Former Florida Gators guard/forward Corey Brewer had a great game Wednesday for the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a 112-109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately, though Mavericks’ guard Jason Terry did win the game, he also suffered a broken orbital bone when Brewer’s elbow and forearm hit him in the face.

After being attended to by team trainers, Terry returned to the court to score seven of his 26 total points. However, his eye was swollen shut after the game and surgery will keep him out of action for at least a week, maybe longer.

Tags: Corey Brewer, Dallas Mavericks, Jason Terry, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA

Atlanta Hawks forward/center Al Horford is in the middle of the third season of what will hopefully be a lengthy NBA career. Averaging career highs in minutes, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and points per game, he was recently selected as a reserve for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game for the first time in his professional career. OGGOA caught up with the two-time National Champion, two-time NCAA Finals Most Valuable Player and member of the 2008 NBA All-Rookie Team while he was on his way to prepare for a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Horford spoke with us about a variety of topics including his professional success, memories of Florida and advice for younger Gators who are trying to propel the team back into March Madness.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: The biggest thing going for you right now has to be your selection to your first NBA All-Star Game. How did it feel to earn that honor in only your third season in the league?
AL HORFORD: “It’s a real honor to be nominated to that game. The coaches really have a lot of weight into that decision, and I felt really special that they picked me over a lot of other guys.”

AS: The NBA has been utilizing you to help grow its product abroad. Do you feel any extra pressure in this regard?
AH: “Not really. I think if anything, it’s good. It’s something that, even when I played at Florida, I wanted to put myself in the position to be able to come and play in the NBA. It just feels a good to be a part of the league and a good team.”

Read the rest of our exclusive interview with Al Horford after the jump!
Continue Reading » Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford: “I tried to act tough.”

Tags: Al Horford, All-Rookie, All-Star, Anthony Grant, Atlanta Hawks, Billy Donovan, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, MOP, MVP, NBA, NCAA Tournament, Taurean Green

1 » In the immediate aftermath of dropping four-star safety Demar Dorsey (Lauderdale Lakes, FL), the Florida Gators contacted three-star tight end commitment Michael McFarland (Tampa, FL) and informed him that they no longer need him to grayshirt for the 2010 season as an additional scholarship has opened up. Instead, assistant head coach and defense/defensive line coach Dan McCarney told McFarland that the Gators want him to enroll with the rest of his 2010 class. OGGOA believes McFarland will likely redshirt his first season.

2 » Freshman guard Kenny Boynton has the star power, sophomore point guard Erving Walker is hitting daggers from downtown, junior forward Chandler Parsons is nailing remarkable buzzer-beating game-winners and junior transfer center Vernon Macklin brings the size…so what exactly is junior F Alex Tyus’ role? Tyus is, simply put, the most consistent player on the team. He has scored double figures in 11 straight games with 15+ points in six of those contests all while being a terror in the paint and averaging almost eight rebounds per game. Through the ups and downs of the season, Tyus has been the constant either keeping the Gators in games or helping them pull off routs. He’s even been hitting three-pointers. “I feel like I’m understanding my role a little more,” Tyus told Pat Dooley of The Gainesville Sun. “I’m more comfortable.” If Tyus continues playing at this level, a triumvirate of himself, Boynton and Walker could very well propel Florida to its first March Madness birth in three seasons.

Four more BITS on Corey Brewer, Tim Tebow and more after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: McFarland, Tyus, Brewer, Tebow

Tags: Al Horford, Alex Tyus, Atlanta Hawks, baseball, Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, Corey Brewer, Dan McCarney, Demar Dorsey, Donovan McNabb, Erving Walker, Focus on the Family, grayshirt, Joakim Noah, Kenny Boynton, March Madness, Michael McFarland, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles, Sarah Palin, Super Bowl XLIV, Tim Tebow, Vernon Macklin

Minnesota Timberwolves guard/forward Corey Brewer forced overtime against the Houston Rockets Wednesday night with this nice half-court shot at the end of the fourth quarter. The game ended up going into triple overtime; unfortunately, the Timberwolves would eventually fall 120-114 to the Rockets.

Tags: Corey Brewer, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA

The 2000s were quite a decade for University of Florida athletics. Florida Gators football and basketball were especially exceptional, combining for four National Championships (five appearances) and five Southeastern Conference Championships (six appearances) while earning five BCS bowl game and eight NCAA Tournament berths, respectively, over the last ten years. To end this decade of champions, OGGOA has compiled our own Gators All-Decade Team for each sport.

