Buzz: Gators can win it all
Florida handed Marquette coach Buzz Williams his worst loss in five seasons and 179 games as head coach.
And shortly after UF’s 82-49 whitewash of Marquette, Williams offered this assessment of the Gators.
“I think they are this good,” Williams said. “I was saying that before I left Milwaukee. I think they are good enough to win the whole thing.”
Florida has won its first six games by an average margin of 26 points. Four of those six wins have come against Wisconsin, Marquette, UCF and Middle Tennessee State.
“Coach has a saying, tomorrow is a new day,” Florida junior forward Will Yeguete said. “We know we are playing at a high level now but it can change. We haven’t played a road game yet and our next game is against Florida State on the road.”
Likewise, Florida coach Billy Donovan downplayed his team’s lopsided wins during its 6-0 start.
“I think sometimes a team can have the kind of night like we had,” Donovan said. “I’m not so sure that we’re 30 points better than Marquette. I really like Marquette’s team. This is their first road game and they have some guys in new roles, new positions.
“It’s still November and there is time to grow and develop. It’s a good thing we play these kind of games, but I’m not so sure we’re that many points better than everybody.”
Kevin Brockway gave up on his dream of becoming a lefty starting pitcher for the New York Mets when he walked four straight batters, then hit one in a middle school game in Suffern, N.Y. Since graduating college in 1993, he’s worked as a sports writer at daily newspapers throughout the state of Florida, beginning with the Key West Citizen. He then moved on to the Northwest Florida Daily News and Naples Daily News before becoming the men’s basketball writer for The Gainesville Sun in 2003. Brockway has won multiple state and national writing awards during his 16-year career. Favorite pastimes include karaoke and watching baseball. Favorite college hoops team growing up was St. John’s.
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble…
by Brr-bon Phil
Way too early to be making postseason predictions, but this team is playing great defense right now. Let’s take care of the Semis next!
by MJMGator
Close out the week with another Semi-hole whipping.
Gr8 time to be a Fla. Gator…
by Dennis
I agree with Dennis it’s ‘great to be a FLORIDA GATOR!’…and Billy ‘D’ loves FLORIDA BASKETBALL like no other in my lifetime, and it’s showing. This team is hitting it’s stride perfectly… The ‘D’ is awesome, and the ‘coming out party’ for Frazier last night was incredible as well. I thought this team could easily win the S.E.C., prior to the start of the season, and thus far they’ve proven me right. The ‘D’ of Young needs to be a ‘staple’ of this team every game, and then when Murph plays well, & Will snatching rebounds, and the back-court hitting shots…look out! GO GATORS! CHOMP-CHOMP! GREAT GAME GATORS! STAY HUNGRY and the rest falls into place, and Florida WINS THE S.E.C., and tournament time will be a blast!
by gatorgi70x7 (Greg Ines)
I agree the Gators are off to a great start but why no love from the fans? The ODOme was not even 2/3 full for a big game! 2nd time this has happened – see Wisc.
by ATLMike
Agree with all of the above posts. Glad to see that Donovan wasn’t hesitant to push Young’s button a bit last night, and to his credit, he responded with an awesome effort. Only real weakness with this team will be their lack of front court depth, so Young, Murphy and Ygette will have to avoid foul trouble as best they can. Prather has been great off the bench, and Frazier looks like a great scorer off the bench when needed. Go Gators.
by Carolina Gator
Team is going to need some tough wins (and some tough losses) to strengthen their resolve and mental toughness. WIns in November are nice, but the best wins come in March (and April!).
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But, not against FSU. Need to beat them by as many points as possible.
by Lizardgrad89
The boys look tough this year. Was concerned about losing Beal, but it looks like they are even better without him this year. We will find out against better competition if our defense is taking a page from the football team by stompin and chompin on that side of the ball. No matter the sport – DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! Go Gators!
by Davido
Billy D… the most underrated coach in the history of college B-ball. It’s amazing to think that he has brought us more national titles in basketball than Spurrier did in football. Simply amazing. Give that man a raise!!!
by tom
Hard to believe that Billy D in his 17th season has been at UF almost as long as Spurrier and Meyer combined (12+6 years). With 427 wins, at age 47 it would not be hard at all to imagine Donovan with 400-500 wins in 15-20 more years which would place him in the very top of all time wins. The guy from Duke is at 900+. We are lucky to have a great coach and leader.
by Bill H.
Tremendous coach. Great team. Horrible fan support.
by GatorRealist
Hopefully, the fans will get behind these guys! I plan to do my part – I’ll be at as many games possible. GO GATORS!!!
by GI-Gator
I think the late start time was a factor in the attendance. Plus, it;s close to the end of the semester and finals are coming up. But I’d be there if I could!
I’m very pleased with the team’s performance to date, but they need to be road tested. Next 2 games will tell that. GO GATORS!
by ngamtngator