Tag: Pat Dooley

Five takeaways from Florida’s missed chance at beating South Carolina

For the fourth time this season, Florida gave up at least 50 points in the second half of an SEC game.

It’s a familiar story that Florida sometimes can overcome.

And then there are days like Saturday.

The Gators lost to South Carolina, 82-76, to fall to 20-9 and 10-6 in the SEC.

It’s a loss that could affect Florida’s seeding for the SEC Tournament and the Big Dance.

But if they can’t solve this problem, it’s not going to matter.

For the fourth time this season, Florida gave up at least 50 points in the second half of an SEC game.

“We played really well in the first half,” said Florida coach Todd Golden. “But it was a different story in the second half. The free throw game hurt us.”

And, again, the zone defense was an issue, the turnovers reappeared, and the breaks never came.

And Florida lost another double-digit lead in the second half thanks, in part, to Meechie Johnson’s 25 points.

My five takeaways have seen this before.

Five takeaways from Florida’s too-close-for-comfort win vs. Missouri

Here are the five takeaways Pat Dooley has from Florida’s Wednesday night win.

It wasn’t pretty. Unless you looked at what the final score meant. But it still gave the Gator Nation a good scare for a few minutes.

The Gators won their 20th game of the season and avoided the embarrassment of being the first conference team to lose to Missouri this year, instead winning, 83-74.

And Florida — after decades of floundering in the wilderness — finally pulled its all-time SEC record to .500.

Most importantly, a Florida team barreling toward an NCAA Tournament bid did the work necessary, but it was not without some shaky moments.

The five takeaways on what was another important win for this team.

Florida Baseball Four-Bagger: Weird Week 1 to start 2024 season

Pat Dooley breaks down the opening week of Florida baseball’s 2024 campaign.

It wasn’t exactly the way Kevin O’Sullivan and the Florida baseball program wanted the 2024 season to start.

So much anticipation and celebration and you go out and lose to St. John’s 9-5 and your opening-day starter implodes.

Then the next two games are rained out.

Yay, where do I sign up?

Fortunately, the Gators settled down and bounced back with a pair of midweek wins over the North Florida Ospreys. Don’t forget – it’s early and a baseball season is a grind, but these games all count too.

Let’s take a look at where the Gators are right now with a Four Bagger.

Five takeaways from Florida’s heart-breaking OT loss at Alabama

Pat Dooley breaks down Florida’s overtime loss at Alabama in what was an exciting SEC affair on Wednesday night.

Florida’s basketball team almost turned the Southeastern Conference race upside down on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa against the top offense in the country.

Instead, the Gators could not hold on against the league-heading Alabama Crimson Tide and fell 98-93 in overtime despite a valiant effort over 45 minutes of play.

Florida drops to 18-8 and 8-5 in the SEC. A win would have been gigantic for the Gators, but an Aaron Estrada putback was the biggest play in overtime with seven seconds left to play.

It was an exciting game but the outcome was nonetheless disappointing. Here are the five major takeaways from the game.

Dooley’s Dozen: 12 toughest schedules in history for Florida football

If you think Florida’s schedule is bad now, the latest Dooley’s Dozen looks at the 12 toughest schedules that UF has faced over the years.

You can’t walk into a bar or a meeting or a convenience store in Gainesville these days without someone saying something about Florida’s football schedule in 2024.

Usually, it comes right after something nice the person has said about the Florida program, followed by a “but the schedule …”

Hey, it’s supposed to be hard. The hard is what makes it great.
And it is hard, but not impossible. According to ESPN’s latest rankings, Florida has games scheduled against nine ranked teams.

But it’s not like this is the first difficult schedule and how many of those teams will be ranked at the end of the season? Huh?

The Dooley’s Dozen today looks at the 12 toughest schedules that Florida has faced over the years.

Five takeaways from Florida’s close rematch win at Georgia Bulldogs

Here’s what Pat Dooley has to say following a too-close-for-comfort game against the Bulldogs in Athens.

Remember when Florida couldn’t win basketball games on the road?

Well, the Gators won again away from the friendly confines with a strong second-half performance and a big game from an unlikely source.

Freshman Thomas Haugh scored 17 points as Florida won for the seventh time in its last eight games and 10th straight time over Georgia.

This one was a battle with a final of 88-82 and the Gators are 18-7 and 8-4 in the SEC with the next game (at Alabama) suddenly becoming a huge one in the conference race.

The five takeaways today look at another win for the suddenly mighty Gators.

Five takeaways from Florida’s near collapse at home against LSU

Once again the Gators made things way too close for comfort but they did pull off the win. Here are Pat Dooley’s thoughts on the victory.

To say Florida survived a game that looked like a blowout Tuesday night would be like saying a few people watched the Super Bowl.

Against a team that has now lost six of seven games, Florida made it six wins in seven tries.

But not without a ton of drama.

The Gators pulled out an 82-80 win over LSU to run its record to 17-7 and 7-4 in the SEC.

The Tigers rallied all the way back from a 20-point deficit (sound familiar?) to tie the game. But a huge steal by Zyon Pullin – or as I call him “The Glue” — and layup by Walter Clayton Jr. gave Florida what turned out to be the winning points with 20.4 seconds to play.

“Unfortunately, it has become an issue for us,” said Florida coach Todd Golden. “But at the end of the day, we’ll take the win and move on.”

The Five Takeaways isn’t sure how to feel about this one. But a win is a win.

Dooley’s Dozen: Ranking 12 top sports announcers who are Florida alumni

Today on the Dooley’s Dozen, we give you the 12 best current UF graduates who are killing it on TV. These, I am ranking in order.

When you are as addicted to TV sports as much as I am, you never know when you are going to flip the channel and see a familiar face talking into a microphone.

It’s not just the present. Florida’s journalism school has been producing legends since Red Barber started inventing baseball jargon.

For a while, golf was the dominant sport for UF-educated announcers with Bob Murphy, Steve Melnyk and Gary Koch. There is still Andy North, but he roots for Wisconsin and was rude to me in an airport once so he doesn’t make the list.

Today on the Dooley’s Dozen, we give you the 12 best current UF graduates who are killing it on TV. These, I am ranking in order.

Five takeaways from Florida’s blowout home win over Auburn Tigers

Here is what you need to know about Florida’s huge Quadrant 1 win over the Auburn Tigers at home on Saturday. #GoGators!

Maybe it was the extra time off. Maybe it was the O-Dome. Maybe Florida is just in Auburn’s head.

Whatever the reason, Todd Golden will take it.

Florida got its second Quadrant 1 win of the season by handling Auburn, 81-65, for Florida’s 15th straight win over the Tigers in Gainesville.

 And it really wasn’t that close. Florida beat a team that came in with a NET of seventh in the country.

“I’m really proud of our program,” said Florida coach Todd Golden.

The Gators are now 16-7 and 6-4 in the SEC, while Auburn drops to 19-5 and 8-3.

The Five Takeaways bring you an important win for the Florida basketball team and program on Saturday afternoon.

Dooley’s Dozen: 12 members of Florida football who must get better

There are probably more than a dozen, but here are the 12 members of the Gators football program who simply have to get better.

There seems to be a consensus among Gator fans that, a) they like the roster, and b) the schedule is too difficult to know if progress is being made in 2024.

I disagree with the latter. I think you will be able to tell if Florida is better and it’s not like the back end of the schedule – which is crazy hard – is unsurmountable.

Just take it one game at a time. And hope that the guys living it up in that new facility are putting the work in.

Because for Florida to be great again, Dooley’s Dozen brings you 12 guys (at least) who have to step up. Just so you know, this does not include transfers and true freshmen.