Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is at the Masters and providing content regularly for jacksonville.com This is his entry immediately following a rain delay on Saturday April 12.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Immediately after heavy rain began pelting Augusta National and the horn sounded at 1:01 p.m. to delay the third round, I sought refuge on the porch near the player's locker room, where caddie Jeff Willett was pleased to be relatively dry.
That's because Willett's boss, Masters first-time participant Brian Bateman, was "about 30 seconds away" from having to tee off No. 1 when Augusta National officials sounded the horn.
"It would have been about a five-wood [for the second shot] into the green [on No. 1] because it was into the wind," said Willett. "That hole is hard enough as it is without having to play it under these conditions. You could make double or triple [bogey] easy."
Bateman, who was scheduled to tee off at 1:00 p.m., stands at 1-over-par 145. Play is scheduled to resume at 1:40 p.m.
As umbrella-clad spectators were scurrying toward the exit in front of us, gingerly walking down a muddy hillside, Willett was grateful for the stoppage in play. He said he's been at other tournaments where rain simmilar to what drenched Augusta National didn't force a delay.
Stay tuned for further updates from Times-Union golf writer Garry Smits and myself later in the day.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Singh, Singh-ing In The Rain
Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is at the Masters and all week, providing content for jacksonville.com This is his entry for Saturday April 12.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Over an hour after the third round commenced Saturday, one of the more popular gathering spots at the Masters during a steady drizzle was the putting green.
Ponte Vedra Beach resident Vijay Singh, along with India's Jeev Milkha Singh, were honing their putting strokes while waiting to tee off. Fans completely engulfed the putting green, two and three rows deep in some spots, to watch the pair, along with defending U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera.
Many spectators hang around the putting green, which is just behind the first tee, while waiting for their favorite players to tee off. Tiger Woods (one-under-par 143) goes off at 1:10 p.m., while Vijay Singh and fellow Ponte Vedra Beach resident Jim Furyk will tee off together at 1:30 p.m. While Singh was putting around noon time, Furyk was in the locker room making adjustments to his equipment.
Right now, there's a steady drizzle, but the good news is lightning has so far stayed out of the area. Play will likely go on as scheduled as long as a downpour doesn't drench the Augusta National layout or lightning stays at least seven miles out of the area.
Leaders Trevor Immelman (136, eight-under-par) and Brandt Snedeker won't tee off until 2:40 p.m. CBS coverage begins at 3:30.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Over an hour after the third round commenced Saturday, one of the more popular gathering spots at the Masters during a steady drizzle was the putting green.
Ponte Vedra Beach resident Vijay Singh, along with India's Jeev Milkha Singh, were honing their putting strokes while waiting to tee off. Fans completely engulfed the putting green, two and three rows deep in some spots, to watch the pair, along with defending U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera.
Many spectators hang around the putting green, which is just behind the first tee, while waiting for their favorite players to tee off. Tiger Woods (one-under-par 143) goes off at 1:10 p.m., while Vijay Singh and fellow Ponte Vedra Beach resident Jim Furyk will tee off together at 1:30 p.m. While Singh was putting around noon time, Furyk was in the locker room making adjustments to his equipment.
Right now, there's a steady drizzle, but the good news is lightning has so far stayed out of the area. Play will likely go on as scheduled as long as a downpour doesn't drench the Augusta National layout or lightning stays at least seven miles out of the area.
Leaders Trevor Immelman (136, eight-under-par) and Brandt Snedeker won't tee off until 2:40 p.m. CBS coverage begins at 3:30.
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Trip back In Jacksonville golfing time
Florida Times-Union sports colunist Gene Frenette is at the Masters and provides content for jacksonville.com This is his entry for Friday April 11.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- In 1994, Trip Kuehne was engaged in one of the most memorable duels in golfing history when he nearly took down Tiger Woods in the U.S. Amateur Championship at the TPC Stadium Course.
Woods had to rally from six shots down at one point, finally taking control behind a putt for the ages from the fringe at the par-3 17th hole.
