Eight former Florida Gators basketballers competed in five of the seven NBA games played on Tuesday and most ended the night with praiseworthy performances.

Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee posted a team-high 29 points (on 13-of-20 shooting) with nine boards (four offensive) and three assists in a team-high 35 minutes as Golden State went on to upend Cleveland 105-95.

Similarly dominant, Denver Nuggets forward Corey Brewer played a team-high 34 minutes off the bench, scoring a team-best 22 points (on 8-of-14 shooting) with four rebounds, two steals and a block. Denver defeated Milwaukee 105-95.

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Tags: Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, Corey Brewer, David Lee, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Joakim Noah, Marreese Speights, Matt Bonner, Miami Heat, Mike Miller, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Udonis Haslem, Vernon Macklin

The shortened 2011-12 NBA season is set to tip-off on Sunday with 10 former Florida Gators standouts on professional rosters. Some won National Championships while wearing the Orange & Blue, others went undrafted, but all want to prove that the Florida basketball program has and can produce legitimate NBA stars.

Al Horford, F/C, Atlanta Hawks
- 2010-11: Averaging career highs in points (15.3), field goal percentage (.557), assists (3.5) and minutes (35.1), Horford also contributed 9.3 rebounds and 1.0 block per game last year. He led his team to the second round of the playoffs for the third-straight season; nlike the previous two years, the Hawks were not swept but rather fell 4-2.
- 2011-12: The Godfather was named a captain in Atlanta one year ago and wound up earning his second-straight NBA All-Star nod as a reserve. The Hawks resigned him to a five-year, $60 million extension in Nov. 2010, and he enters this season as one of the team’s two best and most popular players.

Joakim Noah, C, Chicago Bulls
- 2010-11: Averaging a double-double with career highs in points (11.7), field goal percentage (.525), assists (2.2) and minutes (32.8), Noah was also good for 10.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal per game. He only played in 48 games due to having two surgeries for ligament damage in his hand and a right thumb injury but helped lead Chicago to the conference finals where the Bulls lost 4-1 in five games.
- 2011-12: Noah was rewarded by Chicago for his hard work with a five-year, $60 million extension last offseason. His defense and shot blocking makes him an elite big man in the league and he will be a key piece for the Bulls this season as they hope to earn a spot in the NBA Finals.

David Lee, F/C, Golden State Warriors
- 2010-11: Falling just short of a double-double average aver accomplishing that feat in consecutive seasons with the New York Knicks, Lee contributed 16.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game in 36.1 minutes on average last season. He shot 50.7 percent from the floor and 78.7 percent from the line in 73 games after missing nine due to an elbow injury that got infected.
- 2011-12: Lee agreed to a six-year, $80 million contract with Golden State after being traded from New York before last season and shined as a efficient big man in an up-tempo offense. His numbers fell because he was not relied upon as heavily with the Warriors, but he should have ample opportunities to showcase his talent.

Read the rest of OGGOA’s 2011-12 NBA Preview…after the break!
Continue Reading » NBA season begins with 10 Gators on rosters

Tags: Al Horford, All-Star, Atlanta Hawks, Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, Cholet Basket, Corey Brewer, Dallas Mavericks, David Lee, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Draft, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Joakim Noah, Marreese Speights, Miami Heat, Mike Miller, NBA, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Udonis Haslem, Vernon Macklin

Through the 2011 NBA Draft, Florida Gators forward and 2011 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Chandler Parsons will be keeping fans up-to-date on his Path to the Draft via a weekly blog entry exclusively here at OGGOA.

Noah, who was relaxed and focused between games of the Eastern Conference Finals, is about an hour away from the city where Parsons will work out for all 30 NBA general managers from Wednesday until Saturday.

After I spoke to you on Monday, I spent the rest of the week continuing to workout in Los Angeles, CA, doing the same stuff and working on my conditioning. David Lee actually came out there and was working with all of us, and the trainer and I were just putting on some finishing touches and sharpening a few things up before I left.

I headed over to Oklahoma for my first workout, which went really well. The Oklahoma City Thunder invited 12 players to the Sunday workout and split us up into two groups of six. They held it at 9 a.m. on the day the team played game seven [of the Western Conference Semifinals].

Right when I got in there Saturday, there was a room in the hotel where a bunch of people who work in the front office for the Thunder interviewed me. [They asked] typical questions about my game, upbringing and childhood – basically every question you could imagine they were asking just to get to know me better. There were also a lot of questionnaires and surveys and a background check.

On Saturday night before the workout, the GM [Sam Presti] took me to dinner. There were 12 players there, and I was the only one to go to dinner, so that was pretty special.

Click to expand and read the remainder of Parsons's Path to the Draft.

