Florida post game thread | Page 15 | The Boneyard

Florida post game thread

I really hope time is kind to this group. It was a rollercoaster of a season driven by inflated expectations and the burden of history. The UConn shirt this year was really heavy and we took everyone's best jab. Through it all, these kids played hard and showed the world the name on the front of the shirt is what matters. Sure, in the heat of the moment we were overly critical. In the end, I couldn't be more proud of these kids and being a fan of this program. Even on a day when everyone, including some of the boneyarders, thought Florida would destroy us, this group, these kids who we all were so hard on, showed up. They showed the college landscape UConn can compete with anyone anytime. They showed us what it meant to all of them what being a UConn player is all about. I wish they are holding their heads high. They showed up today. They showed up all season the best they could and I honestly couldn't be more proud.
 
DRBackup said:
Probably could attribute a lot of that to the high ankle sprain. May not have ever dealt with an injury that bad before, nor trying to come back from one at such a high level.
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I gurantee you it was. Its an injury that really needs 6-8 weeks to heal. It wouldn't surprise me if he gets an mri this week and it never fully healed.
 
Scottzer said:
Good lord, can we stop with the McNeeley nonsense. He’s a very good player for a freshman. He’s not what Stephon Castle, Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, or RIp were as freshmen. Most players aren’t - even if a burger boy.
and before anybody wishes him gone, remember, yes, we’ll have some burger boys coming in. But, he’d also be a sophomore.
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Not to throw stones, but sometimes people remember what they want. In the 1994 loss to Florida, freshman Ray Allen played 20 minutes, was 1-5 from the field for 2 pts with 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. Freshman Donyell Marshall shot 6-14 against Ohio St with 6 turnovers. As a freshman, Rip didn't make the tournament.
 
Frustrating as hell, but a million billion times better than losing to OU would have been. We looked like scared little kids at times in that one. We played more like men today - just didn’t make enough shots and a couple little plays didn’t go our way. Like tie game, their big guy fumbles it and Hass bumps into him. Or earlier we get a deflection, Solo dives for it, they get it, and end up with a 3.

There are specific plays where we failed at the rim. But against OU it was sort of a game-long funk. Not even getting good looks or being afraid to take them. This time we got our guys shots they can make consistently all night.

We legit had a chance against the hottest team in the country with our C game on offense. Hardest part is thinking about a regional with Maryland, Texas Tech and Arky knowing that a confident UConn probably could have had a couple more in them.
 
blkknight1 said:
3 key moments

Up 6 fast break jstew goes reverse instead of straight up misses.

Alex missed reverse instead of going straight up

Up 3 steal but then the turnover.

Convert anyone of those this is a different game
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Absolutely. I thought they were going to put the game away. Downfall started with Stewie reverse. Then what you describe that followed is exactly correct.
 
Gurleyman said:
Frustrating as hell, but a million billion times better than losing to OU would have been. We looked like scared little kids at times in that one. We played more like men today - just didn’t make enough shots and a couple little plays didn’t go our way. Like tie game, their big guy fumbles it and Hass bumps into him. Or earlier we get a deflection, Solo dives for it, they get it, and end up with a 3.

There are specific plays where we failed at the rim. But against OU it was sort of a game-long funk. Not even getting good looks or being afraid to take them. This time we got our guys shots they can make consistently all night.

We legit had a chance against the hottest team in the country with our C game on offense. Hardest part is thinking about a regional with Maryland, Texas Tech and Arky knowing that a confident UConn probably could have had a couple more in them.
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Yea Hurley echoed this sentiment in the postgame presser about how the bracket opened up for them, pathway was really there for them with no St Johns in the region anymore. As far as generating looks I thought today was the cleanest it's been in awhile, I think that would continued playing out of conference teams.
 
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Gurleyman said:
Frustrating as hell, but a million billion times better than losing to OU would have been. We looked like scared little kids at times in that one. We played more like men today - just didn’t make enough shots and a couple little plays didn’t go our way. Like tie game, their big guy fumbles it and Hass bumps into him. Or earlier we get a deflection, Solo dives for it, they get it, and end up with a 3.

There are specific plays where we failed at the rim. But against OU it was sort of a game-long funk. Not even getting good looks or being afraid to take them. This time we got our guys shots they can make consistently all night.

We legit had a chance against the hottest team in the country with our C game on offense. Hardest part is thinking about a regional with Maryland, Texas Tech and Arky knowing that a confident UConn probably could have had a couple more in them.
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Yeah, that busted play three was a killer. Florida had quite a few of those kinds of breaks go their way in this one.
 
