Taurean Green was the Glue for UF's Two NCAA Basketball Titles

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

Taurean Green - Florida Gators.com

It was the aftermath of the 2007 Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament at the Georgia Dome. Florida had just destroyed Arkansas in the championship game, the Gators’ third straight blowout win, sort of an announcement to the rest of the college basketball world that the giant had awakened and would be pillaging and plundering anyone brave enough to get in their path on the way to a second straight NCAA championship. At midcourt as Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery of CBS were interviewing Billy Donovan, Al Horford and Joakim Noah, the Florida pep band began playing the fight song. Noah couldn’t contain himself.

Joakim Noah danced, not like anyone you’ve ever seen. Noah was creative. He was wild. He was so entertaining. Raftery was almost stunned. Verne laughed until he almost cried. Billy just shook his head while laughing. Three years with Jo had taught him to expect the unexpected. Al just pointed to his roomie and buddy with a giant grin on his face. Verne regrouped and announced, “Joakim Noah!” Twice. He couldn’t get through the third time.

Minutes later in the Florida locker room, Noah was surrounded by media eager to hear about the spontaneous outburst they had just witnessed. A few feet away, Taurean Green sat in a chair, thoroughly amused by the attention Joakim Noah was getting.

Looking up to the two reporters sharing his space, Taurean said, “Jo can’t dance. He thinks he can dance, but he can’t dance. I’m a lot better dancer than Jo. He doesn’t win all the arguments. I win most of them and he definitely can’t dance.”

Moments later, Taurean reached over and tapped Noah on the shoulder. At the time, Jo was answering a question about his grandfather sacrificing a chicken in Cameroon to keep the evil spirits away from the Gators.

“Jo, you can’t dance!” Taurean said. Noah immediately shot back, “I can too dance! Yes, I can dance! What a hater! You’re a hater!”

This went on a couple more exchanges at which time, Taurean Green offered some consolation as the air from Noah’s Fred Astaire alter ego kept leaking. “You can sing, Jo, but you can’t dance.”

Knowing that sometimes winning is totally out of the question, Noah accepted his consolation prize, “I can sing! I really can sing!” to which Taurean made it a point to get in the last word, “But you can’t dance … you really can’t dance.”

Taurean Green was the point guard on Florida’s two national championship runs. He made All-SEC in 2006, All-America in 2007 when he led the Gators in scoring at 13.3 per game. He was the MVP of the 2006 SEC Tournament. He scored 1,174 points in his Florida career, hit 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers, 84.9 percent of his free throws and led the Gators in assists in 2006 and 2007.

For that, Taurean Green will be honored as an SEC Legend when the league holds its annual shindig in Nashville in a few weeks. Taurean’s stats speak for themselves, but two things that escape the numbers probably say more about Florida’s consecutive NCAA championships than anything else: (1) He is the only one of Florida’s starting five that never missed a game in the two NCAA championship seasons; and (2) he was the psychologist in residence who knew and understand how to punch the buttons for his teammates. The locker room scene with Noah was just one example of how he knew how to bring teammates down to earth. Taurean was as happy as his teammates that the Gators won the SEC Tournament but he also knew it was time to put fun aside and start focusing on the mission ahead.

Over the next three weekends, the Gators went 6-0 to do what no team since Duke 1991-92 had done by winning two consecutive national titles. Along the way, Florida’s backcourt of Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey made their share of clutch threes. Overlooked was their lock down defense. In the semifinals, UCLA’s future pros Darren Collison and Aaron Afflalo combined to go 4-15 from the 3-point line. Two nights later against Ohio State, they locked down the Ohio State foursome of Mike Conley, Ron Lewis, David Lightly and Daequan Cook to 1-9 from the 3-point line. Taurean (3-3) and Hump (4-7) ate the Buckeyes alive.

People remember Noah’s flamboyance, Al Horford’s toughness at both ends of the court, Corey Brewer’s defense and Hump’s 3-pointers. Taurean was the glue that held the team together. He was also the only point guard on the roster. If he hadn’t answered the bell every single game, the Gators wouldn’t have won two national titles.

