My Beloved 92 Bloggees (Welcome Jerry, Mark and Bo):
Gulp! That is the way Jackson State might describe the Gator basketball team after last night's 99 - 59 thrashing by Florida. http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/boxscore.php?gameid=10277
The Gators started out to a scary 41 - 8 lead with virtually all aspects of their game clicking. They cruised the rest of the way to the 40-point victory. Jackson State is a young, inexperienced less-talented team, so it was difficult to learn much about Florida after this game except they are athletic and deep, which are both critical for Billyball's pressure defense to succeed. Also, they are entertaining the way they unselfishly make the extra pass.
The Gators might have the best backcourt in the country with 5 guards who could probably start anywhere. Most everyone knows about scorers Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton after making the Elite Eight last year. Don't forget Scottie Wilbekin might be the nation's top defender at the guard position. Then there is the freshman Bradley Beal who reminds me of Pavlov's dog because watching his all-around play makes you salivate http://www.wisegeek.com/who-was-pavlovs-dog.htm . Finally, Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario, who led the Scarlet Knights in scoring two years ago with over 16 points per game, could be the cherry at the top of the sundae as evidenced by his 19 points in 20 minutes including 5 for 8 from way downtown against Jackson State.
We will know more about the Orange and Blue when they travel to Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday night in a televised revenge bout against Ohio State and Jared Sullinger. NEXT
Gator transfer 6' 11 Kenny Kadji started for the University of Miami in his debut for new coach Jim Larranaga (from George Mason) with some mixed results in his team's 69 - 58 win over Tennessee Tech. Kadji had a "bagel" in terms of scoring with 0 - 3 from the field. He did snatch 5 rebounds in his 19 minutes. Georgia transfer guard Zach Swansey led the Golden Eagles with 19 points. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110355 NEXT
Gator transfer Eloy Vargas grabbed 8 rebounds and scored 5 points for the number two-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on their way to a 108 - 58 victory over Marist. Kentucky outrebounded their opponent a whopping 50 - 27. Where is Rik Smits when you need him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rik_Smits
Kentucky flexed their muscles with freshman Anthony Davis leading the way with 8 dunks among his 23 points. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also represented the highly-touted freshman class with 15 points. Last year's super freshman, Terrence Jones, had 8 points coming off the bench after being involved in an early morning auto accident as a passenger.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110292 Kansas is next on Tuesday. NEXT
The Southern Conference did not fare well against the SEC in three games:
Georgia defeated Wofford 62 - 49. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the 6' 4 highly-recruited freshman guard, led the Bulldogs with 15 points. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110230
In a battle of Carolinas, South defeated Western 75 - 50 in spite of the Gamecocks point guard from last year, Bruce Elkington, busy on the gridiron as wide receiver and wildcat quarterback . http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110525
And the "Cuonzo era" (or post-Pearl era) began in Knoxville where the Volunteers upended UNC-Greeensboro 92 - 73 for their new coach, former Purdue great, Cuonzo Martin. We might have to remember the name of Tennessee sophomore 6' 1 guard Trae Golden who averaged just 3 points a game last year. On Friday night, he scored 29 on 10 of 14 from the field including 4 of 5 from long-range. Golden also contributed 9 assists. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110580 NEXT
Alabama is a team to be feared. All the players seem to have now bought into Anthony Grant's disciplined system and their defense reflects that. The Crimson Tide limited North Florida, the runner-up in last year's Atlantic Sun tourney, to a stifling 23 % shooting, on 13 for 56 in the Alabama 64 - 44 victory. We should get used to the following game recap......JaMychal Green (18 pts) and Tony Mitchell (17 pts) were the top scorers for the Crimson Tide. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110006 NEXT
Auburn looks to be a more dangerous team. With Tony Barbee and his John Calipari pedigree at the helm for his second year, expect much improvement as evidenced by its 84 - 62 win over McNeese State, picked to finish 2nd in the East Division of the Southland conference. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110028 The decisive win even came during an off-shooting night by stud Frankie Sullivan who was just 3 for 12 and 8 points. Texas transfer Veraz Ward is a terrific upgrade at point guard. He began his War Eagle career with 14 points and 5 assists in 25 minutes. NEXT
Duke barely squeezed by Belmont 77 - 76. Austin Rivers, Doc's son who decomitted from Florida, tied for the team lead with 16 points. He was only 3 for 9 from the field and had a team-leading 5 turnovers. The other scoring leader for Duke was another son of a former NBA player, Seth Curry, Dell's son. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201111110173 THAT'S IT
Enjoy.....the next blog will continue highlighting this weekend's action,
Barry
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