bball - perfect strangers

[radbag]

Freshman forwards Chandler Parsons and Adam Allen did not know each other well in high school even though they were two of the top players in the state last season. Coming off the bench and being productive in Florida's first two games, Parsons and Allen are becoming fast friends.

"A year ago, I saw him on the Sun Sports show and that's the first time I ever heard of him," said Parsons, who played at Winter Park Lake Howell and on Nike Team Florida along with freshman guard Nick Calathes. "At first, I was like who's this 6-7 kid trying to steal my thunder in the state of Florida? He played on the adidas (AAU) team.

"Everybody in high school tried to hype us up like Chandler against Adam. Getting to know him he's the nicest kid. He's a little country, farmer guy but that's what makes Adam."

Allen, who played at Milton and for the Tallahassee Wildcats, makes no bones about enjoying country music. He talked about baling hay on his farm Tuesday and about enjoying Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw music. Calathes and sophomore forward Dan Werner also listen to country. Parsons said earlier this season his favorite musician was rapper Lil Wayne so some of their off-the-court tastes clash.

Still, Parsons and Allen have formed a bond on the court – and maybe someday on the baseball field. Allen, who left Milton as the school leader in points (2,317), rebounds (1,200) and blocks (321), was also a standout baseball player. Parsons said he challenged Allen that he could get a hit off him. He might regret that decision.

"I talk a lot," Parsons said. "I just don't want him to peg me. He throws 90 (miles per hour) and he said he likes to go inside so I don't know about all that."

Said Allen: "We have a little game going. He thinks he can hit off me. He says he has some background in baseball. I'm going to throw against him and see what he does."

It is that type of chemistry that has the Gators rolling into the 2007-08 season with wins over a gritty North Dakota State team (75-65) and Tennessee Tech (93-65). Florida hosts North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the O'Connell Center. In the Rivals.com ranking of all 340 Division I basketball teams, North Carolina Central comes in last so the Gators are not expected to get much of a test. North Carolina Central lost to Duke, 121-56, and to Rutgers, 73-48.

Parsons and Allen have been productive off the bench in Florida's first two victories. Allen has hit a team-high 5 of 8 3-pointers this season and scored 15 in 20 minutes against Tennessee Tech. Parsons finished with 15 points and six assists with one turnover in that game. Florida's top six scorers all average more than 10 points per outing.

"Coach (Billy) Donovan is trying a bunch of different lineups right now getting a lot of guys a lot of minutes," said Parsons, rated as the fifth-best small forward in the country last season. "We're a really young team. We're just getting to know our identity and we're all getting opportunities right now.

"Being 6-9, 6-10, I'm going to have to step up and start rebounding the ball better. I'm going to have to start being more physical with the bigger guys down low because I'm going to be matched up with their forwards and centers…I have to block out. I have to hit him low and then I have to go get the ball with a 6-9 guy on my back weighing 230. I'm definitely not used to that but I'm getting better at it every day."

Said Donovan: "Although they've been able to score a little bit from their spots I still think there's a lot of improvement those guys can make on both ends of the floor. Coming off screens, using screens, their defense, their rebounding, an understanding of what we're doing.

"They've got to understand they're going to have nights, and it happens to every team, where they're not going to shoot the ball well. It's on those nights you have to have different things that will give yourselves a chance to win. For those guys, they've provided scoring but there are other things they can provide to help us."

Rivals.com rated Parsons as the third-best player in the state last season behind Calathes and Florida State's Solomon Alabi. Allen was fourth. He was also rated as the 20th best small forward in the nation.

[TTBHG]

This team is going to be special. I think they make the tournament this year and get experiance but next year they go crazy . We might win the double chamionships again next year. Football and Basketball, that would be crazy sick. We are blessed to have such incredible sports programs at our University.

[annarborgator]

and here we all thought the mold was broken after the Oh-fours were forged. this team has a chance to be great. in a year or maybe two.