Florida just got better.

[SEC Official]

Good Lord I wish Duke could get a 6'11" guy to add to the roster NOW. Florida was a Final Four team before this addition or at the very least a #1 or #2 seed.

Well, Billy is trying to temper everyone's expectations... and I can't figure out if this is because he isn't there yet and may not be as big of an impact as people expect, or if Billy is just playing it down knowing the guy is a monster.

If you watch video of him, he is a big guy that plays more like a small forward on offense. He also excels in transition. There were reports that Young was taking him to task in practice, which I could see in a half-court set banging down low... but out in transition I just can't believe Young can keep pace with him on offense...

Will be interesting either way.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Hopefully he won't have the Artis effect on Florida.

 

[SEC Official]

Hopefully he won't have the Artis effect on Florida.

Yeah, I just can't believe that a kid who they say will be a lottery pick next year in the NBA even if he never steps foot on the court for Florida this year... may not live up to expectations. Something doesn't add up...else his NBA stock would plummet.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

Yeah, I just can't believe that a kid who they say will be a lottery pick next year in the NBA even if he never steps foot on the court for Florida this year... may not live up to expectations. Something doesn't add up...else his NBA stock would plummet.

Well, Kyrie Irvine didn't exactly set the world on fire for Duke when he came back late in the year, but I think he did okay in the draft.

I'm not saying the Walker situation is the exact same, but it's certainly something you can't just ignore. I think UF is going to be better with him, but there is always a chance things don't mesh well.

 

[Runeman]

Yup; none of us has seen him play, but his resume is great and he is a very big guy who can run and a leaper as well. Somewhere I read he won the slam dunk contest for the top high school players last year. If he were a guard trying to blend in this late in the season, I would have some concerns, but as a strong forward, think he will help a lot. We are just too small along the baseline and he should help. I think he will be a really big help against Kentucky, a team that is simply huge and athletic inside. Too bad they don't have a point guard.

 

[tshirt]

CBS Sports on the Chris Walker debut tonight:

Missouri at #3 Florida (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
All eyes are on Chris Walker. The former top-10 recruit will make his debut for the Gators, and while he might only play 12-15 minutes, he should provide something of a boost for Billy Donovan's frontcourt off the bench. Florida is one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 13 in a row and looking like a Final Four favorite. Meanwhile, Missouri needs to add to its at-large profile. The Tigers missed a chance at home against Kentucky on Saturday; can Jordan Clarkson and SEC Player of the Year candidate Jabari Brown keep it close in Gainesville?

 

[tabascojet]

mizzou has 2 players in top 5 of sec scorers, how are they not playing better?

 

[Runeman]

Tonight is definitely a game I'm going to watch...watch them all already...at any rate, Chris Walker hasn't played 1 minute of college ball and has brought more excitement to Gator nation than when the championship team all decided to play one more year. That one put me in shock. I don't think Billy will start him but will have him in there in short order. Seriously doubt he will play more than 15 minutes, however some of that may be how effective he is once in there. IMO, we need this guy to be a serious candidate for the final 4. Looking forward to Florida playing better than we did against TAM. Before someone comes back and says Florida won by 31 points...that's true, however we were horrible from beyond the arc and abysmal from the foul line. IMO, TAM players had a bad attitude along with a really bad shooting day and an even worse day on the boards.

 

[dcZONAfan]

Tonight is definitely a game I'm going to watch...watch them all already...at any rate, Chris Walker hasn't played 1 minute of college ball and has brought more excitement to Gator nation than when the championship team all decided to play one more year. That one put me in shock. I don't think Billy will start him but will have him in there in short order. Seriously doubt he will play more than 15 minutes, however some of that may be how effective he is once in there. IMO, we need this guy to be a serious candidate for the final 4. Looking forward to Florida playing better than we did against TAM. Before someone comes back and says Florida won by 31 points...that's true, however we were horrible from beyond the arc and abysmal from the foul line. IMO, TAM players had a bad attitude along with a really bad shooting day and an even worse day on the boards.