Friday afternoon, the 35-year-old Kuehne closed the chapter on his competitive golf career with another bitter disappointment: he failed to make the Masters cut after a double-bogey at the par-three 16th hole, finishing three shots out of playing on the weekend.
Kuehne, whose only previous Masters appearance came in 1995 as the reigning U.S. amateur runnerup, had publicly stated that his amateur career would be over after this tournament. He was a bit emotional after his 150 total (six-over-par) wasn't good enough to extend his play for two more days.
"[I'm] sad it's over," Kuehne said. "All I wanted was an opportunity on the back nine here to make the cut. I had it and just didn't quite get it done. But it was a hell of a ride, but I guess this is the way it ends. I think this is the way you're supposed to ride away."
Despite coming from a golfing family -- brother Hank is a PGA Tour player and sister, Kelli, is on the LPGA Tour -- Kuehne bypassed the opportunity to turn pro and is a successful fund manager with Double Eagle Capitol in Dallas.
Ironically, Kuehne came within a foot of a double eagle Friday at the par-five 13th. He settled for an eagle to get to four-over-par, but his wayward tee shot into the water on No. 16 ended his quest to make the cut.
"I did what most amateur golfers do, they shank or hit bad shots and, unfortunately, I picked a very inopportune time to hit it sideways," said Kuehne. "That's the regret I'll always take with me, not playing 16 when it's such a perfect hole for me."
While Tiger Woods, who shot 71 Friday and stands at 1-under-par, is seven shots off Trevor Immelman's lead, the Masters leaderboard is well stocked with left-handers as two-time champion Phil Mickelson, Steve Flesch and Mike Weir (2003 winner) are all in the top eight after two rounds.
Check out my column in Saturday's Times-Union on Flesch and his caddie, Jacksonville resident Paul Fusco, who played a big part in Flesch recording the low round of the tournament (67) by nudging him into the right club selection that led to his eagle-3 at the 13th hole.
T-U golf writer Garry Smits will also provide his usual large dose of Masters coverage for the remainder of the tournament.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- In 1994, Trip Kuehne was engaged in one of the most memorable duels in golfing history when he nearly took down Tiger Woods in the U.S. Amateur Championship at the TPC Stadium Course.
Woods had to rally from six shots down at one point, finally taking control behind a putt for the ages from the fringe at the par-3 17th hole.
Friday afternoon, the 35-year-old Kuehne closed the chapter on his competitive golf career with another bitter disappointment: he failed to make the Masters cut after a double-bogey at the par-three 16th hole, finishing three shots out of playing on the weekend.
Kuehne, whose only previous Masters appearance came in 1995 as the reigning U.S. amateur runnerup, had publicly stated that his amateur career would be over after this tournament. He was a bit emotional after his 150 total (six-over-par) wasn't good enough to extend his play for two more days.
"[I'm] sad it's over," Kuehne said. "All I wanted was an opportunity on the back nine here to make the cut. I had it and just didn't quite get it done. But it was a hell of a ride, but I guess this is the way it ends. I think this is the way you're supposed to ride away."
Despite coming from a golfing family -- brother Hank is a PGA Tour player and sister, Kelli, is on the LPGA Tour -- Kuehne bypassed the opportunity to turn pro and is a successful fund manager with Double Eagle Capitol in Dallas.
Ironically, Kuehne came within a foot of a double eagle Friday at the par-five 13th. He settled for an eagle to get to four-over-par, but his wayward tee shot into the water on No. 16 ended his quest to make the cut.
"I did what most amateur golfers do, they shank or hit bad shots and, unfortunately, I picked a very inopportune time to hit it sideways," said Kuehne. "That's the regret I'll always take with me, not playing 16 when it's such a perfect hole for me."
While Tiger Woods, who shot 71 Friday and stands at 1-under-par, is seven shots off Trevor Immelman's lead, the Masters leaderboard is well stocked with left-handers as two-time champion Phil Mickelson, Steve Flesch and Mike Weir (2003 winner) are all in the top eight after two rounds.
