the end. Gotta be objective about these things. Bama came out with nothing to lose and we came out with our entire season to lose. I haven't seen a single guy show a sign of giving up, though.

MinGator · Post by **MinGator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:15 pm

well you negative ninnies, the lead is down to 6.

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:16 pm

I'm liking the turnaround. The tale of two halves.

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:19 pm

That was a goaltend on Lucas' last shot. bullfucking shit.

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:23 pm

terrible foul by hodge--think the announcers are wrong for calling it on Lucas

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:34 pm

Is it just me or does it look like these guys still care enough to play hard until the final buzzer?

RickySlade · Post by **RickySlade** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:53 pm

Normal Gator fans. :lmao: Cuz, see, we have FOUGHT BACK. Don't question this team's heart--totally unfair, IMO. We're just not that good, in the end. Gotta be objective about these things. Bama came out with nothing to lose and we came out with our entire season to lose. I haven't seen a single guy show a sign of giving up, though.

Excellent points, but I hope they weren't meant for my post (Todd?). I was trying to bring some levity to the situation.

To be honest, the first half of this game is the only time this season that I have been remotely close to giving up on the guys. It was, to say the least, disappointing that they came out so flat in the most important game of the season. All of the rah-rah in me couldn't look past a pathetic 5 points in the first 10+ minutes of the game. I'm looking forward to next season when we get some much-needed size and athleticism to go with the talent and experience of this year's squad.

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:59 pm

Directed more toward the first 2 posts. I just hate to see Gator fans give up on our boys for a supposed lack of effort, considering how difficult it really is to judge level of effort/investment. Objectively this team is NOWHERE near as good as the last 2 years. That's just a fact. I just think it's unfair to expect them to be able to flip the switch like the old team could. Those guys were special and we will likely never see a team like them again.

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:24 pm

AA, I'm probably the last person that will give up on hte Gators. I'm the guy that still sees hte chance for them to pull out the win down 10 with 30 seconds to play. I'm the guy that went to the games as a student and could walk in the O'dome and pick my seat because I was one of maybe 100 students that showed up for games. But I tell you, the effort this team had put forth the first half of the game and part of the second was ridiculous as it has been in several of the last few games. Yes, I know they're young and they're not the '04's but 30+ games into the season they should not be making the same mistakes over and over. They should have more than 5 points 10 minutes into the game. You may have noticed that in my original post I noted that I hope they turn things around in the second half. They did but it was too big a hole to dig themselves out of.

To be honest, the first half of this game is the only time this season that I have been remotely close to giving up on the guys. It was, to say the least, disappointing that they came out so flat in the most important game of the season. All of the rah-rah in me couldn't look past a pathetic 5 points in the first 10+ minutes of the game. I'm looking forward to next season when we get some much-needed size and athleticism to go with the talent and experience of this year's squad.

I agree.

MinGator · Post by **MinGator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:24 pm

i don't question the heart, but there are times when they look like they're wearing concrete shoes.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:32 pm

Check out Billy D's post game comments and you'll see that he questions the talent and commitment of the team. Guess he isn't a good Gator fan either. Trust me AA, I'm not the person you want to lecture about being a good Gator. I've been watching Gator hoops from back in the Norm Sloan (84-85) days so I know hoops. I can tell when these guys are laying it on the line and when they are not. The talent level of the teams of the last two years wasn't what I loved about them. What I loved was their commitment to the team and winning. Their hatred of losing. I don't see that in this team so that I why I don't like this team. I haven't seen what I see out of this team since Don Devoe nearly destroyed UF basketball. There have been less talented teams that left it on the floor that were more successful than this team dreamed of being (RE: the 1994 Final Four team).

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:44 pm

Well put Todd. Sounds like we're from the same era though I might have a year or two on you.

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:52 pm

I'm just saying that it can be very difficult to judge the level of emotional investment of a team. Some teams are extroverted like the '04s and some teams are more introverted in their investment. The 04s wore their emotion on their sleeve. But showing emotion outwardly doesn't always translate into wins.

It's cool that you like extroverts, I don't have a problem with recognizing the emotional investment when you see it. I just think it's an unfair bias against more emotionally introverted teams (which definitely exist). It's such a fine line.

Link to BillyD's comments? I haven't found them online yet.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:58 pm

Where else are they going to show it? If they aren't diving on the court for loose balls and playing defense then what other emotional investment is there.

