I agree that we've got a lot to be proud of. After the way the regular season ended, I never thought we'd have a chance to make to the Elite Eight. And the women earned kudos by beating Ohio State. So Go Gators!
On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 9:29 AM, JunoGator <[email protected]>wrote: > Gatorfans: > > As disappointing as it is to see our beloved Men's and women's basketball > teams fall in their respective championship tournaments, we can all be so > proud of the campaigns just completed. > > The women showed a level of competitiveness that can make us all feel > optimistic about the building that is continuing in that program. > > The men's season is particularly outstanding. This was a team with but > one senior and he might be considered a pint sized dynamo with a giant > heart. The only other returning starters was a junior who appeared to > provide leadership and mentoring to the two sophomore and one freshman > other starters even as he grew as a player right up until the elite eight > game. > > If we are fortunate enough to see this team grow as much from this year to > next year as was shown from from last year to this, next year should be > another fine one. > > So thanks Coaches Butler and Donovan, together with your outstanding staff > of assistants, for continuing to make it > > *Great to be a Florida Gator!* > > > Commentary: It's another Elite Eight meltdown as Florida Gators lose 72-68 > to Louisville > > By* **DAVE > GEORGE<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/services/staff/dave-george-15326.html> > **Palm Beach Post Staff Writer* > > PHOENIX — The only time to start thinking about cutting down the nets is > when you're standing on top of the ladder and somebody's handing up the > scissors. > > Those are the words that Florida should put on a plaque and hang next to > Tim Tebow's famous speech about renewed dedication in the face of defeat. > > That is the lesson that Billy Donovan will have to teach again, and again, > no matter how many times the Gators basketball team comes within strutting > distance of a national title. > > Saturday's 72-68 loss to Louisville in the West Regional final was another > example of Florida falling headlong and helpless into the canyon of > competitive fire that separates the Elite Eight from the Final Four. > > Just like last year's Elite Eight loss to Butler, the Gators led by 11 > points in the second half. Just like last year, they ended up firing > desperate three-point shots at game's end and marveling at how shockingly > simple it is to kill a dream. > > "We thought we had control of it, and we thought we'd be able to keep them > at bay," said senior guard Erving Walker, who draped a towel over his head > in the locker room to hide tears that, likewise, couldn't be stopped. > > Louisville went on a 23-8 run in the game's final 10 minutes. Even worse, > the Gators didn't score at all in the final 2:39. In the end, Donovan > turned to freshman Bradley Beal, who almost surely will leave Florida now > as an NBA lottery pick, while the veterans tortured by that close call > against Butler last March clung to the blind hope that the basketball gods > couldn't possibly drop the same anvil on them two years in a row. > > Beal missed a couple in close coming down the stretch, bothered by > 6-foot-11 shot-blocking specialist Gorgui Dieng. Louisville, meanwhile, > kept coming, with a couple of tough buckets by Chane Behanan down low to > finally take the lead at 69-68 with 1:06 remaining. > > From there, nothing went right for Florida, with a missed jumper by > Walker, a traveling call on Beal and a foul by Kenny Boynton to keep > Louisville from dribbling out the clock, which led to a pair of free throws > by Russ Smith and a 71-68 Cardinals lead with 17 seconds to play. > > Donovan's last timeout was to draw up a three-point opportunity for Beal, > who had a good chance but missed it. An offensive rebound set Boynton up > for one last attempt to force overtime, but his three-point try also > clanged off the rim. One tack-on free throw by Louisville officially ended > the season for Florida and sent Rick Pitino over to shake the hand of > Donovan, his former player at Providence and assistant at Kentucky, to > offer condolences. > > If Pitino really were a pal, he wouldn't have changed Louisville's > defensive strategy at halftime, going from an unsuccessful zone to a > smothering, switching man-to-man. Just like that the Gators went from a > ridiculous 8-for-11 on three-pointers in the first half to 0-for-9 in the > second. > > That's not the only reason that Billy's basketball daddy ran his career > record against Donovan to 7-0. The Gators helped by getting stagnant on > offense, letting Walker dribble too much and trying to bleed the shot clock > down too much. Aggressive play is what pushed Florida out to a 41-33 > halftime lead and 65-54 with 8:16 to play. Overthinking by the Gators, > mixed in with a run of clumsy turnovers, gave Louisville a way to come back > even after star point guard Peyton Siva fouled out near the four-minute > mark. > > "Believe it or not," said Donovan, "I think Russ Smith is more dangerous > than Siva because he really has got a fearless spirit about him. Siva is a > little more under control. Russ Smith is sometimes crazy, you know, with > some of the things he does." > > March Madness is crazy by definition, and Smith's 19-point effort, marked > by knifing drives and killer whistles in the lane, fully played the part. > > No real highlight-reel plays in there, like the one-handed dunk that > Patric Young slammed down on an alley-oop pass from Walker, but more than > enough body shots to take the fight out of Florida. > > "I've got a different feeling than I did last year," said Donovan, who > squeezed a 26-11 record out of a Gators team that lacked a great post game > and lost three times to Kentucky because of it. "I think last year we > didn't do enough to win the game (against Butler). I felt like our guys did > enough in this game to have a chance to