Continue Reading » OGGOA Presents: Florida Gators All-Decade Team

Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Ahmad Black, Al Horford, Alex Brown, All-Decade, Andre Caldwell, Anthony Grant, Anthony Roberson, BCS, Ben Troupe, Billy Donovan, Billy Latsko, Brandon James, Brandon Siler, Brandon Spikes, Channing Crowder, Charlie Strong, Chas Henry, Chris Leak, Ciatrick Fason, Corey Brewer, Cornelius Ingram, Dan Mullen, David Lee, Derek Harvey, Drew Miller, Earnest Graham, Eric Rutledge, Eric Wilbur, Ian Scott, Jabar Gaffney, James Smith, Jarvis Moss, Jeff Chandler, Joakim Noah, Joe Haden, Keiwan Ratliff, Lito Sheppard, Major Wright, Marcus Thomas, Matt Bonner, Maurkice Pouncey, Max Starks, Mike Degory, Mike Pearson, Mike Pouncey, National Championship, NCAA Tournament, Percy Harvin, Phil Trautwein, Ray McDonald, Reggie Nelson, Rex Grossman, SEC Championship, Shannon Snell, Taylor Jacobs, Tim Tebow, Todd Johnson, University of Florida, Urban Meyer

1 » Florida Gators forward/center David Lee, in his fifth NBA season, is playing at an All-Star level. Averaging a career-high 18 points per game, Lee is also usually good for double-digit boards every game, putting him in the rare category of a player who averages a double-double on a nightly basis. Though New York Knicks fans have fallen in love with Lee, the organization is in danger of losing him after the season. Lee is currently on a one-year contract and is playing at a level so high that he could command top dollar after the 2009-10 season is in the books.

2 » Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin, who has been dealing with migraine headaches his entire life, recently visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, NY, for further examination. According to head coach Brad Childress, Harvin had a “good” visit and is back at practice ready to play on Monday Night Football against the Chicago Bears. “Yeah, it’s a relief,” Harvin said after returning from his doctor’s visit. “Without going into [specifics], we had a great visit and came up with a great plan. I saw great doctors and it should be good from now on. I’m all good.” Still, Harvin’s chronic migraines continue to have his coach, teammates and Gators and Vikings fans worried.

3 » Veteran NBA writer Steve Aschburner has written a terrific piece for NBA.com on the Oh-Fours. Centering on Atlanta Hawks forward/center Al Horford, the article suggests that he is “still the leader of [a] special group of Gators” also including Chicago Bulls F/C Joakim Noah, Minnesota Timberwolves F Corey Brewer and AEK Athens B.C. point guard Taurean Green. Aschburner’s article is an absolute must-read but here is just one quote from Horford: “We have a saying, the guys who came in with my class: ‘04’s For Life,’” Horford said. “Any time that we talk to each other or whatever, that’s always brought up. Jo will send me a text and [type it]. I’ll send the same thing to him or the other guys. We go all the way back to that. I think we’re the type of group, we’ve always been happy for each other. Back in college, we didn’t really care who was scoring 20. At the end of the day, we were winning and we were all doing it in a big way. I think we’ve kept the same attitude [in the NBA].”

4 » Looking at the most valuable teams in college sports, Forbes magazine found that the Texas Longhorns earned that distinction by raking in $59 million in profit in 2009 for a total valuation of $119 million. Behind the Longhorns, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Penn State Nittany Lions, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Alabama Crimson Tide are the Florida Gators – with a value of $88 million and $41 million in profits this year.

Tags: AEK Athens B.C., Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Brad Childress, Chicago Bulls, Corey Brewer, David Lee, Joakim Noah, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Vikings, NBA, New York Knicks, NFL, Oh-Fours, Percy Harvin, Taurean Green, Texas Longhorns

Sports Illustrated came out with a number of college basketball All-Decade lists on Wednesday, and Florida Gators players earned their way toward a few notable distinctions. On the main list, where SI went over the “highlights and lowlights of the decade,” Florida’s “Oh-Fours” were named the 2000s’ best recruiting class. An obvious choice.

“When Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green all signed with Florida, nobody heralded this quartet as the Fab anything,” Seth Davis writes. “Yet, by the end of their junior year, they had led the Gators to back-to-back national championships. All except Green had the opportunity to be first-round draft picks as sophomores, but they came back for the chance to make history — and that’s exactly what they did. They were known as the Oh-Fours.”

Noah’s name was also mentioned on two other SI lists, as a reserve forward for SI’s All-Decade Team and at No. 1 in the “10 signature college basketball moments of the decade.” Of Noah’s entry on the All-Decade Team, Grant Wahl writes, “The most memorable team acts of the decade were Illinois in 2004-05 and Florida in 2005-07, and their all-time chemistry explains why so few of their individuals are making this All-Decade list. But if you’re going to pick one guy from these teams, you have to pick Noah, who could do so many things on the court and took over the 2006 NCAA final.”

As for the second distinction, SI recounts Noah’s now-famous dancing celebration after winning the 2006 SEC Championship. “Noah’s spastic, post-SEC tournament celebration on Selection Sunday did not go down in the annals of dance, but it did capture the essence of the star of Florida’s dynasty. Noah, the son of a French tennis and pop star, was brash and widely reviled by opposing fans — yet he was an unselfish player who admirably passed on the NBA draft as a sophomore, and backed up his antics by winning back-to-back national titles. After a shocked Verne Lundquist ceded the CBS stage by saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Joakim Noah,’ Bill Raftery asked Noah a question about seeding. The Gators, who’d slipped a bit down the stretch in ‘06-07, were likely to enter their title defense as a No. 2 seed. Noah’s response? ‘Who cares! At the end of the day, it’s yours against mine — we’ll see who gets it!’ For two straight NCAA tournaments, the Gators got it.” They sure did.

Tags: Al Horford, All-Decade, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, Oh-Fours, SEC Championship, Taurean Green