Alot of opportunities to extend the lead and have more of a cushion to play with but I think the sequence that's gonna be burned in my head for awhile is the Solo TO after the AK steal when Clayton threw the ball away while nearly falling out of bounds. Good poke away by the UF defender and Solo caught a bad break with it bouncing back off of his fingertips. I really think they could have deflated UF with a score there.
 
Excellent effort, proud of the boys! They played hard, together, resilient, and good defensively. Just couldn’t make a few timely buckets.

The comparison between this year and last year shows a difference between good and great teams. Any time we had a chance to separate this season and this game, we’d miss or turn it over. Last year, every time we had a chance to separate we made the play, then piled on.

There were times in the first 30 minutes of this game where we could have extended the lead, gained more confidence, and gotten it to 10-12 but just could never get over that hump.
 
Mr. French said:
Excellent effort, proud of the boys! They played hard, together, resilient, and good defensively. Just couldn’t make a few timely buckets.

The comparison between this year and last year shows a difference between good and great teams. Any time we had a chance to separate this season and this game, we’d miss or turn it over. Last year, every time we had a chance to separate we made the play, then piled on.

There were times in the first 30 minutes of this game where we could have extended the lead, gained more confidence, and gotten it to 10-12 but just could never get over that hump.
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Yeah not having Alpha dogs on offense was the differentiator form this year's team compared to last year and the year before. We probably played our best 2 defensive games of the season on that side of the ball. We just had no one on this year's team who could get the big buckets or create offense when we needed it. Sad but I'm sure Hurley will fix this in next year's team.
 
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blkknight1 said:
3 key moments

Up 6 fast break jstew goes reverse instead of straight up misses.

Alex missed reverse instead of going straight up

Up 3 steal but then the turnover.

Convert anyone of those this is a different game
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Somewhat agree but JStew has made that reverse many times in big games
 
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lonsharkin51 said:
Nothing against the Gators, but anyone who thinks that team wouldn’t get blown out by last year’s Huskies is delusional. They’d just be another 13+ point victim.
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They wouldn’t be able to handle backcourt size and Spencer Newton would have ripped them apart.
 
DRBackup said:
I'm tired of this terrible take. They lost by TWO. Sure, Clayton was clutch for them. UConn did not have a guy like that. Other than that, UConn had plenty of talent to win this game.
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Clayton was the best player on the floor and made the shots that mattered when they needed it most.

We had the better gameplan and it worked for 98% of the game.
 
NHUConnfan said:
Lots of people saying regretful things trying to pin the blame on someone...

It's one thing to be upset as a fan, but it was starting to drift into a territory that was beyond that.
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In such a close game losing comes down to 1-2 plays or shots. We had a number of opportunities but could not take advantage off breaks.
 
Different versions of the team could’ve shown up today. I am so proud of the one that did. We could’ve won it but you really can’t win them all.

Thank you to the seniors. You walk in rarified air. Ask Syracuse.
 
upstater said:
Kid is a freshman and one of the best freshman in UConn history

What are you people watching?
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I think it has more to do with Hurley's evaluation at the PG position last year. This team, especially our shooters (Ball, McNeeley and Karaban) needed a high level guard that could create for other as well as himself. That wasn't Diarra nor Mahaney.

Just look how far out we initiated our offense. Way back from the three point line. Opposing teams knew our guards lack of ball handling, which is why they faced pressure majority of the year.
 
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Disappointed but the boys fought hard.
Said at the beginning of the tourney we need to make shots and play defense. Didn’t make wide open shots today. Sucks but no one gave us a chance either.
 
DRBackup said:
Not to throw stones, but sometimes people remember what they want. In the 1994 loss to Florida, freshman Ray Allen played 20 minutes, was 1-5 from the field for 2 pts with 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. Freshman Donyell Marshall shot 6-14 against Ohio St with 6 turnovers. As a freshman, Rip didn't make the tournament.
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Kemba saved us in the E8, and then played awful in the FF. I didn’t remember people calling for him to leave! (Thank you for correcting me - it should remind the off with his crowd that elite freshmen are not finished products).
 
IndyLives said:
It was a pattern all year. I agree we had the talent to beat anyone, but this team simply couldnt close out games all year. Lack of clutch gene, lack of ability to make a shot or secure a rebound when it really counts, getting tired legs because not athletic enough, etc. Whatever you want to call it, this team didnt have it.

AK's missed layup at the 3 minute mark was the absolute killer. It would have given us a cushion. After that, the wheels fell off.
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He got fouled hard. Refs blew the call. That said he should have went up on the same side instead of trying to reverse
 
Shine21 said:
Exactly. To put it all on McNeeley is insane. We needed at least two of those guys to have a solid game, and they all had one of their worst shooting performances this season.
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And we still only lost by 2. Crazy
 
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