Pelphrey Can Speak Now...

[Joe]

I am just not sold on the guy. That is all. The last UF assistant that we had got us nowhere, so forgive me for not being overly excited about the South Alabama coach. The one time that he did get USA in the BIG DANCE is when he got killed in the first round by UF.  There are much more better coaches for the USF job out there right now. We dont have to pluck some SUNBELT coach away is all I am saying.

They come from two different staffs, McCullum was considered a great recruiter, Pelphrey is more of an X and O's guy.

Then you make the absured remark that they were killed by UF. EVERYONE except Georgetown was killed by UF in last year's dance. They averaged a double digit margin of victory. If they lost to a Texas Tech by that margin you might have an argument...

[flsportsfan83]

If i recall South Bama was in that game with UF until about 6 mins to go or so.

[flsportsfan83]

(11) Florida 76, South Alabama 50

(11) Florida 76, South Alabama 50

Preview - Box Score - Recap    

By MARK LONG, AP Sports Writer

March 16, 2006

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida coach Billy Donovan spent three days preaching to his players about taking advantage of their size against South Alabama.

It didn't truly sink in until after a halftime tirade Thursday.

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Donovan ripped his team following a lackluster first half filled with ill-advised shots, then sat back and watched Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah and Al Horford do everything right.

Humphrey scored 20 points -- including 12 on four 3-pointers in the second half -- Noah and Horford dominated inside, and the third-seeded Gators routed 14th-seeded South Alabama 76-50 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"I went off pretty good at halftime," Donovan said. "I was getting frustrated watching balls go up from the 3-point line when guys are standing in the post with a 6-6 guy guarding them. They finally got the message."

Florida (28-6) extended its winning streak to six games and advanced to the second round of the Minneapolis Regional, where it will play 11th-seeded Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday. Wisconsin-Milwaukee upset sixth-seeded Oklahoma earlier Thursday.

Fueled by a highly partisan crowd at Veterans Memorial Arena -- about 75 miles from Gainesville -- the Gators turned a six-point lead into a rout after the break.

They did it with a flurry of dunks and a handful of wide-open 3-pointers created when the Jaguars collapsed on Florida's big men.

Noah finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five blocks. Horford had 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

"We definitely did a better job driving into the paint in the second half," Noah said. "That was something we definitely spoke about in the locker room."

Humphrey benefited from the adjustment, too. He finished 6-of-8 from behind the arc.

He hit two 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half. His second came from way behind the line and followed another 3-pointer from Taurean Green.

Noah and Horford took over from there, helping push the lead to 14 midway through the second half. Humphrey put it out of reach with two more 3s. The first extended the advantage to 57-40, the second made it 60-45.

The Gators (28-6) cruised the rest of the way, leaving little left worth watching aside from the midcourt greeting between longtime friends Donovan and John Pelphrey.

"He told me he was proud of me," said Pelphrey, who has been mentioned as a candidate for the job at Mississippi. "I think that makes the 951st time in the last two weeks."

Pelphrey and Donovan essentially grew up coaching together. Pelphrey was Donovan's right-hand man for eight years, first at Marshall and then at Florida.

Together, they made basketball matter in Gainesville.

Neither of them wanted this matchup, knowing it would send one of them home after one game.

Some thought it might be the Gators, especially given the program's recent history.

Duke and Florida are the only teams in the country to be seeded sixth or higher in each of the last eight years. But the Gators haven't had nearly as much success as the Blue Devils in that span. The Gators have been eliminated in the first or second round in each of the last five years.

But for at least one game, they looked as though they might be ready to finally avoid the kind of upset that has haunted them in the last five years.

"That's the one thing that's been great about our basketball teams over the years -- they've earned their way in," Donovan said. "Now, we've got to make something happen."

South Alabama (24-7), meanwhile, lost its fifth in a row in the NCAA tournament. The Sun Belt Conference tournament champions made the field for the first time in seven years.

Leandro Buboltz made led the Jaguars with 14 points, most of them coming on four 3-pointers. Leading scorer Mario Jointer added 10 points and seven rebounds.

"We tried; we were courageous. Florida was just better than us," Pelphrey said.

[Guest Rueben_Horowitz]

I have come to the conclusion that we aren't going to get a high profile coach, so now it's time to be realistic.

