Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI, SFR
Well I thought they had turned the corner with that big win against West Virginia but it must have been a wrong turn.
I really hope that Mike White can get it going as he seems like a very likeable fellow and he's very intense. It already seems that he's taking more heat for a 16-9 team than Billy D did last year for sub 500 team but I guess that's what happens when you follow a legend.
Charlie
On 2/13/2016 11:22 PM, Shane Ford wrote:
--Dooley: Gators 'awful' on offense, must overcome mediocrity
Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith reacts after a play against Alabama.
Matt Stamey/Staff photographerPublished: Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 7:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 7:58 p.m.
When the final horn sounded, there were some high-flying Alabama basketball players on the O'Connell Center floor. They were bumping hips and bumping chests and Crimson Tide staff members were giving those kind of neck hugs that hurt and feel great at the same time.
Meanwhile, Florida was walking off the court in disbelief. This wasn't supposed to happen, not at home, not with a daunting road trip on the horizon.
But it happened, that game that you know this team is capable of but you hoped it had buried weeks ago.
Florida was awful Saturday, just plain awful, offensively. Alabama's defense contributed to it, but it was as much Florida's ineffectiveness as anything.
The Gators couldn't take advantage of a huge rebounding advantage (54-35) or Alabama's best player (Retin Obasohan) fouling out with 5:35 to play. They could never get Dorian Finney-Smith involved and got too much of Chris Chiozza and Justin Leon.
Nothing against those guys, but when they combine to take 23 shots and Finney-Smith only takes eight, you've got a problem.
That was the Alabama game plan, to make Florida's best player uncomfortable.
"It's a big part of college basketball," said Florida coach Mike White. "For us, unfortunately, we rely on Dorian so much that when people don't see him making baskets, we don't play with a lot of confidence."
Add in enough missed two-footers to last a season, and you've really got a problem.
"We just weren't finishing," said forward Devin Robinson. "That's just the way it is sometimes. We just weren't making shots."
It was a night of bad basketball and the team that played the worst felt the worst when it was over.
"Extremely frustrating," Leon said.
The two teams combined to miss 64 shots and they weren't all because of defense. The 21 missed free throws illustrated that.
For Alabama, Saturday night was a big win. Avery Johnson's team has now won five of six games and broke an 11-game losing streak to Florida. Many of those games were of the low-scoring variety, but Florida always found a way to win.
On this night, the Gators found a way to lose.
"We had 23 offensive rebounds and, wow, scored 55 points," White said. "I'm not sure I've seen a box score like that."
Or a box score that included a 1-for-12 performance from Florida from the 3-point line in the second half.
You've seen those games where a team starts making shots and it seems like nobody can miss and it feels like makes are contagious. Now, imagine the opposite of that.
"We felt that," Johnson said. "We did a nice job of mixing our defenses. They missed a lot of shots. They missed some free throws. That's the way it goes sometimes."
It's been going well for Johnson lately in his first year as the Alabama coach. Suddenly, Alabama is knocking on the bubble's back door.
"We want to stay under the radar," Johnson said. "We're not talking about bubble, but it's good to be in the conversation."
On the other hand, Florida's postseason hopes took a body blow with this home loss, especially when you consider that four of the last six games for the Gators are on the road, where they have not exactly been crisp offensively.
I don't care what the numbers say. Florida's RPI is becoming irrelevant. The bottom line is that this is a 16-9 team.
Getting to the NCAA Tournament isn't supposed to be easy, even in a season like this one filled with so much parity and mediocrity. If these Gators want to dance, they need to do more than meekly tap someone on the shoulder.
It's time for this team to fight, to see what it is made of.
I get that this kind of night can happen, even with a big crowd cheering you on.
It's what you do after they happen that matters.
Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dooleyp@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skål Vikes!ALPCA #8756Europlate #1045
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007)
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