Scottie Wilbekin and Alex Tyus

[Gator97]

In Israel on vacation, decided to check out the local basketball scene to break up the normal tourist activities for my kids.
Tonight we watched Scottie lead Maccabi Tel Aviv to a fun win in the Israeli premiere league playoffs. He took over the last 5 minutes of the game, led the team in scoring, and made the winning play on defense to end the game.

Great atmosphere, better than NBA. Talent level is mixed, but some nba journeyman type talent.
Tyus had big minutes off the bench. Still playing the gritty effort role I remember. He became a citizen, so he’s apparently here for the long haul.

Hope they make some noise in the Euroleague and maybe Scottie gets a crack at some nba minutes.
Tel Aviv is an awesome city, and looks like these guys are doing well.

Just thought I’d share some positive news, a lot more of these types of stories exist than the tony joiner stuff that makes headlines.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

In Israel on vacation, decided to check out the local basketball scene to break up the normal tourist activities for my kids.
Tonight we watched Scottie lead Maccabi Tel Aviv to a fun win in the Israeli premiere league playoffs. He took over the last 5 minutes of the game, led the team in scoring, and made the winning play on defense to end the game.

Great atmosphere, better than NBA. Talent level is mixed, but some nba journeyman type talent.
Tyus had big minutes off the bench. Still playing the gritty effort role I remember. He became a citizen, so he’s apparently here for the long haul.

Hope they make some noise in the Euroleague and maybe Scottie gets a crack at some nba minutes.
Tel Aviv is an awesome city, and looks like these guys are doing well.

Just thought I’d share some positive news, a lot more of these types of stories exist than the tony joiner stuff that makes headlines.

Great post. My wife and I are tentatively planning an trip to Israel in a year or so. I doubt I get to go to a basketball game there, so it would be nice to hear any reports you have about what is can't miss and what can be skipped in your opinion.

Wilbekin is one of my favorite Gators ever and I too hope he gets an NBA shot. He certainly has played well every place he has played over seas.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

What the heck:

Alex Tyus headlines EuroLeague Top 10 Blocks of the Season

 

[stephenPE]

Scotty was one game and injury from becoming an immortal gator. What a great kid. That FF team was like the Miller Dupay team. The best team probably except for that final game. Mich St was loaded with talent and experience. So was the Villanova team.

 

[stephenPE]

In Israel on vacation, decided to check out the local basketball scene to break up the normal tourist activities for my kids.
Tonight we watched Scottie lead Maccabi Tel Aviv to a fun win in the Israeli premiere league playoffs. He took over the last 5 minutes of the game, led the team in scoring, and made the winning play on defense to end the game.

Thanks for the update. Did you give a go gators to get their attention when they scored. Or a gator jaws.............(thanks alex wtf was I thinking)

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Scotty was one game and injury from becoming an immortal gator. What a great kid. That FF team was like the Miller Dupay team. The best team probably except for that final game. Mich St was loaded with talent and experience. So was the Villanova team.

I agree, I think you mean the UConn team though. Some teams just have things unfold nicely for them, others less so. The NCAA title teams drew favorable final four sites Atlanta where UF played regularly in SEC tourneys and Indianapolis that had been good for UF in the past. The 30 win team drew Dallas where they had a terrible time the year before.

The Wilbekin/Young led 30 straight win team was as good as any UF has had. Winning the NCAA tourney is tough but it is a 6 game thing. Winning 30 in a row is at least equally as tough. UF has had one team win 30 games in a row and two teams win the NCAA tourney.

 

[stephenPE]

I agree, I think you mean UConn team though.

The Wilbekin/Young led 30 straight win team was as good as any UF has had. Winning the NCAA tourney is tough but it is a 6 game thing. Winning 30 in a row is at least equally as tough. UF has had one team win 30 games in a row and two teams win the NCAA tourney.

Uconn. My memory is not too good. But I by God remembered the name Yancey Sutton talking to a nole the other day. Our deaf LB from Tallacrappy in the 70s. I forgot about that 30 game win streak. What a great team. Billy had us right there with the big dogs for awhile. I swear if Bradley Beal had stayed another year its another FF and even a title.

