Why? Ten Things I Don't Understand

Got lots of questions.  Maybe some of the readers can help me, 'cause I don't get Coach Mark Fox's strategy.

1)  Why is Kessler still starting?

Nothing against him, but the centers in the SEC are bigger and stronger.  I suppose that Kessler knows the offense better than Ogbeide or Edwards, but by the time of SEC competition, the freshmen should know the plays.  I think Egbunu had 2 or 3 dunks on Kessler within the first two or three minutes in the game.  That allowed Florida to play from ahead, and we were playing catch-up from there.

Besides that, when Kessler screened a defender, Florida would double-team the ball and just let Kessler run loose, knowing that he isn't an offensive threat.  Kessler was 0 for 2 from the floor, with 0 rebounds, 0 assists and a turnover.  We have to get some production from that position, or it's going to be a long year.

2)  Why do we allow teams to walk the ball up the floor uncontested?

UF uses the 2-2-1 press as a staple to slow teams down.  By the time we get into our offense, the 30 second clock is working against us.  We have a press.  Mike Edwards played for a high school team on which the full court press was used every game with Edwards on the ball.  Why not press at least some?

3)  Why don't we put at least two guys along the lane to rebound missed foul shots?

If Ogbeide is shooting a one and one, then put somebody along the lane to catch the long rebound.  We generally don't have rebounders line up when we shoot free throws.  If we were shooting 80 percent or above as a team, I guess it would make more sense to me.  Predictably, Ogbeide missed the one and one, the ball caromed off the rim, but we didn't have anyone on that side of the line to rebound it.

4)  Why run the zone when we need to speed up their offense?

We sat back and let them run clock.  Made no sense to me.

5)  Why not foul when we need to get more possessions?

They shot 57 percent from the line.  Florida was already in the double bonus.  Might as well use the hack-a-Gator strategy so we can get the ball back.

6)  If Chuck is struggling, why not give Jackson more minutes?

Charles was 1 for 7 from the field with 3 turnovers and 0 assists.  Jackson did not score, but he needs to get minutes if Charles is off.  Most of Jackson's shot attempts were long ones at the end of the game when the clock was running out.

Chuck's free throws are better this year, but everything else seems off.

7)  Why not try some 1-3-1?

Seems like Fox goes with the zone when I would play man, and he plays man when I would play zone.  You can get some turnovers when you spring the 1-3-1 on opposing teams.  I don't think I've ever seen us use the 1-3-1.

8)  Why can't we get some rebounds?

I suppose this goes back to giving Ogbeide and Edwards more time.  Do we need to start Wilridge and bring Chuck off the bench?

9)  Why didn't we recruit Egbunu?

Egbunu went to school in the Atlanta area.  I pushed for us to give him a look.  Hard for me to believe that we couldn't have fought off USF for his recruitment.

10)  Are we really bad, or did we just have a bad night?

Hate to lose to a first-year coach when Fox has been here seven years.  I know you can lose a game down in Gainesville when they are shooting the ball well, but it just looked like they out-coached us.

Uggghh.  We'll play better, but the SEC is tougher this year.  Hope we can get things turned around.  As for now, I just have a lot of questions.