Fire Mike White? Gators crushed like bugs at home to Alabama

[NVAGATOR86]

I agree this was a very bad loss at home to a tournament bubble team. To paraphrase the late John Mckay " we didn't shoot very well but we made up for it by not rebounding". Out rebounded 43 to 25 by Bama and out scored 29 to 1 from the bench ! A complete break down.

I support Mike White and still believe he will be a very good coach.
Coach White is on par or even ahead of where Billy D was 3 years in. The big exception will be this third year. Billy 98-99 team took the big jump forward and it doesn't look like that will happen for Mike White year 3.

The problem now in my opinion is the team chemistry. It is poor. Last year White and team over achieved after losing Egbunu. This year it seems like there are no vocal on court or locker room leaders who can rally the team. I am not sure how many more moves he can make to get this team winning. Without a dominant presence in the paint teams have figured out that when the Gators don't make 3s they don't win. This looks like a good time for a closed door players only meeting, but I don't know who will lead it. We have kids who play hard but without quality post and paint play they force shots and try to as the coach says play hero ball. You can force the tempo and play fast but you need a bench with fresh legs. One point of the bench yesterday pretty much says it all.

If Big John comes back he should help. But this team looks to face mismatch problems the rest of the season. Maybe a leader will show up and the team responds. The game coming up against LSU should answer some questions on where this season is going.

 

[ChiefGator]

I agree this was a very bad loss at home to a tournament bubble team. To paraphrase the late John Mckay " we didn't shoot very well but we made up for it by not rebounding". Out rebounded 43 to 25 by Bama and out scored 29 to 1 from the bench ! A complete break down.

I support Mike White and still believe he will be a very good coach.
Coach White is on par or even ahead of where Billy D was 3 years in. The big exception will be this third year. Billy 98-99 team took the big jump forward and it doesn't look like that will happen for Mike White year 3.

The problem now in my opinion is the team chemistry. It is poor. Last year White and team over achieved after losing Egbunu. This year it seems like there are no vocal on court or locker room leaders who can rally the team. I am not sure how many more moves he can make to get this team winning. Without a dominant presence in the paint teams have figured out that when the Gators don't make 3s they don't win. This looks like a good time for a closed door players only meeting, but I don't know who will lead it. We have kids who play hard but without quality post and paint play they force shots and try to as the coach says play hero ball. You can force the tempo and play fast but you need a bench with fresh legs. One point of the bench yesterday pretty much says it all.

If Big John comes back he should help. But this team looks to face mismatch problems the rest of the season. Maybe a leader will show up and the team responds. The game coming up against LSU should answer some questions on where this season is going.

All this is very nice, but what we are missing is several individuals that will step up and perform, not just leadership. The team has massive issues with no inside presence, and nothing much other than three point shooting.

 

[oxrageous]

I swear there are some on here who never would have fired Zook, Muschamp or Mac though. “Who is an obvious better choice” and “It’s never the coaches fault” is getting old to hear. Some accept mediocrity, UF doesn’t.

Good post. There are a few on this board (like PE for example) that had the decision been left up to them Ron Zook would still be the head football coach here.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Chiozza probably put in one of the worst of a bunch of bad performances yesterday. I love me some Cheese, but this was not one he will be proud of when they watch film.

There is the possibility that White has burned Chiozza out playing him so many minutes. Oddly he does not seem to want to play Okauru at the point, perhaps trying to avoid a PG controversy next year?

 

[Jbossgator8]

812 a great guy

 

[FireFoley]

There is the possibility that White has burned Chiozza out playing him so many minutes. Oddly he does not seem to want to play Okauru at the point, perhaps trying to avoid a PG controversy next year?

I mentioned that same point about Okauru at the Baylor game that he seems not to be playing. but then I thought with Bassett and Ballard playing along with Gak, that Mike can push Egor into the backcourt and still have 4 guards to rotate with Egor, Hudson, Cheez and Allen. I don't think there is any PG controversy b/c other than Cheez, there is not one on the roster. You see how even more stagnant the offense is when Cheez is on the bench. Allen is certainly not a PG and watching Okauru, I don;t think he is a PG either,. All the more reason to have a motion offense, passing game when Cheez is on the bench aand not depending on someone else to facilitate. Egor is the closest thing to a facilitator behind Cheez that we have.

 

[FireFoley]

Good post. There are a few on this board (like PE for example) that had the decision been left up to them Ron Zook would still be the head football coach here.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there were plenty of us who NEVER would have hired Zook in the first place, beginning this 15 yr run of average that was interrupted by a 4 yr. span, thankfully. But your point is well taken that Zook (or insert name here) could still be the coach here and we would still be getting "better and better"

 

[ufgator812]

812 a great guy

If you’d man up and stop pissing & moaning....never mind. jboss gonna jboss.

 

[Jbossgator8]

Zooker should have never been hired no doubt

 

[TLB]

Lee for HC and FF for the head assistant HC. They would make all the right moves with this team no doubt. Probably be cheaper than Mike White too...

