Florida's margin for error is very slim

[IL Wildcat]

If we're talking about Florida's issues this season, I think GatorAl and caneintally have pointpointed a key one here:

Originally posted by caneintally:

Originally posted by GatorAl:

Walker with his freakish athletic ability, just can't play the game well. One of our posters said it well .... when Chris gets a ball in his hands, he freaks out. Last night he got a pass underneath, made a ball fake, then reached around under the hoop and missed a lay up. THERE WAS NOBODY THERE. When he first got the ball, he could have stuffed it.

this is exactly what i am talking about . It is like some put a ball in Walker's hands and he like WTF is this ? It is like if a time traveler went to the 1200's and brought back a Serf who was 6'10 and put a basketball in his hands . He would be like huh? And that is Chris walker in a nut shell.

Chris Walker is the guy that was supposed to take Florida from average to really good this season. But the trouble is, this expectation was based on his high recruiting ranking coming out of high school. He may yet become a good player, but to this point you'd have to label him a bust. He seems to have good athleticism, and I honestly think that was the basis of the recruiting ranking, but he is just not very skilled. He can't handle the ball. He's not a very good shooter. HIs hands aren't good. His footwork is bad. He's not as strong at this point as he needs to be. He looks overmatched against even an average D1 caliber forward or center. He just hasn't given them what so many expected of him.

I think we all saw this last year as well. We were told by some Florida fans that Walker was gonna come in and take the starting job away from Patric Young. He was THAT good. But when he was finally declared eligible, it just didn't happen. I think most folks just chalked that up to his youth and not having a full season. Many of those same people were declaring this season's Gators to be even better than last year. It was "addition by subtraction." After all, those seniors last year were experienced, but not as talented as the guys this year. I actually didn't agree with that then, but it's been proven now. You just can't lose 4 multi-year starters and not miss a beat, unless you're replacing them all with can't-miss NBA types.

But I don't think this explains it all. The other issue that may be the elephant in the room is a recruiting choice Donovan has been making very often in recent years. And that's all these transfers Donovan has been taking. This one may upset some Gator fans, but I think it's true. Look at all the transfers...

Eli Carter- Rutgers
Egbunu- South Florida
Finney-Smith- Va Tech
Horford- Michigan
Murphy- Duke
Rimmer- Stanford

Now, here's the trouble. It's not that you should NEVER take a transfer. It's that it's a bad idea to take 6 transfers. Now, perhaps these were Donovan's best options. That may be true. But if it is true, then the problem could be more than just this season. This could become an ongoing issue.

 

[BoulderCat]

For a long part of Billy D's tenure at Florida the Gator's played an embarrassingly easy pre conference schedule. They finally changed that a few years ago. I'll give them that, but it hasn't worked out too well for them this year. I agree, they are firmly on the bubble right now, if not outside of it. I thought perhaps they'd make a strong SEC run, but that isn't looking good either. I'd be tempted to say they belong in the NIT not the NCAA, but I think I'd rather wait until after the game in Gainesville to do that.

 

[GatorAl]

But I don't think this explains it all. The other issue that may be the elephant in the room is a recruiting choice Donovan has been making very often in recent years. And that's all these transfers Donovan has been taking. This one may upset some Gator fans, but I think it's true. Look at all the transfers...

Eli Carter- Rutgers
Egbunu- South Florida
Finney-Smith- Va Tech
Horford- Michigan
Murphy- Duke
Rimmer- Stanford

Now, here's the trouble. It's not that you should NEVER take a transfer. It's that it's a bad idea to take 6 transfers. Now, perhaps these were Donovan's best options. That may be true. But if it is true, then the problem could be more than just this season. This could become an ongoing issue.

Not a bad point, IL.

Couple of observations ....

Finney- Smith is our best player.
Carter is our best guard when he is healthy. Unfortunately he hasn't been. Guy is jinxed.
Egbunu is SUPPOSED to a quality big man. We'll see.
Speculation on my part, but I believe Billy took Horford and Murphy because of who their older
brothers were (and who Murphy's younger brother is ...Tomas is reportedly the best Murphy).
Horford is with us for just this year; Murphy this year and next. With Chris Walker's shortcomings
and Devon Walker's injury, we have badly needed both this year.
Rimmer is a walk on.

 

[caneintally]

Devon Walker i think is a damn good player. When he got hurt i said this would really hurt the gators and alot on this board laughed at me but i stand by that.

 

[Bert Higginbotha]

Originally posted by GatorAl:
Gator fans are baffled by this team. Granted, our players are not all-stars, but the team we had last year was not
exactly all-stars either and they went to Final 4. Our two best players on that team .... Pat Young is playing
in Turkey and Scottie Wilbekin is playing in Australia .... no interest from NBA or Europe.

It is almost a Murphy's Law thing .... whatever can go wrong will go wrong.

Billy is frustrated. Monday, he sent the whole team home from practice after 10 minutes, had them come back
at 8 PM for practice. Then he held a full practice the morning of the LSU game. (Doesn't sound smart to me. Our three balls
seemed to all be short. Would tired legs cause that?)

Lot of concerns, but biggest to me ....

We can't make lay ups. Seriously. We miss MANY. Against LSU one time we put up four point blank shots on
one possession (like volleyball!). Missed every one.

Walker with his freakish athletic ability, just can't play the game well. One of our posters said it well .... when Chris
gets a ball in his hands, he freaks out. Last night he got a pass underneath, made a ball fake, then reached around
under the hoop and missed a lay up. THERE WAS NOBODY THERE. When he first got the ball, he could have
stuffed it.

Something bad has gotten into Mike Frazier's head. This kid is pure shooter like Lee Humphrey, but he just
won't shoot any more.

We just keep hoping. Billy is a great coach; he will figure something out.

I am one of the Kentucky guys who did not want Donovan when UK was going after him. I don't thing he is a great coach, I just think he got lucky with some recruits in 2004.

The big problem at Florida is recruiting and part of the recruiting problem is lack of following and attendance. The Florida basketball administration has done their part in lying about the attendance. The most recent example was the LSU game Tuesday at the O'Dome; the place may have been 60% full yet they reported 10,160. A good estimate may have been 6,500 or possibly 7,000 but the top tier was basically empty and the end zone of the second level were maybe 75% full.

So Billy has not been able to get the needed recruits to compete at a high level. To be competitive he has to take all the transfer he can get and some of those transfers come with baggage. Bad character also causes problem in the team. We have seen this as a bunch of Billy's players have missed games etc. Rumors are that several are smokers, yet Billy lets them come back.

Based on some of the crap that Florida fans put out the last couple of years I am enjoying Florida now.