There is that ever so true saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As good as all the parts were on those two UF NCAA title teams, it wouldn’t have happened without Taurean Green running the point and knowing when to be the effective psychological needle for his teammates.  

Now the lessons learned under Donovan while competing for two national titles along with the competition of a dozen years playing the European circuit are translated into coaching up the Gators as one of Todd Golden’s assistants. Just call him the legend in residence.

SEC basketball

Today’s games: Ole Miss (18-4, 15-4 SEC) at South Carolina; No. 10 Kentucky (15-6, 5-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (6-15, 5-4 SEC)

Wednesday’s games: LSU (12-9, 4-4 SEC) at No. 5 Tennessee (16-5, 6-2 SEC); No. 24 Alabama (16-6, 8-1 SEC) at No. 16 Auburn (18-4, 7-2 SEC); Texas A&M (13-8, 4-4 SEC) at Missouri (8-14, 0-9 SEC); Georgia (14-8, 4-5 SEC) at Mississippi State (14-8, 3-6 SEC)

Associated Press top 25: 1. UConn 20-2; 2. Purdue 21-2; 3. North Carolina 18-4; 4. Kansas 18-4; 5. Houston 19-3; 6. Tennessee 16-5; 7. Marquette 17-5; 8. Arizona 17-5; 9. Duke 16-5; 10. Illinois 17-5; 11. Wisconsin 16-6; 12. Auburn 18-4; 13. Baylor 16-5; 14. Iowa State 16-5; 15. South Carolina 19-3; 16. Alabama 16-6; 17. Kentucky 15-6; 18. Dayton 18-3; 19. Creighton 16-6; 20. Florida Atlantic 18-4; 21. BYU 16-5; 22. Utah State 19-3; 23. Texas Tech 16-5; 24. San Diego State 17-5; 25. New Mexico 18-4

Coaches top 25: 1. UConn 20-2; 2. Purdue 21-2; 3. North Carolina 18-4; 4. Kansas 18-4; 5. Houston 19-3; 6. Tennessee 16-5; 7. Marquette 17-5; 8. Arizona 17-5; 9. Wisconsin 16-6; 10. Duke 16-5; 11. Auburn 18-4; 12. Illinois 16-5; 13. Baylor 16-5; 14. Iowa State 16-5; 15. Kentucky 15-6; 16. Alabama 16-6; 17. Dayton 18-3; 18. Creighton 16-6; 19. BYU 16-5; 20. South Carolina 19-3; 21. Utah State 19-3; 22. Florida Atlantic 18-4; 23. Texas Tech 16-5; 24. San Diego State 17-5; 25. New Mexico 18-4

UF TRACK AND FIELD: (Indoor) Women No. 2 nationally; men No. 6

USTFCCCA women’s top 25: 1. Arkansas; 2. FLORIDA; 3. Oregon; 4. Texas; 5. Texas A&M; 6. Southern California; 7. Illinois; 8. Georgia; 9. BYU; 10. LSU; 11. Washington; 12. Texas Tech; 13. Oklahoma State; 14. Ole Miss; 15. Tennessee; 16. Alabama; 17. South Carolina; 18. Stanford; 19. Notre Dame; 20. Kentucky; 21. Northern Arizona; 22. Minnesota; 23. Harvard; 24. Colorado State; 25. Oklahoma

USTFCCCA men’s top 25: 1. Texas Tech; 2. Northern Arizona; 3. Arkansas; 4. Texas; 5. Washington; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Alabama; 8. Nebraska; 9. Southern California; 10. Texas A&M; 11. Kentucky; 12. Florida State; 13. Georgia; 14. Oklahoma State; 15. Illinois; 16. Arizona State; 17. LSU; 18. Penn State; 19. Virginia; 20. Iowa State; 21. South Carolina; 22. Louisville; 23. Tennessee; 24. North Carolina; 25. Oklahoma

UF GYMNASTICS: Gators move up to No. 6

WCGC top 25: 1. Oklahoma; 2. California; 3. LSU; 4. Utah; 5. Kentucky; 6. FLORIDA; 7. Alabama; 8. UCLA; 9. Denver; 10. Michigan State; 11. Michigan; 12. Missouri; 13. Arkansas; 14. Auburn; 15. Ohio State; 16. Minnesota; 17. Arizona; 18. Oregon State; 19. Georgia; 20. Arizona State; 21. Ball State; 22. Iowa State; 23. Clemson; 24. Nebraska; 25. Illinois

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Tomorrow is National Signing Day. It used to be such a big deal that recruitniks would schedule a day off of work so they could either celebrate the ones their school got or agonize at the ones that got away. That was then. This is now. The early signing day in December has taken away the suspense and luster of the first Wednesday in February, not to mention how the transfer portal has changed the way coaches recruit. More on that later.