Check out my column in Saturday's Times-Union on Flesch and his caddie, Jacksonville resident Paul Fusco, who played a big part in Flesch recording the low round of the tournament (67) by nudging him into the right club selection that led to his eagle-3 at the 13th hole.
T-U golf writer Garry Smits will also provide his usual large dose of Masters coverage for the remainder of the tournament.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Typical Tiger, slow out of the Masters gate
Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette is at the Masters this week and will offer a regular blog from Augusta National for jacksonville.com This is his entry for Thursday April 10.
If you were expecting the best golfer in the world to open the Masters by drawing thunderous applause with his spectacular shot-making, then you're not familiar with Tiger Woods' first-round history at Augusta National.
Woods, a four-time Masters champion, finished with an even-par 72 Thursday and in a 19th-place tie, but that's a familiar spot for the perennial favorite at this venue. In 13 previous appearances at Augusta National, Woods was a cumulative nine-over-par in the first round, but still wound up winning the event three times (1997, 2001, '05) despite posting his worst score in the opening round.
So shooting even par on a day when the average score was 74.18 isn't that big of a deal. In fact, Woods' 72 easily puts him in striking distance to make a move on co-leaders Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman (both shot 68) and the 16 other players who posted scores in the red numbers.
Like most competitors in the 94-player field, Woods found scoring conditions less than ideal because the sun-baked greens became firmer as the day wore on. In the few instances where he had very makeable birdie putts, he either barely missed (No. 2, 9, 10, 12 and 16) or misread from a short distance (a 10-footer at No. 11).
As it was, Woods still had a respectable 28 putts on the treachorous greens, which tied for 15th. As he said afterwards: "I played a lot better than what my score indicates. I hit putts really well and just nothing kind of went."
If those makeable birdie putts start falling, expect Woods to be in a familiar position at the Masters come the weekend: either at or near the top of the leaderboard.
Check out the Times-Union's Masters coverage in Friday's paper, including my column on the difficulty of trying to follow Tiger Woods around Augusta National with its massive galleries. T-U golf writer Garry Smits also will provide a recap of the first round, plus Masters notes and a sidebar story on defending tournament champion Zach Johnson.
If you were expecting the best golfer in the world to open the Masters by drawing thunderous applause with his spectacular shot-making, then you're not familiar with Tiger Woods' first-round history at Augusta National.
Woods, a four-time Masters champion, finished with an even-par 72 Thursday and in a 19th-place tie, but that's a familiar spot for the perennial favorite at this venue. In 13 previous appearances at Augusta National, Woods was a cumulative nine-over-par in the first round, but still wound up winning the event three times (1997, 2001, '05) despite posting his worst score in the opening round.
So shooting even par on a day when the average score was 74.18 isn't that big of a deal. In fact, Woods' 72 easily puts him in striking distance to make a move on co-leaders Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman (both shot 68) and the 16 other players who posted scores in the red numbers.
Like most competitors in the 94-player field, Woods found scoring conditions less than ideal because the sun-baked greens became firmer as the day wore on. In the few instances where he had very makeable birdie putts, he either barely missed (No. 2, 9, 10, 12 and 16) or misread from a short distance (a 10-footer at No. 11).
As it was, Woods still had a respectable 28 putts on the treachorous greens, which tied for 15th. As he said afterwards: "I played a lot better than what my score indicates. I hit putts really well and just nothing kind of went."
If those makeable birdie putts start falling, expect Woods to be in a familiar position at the Masters come the weekend: either at or near the top of the leaderboard.
