How 'Bout Dem Gator Boys

At University of Florida home football games
all the fans stand up and sing 'We Are The
Boys From Ole Florida' between the 3rd
and 4th quarters .

It's like how Cubs fans sing 'Take Me Out
To The Ballgame' during the 7th inning
stretch at Wrigley Field in Chicago. In
fact, the two even have very similar, sing-
song melodies.

And I think that's where Joakim Noah got
his knickname for the University of Florida
basketball team. 'Gator Boys'. As in 'The
Gator Boys are hot'.

Sorry, but I can't let a repeat National
Championship go by without honoring this
team. Not so I can crow, because all I did
was watch and yell a lot, but just because
they're such a special group of young men.

And they can all shoot pretty darn well
when they need to if you saw the
championship game Monday night.

The best assessment of this team I've read
this year is from Ron McBay, who does a
weekly on-line column on men's college
basketball. You can find his Hook, Line, &
Sinker analysis during hoops season at:
http://www.RonMcBay.us/HLS

Here are Ron's thoughts:

'The beauty of this team was always how
well the individual pieces fit together.

Unlike [the early 90's] Duke 'Universal
Replacements' team in which the
individual versatility of several players
made them capable of stepping up and
playing different roles as the situation
dictated, this starting five had very
specific skills/talents, each bringing
something to the table that the others
couldn't.

A center who's agile enough to be the point
on the full-court press; a power forward
who can harass three-point shooters on the
perimeter; a 'tweener who can shoot threes,
drive the lane, get tough rebounds, and shut
down the opposing team's best scorer; a
point guard who can distribute and get his
own shot when the need arises; and a
designated shooter who defends well to boot.

That's everything you want a team to be
able to do with no wasted duplication.

Could they pull off the Three-Peat if the
core actually decided to return next
year? Maybe. Probably. But it wouldn't be
nearly as easy without the back-breaking
three-pointers they get from senior guard
Lee Humphrey. He's option # 5, yet if you
remove him from the equation, you can
see how imbalanced their attack becomes.'

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Not only did this team fit together
talent-wise, but they were inseparable
mentally and emotionally too. Like
brothers in arms they fought for one
another. If one struggled, no problem.
The rest of the guys always had his back.
I know every team that excels has
teamwork, but the 'Gator Boys' have it in
an abundance that is rare these days.

P.S.S. The Gator Boys learned how to win,
but they also learned how to lose like
winners. Instead of getting off track they
knew losing gave them valuable feedback
that would made them better. Coach Stan
Kellner teaches that very same principle in
shooting hoops.

If you want to learn how to miss shots
like a winner you want Stan's DVD on
'How To Be A Prime-Time Shooter'.

It's just what you need to energize your
mental game for summer ball or to come
back next fall as a shooting wizard. Get
started today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/kellner_order.html

Note: This blog entry is protected by
copyright, but you have permission to
copy and use it in its entirety as long as
the links are intact and the contact
information is included.

Copyright 2006,2007
Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607
352-494-6572

dean@deandelker.com
www.deandelker.com