I disagree about that. I think you need him to be a serious NC contender, but you would have had a very good chance to make the final four without him. I think, if as good as advertised, he could give you what you need to beat the ELITE teams they might face those last two games in the final four.

 

[jonvi]

Tonight is definitely a game I'm going to watch...watch them all already...at any rate, Chris Walker hasn't played 1 minute of college ball and has brought more excitement to Gator nation than when the championship team all decided to play one more year. That one put me in shock. I don't think Billy will start him but will have him in there in short order. Seriously doubt he will play more than 15 minutes, however some of that may be how effective he is once in there. IMO, we need this guy to be a serious candidate for the final 4. Looking forward to Florida playing better than we did against TAM. Before someone comes back and says Florida won by 31 points...that's true, however we were horrible from beyond the arc and abysmal from the foul line. IMO, TAM players had a bad attitude along with a really bad shooting day and an even worse day on the boards.

I disagree about that. I think you need him to be a serious NC contender, but you would have had a very good chance to make the final four without him. I think, if as good as advertised, he could give you what you need to beat the ELITE teams they might face those last two games in the final four.

I have little faith in freshmen in November. I have zero faith in a brand new kid in February. It's going to take a while for him to get up to D1 game speed and conditioning.

Agree that Florida was going to be very tough without him and hope that Flordia gets great minutes with him. But for now...he would be on a short leash.

 

[tabascojet]

he hasnt been sitting on the bench in practice.....

 

[jonvi]

he hasnt been sitting on the bench in practice.....

That's why I said game speed and conditioning.

You've been around long enough to know there is a big difference between practice and the real deal.

 

[wiskyisgood12]

Interested to see how he gets inserted into the rotation. I'm sure he's already been welcomed to the team by his teammates, so that shouldn't be a problem. On court chemistry will be the biggest hurdle to overcome, more than likely he's been a scout team guy and has only been working with the 1's for the first time. Interested to see how it plays out.

 

[tabascojet]

Interested to see how he gets inserted into the rotation. I'm sure he's already been welcomed to the team by his teammates, so that shouldn't be a problem. On court chemistry will be the biggest hurdle to overcome, more than likely he's been a scout team guy and has only been working with the 1's for the first time. Interested to see how it plays out.

rest assured he has time in sets

 

[tabascojet]

GATORS HOOP SCOOP
No. 3 Florida vs Missouri

When: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Where: O’Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla.
Records: Florida 19-2 (8-0); Missouri 16-5 (4-4)
TV: ESPN (w/Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Mark Wise) -- Click here for affiliates) / Sirius 134/XM 199
Game notes: Florida notes; Missouri notes

THE TIP-OFF

History: The two teams have played only twice, both times coming in Mizzou’s debut Southeastern Conference last year. The Gators and Tigers split the series, with UF smashing UM 83-52 in Gainesville, then a month later blowing a 13-point lead in the final 11 minutes to lose 63-60 at Columbia.

Pre-game storyline: The pre-game buzz will focus on the debut of 6-foot-10 Florida freshman Chris Walker, who joined the team in December and sat out the previous 12 games while the NCAA considered his case for eligibility. As sexy a story as Walker may be, Coach Billy Donovan and the Gators want to focus on the bigger picture; as in a team -- their own -- that is unbeaten in SEC play and has a two-game lead on Kentucky and Ole Miss, and wants to stay there. Missouri is coming off a rare home loss Saturday to Kentucky. The Tigers are looking like a bubble NCAA Tournament team (at best) and need a big, fat resume boost the likes of which an upset of the Gators on the road could provide. After this game (and in this conference) there aren’t that many opportunities to net impressive wins.