Check out the Times-Union's Masters coverage in Friday's paper, including my column on the difficulty of trying to follow Tiger Woods around Augusta National with its massive galleries. T-U golf writer Garry Smits also will provide a recap of the first round, plus Masters notes and a sidebar story on defending tournament champion Zach Johnson.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Tiger: The Master Dominator off the course, too
Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette offers weekly commentary on various topics and he's in Augusta this week for the Masters. This is his post for Wednesday April 9.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If you think of the Masters tournament as golf's version of "American Idol," then Tiger Woods is Kelly Clarkson and every winner after her rolled into one.
As is the case at most major golf venues, there's a Woods addiction and everyone must get their fix, including the media.
When Woods held his pre-tourney news conference Tuesday morning, every seat in the 175-chair press room was filled and there were probably another 30-50 people standing. So all those numbers you hear about how Woods drives up television ratings at tournaments where he's playing, it also extends to his drawing power outside the ropes.
And just as Woods has been on a dominant run since last summer, winning eight of his last 10 tournaments since the PGA Championship, he blows the field away in press conference attendance.
Four hours after Woods' question-and-answer session with the media ended, two-tie U.S. Open champion and two-time Masters runnerup Ernie Els had his scheduled media session in the same room, just 100 feet from where the working press sits each day to write their stories.
Do you know how many showed up to hear Els speak? A grand total of 18, and it was a similar number for Adam Scott, the 2004 Players champion, when he conducted his session. At least the room was about half-full hen two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson and defending champion Zach Johnson had their media sit-down time.
But it's a testament to Woods' stardom and television's all-Tiger, all-the-time mentality that golf's No. 1 attraction has created such an attention monopoly.
If it's like this at the year's first major, imagine how much it'll ratchet up at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the British Open at Royal Birkdale and PGA Championship at Oakland Hills if Woods' quest to win the Grand Slam in one calendar year actually happens.
Woods hasn't backed off his comment earlier this year that winning all four majors in 2008 is "easily within reason."
Nothing seems out of bounds when it comes to what Tiger can pull off on a golf course. That's why the attention he receives from fans and media at the Masters is well beyond reason.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If you think of the Masters tournament as golf's version of "American Idol," then Tiger Woods is Kelly Clarkson and every winner after her rolled into one.
As is the case at most major golf venues, there's a Woods addiction and everyone must get their fix, including the media.
When Woods held his pre-tourney news conference Tuesday morning, every seat in the 175-chair press room was filled and there were probably another 30-50 people standing. So all those numbers you hear about how Woods drives up television ratings at tournaments where he's playing, it also extends to his drawing power outside the ropes.
And just as Woods has been on a dominant run since last summer, winning eight of his last 10 tournaments since the PGA Championship, he blows the field away in press conference attendance.
Four hours after Woods' question-and-answer session with the media ended, two-tie U.S. Open champion and two-time Masters runnerup Ernie Els had his scheduled media session in the same room, just 100 feet from where the working press sits each day to write their stories.
Do you know how many showed up to hear Els speak? A grand total of 18, and it was a similar number for Adam Scott, the 2004 Players champion, when he conducted his session. At least the room was about half-full hen two-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson and defending champion Zach Johnson had their media sit-down time.
But it's a testament to Woods' stardom and television's all-Tiger, all-the-time mentality that golf's No. 1 attraction has created such an attention monopoly.
If it's like this at the year's first major, imagine how much it'll ratchet up at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the British Open at Royal Birkdale and PGA Championship at Oakland Hills if Woods' quest to win the Grand Slam in one calendar year actually happens.
Woods hasn't backed off his comment earlier this year that winning all four majors in 2008 is "easily within reason."
Nothing seems out of bounds when it comes to what Tiger can pull off on a golf course. That's why the attention he receives from fans and media at the Masters is well beyond reason.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Jaguars break bank for Del Rio, what about Garrard?
Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette offers his weekly opinions on various topics for jacksonville.com This is his version posted for Thursday April 3.
Now that the Jaguars have given head coach Jack Del Rio a generous contract extension, worth over $20 million for the 2009-12 seasons, now comes the harder negotiation: reaching an agreement with quarterback David Garrard.
