For those thinking I'm in any way unhappy that UF was eliminated in the Elite Eight round, you'll see this in the Florida basketball team thread that I posted on 2/15 upon learning starting center John Egbunu was lost for the season after injuring his knee on 2/14 at Auburn. I couldn't be happier with this Gator team had they advanced to the Final Four where Gonzaga would have been a match up nightmare and a certain loss. USCe saved the Gators from an embarrassing loss:
Feb 15, 2017 at 3:16pm
Post by ETGator1 on Feb 15, 2017 at 3:16pm
BLOODY DAMN HELL!!!!!
Starting center John Egbunu has been lost for the season with a torn ACL - Gorjak Gak is out for 10 to 14 days with a foot sprain. UF is down to back up Kevarius Hayes and walk on Schuyler Rimmer to play the 5 for the remainder of the regular season. Redshirt freshman Keith Stone, 6'8"/240, can play the 5, but his best position is the 4.
This team was reminding me of the 06 team that went to the NCAA tourney as a 3 seed and won it all. Without Egbunu, I don't see any chance of that happening. Egbunu and Hayes combined were the equivalent of Al Horford in 06. We've lost 2/3 of that equation with Egbunu's season ending injury.
This weekend, the Gators are going to have matchup problems against a large and tall Mississippi State front line. Down the road, I can see losses at UT, at UK, home against USC, and possibly at Vandy. With 5 SEC games to play before the SEC tourney, I can see at best a closing of the regular season at 1-4 or 2-3. This team is going from a projected 3 seed to who knows what at this point. UK will beat the crapola out of us in Rupp. We have no one who can come close to matching up with UK's 6'11"/265 freshman center. Folks, this season is about to go from promising to fugly:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida basketball team didn’t get the news it was hoping for after center John Egbunu underwent an MRI on his left knee Wednesday.
Egbunu, who injured the knee in the first half of the Gators’ 114-95 win at Auburn on Tuesday night, has a torn ACL and is out for the season, the team announced. Recovery time is projected to be 10 to 12 months.
“We’re all disappointed for John,” Gators coach Mike White said in a statement released by the team. “He’s been playing really well of late, so it’s a tough blow to him and our team. He’s a great young man, and unfortunately injuries are a part of basketball. He’ll be back even stronger.”
Egbunu, a 6-foot-11 redshirt junior, had made 19 starts for No. 15 Florida, averaging 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game.
He was sidelined for a couple of games by a hamstring injury in mid December and struggled to find his offensive rhythm after returning to
action, but he was playing perhaps his best basketball of the season over the last two games.
He had 11 points and 10 rebounds Saturday against Texas A&M for his first double-double of the season and was off to a quick start Tuesday night with 10 points and 4 rebounds in just 8 minutes against Auburn before injuring his knee.
Florida (21-5, 11-2 SEC), which has won its last 7 games, will have to rely even more heavily on sophomore center Kevarrius Hayes, who is averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds overall and leads the Gators with 41 blocks. Hayes has had some nice moments this season, including a 20-point, 9-rebound performance at Oklahoma last month.
Senior walk-on Schuyler Rimmer, who has averaged 5.5 minutes over 15 games played, could also be in line for a larger role.
Florida also announced Tuesday that freshman center Gorjok Gak has been diagnosed with a left foot sprain and is expected to be out for 10-14 days. His injury occurred in practice Monday. Gak has played just 40 minutes all season.
The Gators are tied for first in the SEC and travel to play at Mississippi State on Saturday.
Read more:
aolcfboutcasts.proboards.com/thread/9185/florida-gators?page=34#ixzz4cYVXNyS0