When Florida coach Billy Napier talks to the media Wednesday – at least we think he will have a press conference – he will be talking about defensive lineman D’Antre Robinson, who was released from his Texas letter of intent and committed to the Gators; corner Jameer Grimsley, who is already enrolled at Florida and officially is an Alabama transfer, having opted out when Nick Saban retired; signees from the portal and the new additions to his coaching staff, co-defensive coordinator Ron Roberts (inside linebackers), Will Harris (secondary) and Gerald Chatman (defensive line).

It will be as exciting as watching paint dry on a sunny afternoon. That isn’t to say Napier lacks anything of substance to talk about. Although his early signing period class saw some defections that dropped the Gators from third to nearly 20th in the team rankings, re-evaluation of the players has seen Florida’s team ranking rise. DJ Lagway was ranked the No. 1 quarterback in the country and D-lineman LJ McCray got his fifth star and the No. 4 overall player ranking by 247Sports. Both On3 and ESPN gave the Gators a final ranking of 10thwhile 247Sports gave UF a final ranking of 14th and Rivals No. 15.

The class would have been better no doubt had Napier been able to hold onto some of the high profile players that were committed to UF up until the December signing day. Still, Napier filled needs at every position thanks to the combination of high school and juco kids along with 11 players from the transfer portal. This is a talent acquisition business, but it’s also a game that requires development. Whereas Georgia and Alabama prior to Nick Saban’s retirement have taken very few transfers, relying instead on high school recruits that can be developed and held onto, that’s about to change dramatically. Alabama lost 31 players to the portal and has replaced only five. Georgia lost 21 and has brought in six.

At the other end of the spectrum is Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Ole Miss can’t compete with Georgia, Alabama and some of the bluebloods when it comes to landing top high school recruits, but Kiffin has been a pied piper when it comes to landing players from the portal. He’s brought in 19 newbies who played collegiately at St. Somewhere Else last season, but he’s strengthened his roster to the point that on paper at least the Rebels are legitimate contenders for the College Football Playoff next season.

Napier’s approach has been somewhere in between the Georgia/Alabama way of accumulating talent and the way Lane Kiffin is doing it at Ole Miss. Florida lost 21 to the portal, added 11 transfers and wound up at the 85-scholarship limit. While spring football practice will offer a much more comprehensive look at a potential starting lineup in the fall, right now it would appear the Gators will have as many as 14 starters who began their careers elsewhere.

Here is an early look at Florida’s potential 2024 starters and where they began their collegiate careers (previous schools in parenthesis):

Offense: QB: Graham Mertz (Wisconsin); RB: Montrell Johnson Jr. (Louisiana); WR: Chimere Dike (Wisconsin); Tre Wilson; Kahliel Jackson; TE: Arlis Boardingham or Hayden Hansen; LT: Austin Barber or Brandon Crenshaw Dickson (San Diego State); LG: Knijeah Harris; C: Jake Slaughter; RG: Damieon Anderson (Alabama) or Kamryn Waites (Louisiana); RT: Devon Manuel (Arkansas)

Defense: DE: Justus Boone or Brien Taylor (Juco); NT: Cam Jackson (Memphis); DT: Joey Slackman (Pennsylvania); EDGE: George Gumbs (Northern Illinois); ILB: Grayson Howard (South Carolina); ILB: Shemar James; CB: Jason Marshall Jr.; CB: Devin Moore or Jameer Grimsley (Alabama); S: DJ Douglas (Tulane) or Jordan Castell; S: Asa Turner (Washington); Nickel: Trikweze Bridges (Oregon)