Gator Basketball On This Date: April 3, 2006

[Captain Sasquatch]

Other than the loss of Adrian Moss, who was effectively replaced by Marreese Speights, the 2007 team was nearly identical. Almost no change in the backcourt.

We had the starting five plus Richard and Hodge with a sprinkle of Speight, and that was it.

 

[78]

We had the starting five plus Richard and Hodge with a sprinkle of Speight, and that was it.

That's actually a decent college rotation with obviously others available if needed. This isn't the NBA.

 

[78]

The '06 title was for sure one of the highlights of my sporting life. The entire run was magical, but beating a team of UCLA's ilk like we did made it all the better.

The main difference I remember from a year later is how much more we ran the floor in 2006. Horford was a post-up beast his senior year. We ran a more deliberate attack.

The 2007 team, even with Noah suffering from a shoulder, was one of the great NCAA teams of all time.

 

[Jbossgator8]

This team was certainly something special. Back 2 Back and the best ever! It was what finally splintered and destroyed Sid's roundtables. He was a big time hater of Billy D

 

[stephenPE]

We had the starting five plus Richard and Hodge with a sprinkle of Speight, and that was it.

I remember when I realized every time Speights came in he immediately put the ball in the basket. Instant offense. Imagine if we had a Speights on our team this year. Top ten for sure.

 

[oxrageous]

We had the starting five plus Richard and Hodge with a sprinkle of Speight, and that was it.

I think we proved we didn't need any more than that.

No weaknesses.

 

[stephenPE]

I think we proved we didn't need any more than that.

No weaknesses.

Yeah, but what if we had to play teams with big guards........?

 

[oxrageous]

Yeah, but what if we had to play teams with big guards........?

Well, we would have lost by between 30 and 50, obviously.

 

[78]

I remember the cameras honing in on Belichick with his wife in the Indy stands, Bill wearing a Gator cap or visor.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Or else they would have been waxed, eh? Yeah.

UF might well have had a very close game or two and as we have just seen with Duke, you keep having close games in tourney you may well let one get away and be done.

I just went back and checked and UF's closest games in each year, Georgetown in 2006 and Purdue in 2007, were teams that had bigger guards but not really big scoring big guards.

 

[78]

The big guy, Hibbert, gave us problems in 2006.

 

[t-gator]

There's a long list of NBA guards that that group beat in their run.

 

[rogdochar]

Insti, what happened with SCe?
Notice that we had "bigs" all over the place. I think Speights was 6'11" or 7'? Wish he had stayed to anchor our next team. Those teams forced the action & blocked inside. Our 3-pt shooters did well because our "big guys" made opponent's defense collapse inward. Always a good template. Wonderful to watch.

What caused UF to drop in recruiting, drop in bigs, drop in coaching even with the same great coach? That's unusual ... Speights leaving so early caused a break in the high-swinging bridge.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

What caused UF to drop in recruiting, drop in bigs, drop in coaching even with the same great coach?

Well:

UF signed:

2010: Young, Murphy, Larson, Yeguete
2011: Pitchford
2012: NONE
2013: Walker
2014: NONE (Robinson was a 6'8" SF)
2015a: Hayes, Dickerson, (Stone was another 6'8" SF)

2015b: Leon
2016: Bassett, Gak
2017: C. Johnson, Stokes
2018: NONE
2019: Payne, Jitoboh

So it appears to me that nothing has happened to UF's recruiting of bigs. It appears to me that it is more of an issue of coaching up and being willing to play bigs.

BTW, Speights was not a top 10 or 20 recruit. He was 48th in the composite rankings his year. But the staff UF had was able to identify and develop bigs in those days.

 

[78]

.

 

[Theologator]

The fall before that season I took my kids up to a football game. We were milling around outside the O’Connell Center, working our way toward the Gator Walk. We rant into Noah, Horford, Green & Brewer and I said to my sons, “Guys! This is a whole other Gator Walk!” I introduced my kids to those guys, who were almost totally unknown at the time but I did know their names. We talked for a few minutes about the upcoming season. It was surreal. I’m 6’ so all but Taurean are towering over me, but the were such open and honest kids. The players seemed happy to be recognized but were incredibly nice to us and seemed almost reticent to let us go to the football Gator Walk. Of course, I had no idea they’d start 17-0 and go in to with 2 NCs.

I love what that team and that core accomplished on the court, but I can testify that they were super people to us that day. Love them for the men they became and the coach that led them.

 

[rogdochar]

Talk about a dream of Gator coaches. To have some of those guys years away to return to coach at UF. That would turn us into a "big man" team. Chris Richard is ready now, I bet.

 

[klgator]

Brewer broke Aflalo. The following year when they met again, Aflalo didn't even try. I remember all the dunks in the game. The announcers compared it to Phi Slamma Jamma.

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Well, we would have lost by between 30 and 50, obviously.

You really just are such a natural jerk.

 

[oxrageous]

You really just are such a natural jerk.

You really can't stand being disagreed with. It's going to happen from time to time in life.