Rethinking Florida

[nelsonmuntz]

Florida is the best team left, but they are by no means dominant. Patric Young, who looked unstoppable against UConn, is a pedestrian 10.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg on the season. I did a double take when I saw the rpg number. Nolan and Brimah are a lot better than they were in early December, and they both have height on Young. Olander was the only big man able to even slow Young down in December, and if we see much Olander on Saturday, we will know that Ollie is not happy with Nolan and Brimah.

Wilbekin, Frazier and Prather are all good, but not "WTF are we going to do with that guy" good. The team is really short unless Walker in on the court, and Walker is a backup.

Giffey can not shoot like he did on Sunday if UConn is going to win. The same goes for the rest of the team. If UConn shoots 35% from the field against Florida, UConn will lose by 15. Young is the toughest matchup for UConn.

As others have pointed out, Young is the only first round draft pick on this team right now. Frazier may get there some day, but no one else is close right now. Florida is just a very well coached team that plays very well together. That is how they win 30 in a row. And while that 30 in a row is impressive, it is not overwhelmingly so. They beat a lot of cupcakes and bad SEC teams in that stretch. They have 3 nice wins over Kentucky, close wins over Kansas and Memphis, and wins over a Tennessee team that wasn't playing all that well for most of the year. Even Kentucky flirted with the bubble until the end of the regular season. All good wins, but 23 or so of those wins were over teams that weren't much better than what Wichita State was tearing through.

This is going to be a tough matchup for UConn, and while I think -6 is a little high for this spread, it is in the ballpark. I would have pegged it at -4 or -4.5. This isn't UNC in 1998 or UCLA in 1995, where UConn is walking into a buzzsaw. This isn't Michigan State 2009 (or the two above) where UConn is playing a road game. I am more excited than afraid for this game. UConn has to beat good teams to win a National Championship, and Florida is a good team, but UConn can win this.

 

[Lefty2one]

I would be shocked if Young was a first round pick. DX doesn't have him in the first round either. He's too small, can't shoot and is slow-footed. Not exactly what NBA teams are looking for these days.

Florida is tough and experienced. They play great defense. But they are very beatable, obviously, since we already beat them once and we didn't even play that great. Everyone is saying how FL wasn't healthy and this and that. Well, we aren't exactly the same team we were in December either. We're much better.

 

[Marat]

Well, we aren't exactly the same team we were in December either. We're much better.

We're actually significantly better than we were 1 month ago. And in the Florida game Omar Calhoun saw significant minutes (also Olander). TSamuel will get OC's minutes now. Brimah was just a freshman getting his feet wet - he didn't even attempt to block Young in the paint when he went on to score those buckets end of game.

We beat them in December and we can beat them again in April.

 

[patrick]

We're actually significantly better than we were 1 month ago. And in the Florida game Omar Calhoun saw significant minutes (also Olander). TSamuel will get OC's minutes now. Brimah was just a freshman getting his feet wet - he didn't even attempt to block Young in the paint when he went on to score those buckets end of game.

We beat them in December and we can beat them again in April.

Yes yes yes! !

Let's him fast and hard and before they know what's happening we will be dominating the game! ! !

I AM GETTING FIRED UP!

 

[Scot-e]

I agree- except for the fact that We Are Doomed!!!!!!!!!

 

[CTBasketball]

Ride Senhor. Ride.

 

[CTMike]

Nelson, I give you crap, but this post was excellent. Kudos. Let's beat the Gators!

 

[Gringo]

Olander was the only big man able to even slow Young down in December, and if we see much Olander on Saturday, we will know that Ollie is not happy with Nolan and Brimah.

I agree with a lot you say here but Olander didn't do anything to "slow Young down". If you look at the box score he had 0 points, 0 rebound, 0 assists and fouled out in 11 minutes.

After the game I called my former roommate at UConn and one of the things we talked about (after about 15 minutes of talking about Bazz's shot) was that Olander did not play well that game. He didn't do anything to slow down Young.

This doesn't mean Olander can't help us tomorrow. If he plays I hope he can give us some quality minutes, but that Florida game wasn't his best.

