My bold prediction is that the Gators beat George Mason by at least 12-15 pts on Saturday. UF winning isn't so bold, it's just I think that we beat them very convincingly, whereas most people think it will be a very close game. I am biased, I will admit that for sure, but here is why I think that. First off, UNC/Uconn had only 1 day to prepare for George Mason and Uconn just came off of an emotional win in OT against Washington. They were both looking past them(UNC to the Sweet 16 and a potential match against Tennessee) and Uconn to the Final 4 with a possible rematch of Villanova. The Gators get 5 days to prepare and with all the hype George Mason is getting, there's no way we look past them. The only 2 other teams that had a reasonable amount of time to prepare was Michigan State(1st round matchup, but were looking forward to arguably the best 2nd round match-UNC, since most analysts said that George Mason shouldn't have even been in the tourney) and Wichita State(not exactly a powerhouse themselves with comparable skills). Second off, Uconn doesn't have an emotional leader like Joakim Noah, they have just sleepwalked through the entire tourney and didn't really show much emotion and desire throughout their games. Noah has willed us so far this far. We want it badly. I don't want to say we want it more so than teams such as Uconn/UNC/MSU/Wichita State, but Uconn seemed to feel they just needed to show up to win the championship, UNC was getting plenty of hype over their upset of Duke and they had been their last year. MSU/Wichita state I have nothing. George Mason has gotten by these teams because they want it more. I don't think they will want it more than the Gators. I haven't seen us with this much emotion and not playing soft ever. GMU had to shoot lights out to barely beat Uconn who wasn't playing it's best game. Our D has shutdown 3 quality 3 pt shooting teams so far and we are playing our best. Third, GMU's tallest player is 6'7. We start a 6'8 SF. We have 5 guys larger than that. I don't care what you guys say, but Florida has the most athletic frontcourt that they have seen so far, even over Uconn. No big men run the court like the Gators's do. Joakim Noah does it all. He will have nearly 5 inches on Jai Lewis, plus his crazy wingspan. He currently has 19 blocks in 4 games and the tourney record is 23 blocks. He should get that easy. He is also avg near 17 pts and near 10 boards a game with a couple of assists. Now that he has been fed right down your throat over and over, people don't know about Al Horford. He does all the dirty things that it takes your team to win. He got overshadowed in the Nova game with his 12 pts 15 boards and 2 blocks. He shutdown 7'2 Roy Hibbert(he's only 6'9, so he gave up 5 inches on Hibbert, but still shut him down). Jai Lewis is good, but we have already faced a similar opponent and had pretty decent success against him(Big Baby). Lamar Butler has never been guarded by a player like 6'8 Corey Brewer. He wasn't the co-DPOY in the SEC for nothing. Fourth, the 5 days to prepare will help us more than it will help them. After an emotional win against Uconn, the best possible scenario for them would be have a game a day or 2 later to continue to ride their emotions. Now they are all everyone is talking about, so there is starting to be a lot of pressure coming on them. They are continously interviewing the George Mason players(which is well deserved), but it might make them cocky. Billy Donovan and his assistants are great with making gameplans for teams. The element of surprise is now gone for them. They will not surprise us with 5 days to prepare. We have 2 common opponents, both they lost to and both we beat pretty convincingly and neither made the tourney. (Miss St and Wake Forest). Fifth, Joakim's grandpa is sacrificing chickens in Cameroon for us. Ever since he has seen Joakim play for the 1st time, he has been doing it and we are 9-0 since then and Joakim has just been unreal. So we have voodoo on our side. (Actual Voodoo, not the poster )
I take George Mason by 5. I think Florida will jump on them early, but GM will keep it close and won't look back with about 5 minutes to go. Florida misses a couple of shots to tie it, and GM seals it with free throws.
No way I take a big-time program over a team like George Mason, it just wouldn't be my style. Mason by 2.
Does Florida get some credit now? Or is it just another 11 seed that just happened to knock out UConn? Hate to say I told you so, but... >j<
Anyone who was actually cheering for Florida in this game can't consider themselves college basketball fans. Hell, I had Florida in the finals (losing to Duke) in my bracket, but I was still cheering for Mason. Probably the greatest story in NCAA history came to an end today. JUst goes to show that chemistry is AS if not more important than talent.
So far the Final Four has been boring. I figured that George Mason would have put up a much bigger fight then what they showed tonight. The championship game (as it looks now) will be interesting. It had to be better then what we're seeing tonight...
I have to give Florida credit...they did a great job shutting down GM's inside-out game. It really messed with their gameplan. I was a little upset that Mason's guards weren't penetrating more often because they seemed to be getting to the hoop at will.
The ability of Noah and Horford to dribble the ball up the court really effected what GM likes to do on defense. Donovan had the perfect game plan to beat GM by preventing any open looks on the perimeter. The Gators outscored the Patriots by 30+ from behind the arc. That being said the Gators run will end against UCLA!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">Anyone who was actually cheering for Florida in this game can't consider themselves college basketball fans. Hell, I had Florida in the finals (losing to Duke) in my bracket, but I was still cheering for Mason. Probably the greatest story in NCAA history came to an end today. JUst goes to show that chemistry is AS if not more important than talent.</div> I go to UF, so I'm one of the few that didn't want GMU to win. Did I call it or what? I said Billy Donovan will have 5 days to prepare, so we would have a great gameplan and use it well and we'd win by 12-15. I'm so happy, bring on UCLA!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">Anyone who was actually cheering for Florida in this game can't consider themselves college basketball fans. Hell, I had Florida in the finals (losing to Duke) in my bracket, but I was still cheering for Mason. Probably the greatest story in NCAA history came to an end today. JUst goes to show that chemistry is AS if not more important than talent.</div> Don't tell me I'm not a basketball fan. I and my whole family are Gator fans and have been since we've been attending UF or, in some cases, just living in Gainesville. Are you saying I can't root for my team because there's an admittedly great Cinderella story in our way? That's just ignorant. >j<
One of the greatest, if not, the greatest cinderella stories has come to an end. I don't think anyone will ever forget this George Mason team, they were simply outstanding.
