Has this board really watched Florida?

[Greathusky]

9 1/2 point underdogs in 1999 against Duke. 9 1/2 point underdogs against Florida.

Need I say more?

 

[upstater]

I would start Singare and have him hammer people inside like an agent of chaos. Just unleash him. Tell him Florida is full of matadors wearing red and he's the bull. Tell him to get his licks in before he gets gored with fouls. Tell him to throw some elbows.

Hockey goon tactics.

 

[boog204]

I can see Ross getting some minutes today definitely. I don't think Nowell will get any. Reed will play major minutes off the bench. Stewart will play, and Mahaney.

Yep, I would expect Ross to get some minutes since he’s one of our few athletic defenders. Didn’t say he was a good defender, but he can be and if he doesn’t spazz out could be very useful on one of their perimeter guys.

 

[boog204]

I would start Singare and have him hammer people inside like an agent of chaos. Just unleash him. Tell him Florida is full of matadors wearing red and he's the bull. Tell him to get his licks in before he gets gored with fouls. Tell him to throw some elbows.

Hockey goon tactics.

Go full Ogthrorpe… I like it. Take that, Eddie Shore.

 

[superjohn]

Yes, they're better than the '96 Bulls.

 

[REB1094]

I get that. This synopsis makes sense to me.

Also, Of teams that I do watch- like Creighton and st johns- the way they both looked against sec teams yesterday was the reverse of what I expected.

St johns was muzzled and was even more inefficient on offense than they were all year.

Creighton surprised me and hung hard with the #1 seed.

It's so hard to speak definitively of anything in march.

I have to caveat that I started watching Florida leading up to the end of the season. So a lot of my time was when they were dominating their way through the end of the SEC schedule + tournament. Meaning I only saw them lose once, not the 3 times in a month before that

If we play our best and if we force them to play like mid-Jan through mid-Feb, and not mid-Feb through now, there is a real shot to win. Two big ifs in there, but it's the month where crazy if scenarios become reality

 

[giddyup]

NO FEAR. ALL UP SIDE. Play possessed.

 

[RayRay19]

Doomed.

 

[Ripper32]

One of the analysts said we keep it close in the first half, due to pace and scheme. But then their depth and our lack of depth leads the game to being uncompetitive in 2nd half (similar to what played out with Creighton). Florida excels at rebounding margin and winning the turnover battle:

Connecticut’s defense has been the issue all season, which is unlike recent UConn teams. The Huskies give up 101.6 points per 100 possessions, according to Kenpom.com (81st in DI). For reference, that number was 90.9 in 2023 and 91.1 in 2024.

UConn also fouls a ton (18.2 per game, 281st) and Florida has four players that shoot better than 74% from the line. The Gators' front court of Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu will also cause UConn major problems - both offensive and defensively.

I expect Florida’s top-ranked offense (128.2 points per 100 possessions, per Kenpom.com) and depth (10 players average at least 15 minutes) to be the difference in the second half.

 

[305Husk]

I don't have time to watch much cbb outside of UConn. I'm a dad of 2 youngens with a full time gig. I'm lucky I get to carve out time to watch every uconn men + women's game.

Has this board really watched Florida enough to have a real grasp on their "dominance"? Especially as it compares to us.

Are we really watching all these games? Or are we pretending to know based on carefully cullled together bits from respected writers?

I'm trying to bring a little more confidence to the BY because I, for one, have zero clue how today is gonna turn out.

Yup. They're really, really good. But this tournament is defined by its upsets. That's why I'm watching.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Our guys need to play out of their minds and not make stupid, sloppy plays. Need to be good from three. That's a lot to go right.

 

[EBonz30]

Slow the game down- do not go up & down- slow down similar to Drake- stay out of foul trouble- hit 12+ threes- make the game a half court game in where execution on offense is the end all be all.

On paper & eye test Florida wins by double digits easily- hopefully coaching & a hot shooting performance makes the game interesting.

 

[UCan3]

I’ve watched them and I’m scared. This Gator team is a lot better than any team we’ve played. They have 4 bigs who are all fairly equal in talent and can play 15-20 minutes each and crash the boards hard, they’re athletic and can shoot it too. Richards is someone we don’t have a good answer for defensively while the the 2 guards Martin and Clayton are physical and experienced.

Let’s put it this way, we need everyone to have a very good game, maybe career games to get a W. We need our bigs to stay out of foul trouble and need to guard people like never before.

-8.5??

We have to muck it up.

Yes, I said muck it up.

We are a junkyard dog.

We have our scrapes, bruises and have been kicked around. We been up/down and everything in between.

We need to take Florida out of its game by making this a knock down drag out.

We let them go up/down floor with ease and this game - well it won’t be a game.

I think we can do it.

I think we will do it.

We are going to shock the world.

And I agree w/ everything you posted

 

[UCan3]

I would start Singare and have him hammer people inside like an agent of chaos. Just unleash him. Tell him Florida is full of matadors wearing red and he's the bull. Tell him to get his licks in before he gets gored with fouls. Tell him to throw some elbows.

Hockey goon tactics.

OMG I thought I was the only one….

YES YES and YES’

this is EXACTLY what I would do! He is physical presence..

MUCK THIS GAME UP!

 

[huskyinfl]

We need to come out to Ruff Ryder's anthem and everything will be A-Okay

 

[Scrutineer]

This is where the bench needs to step up. Hurley did not sub much against the sooners. This is going to be a much different opponent that we have faced all year. It will be interesting what we are going to do on D.

He played eight guys 13,18, 19, 21, 28, 31, 32 and 38 minutes (Karaban the most as usual).
Only three guys over 28 minutes (HD, LM and AK) so I don't think there's much he could change except reducing LM's minutes and replacing them with more time for JS.
I questioned in another thread whether it might be worth trying Ross on Clayton now and then to throw him off with a much bigger athletic defender.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Sounds like us last year sadly

“Waaah sadly”

 

[Gurleyman]

Tennessee held them to 40 in a game a month ago and they’ve averaged like 95 since. We need to somehow keep them closer to 40 than 95.

 

[NickDanger]

They need to go out there being mad. That look of anger by AK when he picked up that offensive foul last game then went off. That anger needs to be there from the beginning, from everyone.

What should they be angry about? That they have to play the game at all?

 

[mauconnfan]

We have to muck it up.

Yes, I said muck it up.

We are a junkyard dog.

We have our scrapes, bruises and have been kicked around. We been up/down and everything in between.

We need to take Florida out of its game by making this a knock down drag out.

We let them go up/down floor with ease and this game - well it won’t be a game.

I think we can do it.

I think we will do it.

We are going to shock the world.

And I agree w/ everything you posted

Yup we will need to muck it up for the shock no doubt I agree.

 

[JungleLobo]

Time for the self proclaimed best coach in America to prove it.

 

[nomar]

Yes, they're better than the '96 Bulls.

South Florida Bulls

 

[JLW]

I think it’s called an upset and I’m pretty sure it’s happened before.

 

[Husky Alien]

He played eight guys 13,18, 19, 21, 28, 31, 32 and 38 minutes (Karaban the most as usual).
Only three guys over 28 minutes (HD, LM and AK) so I don't think there's much he could change except reducing LM's minutes and replacing them with more time for JS.
I questioned in another thread whether it might be worth trying Ross on Clayton now and then to throw him off with a much bigger athletic defender.

I think 2 more players. Like you said Ross and then Sigare. Florida's length is going to be a pro0blem.

 

[SouleMan]

9 1/2 point underdogs in 1999 against Duke. 9 1/2 point underdogs against Florida.

Need I say more?

77-74