Based on conversations with Times-Union sources familiar with the negotiations, the Jaguars and Garrard have made progress toward a new deal, but remain significantly apart on the guaranteed money. Garrard is hoping to approach the $30 million in guarantees that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo received last October on his $67 million contract. So far, the Jaguars are nowhere near that ballpark, which means that this negotiation could last a while longer because Garrard is believed unwilling to accept a deal significantly below Romo's.
Garrard is signed through next season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent, but the Jaguars could slap the franchise tag on him in 2009, but that tab will run somewhere in the $12-13 million range.
It's in both the Jaguars' and Garrard's best interest to lock up a deal before training camp for several reasons. One, the team has plenty of salary cap room and Garrard is anxious to sign a contract that will provide him a lifetime of financial security. For another, neither side wants an unresolved contract issue lingering all season with the franchise quarterback when the Jaguars figure to be a Super Bowl contender.
There's no way to accurately predict when, or if, the richest contract in team history will get done. Albert Irby, Garrard's agent, says the ball is in the Jaguars' court at this time. The Jaguars have declined to comment on the negotiations.
At Thursday's news conference announcing Del Rio's extension, owner Wayne Weaver said he hopes Garrard's deal will be done "sooner than later." It was a quick non-answer to a question that could remain up in the air beyond the April 26-27 NFL draft unless the two sides can quickly bridge the gap.
The Jaguars took care of Del Rio in a big way, giving him a whopping extension when you consider that the only NFL coaches averaging over $5 million per year have already won a Super Bowl. Del Rio's extension, which doesn't include the $3.5 million salary he was set to earn next season, is almost identical to the four-year, $21 million extension that the New York Giants gave former Jaguars' coach Tom Coughlin after winning this year's Super Bowl.
Del Rio reached the $5 million contract neighborhood that he was seeking. Now the question is: Will the Jaguars pony up to help Garrard reach his financial goal?
With the recently released police report involving Jaguars cornerback Brian Williams, which outlines his profane, sexually explicit and degrading comments toward women as detailed in policeman E.E. Bridges' notes from a September, 2006 drunken driving arrest, it puts the Jaguars in a difficult public relations dilemma.
There's no possible way to defend anything about a DUI, followed by allegations that Williams berated an officer of the law in such a distasteful manner.
Weaver and Del Rio properly condemned the things reportedly said, but they also didn't want to appear to take anybody's side because both stated that Williams denies making the racist and sexist remarks that were outlined in a front-page story in Wednesday's Times-Union.
Since Williams or his attorney, Hank Coxe, have yet to make a public statement to refute Bridges' account, it only magnifies the public sentiment building against the Jaguars' starting cornerback. There's no denying that Williams was in an impaired state at the time he rammed his vehicle into Bridges' patrol car, and he initially pleaded guilty to the charge, receiving a six-month probation sentence and suspended license.
A few weeks later, Williams withdrew his plea and in January, a judge approved it over the state's objections. At the time of his arrest, it was known that Williams verbally confronted the officer, but the details of what was said didn't become known until this week.
No matter how much Williams may deny the allegations, it's going to be a he-said, he-said situation. And given that Williams initiated the whole mess with his poor choices, it's going to be hard to take the word of an impaired NFL player over a sober police officer.
Williams has now received two rounds of negative publicity, and there remains the matter of whether the Jaguars or NFL commissioner Roger Godell will ultimately take any punitive measures as this case moves forward.
You have to figure Williams regrets a lot of things since his arrest. The biggest may be not sticking to his original plea so that this mess would have never come back to haunt him again.
With three of my original Final Four teams still in the hunt -- I picked Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Texas (Elite Eight loser to Memphis) -- I'm not going to change my position now.
I took Kansas to beat UCLA for the title before the tournament started. Even though North Carolina and Memphis have played better to this point, I'm sticking with the Jayhawks to cut down the nets Monday night against the Bruins.