 

[BankShot]

What I would LOVE TO SEE in the first couple minutes of the game, FLA has the ball, Young gets it on the lower block. Brimah D'ing him up, Young, one dribble, two dribble left into the paint, BRIMAH arms straight up. Then Young puts his freakish shoulder into Brimah to create space, gets called for the offensive foul and BRIMAH still sends his shot back into the back court with a swat.

If the boys played well versus PAYNE in the paint, they will can do well against this guy. His monster game against us is when our best D big man was TYLER.

TYLER people, TYLER.

 

[babysheep]

I definitely look for AB and PN to combine to produce more than 11 and 6, but I'll take a stalemate at the 5.

 

[Marat]

This doesn't mean Olander can't help us tomorrow. If he plays I hope he can give us some quality minutes, but that Florida game wasn't his best.

At least Olander can try to foul Young on a shot attempts, since Young is not a very good FT shooter percentage wise.

 

[BankShot]

Exactly, if UCONN is up down the stretch, and Young is doing well, bring in TO and have him use all 5 fouls on 5 trips down the floor. I'd prefer to have Young on the line for the last 2 min, then anything else. Based on averages, that would be 6-7 points on 5 trips down the floor.

I like our chances despite being DOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEDDD

 

[Gringo]

At least Olander can try to foul Young on a shot attempts, since Young is not a very good FT shooter percentage wise.

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised at all if Olander came in and gave us some quality minutes off the bench.

No matter what, I guarantee our big guys will be better than how they played against Florida.

If you look at the box score here are the numbers: 5 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists and 2 blocks.

That's not one player. That is Nolan, Brimah and Olander combined. No chance our big guys play that poorly again.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Florida is the best team left, but they are by no means dominant. Patric Young, who looked unstoppable against UConn, is a pedestrian 10.6 ppg and 6.2 rpg on the season. I did a double take when I saw the rpg number. Nolan and Brimah are a lot better than they were in early December, and they both have height on Young. Olander was the only big man able to even slow Young down in December, and if we see much Olander on Saturday, we will know that Ollie is not happy with Nolan and Brimah.

Wilbekin, Frazier and Prather are all good, but not "WTF are we going to do with that guy" good. The team is really short unless Walker in on the court, and Walker is a backup.

Giffey can not shoot like he did on Sunday if UConn is going to win. The same goes for the rest of the team. If UConn shoots 35% from the field against Florida, UConn will lose by 15. Young is the toughest matchup for UConn.

As others have pointed out, Young is the only first round draft pick on this team right now. Frazier may get there some day, but no one else is close right now. Florida is just a very well coached team that plays very well together. That is how they win 30 in a row. And while that 30 in a row is impressive, it is not overwhelmingly so. They beat a lot of cupcakes and bad SEC teams in that stretch. They have 3 nice wins over Kentucky, close wins over Kansas and Memphis, and wins over a Tennessee team that wasn't playing all that well for most of the year. Even Kentucky flirted with the bubble until the end of the regular season. All good wins, but 23 or so of those wins were over teams that weren't much better than what Wichita State was tearing through.

This is going to be a tough matchup for UConn, and while I think -6 is a little high for this spread, it is in the ballpark. I would have pegged it at -4 or -4.5. This isn't UNC in 1998 or UCLA in 1995, where UConn is walking into a buzzsaw. This isn't Michigan State 2009 (or the two above) where UConn is playing a road game. I am more excited than afraid for this game. UConn has to beat good teams to win a National Championship, and Florida is a good team, but UConn can win this.

I remember that UCLA loss. It was painful as I think UCLA was the only team that year that could outscore UConn that season. Some good did come out of it though. The morning after the loss, I was on a train from Zurich to Munich (was studying abroad) and ended up sharing a compartment with a pair of UCLA students. I was a little grumpy. So, that night at the Hofbräuhaus, one of the girls took pity on me and bought me 2 mugs (I could do weight training with those things). After several more, we had a jolly good time.

