I'll be the first to say, SEC or not, I'm bummed after last night's NC bball game... I actually thought after UCLA manhandled us, they'd do the same to Florida. I suppose I could use my argument of Saturday night that it's the game of basketball and just as we played about as bad as we could play for the first 15 minutes of the game against UCLA, they did the same against Florida--but I have to (as much as I hate it) give props to the much hated gators and Billy D. The gators surprised me... they were young, they were brash, they played the way I wish we had played. Billy D had a game plan and he had the horses to match UCLA's depth (and those horses showed up... Moss goes for 9 first half points?!!!:shock: ). It pains me even to say it... :sob: So, after watching this game, it makes me excited for next season, although conscious that the SEC will not be "down", Florida most likely will return many of their guys, and we've got our hands full trying to repeat as SEC CHAMPIONS (let's not forget Florida, we are SEC CHAMPS). I hope the fans show their true colors and support this team next year, and I have an early chrismas wish list for the offseason (taking some notes from the Gators)... 1. Stay together Tyrus and Glen. Stay in school. 2. Tack, Ben, Terry and whomever else that's going to handle the rock... bring better handles and passing to the court. Green, although perhaps being the "second or third" best PG in the SEC, only has 2 points, but 8 assists and 1 turnover in the big game, Florida has a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio for the game! He showed why a PG is so important in college's game at this stage. He ran the offense got the ball to the right people and kept the Florida offense from bogging down against UCLA's revered defense. 3. Practice your 3 pointers. Humphrey shoots 45% from three land, 55% from the free throw line:shock: . Nevertheless, when Florida can hit the three, teams can't double team Horford and Noah. BALANCE on the court get's you to the ultimate prize. For Temple and Tas, a better outside shot. 4. Defensive/Offensive flexibility. As much as I love Brady's d, Billy D showed why he's a good young coach. He was able to mix press, zone and man to man at critical times of the game to keep UCLA (who also is deep and a great half court set team) off balance. Brady has learned to mix in zone this year effectively, I'd like to see him and the staff use a press more. We're going to have more guards, athletic wings, let's use 'em. Offensively, Florida's spacing was great and they were able to score in different ways. I believe LSU will have that kind of team next year, let's hope Brady and staff really learn to utilize it. 5. Develop a deeper rotation. I believe Brady will (let's hope) have the deepest squad yet next year. Let's really go 9 or 10 deep, Brady. 6. Develop the killer attitude. Like Saban did when we turned the corner in 2003, he had to nuture the killer attitude. This team if it stays together is no longer the underdog. It's the team that has the talent to get to the Final Four, but it has to play like it belongs there when it gets there. 7. A great recruiting summer. Recruiting is the lifeblood. And, I do think that "major" schools are just having to adjust to younger, more talented guys, winning right away. To be fair to LSU, Florida is actually still "older" than us. Noah at least played two seasons, as did Horford, Green, etc. We played with Tas', Temple, Tyrus, Voogd, Rolle all being in their first season. So, let's hope that the Tigers have some recruiting luck this summer, make headway with some impact recruits, including a point guard for the future, and another top notch big. 8. An offseason where everyone's got a tapeworm. After watching Horford and Noah in this game, I actually don't find it surprising that their "bigs" beat our "bigs" when we played 'em. Davis and Thomas have a lot of growth still (Noah and Horford can both bring the ball up, they both pass very well). As do Tas', Temple, Voogd, Rolle, etc. Florida has shown you that an SEC team can win it all, and that's the kind of game you need to have to win it and that's the kind of work ethic you need to get there. 9. Skip's commitment. Not just Brady's contract, but a step up to at least get close to what Florida's doing. When Florida spends $4+M a year on men's basketball and we spend $2+ M, you wonder why they won it all? 10. Fans' commitment. Florida is a football school, but they are a basketball school now too. Did you see the pandemonium in Gainesville? A filled arena in O'Connell watching the game on TV? Thousands of kids in the streets after the game? Would this have happened in BR if we'd done it? Our fans need to come out and be the passionate, supportive fans that LSU is supposed to be famous for. Sorry for the long post... It's college basketball winding down (sadly) for me...:cry: :cry: :cry: :geauxtige LSU! :champs: LSU IS A BASKETBALL SCHOOL. RESTORE THE FAITH.
I was NOT surprised that Florida manhandled UCLA. I told my husband Saturday night that the Bruins would not have another outing like they did against us in the first half. Had we even played ONE half of the game Saturday night, we'd have beaten them. But we didn't... I figured that Florida would, and they did.
Hmm, Florida won 5 out of 6 games by double figures. The only game that was close was Georgetown. UCLA wasn't so great and yes, LSU couldn't have played any worse. The basketball gods were totally against both LSU teams in their last games. The ball didn't even bounce towards us. UCLA wasn't that great and neither was Duke, (womens). Sometimes those kind of games just happen for no reason. I knew Florida would win, I didn't want to face them if we made it to the final game because we wouldn't have won. Maybe its better we didn't make it to the championship game? I think it would've hurt more to lose to Florida in that game. I didn't think Florida would win by that many points.
I think LSU contributed pretty big to UF's national championship. As looking as amazingly bad as we did against UCLA, UCLA's heads got a little bigger and expected a lot less from Florida than they got. I truly believe that LSU psyched UCLA out in that we looked like we couldn't play ball, period. I actually felt vindicated by Florida's dismantling of UCLA. It was good to see them get crushed in the way they crushed us. We weren't as bad as we showed, and the SEC won by getting revenge on the team we played like poo against.