On the NCAA women's tournament, there's a reason for Jacksonville hoop fans to tune in Sunday night when former Ribault High star Erica White, the senior starting point guard at LSU, closes out her college career with a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. The Lady Tigers play defending national champion Tennessee in the second semifinal at 9:30 p.m., preceded by Connecticut-Stanford.
Another big day for White, along with former Ribault star Shante Williams of Florida State, will be next Wednesday (April 9) when the pair could become the first players from Jacksonville to be taken in the WNBA draft.
Now that the Jaguars have given head coach Jack Del Rio a generous contract extension, worth over $20 million for the 2009-12 seasons, now comes the harder negotiation: reaching an agreement with quarterback David Garrard.
Based on conversations with Times-Union sources familiar with the negotiations, the Jaguars and Garrard have made progress toward a new deal, but remain significantly apart on the guaranteed money. Garrard is hoping to approach the $30 million in guarantees that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo received last October on his $67 million contract. So far, the Jaguars are nowhere near that ballpark, which means that this negotiation could last a while longer because Garrard is believed unwilling to accept a deal significantly below Romo's.
Garrard is signed through next season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent, but the Jaguars could slap the franchise tag on him in 2009, but that tab will run somewhere in the $12-13 million range.
It's in both the Jaguars' and Garrard's best interest to lock up a deal before training camp for several reasons. One, the team has plenty of salary cap room and Garrard is anxious to sign a contract that will provide him a lifetime of financial security. For another, neither side wants an unresolved contract issue lingering all season with the franchise quarterback when the Jaguars figure to be a Super Bowl contender.
There's no way to accurately predict when, or if, the richest contract in team history will get done. Albert Irby, Garrard's agent, says the ball is in the Jaguars' court at this time. The Jaguars have declined to comment on the negotiations.
At Thursday's news conference announcing Del Rio's extension, owner Wayne Weaver said he hopes Garrard's deal will be done "sooner than later." It was a quick non-answer to a question that could remain up in the air beyond the April 26-27 NFL draft unless the two sides can quickly bridge the gap.
The Jaguars took care of Del Rio in a big way, giving him a whopping extension when you consider that the only NFL coaches averaging over $5 million per year have already won a Super Bowl. Del Rio's extension, which doesn't include the $3.5 million salary he was set to earn next season, is almost identical to the four-year, $21 million extension that the New York Giants gave former Jaguars' coach Tom Coughlin after winning this year's Super Bowl.
Del Rio reached the $5 million contract neighborhood that he was seeking. Now the question is: Will the Jaguars pony up to help Garrard reach his financial goal?
With the recently released police report involving Jaguars cornerback Brian Williams, which outlines his profane, sexually explicit and degrading comments toward women as detailed in policeman E.E. Bridges' notes from a September, 2006 drunken driving arrest, it puts the Jaguars in a difficult public relations dilemma.
There's no possible way to defend anything about a DUI, followed by allegations that Williams berated an officer of the law in such a distasteful manner.
Weaver and Del Rio properly condemned the things reportedly said, but they also didn't want to appear to take anybody's side because both stated that Williams denies making the racist and sexist remarks that were outlined in a front-page story in Wednesday's Times-Union.
Since Williams or his attorney, Hank Coxe, have yet to make a public statement to refute Bridges' account, it only magnifies the public sentiment building against the Jaguars' starting cornerback. There's no denying that Williams was in an impaired state at the time he rammed his vehicle into Bridges' patrol car, and he initially pleaded guilty to the charge, receiving a six-month probation sentence and suspended license.
A few weeks later, Williams withdrew his plea and in January, a judge approved it over the state's objections. At the time of his arrest, it was known that Williams verbally confronted the officer, but the details of what was said didn't become known until this week.
No matter how much Williams may deny the allegations, it's going to be a he-said, he-said situation. And given that Williams initiated the whole mess with his poor choices, it's going to be hard to take the word of an impaired NFL player over a sober police officer.
Williams has now received two rounds of negative publicity, and there remains the matter of whether the Jaguars or NFL commissioner Roger Godell will ultimately take any punitive measures as this case moves forward.
