travisduncan
Gator Fan
With an 86-76 win at Vanderbilt to close out the regular season, the Gators are now SEC regular season Men's Basketball Champs for the fifth time in school history, and are the outright league champs for the third time.
UF will play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta against the winner of East #5 seed Tennessee and West #4 seed Arkansas.
Assuming the Gators advance they will play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET and the Championship game is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. All games on are on ESPN Networks, including ESPN3.com.
Tennessee is a challenge for UF. In two games this season the Gators were victorious but slightly. On Jan. 11, they defeated the Vols 81-75 in overtime in Knoxville. On February 12, UF came away with a 61-60 victory.
Arkansas shouldn't be a problem, should the Vols slip up. UF defeated the Razorbacks 75-43.
In Saturday's game against Vanderbilt, Florida had a 56-53 lead with 9:19 to go. Vandy had trimmed an 8-point lead to three, the Gators had stalled on offense and we had a game.
Then Vandy star John Jenkins drove hard to the basket, but was called for the charge. Gene Stallings flipped out, ran out from under the basket and into the proximity of the referee who then assigned him a technical foul.
From there the Gators took control, outscoring the Commodores 14-3 in about three minutes, seven of those points coming from Kenny Boynton.
The point is, Florida is a hard team to put away.
Offensive stalls will be the Gators Achilles Heel in the Tournament, but at the same time offensive bursts like they displayed in the second part of the second half Saturday will win them games.
I also think this Florida team, as is usually the case with a Billy Donovan coached team, is playing their best right now.
Donovan said after Saturday's game, "This has been really, really as rewarding as any team I've had to coach because of where they've come from, not only from November and December, but where Chandler and Alex and Vern have come from two or three years ago."
-Each of the five starters scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Boynton, including 4-9 from distance.
-UF wore out Vandy, getting to the line 20 times in the second half, converting on 17 attempts
-UF shot 48-percent in the second half from the field and outscoring Vandy 38-30 in the paint in the game.
-Vanderbilt scored 17 fastbreak points compared to just 4 by the Gators. The lack of fb points by UF is a product of style, but the transition defense needs to improve for Donovan's team.
-I don't think there is any question that Billy Donovan will win SEC coach of the year for the first time in his career.
-Chandler Parsons is a candidate for SEC Player of the Year, but he is not a lock. Vanderbilt sophomore guard John Jenkins is leading the SEC in scoring and is also a candidate.
-Bracketologists have the Gators at a 3-seed or a 4-seed depending on who you ask. A few have UF has a 2-seed. If the Gators win the SEC Tournament the latter would be an accurate prediction.
-Florida Farm Bureau Insurance offices are giving away a limited supply of free tickets to the Orange and Blue Game on April 9, 2011.
-The No. 1 Florida Baseball team swept the Miami Hurricanes in a three-game series this past weekend. It's only the second time in school history the Gators have swept the 'Canes.
-Donovan's $3.3 million annual salary is the third highest in college basketball, according to Forbes Magazine.
UF will play Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta against the winner of East #5 seed Tennessee and West #4 seed Arkansas.
Assuming the Gators advance they will play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET and the Championship game is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. All games on are on ESPN Networks, including ESPN3.com.
Tennessee is a challenge for UF. In two games this season the Gators were victorious but slightly. On Jan. 11, they defeated the Vols 81-75 in overtime in Knoxville. On February 12, UF came away with a 61-60 victory.
Arkansas shouldn't be a problem, should the Vols slip up. UF defeated the Razorbacks 75-43.
In Saturday's game against Vanderbilt, Florida had a 56-53 lead with 9:19 to go. Vandy had trimmed an 8-point lead to three, the Gators had stalled on offense and we had a game.
Then Vandy star John Jenkins drove hard to the basket, but was called for the charge. Gene Stallings flipped out, ran out from under the basket and into the proximity of the referee who then assigned him a technical foul.
From there the Gators took control, outscoring the Commodores 14-3 in about three minutes, seven of those points coming from Kenny Boynton.
The point is, Florida is a hard team to put away.
Offensive stalls will be the Gators Achilles Heel in the Tournament, but at the same time offensive bursts like they displayed in the second part of the second half Saturday will win them games.
I also think this Florida team, as is usually the case with a Billy Donovan coached team, is playing their best right now.
Donovan said after Saturday's game, "This has been really, really as rewarding as any team I've had to coach because of where they've come from, not only from November and December, but where Chandler and Alex and Vern have come from two or three years ago."
-Each of the five starters scored in double figures, led by 17 points from Boynton, including 4-9 from distance.
-UF wore out Vandy, getting to the line 20 times in the second half, converting on 17 attempts
-UF shot 48-percent in the second half from the field and outscoring Vandy 38-30 in the paint in the game.
-Vanderbilt scored 17 fastbreak points compared to just 4 by the Gators. The lack of fb points by UF is a product of style, but the transition defense needs to improve for Donovan's team.
-I don't think there is any question that Billy Donovan will win SEC coach of the year for the first time in his career.
-Chandler Parsons is a candidate for SEC Player of the Year, but he is not a lock. Vanderbilt sophomore guard John Jenkins is leading the SEC in scoring and is also a candidate.
-Bracketologists have the Gators at a 3-seed or a 4-seed depending on who you ask. A few have UF has a 2-seed. If the Gators win the SEC Tournament the latter would be an accurate prediction.
-Florida Farm Bureau Insurance offices are giving away a limited supply of free tickets to the Orange and Blue Game on April 9, 2011.
-The No. 1 Florida Baseball team swept the Miami Hurricanes in a three-game series this past weekend. It's only the second time in school history the Gators have swept the 'Canes.
-Donovan's $3.3 million annual salary is the third highest in college basketball, according to Forbes Magazine.