I still haven't seen you comment on if there is a problem with the coach, the players, or both. Just 'make the shots' and 'give him time'. That is a future built on hope and faith, and does not acknowledge the problems this team has today. Do you not see any problems? If you do, what are they and what would you suggest to fix them beyond hope and faith?

 

[MidwestChomp]

Good post. There are a few on this board (like PE for example) that had the decision been left up to them Ron Zook would still be the head football coach here.

If Zook was still here at least the stadium would be squeaky clean.

 

[rogdochar]

Do you not see any problems? If you do, what are they and what would you suggest to fix

Why didn't the head coach "head off" these problems, work the problems out, outsmart those difficulties? All players seem to be handling basketball as an independent study. How many SEC coaches are gonna get more out of less than coach White. Doesn't UF have a right to more?

 

[Egor's Assistant]

Same things were said about Butters. "He's taken us to back to back SECCG, he need's time to get his players to run his offense" Yadda yadda. Now his azz is gone and we are starting from scratch with Mullen. We go out and hire these middle school coaches because somebody thinks they are the next great young coach and yet they show up and can't handle the big time. This team doesn't play inspired basketball and they clearly don't buy into the coach or having much respect for him. When your team just quits playing the type of ball you have instructed them to play and go off the reservation to do what they want (Chiozza) they are basically saying fk you. BENCH HIS GD AZZ......PERIOD! His T.O's and stupid shots outweigh the occasional heroic finish.

Cheese leads the conference in assists and assist to turnover ratio. He's having all SEC type season. You're an idiot. People have bad games. Averages don't lie.

 

[Egor's Assistant]

. The team obviously isn’t responding. Some accept mediocrity, UF doesn’t.

We are pretty mediocre in basketball. We are not a top ten program and never have been. We don't even sell out our 10,000 seat arena. We got so spoiled by Billy D. We deserve a Mike White and will get corresponding results. They said you could never win consistently at basketball in Gainesville and they were right. We can however, catch fire once in a while, get a good mix of kids, and make a run or two at at title every decade or so...

 

[Egor's Assistant]

All this is very nice, but what we are missing is several individuals that will step up and perform, not just leadership. The team has massive issues with no inside presence, and nothing much other than three point shooting.

This is the problem. We're half a team. With not enough bigs. Egbunu brings the energy, toughness, rim-protection, and leadership on defense. We have too many guards. Wish we could trade a guard for a big. We'll be lucky to make the sweet 16... and perhaps that should be our goal.

 

[rogdochar]

Cheese leads the conference in assists and assist to turnover ratio. He's having all SEC type season. You're an idiot. People have bad games. Averages don't lie.

Sami's right, every TV announcer brags on Chiozza's usefulness, his performance.

 

[Egor's Assistant]

Why didn't the head coach "head off" these problems, work the problems out, outsmart those difficulties? All players seem to be handling basketball as an independent study. How many SEC coaches are gonna get more out of less than coach White. Doesn't UF have a right to more?

The coaches have very limited time with the players during the week. I forget how many hours per week they are allowed to practice during the season, but it's not enough to install both offensive and defensive tweaks. Contrary to popular opinion, we run lots of successful set plays. But once those have played out and other teams adjust, we're fading badly at the end of games.

 

[Egor's Assistant]

The best thing Coach White can do is find a way to NOT play Egor at the four. When he plays too much at the four spot, he misses too many shots, and we lose. Our undersized team is grinded down at the end of ever game from playing out of position. Coach White is choking on his abundance of shooters. I'm not happy with his in-game adjustments and his second half game plans, but in no way should we move on from him. His recruiting is nearly as good or better than Billy D's at the same point in his career.

 

[ChiefGator]

This is the problem. We're half a team. With not enough bigs. Egbunu brings the energy, toughness, rim-protection, and leadership on defense. We have too many guards. Wish we could trade a guard for a big. We'll be lucky to make the sweet 16... and perhaps that should be our goal.

Not to mention those that we do have sometimes show up, and sometimes disappear. I do blame the coach for either allowing them to stand around, or actually thinking that offense will work. I wonder why some senior players are starting when their performance has not justified it.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

We are pretty mediocre in basketball. We are not a top ten program and never have been. We don't even sell out our 10,000 seat arena. We got so spoiled by Billy D. We deserve a Mike White and will get corresponding results. They said you could never win consistently at basketball in Gainesville and they were right. We can however, catch fire once in a while, get a good mix of kids, and make a run or two at at title every decade or so...

I understand where you are coming from and by most metrics you are correct.

I actually believe that we were on our way to someday becoming a true top ten program a few years ago.
We had everything in place, to include a Hall of Fame coach and nearly two decades of sustained success.
All we needed was a better facility and a few more years of winning.
In typical Foley dysfunction, we waited until the Hall of Fame coach departed to then build that facility we needed.
Now we are all set...............Oh wait, we forgot about that whole coach thing.

I wonder how those $2500 seats in the "club" section will be selling next year coming off of a losing record at home?