You have to figure Williams regrets a lot of things since his arrest. The biggest may be not sticking to his original plea so that this mess would have never come back to haunt him again.
With three of my original Final Four teams still in the hunt -- I picked Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Texas (Elite Eight loser to Memphis) -- I'm not going to change my position now.
I took Kansas to beat UCLA for the title before the tournament started. Even though North Carolina and Memphis have played better to this point, I'm sticking with the Jayhawks to cut down the nets Monday night against the Bruins.
On the NCAA women's tournament, there's a reason for Jacksonville hoop fans to tune in Sunday night when former Ribault High star Erica White, the senior starting point guard at LSU, closes out her college career with a fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. The Lady Tigers play defending national champion Tennessee in the second semifinal at 9:30 p.m., preceded by Connecticut-Stanford.
Another big day for White, along with former Ribault star Shante Williams of Florida State, will be next Wednesday (April 9) when the pair could become the first players from Jacksonville to be taken in the WNBA draft.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Gators embarrassing exit at SEC
Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette offers weekly observations on a variety of sports topics for jacksonville.com This is his updated entry from the SEC basketball tournament for Thursday March 13.
With bubble teams falling out of NCAA tournament consideration all over the country, the Florida Gators wasted a terrific opportunity to extend their nine-year streak of Big Dance appearances with a pathetic display of basketball Thursday night at the Georgia Dome.
Instead of using the Southeastern Conference tournament to gain entry to the NCAAs, the Gators embarrassed themselves with a lackluster effort in an 80-69 loss to Alabama that wasn't anywhere as close as the score indicated.
Florida put itself in holes of 14-0, 26-5 and 42-14 in the first half because it couldn't hit any outside shots or stop Alabama senior guard Mykal Riley (26 points) from draining three-pointers from every conceivable spot on the floor. The outing so annoyed UF coach Billy Donovan that he minced no words afterwards over his team's woeful performance.
Donovan questioned his team's passion, its commitment to playing defense and whether his young squad of nine scholarship players (five freshmen, three sophomores and one junior)would develop into the kind of team that can ever contend for any kind of a championship.
"You know, it's hard for me to be excited going forward because I don't see things getting fixed," said Donovan. "Again, we're 31 games into the season, and I'm not going to sit up here and talk about youthfulness or what we don't have or what we lost or those type of things.
"What you want to see is you want to see a group of guys really understand what it takes to win. And sometimes you've got to go through some things to understand what it takes to win. It's in front of our guys, what it takes to win, and for whatever reason, I haven't brought it out in them. They're not committed to it. I'm not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest."
Donovan's scathing criticism came on the heels of freshman Chandler Parsons telling the media assembled for the post-game news conference that the team "didn't come ready to play."
It's pretty hard to argue the point when you consider that Florida was outrebounded 26-12 in the first half, got no points from its starters in the first 11 minutes, and had 6-foot-10 sophomore center Marreese Speights not attempt a shot in the game's first 28 minutes.
Though Florida did whittle a 46-23 halftime deficit down to six points at 57-51, aided partly by some suspect Alabama free throw shooting, it couldn't mask the disappointment of a horrific start in a game with monumental stakes.
The feeling was UF needed to win two or three games in the SEC tournament to assure itself of an NCAA bid. The Gators received a huge lift when bubble teams like Dayton, Arizona State, Baylor, Villanova and UAB all lost earlier in the day, opening the door for Donovan's team if it could beat Alabama and follow up with a win over Mississippi State.
But everything flamed out with a pedestrian first-half effort that left everyone from Donovan to the players shaking their head afterwards, wondering if things will get any better next season.
First, there's the matter of closing out this season in the National Invitation Tournament, which will announce its pairings late Sunday night, long after the NCAA Selection show.
Until then, Donovan didn't sound terribly optimistic that his Gators will be dramtically better in 2008-09 simply because he returns his entire team.
