Shots From the Dome

Got a chance to see the UF bball team last night in their last exhibition against an overmatched NAIA team (which did bring 3 or 4 vocal co-eds bouncing around during the game), but I digress.

After the disclaimer of it of course being exhibition and a crap opponent, I’ve seen nothing that makes me less excited about this starting backcourt.  Despite it’s obvious shortcomings (one of which is, of course being short — 5-8 and 6-2), I really like the pressure that Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton are going to put on defenses.

In the 2 meaningless exhibition games:

Walker had 18 assists and only 3 turnovers, and shot 9 free throws.

Boynton had 47 points in only 51 minutes, and more importantly, only only 25 SHOTS.  That’s efficient.  Boynton also shot 15 free throws (skewed by Webber’s insistence on fouling him during 3-point attempts, but still, impressive.

I also want to keep my eye on the Center/Forward trio of JR Vernon Macklin, SO Kenny Kadji and FR Erik Murphy. 

In the 1st game, they combined for:
50 minutes
22 points
15 rebounds
4 blocks
1 assist
5 turnovers.

In the 2nd game, they combined for:
55 minutes
25 points
15 rebounds
5 blocks
2 assists
8 turnovers.

We’ll see how their production is in real games and of course in conference play, and if they cut down on the turnovers, but that seems to be something to build on as well.

As for the rest of the roster, I think we pretty much know what we’ll get from Alex Tyus and Dan Werner, while Chandler Parsons and Ray Shipman have shown some really encouraging improvements, especially Parsons.  He’s grown his hair out, and not only looks less like a kid but seems to have matured his game as well.