 

[ChiefGator]

Thanks for the update.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Thanks for the update. Did you give a go gators to get their attention when they scored. Or a chop?

We all know you meant choMp Coach, no worries. You may be a lot of things, but closet 'Nole surely ain't one of them.


We used to chomp at Sister Hazel when we saw them playing outside Gainesville, or any Gator pro athlete like when DeClerq was with the Magic.


Some Gators chomped at Adele for absolutely no apparent reason and she did it back. She talked about it in the middle of her concert.




Alex.

 

[stephenPE]

I think I may need to be committed for that faux pax .........hell that isnt a faux pax but a damned sign I may need a private nurse now......
We actually did the chop at FSU in the sugar bowl once right after Free Shoes came along I took off my tennis shoes and did the chop at some of their fans.........I was quite proud of my creativity.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Great post. My wife and I are tentatively planning an trip to Israel in a year or so. I doubt I get to go to a basketball game there, so it would be nice to hear any reports you have about what is can't miss and what can be skipped in your opinion.

Wilbekin is one of my favorite Gators ever and I too hope he gets an NBA shot. He certainly has played well every place he has played over seas.

I was there a dozen or times in the 90’s, but not since. Very cool place, but what to do depends on what your objective is. Tel Aviv and Eilat are beautiful spots, but not historically significant. Jerusalem is pretty amazing as you might expect and all the important sites of the three faiths are worth checking out. It’s a bit of a drive, but I really liked Masada. (On the other hand, Bethlehem was very underwhelming.) One thing was consistent though no matter where you go: it is a very safe place with little street crime compared to the US.

 

[Alumni Guy]

Who is this guy named Tyus who doesn’t have the bald guy braids to back it up.

Imposter!!!!

 

[Gator97]

Insti,
Gbm is spot on. Israel is one of the best places on earth if you are a history buff at all. And great variety of scenic spots and hikes for nature fans. Great beaches all over. Fairly English friendly too.

I think Masada is worth the drive, you can do that and the Dead Sea in a day trip from Tel Aviv easily, and hike the trail up if you’re up for it.

Caesaria is a must imo, amazing ancient Roman ruins near crusader ruins built centuries later.

And when in Jerusalem for the usual sites, go to yad vashem (wwII museum) for at least two hours. Depressing as can be, but visiting the same week as D day really brought home what humanity is capable of good and bad. Just do it early enough to have something else planned to get your mind off of what you just saw.

Big decisions are timing, (avoid late June through August, just too hot) and group vs private tours (which can get pricey, but worked out great traveling with kids).

 

[MidwestChomp]

Scotty was one game and injury from becoming an immortal gator. What a great kid. That FF team was like the Miller Dupay team. The best team probably except for that final game. Mich St was loaded with talent and experience. So was the Villanova team.

They lost to that punk ass Uconn team. 3 losses that year...2 to Uconn and 1 to Wisconsin. What a great team that year. Humble guys and high bball IQ.

 

[MJMGator]

They lost to that punk ass Uconn team. 3 losses that year...2 to Uconn and 1 to Wisconsin. What a great team that year. Humble guys and high bball IQ.

Maximum effort guys. One of the grittiest group of players I can ever recall.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Yep, and Billy overworked them that year. guys were breaking down come tourney time.

Well I do think Wilbekin was dinged up at the end of that season. Still here are the 2014 and 2019 minutes for the rotation of 7 players:

PG: Wilbekin 33.8 min, Nembhard, 32.9 min
SG: Frazier 30.5 min, Allen 30.7 min
SF: Prather 27.9 min, Locke 25.4 min
PF: Yeguete 23.3 min, Johnson 23.8 min
C: Young 26.1 min, Hayes 25.0 min
B1: Finney-Smith 25.7 min, Hudson 22.5 min
B2: Hill 21.9 min, Stone 19.2 min

That looks pretty much the same work load to me.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Are you really going to compare the effort level between Wilbekin and gang to that soft bunch of pussies last year?

You are the one who set the parameters at over worked. Had you wished to say the Wilbekin/Young guys exerted so much effort Donovan should have limited their minutes below what a typical group played, you were free to do so. Alas you didn't.