travisduncan
Gator Fan
John Brantley could be an elite quarterback next year under Charlie Weis, according to K.C. Joyner of ESPN.
I'm not buying it.
While I agree that Brantley unfairly took a lot of the blame for the stagnation of the Gator's offense last season. The bottom line is that he didn't make the right throws at the right time, and the Gators simply could not move the chains or score points, against the best defenses in the SEC.
I fear that Brantley will be given the "best chance to win" label and ultimately remain the starter next fall, or as early as the spring game, even with two super freshman already on Campus-Jeff Driskel the No. 1 rated quarterback in the 2011 Class along with Jacoby Brissett the No. 3 overall rated quarterback.
Joyner cites three main reasons why he thinks Brantley is actually better than we think a) He's very accurate on short passes, which Charlie Weis should be able to capitalize on b) the Gators had an unusually high dropped pass rate of 8.5 percent. c) Brantley made good decisions on a lot of throws.
We'll see if Weis can inspire some confidence in Brantley who probably will be the starter come August.
-Men's Basketball is off until Sunday when they play at LSU, but that doesn't mean the national media isn't moving in on the Gators just in time. ESPN's Joe Lunardi puts them at a No. 3 in his latest projections.
I think if they win four out of the five remaining SEC games and win two games in the SEC tourney they could get a 2-seed. Winning the SEC-tourney would ensure that, assuming they can win a majority of their remaining games. Which of course won't be easy.
-If you are already formulating strategy for your office pool, you can get an official blank NCAA tournament bracket here.
-The biggest fear right now is the left thigh of Chandler Parsons. Parsons suffered a bruise against UT and is expected to attempt to practice on Thursday. If he can't practice Thursday, he'll likely be held out against LSU, where he will be missed, but they can get by without him.
Billy Donovan was on the Scott Van Pelt Radio Show Wednesday here is what he said about the team:
"I think we've gotten a lot better, I think one of the things that happened in October and November for our team we played a very very difficult non-conference schedule. And I think some of those games forced a lot of things inside of our teams to flower that we had to address and get better at. And I think if we would have played an easier schedule some of those things would not have come to light."
On Parity in College Basketball:
"Because you don't have guys who are sticking around in college, you are dealing with a lot of young talented players that that in as freshman, and you're also seeing college basketball is a lot younger than it has been.
"And I think the emotional maturity of guys understanding that on any given night you can get beat. I think probably that Frank Martin and Bill Self would agree that Kansas State is not 20 points better than Kansas. And before that Kansas really really clobbered Kansas State in Lawrence."
"So much of this has to do with guys having a level of humility and a level of competitive maturity, understanding that if you're not at your best you're probably going to lose because of the parity."
"This team is not as talented as the team in '06 and '07. Because the game has changed some, anything can happen on a one-game situation. The NCAA Tournament is like the lottery. You got to be in it to win it."
"I'm not so sure in 2006 if we re-played the tournament again we would have won the National Championship,and that goes for '07."
"I don't know if we have the quote unquote lock NBA player like we have with Noah, Hartford and Brewer like we had. But i do think we have very good players we have good chemistry they are working hard. But also because of the challenges we've had in a lot of close games, I think our guys understand that on any given night we can lose and any given night we can beat anybody."
-Also on Wednesday Donovan secured the commitment of 6-10 forward Walter Pitchford who played at Summit Christian Academy this season and will join the Gators' roster this coming fall.
-Freshman linebacker Neiron Ball remains hospitalized in Intensive Care while he is being treated for a congenital vascular condition. There is not a lot of information out yet on the condition of Ball, but we hope for only for the best.
-Will Muschamp said this week he is working "through the nights" to organize and build his football program. He said the only bad thing is time away from his family, who remains back in Austin until April. Muschamp lives in a hotel room for now.
-Armwood high school running back Matt Jones made his commitment to the Gators on Wednesday. The 6-foot-2 200lber is regarded as one of the top running backs in the state of Florida and the nation for that matter.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4WOA78faY]YouTube - 2012 RB - Matt Jones[/ame]
I'm not buying it.