I like Pelphrey. He has a great pedigree & knows FL recruiting. Sure he has a lot of transfers, but come on, it's S. Alabama.

He had his team ready to play in the Carrier Dome on national tv. Had his team been a little deeper, they might have pulled off the upset. In all fairness, SU played like crap.

Rueb

[Bull Matrix]

Joe,

Richmond is a step up from South Alabama. They are a better basketball program that plays in a much tougher league than the SUN BELT. USF made two tourny's while in the SUNBELT, so I dont understand why you think this Prelphrey guy is so great. I will take Travis Ford ( I believe he was coached by Pitino and Donovan too if that makes you happy) over him anyday right now. Karl Hobbs has that experience that Pelphrey has yet to have as a head coach. Taking a team to the NCAA's from the SUN BELT is not that big of a deal since they dont have the competition like the A-10. I am not saying that Pelphrey wont become a good coach in the future, I am just saying that he is not ready for the BIG EAST. It will take him more than a few years to get USF to where it needs to be in my opinion. It may even ruin his coaching career. He should find a job in the A-10 or CUSA which would be good for him at this stage.  And dont laugh at Texas A&M CC because that is a solid program that will give a lot of teams fits.  All I am saying that USF needs a BIG EAST coach or at least a coach that has more experience in a tougher conference than the SUNBELT.

[flsportsfan83]

proves the selection group was right to leave SU out.

[Bull Matrix]

And maybe I was not being fair about USA losing to UF last year, but tell me what big win does this coach at USA have??? At least Greenberg and McCullum had some big wins before they came to USF. Greenberg beat a highly ranked Kansas team while McCullum beat a tough Michigan team. Not sure who the hell Pelphrey has beat yet in his young coaching career.  And I am tired of all this negative crap about how bad the USF program is in which  no good coach wants to be here. THAT IS TOTAL BS!!!! We are now in the Freakin BIG EAST!!! This program may not have the fan support yet, but we do have the avenues to get this program in the right track. IF USF WAS NOT AN ATTRACTIVE GIG, THEN WHY THE HELL ARE ALL THESE FORMER BIG EAST COACHES WANTING TO COACH USF??? Joe, stop being so **** down on this program. You need to have much better faith than that. USF is a big opportunity for any coach to become a legend in the warm weather of Florida. How can anyone sit there and say that USF is not an attractive job??? We are in the freakin BIG EAST for crying out loud.

[flsportsfan83]

Joe,

Richmond is a step up from South Alabama. They are a better basketball program that plays in a much tougher league than the SUN BELT. USF made two tourny's while in the SUNBELT, so I dont understand why you think this Prelphrey guy is so great. I will take Travis Ford ( I believe he was coached by Pitino and Donovan too if that makes you happy) over him anyday right now. Karl Hobbs has that experience that Pelphrey has yet to have as a head coach. Taking a team to the NCAA's from the SUN BELT is not that big of a deal since they dont have the competition like the A-10. I am not saying that Pelphrey wont become a good coach in the future, I am just saying that he is not ready for the BIG EAST. It will take him more than a few years to get USF to where it needs to be in my opinion. It may even ruin his coaching career. He should find a job in the A-10 or CUSA which would be good for him at this stage.  And dont laugh at Texas A&M CC because that is a solid program that will give a lot of teams fits.  All I am saying that USF needs a BIG EAST coach or at least a coach that has more experience in a tougher conference than the SUNBELT.

he was also Donovan's right hand man on a team that played in the national championship game. This guy is a great x's and o's coach. He can recruit Florida. He is a young guy. Prob wouldn't cost to much. I agre there are better coaches but this guy may be the best fit that agrees to come to USF.

[Joe]

I wasn't ripping TexasAM-CC, I think Ronnie Arrow should get a look.

I don't deny that there are other guys I would like over Pelphrey, but it's been proven time and time again that just because someone is at a small school, doesn't mean they don't know how to coach...

Jay Wright. Mike Brey. Tim Welsh...

[Bull Matrix]

Dont forget that McCullum was an assistant under Lon Kruger at both UF and Illinios. He also rebuild the Western Michigan team and took them to the NIT. We got Coach McCullum for cheap, so maybe USF will want to stay cheap again. Who knows. If we do end up hiring Pelphrey, I will just have to live with it. At least I hope he gives Donovan a call to have UF schedule some games with USF in the future.