The players: In the blowout win Saturday over Texas A&M, senior forward Casey Prather (16.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg) was feeling the effects of an ankle he tweaked two nights before at Mississippi State. Prather did not have his normal bounce and finished with a season-low 7 points, his first single-digit game of the season. The schedule -- a third game in five days -- doesn’t allow Prather much recovery time, but UF needs what he brings in halfcourt drives and in the open floor and press. ... Sophomore reserve forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg) knocked knees with an Aggie player and also was dealing with some soreness over the weekend. He still finished with nine rebounds. ... Michael Frazier (12.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg) got off to another slow start from the 3-point line, his fourth in the last five games, but still led the Gators by tying his career-best of 21 points. Frazier is shooting just 34.1 percent (14-for-41) from the arc in league play, though, which is one of the reasons UF is shooting just 32.1 as a team from distance. That ranks 12th in the conference.

The opponent: The Tigers have played only two teams with an RPI in the Top 50, beating UCLA and losing to Kentucky over the weekend. They also have wins over Northwestern on a neutral site, West Virginia at home and North Carolina State and Arkansas on the road. Among Missouri’s losses is one at home against Georgia, on the road at Vanderbilt and a neutral-site setback against Illinois that’s looking worse each time the Illini play. ... Mizzou’s inconsistency aside, to think the Tigers can’t come into the O’Dome and win would be foolish. Their three-guard lineup is not only explosive, but big and experienced. Jabari Brown (SEC-leading 20.4 ppg), Jordan Clarkson (18.9 ppg) and Earnest Ross (14.2) are either juniors or seniors, all go 6-5 and together combine for 71.3 percent of the team’s scoring. ... The Tigers are ranked second in the conference in offensive field-goal percentage (.464) and third in both defensive field-goal percentage (.394) and 3-point defense (.367). Missouri is the SEC’s top-ranked team in rebounding on the defensive end (27.3 per game).

Key numbers:

* .384 - Florida's defensive field-goal percentage, which ranks first in the SEC (as does its 57.4 points per game allowed).

* 5 - Consecutive games UF has failed to reach 70 points. The Gators have averaged just 66.8 points, but their average margin of victory in those games was 18.6 points.

* 15 - Consecutive 20-win seasons for the Gators, who can make it 16 straight by beating the Tigers. Only Duke and Syracuse (who played a pretty entertaining game over the weekend, come to think of it) have longer active 20-win seasons under the same coach.

* 21 - Combined points Missouri has lost its five games by. The Tigers worst loss was by six (Georgia in overtime and LSU).

* +30 - Rebounding margin Florida had in the win over Texas A&M, crunching the Aggies on the glass 57-27. It marked the largest rebounding margin in a game for UF since a plus-43 against Jackson State (62-19) in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.


Watch for it: Missouri's backcourt loves to get it and go, which means the Florida defense has to get back and get matched up or else the Tigers will have open looks and they will take them -- including 3-pointers. Brown, Clarkson and Ross and all drive it, but they prefer to drive to their right. The Gators will try to force them left.

 

[tshirt]

how he ranked as a recruit:

-#6 on Rivals100,

-#7 on Top247,

-#8 on Scout100,

-#12 on ESPN100,

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RQtrN4LB98]Chris "Sky" Walker Is A BEAST!! OFFICIAL Mixtape Vol. 2; Dominates 2012-13 Senior Campaign!! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[tshirt]

mizzou has 2 players in top 5 of sec scorers, how are they not playing better?

both are projected as 1st Round picks as well
SG Jabari Brown #1 in SEC in scoring
PG Jordan Clarkson #6 in SEC in scoring

Auburn also has 2 of the top 5 SEC scorers:
G Chris Denson #2 in SEC in scoring
G KT Harrell #5 in SEC in scoring

 

[ktg8trgrl]

I was wondering if they were going to call that blatant foul or not

 

[SwampHumpy]

Chris Walker’s first points as a Gator was a monster ally-oop slam. Brought the fucking house down. Mizzou had to take a timeout afterward, the crowd went cray-cray.

 

[SwampHumpy]

Chris Walker’s first points as a Gator was a monster ally-oop slam. Brought the fucking house down. Mizzou had to take a timeout afterward, the crowd went cray-cray.

Check that!!!!! His very next opportunity was another awesome ally-oop slam fucking dunk!

Incredible. This guy will dominate. Can’t wait to see him start!