While I agree that Brantley unfairly took a lot of the blame for the stagnation of the Gator's offense last season. The bottom line is that he didn't make the right throws at the right time, and the Gators simply could not move the chains or score points, against the best defenses in the SEC.
I fear that Brantley will be given the "best chance to win" label and ultimately remain the starter next fall, or as early as the spring game, even with two super freshman already on Campus-Jeff Driskel the No. 1 rated quarterback in the 2011 Class along with Jacoby Brissett the No. 3 overall rated quarterback.
Joyner cites three main reasons why he thinks Brantley is actually better than we think a) He's very accurate on short passes, which Charlie Weis should be able to capitalize on b) the Gators had an unusually high dropped pass rate of 8.5 percent. c) Brantley made good decisions on a lot of throws.
We'll see if Weis can inspire some confidence in Brantley who probably will be the starter come August.
-Men's Basketball is off until Sunday when they play at LSU, but that doesn't mean the national media isn't moving in on the Gators just in time. ESPN's Joe Lunardi puts them at a No. 3 in his latest projections.
I think if they win four out of the five remaining SEC games and win two games in the SEC tourney they could get a 2-seed. Winning the SEC-tourney would ensure that, assuming they can win a majority of their remaining games. Which of course won't be easy.
-If you are already formulating strategy for your office pool, you can get an official blank NCAA tournament bracket here.
-The biggest fear right now is the left thigh of Chandler Parsons. Parsons suffered a bruise against UT and is expected to attempt to practice on Thursday. If he can't practice Thursday, he'll likely be held out against LSU, where he will be missed, but they can get by without him.
Billy Donovan was on the Scott Van Pelt Radio Show Wednesday here is what he said about the team:
"I think we've gotten a lot better, I think one of the things that happened in October and November for our team we played a very very difficult non-conference schedule. And I think some of those games forced a lot of things inside of our teams to flower that we had to address and get better at. And I think if we would have played an easier schedule some of those things would not have come to light."
On Parity in College Basketball:
"Because you don't have guys who are sticking around in college, you are dealing with a lot of young talented players that that in as freshman, and you're also seeing college basketball is a lot younger than it has been.
"And I think the emotional maturity of guys understanding that on any given night you can get beat. I think probably that Frank Martin and Bill Self would agree that Kansas State is not 20 points better than Kansas. And before that Kansas really really clobbered Kansas State in Lawrence."
"So much of this has to do with guys having a level of humility and a level of competitive maturity, understanding that if you're not at your best you're probably going to lose because of the parity."
"This team is not as talented as the team in '06 and '07. Because the game has changed some, anything can happen on a one-game situation. The NCAA Tournament is like the lottery. You got to be in it to win it."
"I'm not so sure in 2006 if we re-played the tournament again we would have won the National Championship,and that goes for '07."
"I don't know if we have the quote unquote lock NBA player like we have with Noah, Hartford and Brewer like we had. But i do think we have very good players we have good chemistry they are working hard. But also because of the challenges we've had in a lot of close games, I think our guys understand that on any given night we can lose and any given night we can beat anybody."
-Also on Wednesday Donovan secured the commitment of 6-10 forward Walter Pitchford who played at Summit Christian Academy this season and will join the Gators' roster this coming fall.
-Freshman linebacker Neiron Ball remains hospitalized in Intensive Care while he is being treated for a congenital vascular condition. There is not a lot of information out yet on the condition of Ball, but we hope for only for the best.
-Will Muschamp said this week he is working "through the nights" to organize and build his football program. He said the only bad thing is time away from his family, who remains back in Austin until April. Muschamp lives in a hotel room for now.
-Armwood high school running back Matt Jones made his commitment to the Gators on Wednesday. The 6-foot-2 200lber is regarded as one of the top running backs in the state of Florida and the nation for that matter.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4WOA78faY]YouTube - 2012 RB - Matt Jones[/ame]