"I would say that just because this group, all of them, are a year older doesn't mean they become a year better," said Donovan. "I've never been a big believer of that old adage, the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. I've never bought into that motto.
"They're wiser, they're more experienced, but the same issues are still in front of them, and until they address those issues, it doesn't really make a difference how old they are."
After winning back-to-back NCAA championships, including the last one at the Georgia Dome, the Gators exited that same venue Thursday night feeling entirely different about themselves.
Their confidence was not only shaken, but Donovan didn't have any problem calling them out for an embarrassing performance in a big-game situation. In more ways than one, UF's bubble had burst.
With bubble teams falling out of NCAA tournament consideration all over the country, the Florida Gators wasted a terrific opportunity to extend their nine-year streak of Big Dance appearances with a pathetic display of basketball Thursday night at the Georgia Dome.
Instead of using the Southeastern Conference tournament to gain entry to the NCAAs, the Gators embarrassed themselves with a lackluster effort in an 80-69 loss to Alabama that wasn't anywhere as close as the score indicated.
Florida put itself in holes of 14-0, 26-5 and 42-14 in the first half because it couldn't hit any outside shots or stop Alabama senior guard Mykal Riley (26 points) from draining three-pointers from every conceivable spot on the floor. The outing so annoyed UF coach Billy Donovan that he minced no words afterwards over his team's woeful performance.
Donovan questioned his team's passion, its commitment to playing defense and whether his young squad of nine scholarship players (five freshmen, three sophomores and one junior)would develop into the kind of team that can ever contend for any kind of a championship.
"You know, it's hard for me to be excited going forward because I don't see things getting fixed," said Donovan. "Again, we're 31 games into the season, and I'm not going to sit up here and talk about youthfulness or what we don't have or what we lost or those type of things.
"What you want to see is you want to see a group of guys really understand what it takes to win. And sometimes you've got to go through some things to understand what it takes to win. It's in front of our guys, what it takes to win, and for whatever reason, I haven't brought it out in them. They're not committed to it. I'm not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest."
Donovan's scathing criticism came on the heels of freshman Chandler Parsons telling the media assembled for the post-game news conference that the team "didn't come ready to play."
It's pretty hard to argue the point when you consider that Florida was outrebounded 26-12 in the first half, got no points from its starters in the first 11 minutes, and had 6-foot-10 sophomore center Marreese Speights not attempt a shot in the game's first 28 minutes.
Though Florida did whittle a 46-23 halftime deficit down to six points at 57-51, aided partly by some suspect Alabama free throw shooting, it couldn't mask the disappointment of a horrific start in a game with monumental stakes.
The feeling was UF needed to win two or three games in the SEC tournament to assure itself of an NCAA bid. The Gators received a huge lift when bubble teams like Dayton, Arizona State, Baylor, Villanova and UAB all lost earlier in the day, opening the door for Donovan's team if it could beat Alabama and follow up with a win over Mississippi State.
But everything flamed out with a pedestrian first-half effort that left everyone from Donovan to the players shaking their head afterwards, wondering if things will get any better next season.
First, there's the matter of closing out this season in the National Invitation Tournament, which will announce its pairings late Sunday night, long after the NCAA Selection show.
Until then, Donovan didn't sound terribly optimistic that his Gators will be dramtically better in 2008-09 simply because he returns his entire team.
"I would say that just because this group, all of them, are a year older doesn't mean they become a year better," said Donovan. "I've never been a big believer of that old adage, the best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores. I've never bought into that motto.
"They're wiser, they're more experienced, but the same issues are still in front of them, and until they address those issues, it doesn't really make a difference how old they are."
After winning back-to-back NCAA championships, including the last one at the Georgia Dome, the Gators exited that same venue Thursday night feeling entirely different about themselves.
Their confidence was not only shaken, but Donovan didn't have any problem calling them out for an embarrassing performance in a big-game situation. In more ways than one, UF's bubble had burst.
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