I’ve considered backing off of my prediction that North Carolina would be the best team at the end of the year. Every time I watch Florida play, I see how good they are, at least with their first five. (They looked great to start the Kentucky game, even though foul trouble hurt them and kept Kentucky in it.) I’ve heard some TV heads say that UNC has the most talent, and Florida has the best starting five. I would agree with that - I think all the way down the bench, I’d go with Carolina. However, I also am not as familiar with Florida’s bench because fewer of them see the floor compared to UNC.
Florida, though, clearly has the best starting five in the country. Noah gets a lot of attention - and perhaps a little extra because of a famous father, or maybe it’s his hair. Of course, he’s a great player, too, so he deserves attention. (I still don’t like him, but it’s more because of his dad. As a tennis fan, I never liked Yannick, so it’s hard to like his offspring as well.) But, if I was going to pick one guy from those five for my team, I’d go with Corey Brewer. I like watching him play and he seems to have the most weapons of any of the other players.
Am I ready to pick Florida to win it all? No, not yet. Last year, they were a #3 seed and most people expected UConn to win it going away. They were a very good team last year, but not many expected them to run over everyone the way they did. This year, they’re going to be the favorite. They are also defending champions. So, they’re target #1, the team that, for everyone else, will be the biggest prize when it comes to upsets. If you knock out Florida this year, then you’ve done something special. Those kinds of things are what make it much harder to win the second time around. Not that it’s ever easy, but this year there will be much more pressure along with that expectation to win. Whether or not that will affect them, I can’t say. I actually lean towards it not affecting them that much. They just seem like a team that has a lot of fun playing the game, and when you’re having fun, it’s less likely the pressure will get to you as much as it might otherwise.
I heard something from the sideline reporter just prior to the Florida-Kentucky game Saturday night that caught my attention. She mentioned that Florida was enjoying going on the road this year, relishing the opportunity to disappoint home fans when they came in and won. I believe the comment was something about “ruining the party” in opponents arenas. That reminded me of an article I read recently (and will post more about in March). It was an article about Duke’s 1992 team - the last team to repeat. Here’s the quote:
They loved playing on the road, strutting into other teams’ buildings and leaving with a win. For a whole year, they were the greatest show in the country, the team everyone wanted a piece of but just about no one could beat. They relished walking into a gym and seeing the fear in the other team’s eyes, the feeling that they would have to play their best game to beat Duke.
I couldn’t help but think of this article when they made a similar comment about Florida Saturday night. The similarities are there - defending champions, everyone back, great coach, enjoying the road, and opponents will have to play at a high level to beat them. I said last year that it wouldn’t be Donovan’s last. The day after the title game, I posted “If most of these guys are back next year, it could happen then.” I didn’t think they’d all be back at that point. I assumed, at the least, Noah was gone. But they all came back.
In 1991, Mike Krzyzewski won his first title. He followed it in 1992 with his second. Another possible similarity? Billy Donovan won his first last year, and is in a great position to follow it with a second. This may be the year, the first time in 15 years that a team will repeat. Most of the time, Florida continues to look like the champions they were last March. If they continue that through the next seven weeks, they very well may keep that title another year, and replace Duke as the answer to the question “Which team was the last to repeat?”
Great article. They are similar to Duke as well with much ballance. My Arizona team that returned all 5 starters in ‘98 was too much of a guard oriented team.
I am picking Florida to win the whole thing, but I’d like to see them lose in the SEC tournament so they get a bad game out of their system.
I think it is Green that is the motor behind the team. Hortford is second and then Brewer. I am not very impressed with Noah.
February 12, 2007
Yeah, I like Green a lot, too. And good point about balance, which I didn’t really mention. All 5 guys on the floor can hurt you at any given time. There’s no way to focus on only one or two players. They can all get it done.
February 12, 2007