win." > > Eight three-pointers in the first half and 50 percent shooting overall in > the game should give a team more than a chance. It should make victory > almost impossible to avoid. That Florida failed here is confirmation of its > No. 7 seed in the region. Halfway to the six tournament wins needed for an > NCAA title, the Gators understand again how much farther there is to go. > > Meanwhile, it's time to hide the scissors and other sharp objects from the > Gators. Somebody else will be cutting down the nets next weekend in New > Orleans, somebody that won't start looking up at the clock with 10 minutes > to play and a nice lead in hand, somebody that doesn't know when to quit. > > > *Florida Gators crumble late, fall to Louisville* > > > In a virtual repeat of last year’s Elite Eight, UF watched a late 11-point > lead evaporate. > > *BY MATT WATTS MIAMI HERALD WRITER* > > PHOENIX -- As Peyton Siva, Kyle Kuric and Russ Smith celebrated, jumping > up and down on the US Airways Center floor and donning T-Shirts and hats > emblazoned with the words “Final Four,” Brad Beal, Erving Walker and Kenny > Boynton fought back tears. > > For these Gators, Saturday’s 72-68 loss in the Elite Eight was painful if > not just because it of the way it happened and the fact that put a > disappointing bookend to their season, but because it ended a second > consecutive season just two games from the ultimate prize. > > “It hurts more for me, personally, and probably for a lot of guys that > returned,” forward Erik Murphy said. “A lot of people don’t get the shot to > go to Final Four ever, and we’ve had it twice and did the same thing both > times.” > > Florida (26-11) led from the 12:27 mark of the first half to the 1:06 mark > of the second, establishing a 41-33 lead at halftime and extending it to as > many as 11 midway through the second half. But a 10-0 run coinciding with a > nearly six-minute scoring drought brought the Cardinals (30-9) back into a > game they had been shot out of by the Gators, who made 8 of 11 from beyond > the arc in the first half before being held to 0 of 9 when it mattered most. > > Last year, Florida allowed an 11-point lead at the 9:26 mark of the second > half to evaporate down the stretch against Butler in the Elite Eight. This > year, Florida held the lead by the same 11-point margin at the 9:04 mark of > the second half. > > “Same feeling,” said Boynton, who sat slouched backward in his locker > while reporters surrounded him, using his white iPhone as a distraction. > “We made mistakes on our own. It wasn’t that they were playing good, it > wasn’t anything that they did, it was just we lost the game on our own, our > mistakes.” > > The Gators were 0 for 4 from the field during the Cardinals 10-0 run and 1 > of 12 in the final eight minutes. Walker, a senior, missed two key free > throws after drilling four in a row earlier in the game after a foul and > technical called on Louisville coach Rick Pitino. > > Beal, who was named to West regional All-Tournament Team, also committed a > turnover which led to a jumper from Louisville guard Russ Smith and he was > called for a travel with just 18 seconds left after coming up with a steal. > In all, Florida turned it over 14 times, giving Louisville 15 points. > > But the Gators and Beal had their chances late. Beal, who scored 63 points > on 23-of-38 (60.5 percent) shooting and grabbed 33 rebounds in UF’s four > tournament games, had a layup attempt blocked with 48 seconds left and > Florida trailing by one. > > “It’s terrible,” Beal said of letting the game slip away. “I was thinking > about that as soon as I saw the shot miss. … When you foul and you’re > walking down to the other end, you’re like, ‘Dang, we had the game in our > hands.’” > > Still, with the Gators down two after a couple of free throws from Russ > Smith, who scored six of Louisville’s final eight points, Beal had a chance > to tie it. But his three-point attempt from near the top of the key clanged > off iron, as did Boynton’s second attempt with just eight ticks left. > > “I felt I was open for a minute, and then I let it go,” Beal said. “It > went off. I got the rebound back, kicked it to Kenny, it was off. It just > happens. We just didn’t execute plays down the stretch at all.” > > Florida was 21-1 when leading at halftime before Saturday’s loss, and now > head into an offseason uncertain about the future. Walker is graduating and > Beal, who is projected as first-round pick in the NBA draft, said he wasn’t > even thinking about next season yet. > > Five Gators scored in double-figures, with Murphy and Beal leading the way > with 14 apiece. Murphy also grabbed eight rebounds, while Beal had seven. > > Walker, who afterward in the locker room clutched a towel to his face to > block the tears, finished with 12 points and seven assists in his final > collegiate game. > > Pitino is now 6-0 all-time against Florida coach Billy Donovan, who played > under Pitino at Providence 25 years ago and coached under him at Kentucky. > Both talked fondly of the other leading up to Saturday, and that didn’t > change after a closely contested game with everything on the line. > > “I personally, for me, am very happy for coach Pitino,” Donovan said. > “Certainly emotionally going into the game it’s always a difficult > situation like that, with our relationship, but I don’t think any coach > enjoys losing in this type of situation. But if I had to lose, it would be > to him.” > > After saying Friday that it’s not difficult for him to play against a > coach he loves, Pitino backed off that statement and was similarly effusive > Saturday. > > “It was very difficult because of the way the game ended, because they > outplayed us,” Pitino said. “For 32 minutes they outplayed us. And it > really hurt inside. As much as I felt like celebrating, it really hurt > because he did such a masterful job of coaching.” > > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- Helen Huntley (727) 823-3801 www.helenhuntley.com -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