 

[Husky25]

What I would LOVE TO SEE in the first couple minutes of the game, FLA has the ball, Young gets it on the lower block. Brimah D'ing him up, Young, one dribble, two dribble left into the paint, BRIMAH arms straight up. Then Young puts his freakish shoulder into Brimah to create space, gets called for the offensive foul and BRIMAH still sends his shot back into the back court with a swat.

If the boys played well versus PAYNE in the paint, they will can do well against this guy. His monster game against us is when our best D big man was TYLER.

TYLER people, TYLER.

Incomplete data on which to make that assessment. For whatever reason, Paine wasn't in the paint enough. MSU really gave up a monster advantage by not forcing the ball down low. It is more than likely that Billy Donovan has reviewed UConn's game tape from the last ten games. He is a torch carrier for the next 20 years.

 

[Lefty2one]

Incomplete data on which to make that assessment. For whatever reason, Paine wasn't in the paint enough. MSU really gave up a monster advantage by not forcing the ball down low.

Payne didn't look comfortable when he got the ball down low. We doubled him a few times early and that seemed to rattle him. He also wasn't getting deep position on us, he was catching the ball 15' out when he tried to post. Just because someone has a height advantage doesn't mean they're going to kill someone in the paint. Payne has never been a good back-to-the-basket player. Not to mention he looked so winded for much of the game, when you're tired and your legs are going the last thing you want to do is battle on the block.

 

[UconnU]

Shut up OP we have no chance in this game. We could never beat a team like florida!

 

[Gurleyman]

I agree with a lot you say here but Olander didn't do anything to "slow Young down". If you look at the box score he had 0 points, 0 rebound, 0 assists and fouled out in 11 minutes.

After the game I called my former roommate at UConn and one of the things we talked about (after about 15 minutes of talking about Bazz's shot) was that Olander did not play well that game. He didn't do anything to slow down Young.

This doesn't mean Olander can't help us tomorrow. If he plays I hope he can give us some quality minutes, but that Florida game wasn't his best.

Points, rebounds and assists have nothing to do with slowing a player down on defense. Young was getting deep post position and doing whatever he wanted against Brimah. Olander at least forced him into tougher looks on that night, even though Young hit a difficult one late over him that almost won it (prior to the 4-point play from Bazz).

Brimah, though, was facing a physical post scorer for the first time and had a lot to learn at that point. Hopefully, he's more prepared this time and we don't see much Olander, because that would mean that Nolan and Brimah are doing the job (and not in foul trouble). But it isn't a bad thing to know we have TO there if we need to try a different look.

 

[junglehusky]

I said this a few days ago, if we are up two scores with under 2 minutes to go, free throws will decide the game and I like our chances .< /captain obvious >

 

[CTBasketball]

Our front-court was putrid back then. I get that Florida has been banging on all 6 cylinders (if they're a V6 car), but we're a completely different team. If Donovan prepares his team to play the December Huskies, he's dumb as this bagel I'm eating.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I was in Gampel that night, and Olander played the best 0 points, 0 rebound, foulout game I ever saw.

 

[BoatShow]

I'm sick of people bringing up that Florida "wasn't at 100%" on 12/2 because their 8th best player was out. A big time difference maker for us, TSam, wasn't even in the rotation yet. Brimah was a shell of what he is now. And Senhor has really been going all out lately.

 

[UConn9604]

I'm sick of people bringing up that Florida "wasn't at 100%" on 12/2 because their 8th best player was out. A big time difference maker for us, TSam, wasn't even in the rotation yet. Brimah was a shell of what he is now. And Senhor has really been going all out lately.

I never thought I'd look back at Brimah having gotten repeatedly worked by Montrezl Harrell as a good thing (on multiple occasions), but in this context, it definitely was worth it. He's been there and done that, and hopefully learned something from it.

 

[housekeys]

Florida? There is nothing to rethink about. Florida is a great team. They were; they are. There is no question. If anything they are better, not from a talent point of view, but from a mental point of view. Well coached; they have skill, they have seniority, they have swag.

However, it is UConn that people need to "rethink". We do have a chance. We do.

 

[aceboon]

lol @ Patrick Young being a 1st round pick, dude will be lucky to be drafted at all, I don't see the NBA in his future