Those will Billy's comments live on the Internet radio feed. I checked SECSPORTS.COM and the post game press conference quotes haven't been published yet.

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:02 pm

aa, I don't think it's a question about introverts v. extroverts. I could care less if they are cold and calculating or giddy about every shot. Effort is what is in question here. Like Todd said, diving after loose balls, playing defense, making smart passes, not standing flat footed watching the game, making smart decisions.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:26 pm

Linky of audio:

http://gatorzone.com/multimedia/index.p ... page=clips

annarborgator · Post by **annarborgator** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:59 pm

Thanks for the link...and I definitely agree about effort...I see what you're getting at if noticeable effort is equated with emotional investment.

I definitely get defensive when it comes to my Gator boys...I'm guilty of that for sure.

radbag · Post by **radbag** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:38 am

ibtm (to too hot)

apexgator · Post by **apexgator** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:53 am

Passionless Gators limp into NIT
By PAT DOOLEY
Sun sports columnist
11:31 pm, March 13, 2008
Florida's basketball team probably didn't take a bus back to its hotel after a first-round loss in the SEC Tournament.

Continue to 2nd paragraph It's difficult to ride the bus when you've been thrown under it.

Because on a night when the Gators saw so many streaks end, Billy Donovan's frustration spilled into the post-game press conference.

“I'm not that excited about these guys being sophomores,” he said. “It's hard to be excited going forward because I don't see things getting fixed.”
Instead he witnessed more of the same in a numbing loss to Alabama. No defense. Lazy passes. No emotion until they were down 28. Did I mention no defense? Again?

And no NCAA Tournament.

So exasperated was Donovan with Florida's start to the game that he called time-out 65 seconds into the first half. And it only got worse.

It was downright embarrassing.

Here they were with their postseason aspirations on the line and they laid an egg. An ugly, smelly one.

And then Chandler Parsons, who actually played decently, said at the podium that the Gators weren't ready to play.

This really set Donovan off.

“It's the first SEC Tournament of your life and you're not ready to play?” Donovan said. “I don't understand that. I can't relate to that.
“We have a commitment issue and that bothers me as a coach. I don't think you've seen this team change all year.”
Nope and that is why Florida has finished its season with a thud and an NIT berth is awaiting the Gators. I asked Donovan Wednesday if he was concerned about his young team coming into a different arena and a different setting. He said he wasn't. He wasn't because this team “hasn't been fazed by anything all season.”

But, he added, that's part of the problem. Nothing really affects them, including coaching.

“I'm the one responsible. I take the blame,” Donovan said. “I've not been able to get through to these guys.”

Nothing has worked. He was so incensed with Marreese Speights' defense in the first half he sat his starting center for all but eight minutes. But it wasn't just Speights. Florida's starters didn't score until there was 8:10 remaining in the first half.

How do you come into this atmosphere and not be excited? How do you go start the game with two turnovers, an air ball and two shots that were blocked? How do you let an underachieving Alabama team get up 42-14?

“With everything we're playing for to allow ourselves to get that far behind was hard to believe,” Parsons said.

The hand-scrawled name card in front of Alex Tyus told the story of what happened Thursday night. Nobody expected the freshman backup to be one of the players chosen to represent UF after its first-round game.

But none of the “name” players did anything worthy of attention.

Florida did cut the gigantic deficit to six, then went back into an offensive funk. Alabama showed why it had lost 15 games coming in, missing free throws and having terrible possessions. But if it takes being down by so much to make you play hard, you have a problem.

Everyone who looks at this team is mystified how a coach who won two national titles can't seem to get enough out of this team.

“I'm not mad at them,” Donovan said. “I'm not disappointed in them. But after coaching that team the last two years, they loved the dirty work. They loved what it took to be a great team. This team has not come to love those things. They've come to avoid those things.”Maybe an influx of new players next year will get things going in the right direction. But only if the new players bring some heart and passion with them.

“There is a disposition in this team that has to change,” Donovan said. “We're in a rebuilding process. It's going to be a different path than one might think.”

Right through the NIT.

UFgirlfan07 · Post by **UFgirlfan07** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:09 am

This might sound bad, but I don't even want to see them in the NIT.

TheTodd · Post by **TheTodd** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:35 am

Me either Katie. But I'll go to the games if I can anyways cause I still support the program no matter what. But I think they will make an early exit like the last time they played in the NIT, 98? I believe that year they beat the first team easily and then lost to a bad Georgetown team in Gainesville.