My Beloved 95 Bloggees:
There have been some classic Florida-Georgia basketball games in Gainesville. Two come to mind. On January 11. 2003, Anthony Roberson hit a three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer in a 66 - 63 Gator victory http://statsheet.com/mcb/games/2003/01/11/georgia-63-florida-66 . Then on the other side of the ledger there was two-sport Fred Gibson, a Bulldog wide receiver, who scored 13 points and hit all four of his free throws down the stretch to upset # 2 ranked Florida 74 - 69 on January 19, 2002 http://staugustine.com/stories/012002/spo_443270.shtml.
On Thursday night the two matched up again in Gainesville. Georgia dominated the first half pounding it inside, shooting 60 % for a 33 -26 lead at the break. Then the Gators turned it up a notch in the second stanza with Chandler Parsons overcoming his deep thigh bruise getting back into the flow with 16 points. Kenny Boynton nailed 3 consecutive threes to separate the two teams with under 6 minutes left resulting in a 71 - 62 win for the 13th ranked Orange and Blue, clinching a first place tie in the SEC East http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=9468 .
When Boynton is effective offensively, which has not been frequent, the Gators are extra tough to beat. In this game, when he was on the court the Gators outscored Georgia by 18. While he was on the bench, Georgia outscored Florida by 9. So, the Gators were 27 points better having him in the game than sitting him down http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/florida/kenny-boynton/plus_minus . (I love that website - check out how your favorite team performs when certain players are on the court versus on the bench).
A final observation is from new bloggee Holt, emphasizing Parsons' value. When teams play zone against Florida because of their constant shooting struggles, Parsons has a knack of getting behind the zone on the baseline leading to easy shots by him. When he sat out the LSU game last Sunday, that weapon was missed, especially in the second half. NEXT
Old Dominion continued its hot play Thursday night with a convincing 75 - 59 road victory over James Madison http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240282 . All-BB Frank Hassell was outstanding again with a double-double, 21 points on 9 for 12 shooting and 10 rebounds. The game was televised on ESPNU so I was able to watch him in action and his 6 ' 8 245 lb wide body dominated the boards with his teammates. In fact, James Madison only had 3 offensive rebounds in this rout. This toughness by the Monarchs should serve them well in March. NEXT
Another All-BB player, the nation's leading rebounder, Morehead State's Kenneth Faried, had a double-double Thursday night with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a 70 - 62 road loss to Murray State http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240381 . Faried and his buddies did outrebound the Racers 40 - 26 but Murray State shot 9 for 17 from the perimeter while frequently playing with four guards. As long as they are hot, that may work for Murray State, as it did as a 13th seed in the first round upset of 4th seed Vanderbilt in the NCAA's last year 66 - 65 on a buzzer-beater. But, I prefer beef and Faried's Eagles in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament next week which will determine its likely one-bid. NEXT
It is time for You Make Me Feel Old . Look who comes off the bench for Gonzaga....redshirt freshman walk-on point guard David Stockton son of another guy who used to play that position for the Zags....John http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/89766 . David, at 5' 10 150 lbs plays about 15 minutes a game, averaging 4 points and about 2 assists per game. Why does his size not surprise me?
On Thursday night he played 28 minutes scoring 5 points with 5 assists as Gonzaga won in overtime at St. Mary's 89 - 85 to tie for first in the West Coast Conference with those same Gaels http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201102240538 . Yes, David Stockton, You Make Me Feel Old .
By the way, in third place in the West Coast Conference just a game back at 9 - 4 are the Dons from San Francisco. Who is their head coach? Former Kansas guard in the early 90's Rex Walters http://www.usfdons.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/walters_rex00.html NEXT
In Blog # 42, a trivia question dealt with John Hadl an NFL quarterback who wore a number greater than 19. I asked to reply with some college players who also wore an unusual number in the 1960's and later. Bloggee Tom brought up Heisman winner Boston College's Doug Flutie and his number 22 throwing the desperation touchdown pass to Gerard Phelan to defeat the U 47 - 45 in 1984 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ykWbu2Gl0 .
Blogee Joe, a former Colgate running back, submitted another name, the former quarterback at Penn State during the late 60's, Chuck Burkhart who wore # 22 . "QBed the undefeated Nittany Lions against Kansas, led by Pepper Rodgers and Bobby Douglass, in the famous 1969 Orange Bowl. They won the game on a 2-point conversion after the first attempt was unsuccessful against a Kansas defense consisting of 12 players. What most people don't remember is that Kansas had 12 men on the field for most of Penn State's touchdown drive but the refs only managed to discover it during the first conversion attempt.
He was also my QB mentor at the 1970 Penn State QB-Receivers Camp for PA high school players. A great guy". Thanks, Joe.
Two other college QBs with unusual numbers were NC Congressman Heath Shuler http://shuler.house.gov/ , who wore # 21 while at Tennessee in the 1990's and Bernie Kosar whose laundry displayed # 20 in the mid-80s for the U. THAT'S IT.
Enjoy......going to Samford's last home game today versus 1st place Chattanooga.....will be taping the Florida-Kentucky CBS game beginning at 3:00 CST...check out the preview of the game by bloggee Kevin http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110226/ARTICLES/110229578/1136?Title=Florida-aims-to-spoil-Kentucky-s-32-game-home-streak- ........next week starts tournament week, wow did this season fly,
Barry
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