Tags: Chandler Parsons, Chicago Bulls, combine, David Lee, Draft, Joakim Noah, Mark Bartelstein, NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder, Player of the Year, SEC

Forward Chandler Parsons went through a lot in his four years playing for the Florida Gators. From finding early success to being locked out of the gym by head coach Billy Donovan to becoming the first basketball player school history to win the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year award, Parsons reflects on his college career fondly but is equally excited looking ahead to his future playing in the NBA.

One of 54 players invited to the official 2011 NBA Combine in Chicago, IL from May 18-22, Parsons is currently in California working on refining his game and improving in any way he possibly can to get prepared for workouts, individual team meetings and the 2011 NBA Draft on June 23. After completing a rigorous day of workouts on Monday, Parsons sat down with OGGOA for an extensive interview about his future playing professionally and career in the orange and blue.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: Let’s start off by talking about what is going on for you now that the season is over and you are preparing for the draft. What have you been doing recently to get ready and how is it going?
CHANDLER PARSONS: “I’ve been in L.A. [since May 1] working out at 360 Health Club with Don MacClean, who’s the all-time leading scorer at UCLA. It’s me, Jon Leuer from Wisconsin and Malcom Thomas from San Diego State. And then there’s some pros like David Lee comes here [Tuesday]. Paul George with the Pacers has been working out with us. J.R. Giddens, who was at Kansas, transferred to New Mexico and got drafted by the Celtics, he’s been working with us. It’s been a combination of two-to-six guys every day just working really hard. We work out on the court for about an hour and a half and then you lift for about an hour with the guys and Steve Campbell who is the strength coach here. The facilities are beautiful. It’s right up in the valley in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles. It’s a really good setup and we’re just working on all aspects of our game – two-on-two, pick-and-roll, offense, defense. The main thing is just getting in shape, being in the best condition of your life going forward for these NBA workouts.”

AS: What specifically are you working on and trying to showcase at the combine? Has your post game been a specific focus?
CP: “I’ve been working off the ball, catching the ball at the post when I get a smaller three or two on me. I measured at 6’10 1/2” in shoes, so I’m going to have a lot of mismatches at the next level. I’m going to be able to take some guys down on the block. I’ve been working on my post game, my handle, being able to create and still facilitate just like I did at Florida. And then there’s the difference with the NBA three-point line, which I’m very comfortable shooting with, but it’s about getting a lot of reps up, same form, becoming more of a consistent three-point shooter from that distance.”

AS: What have you heard from your agent in regards to a projection for the draft?
CP: “When I first signed with my agent, who is Mark Bartelstein, he told me anywhere from mid-first round to early second round. Now, after this week of working out, my trainer Don MacLean told Mark, ‘I don’t know what kind of workouts you’re scheduling, but you need to start scheduling Chandler with teams with picks in the teens.’ He sees me going a lot higher than people are projecting me with how good I’ve been doing out here – anywhere from the teens to mid-first round to early second round.”

Read the rest of our exclusive interview with Chandler Parsons…after the break!
Continue Reading » Parsons: “I’m trying to prove everybody wrong.”

Tags: Alex Tyus, Billy Donovan, Brad Beal, Casey Prather, Chandler Parsons, Coach of the Year, combine, David Lee, Don MacClean, Draft, Elite Eight, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Final Four, Kenny Boynton, Mark Bartelstein, Mike Rosario, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Patric Young, Player of the Year, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, SEC Tournament, Vernon Macklin, Will Yeguete

1 » Florida Gators sophomore athlete Trey Burton may be limited in the 2011 Orange & Blue Debut on Saturday after suffering an undisclosed injury during practice recently, according to the Palm Beach Post. With coaches and players being unavailable to the media from Tuesday evening until the conclusion of the game this weekend, no further information is currently known. Burton, who is/was expected to see snaps in the backfield behind redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey due to Florida’s injury problems, may put the Gators in an even bigger hole offensively during the public scrimmage.

2 » Head coach Will Muschamp and his staff surprised the team on Thursday by cancelling scheduled team meetings and weight lifting to take the entire group on a paintball trip. In addition to squaring off in paintball action, the team played cornhole and tug-of-war in what Muschamp referred to as “team building exercise[s].” Joining in on the fun was Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, who has been in Gainesville, FL all spring. The players all seemed to have a fantastic time at the event, and OGGOA has learned that the vibe was great on-site. Below is a team picture (courtesy of UF Sports Information’s Scott Carter) of the group after the festivities concluded.

3 » Though the difference is marginal, Gators incoming five-star guard Brad Beal was moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 on ESPNU‘s Top 100 rankings for basketball players in the 2011 recruiting cycle. Beal was named the 2011 Gatorade National Player of the Year this week and can next be seen participating in the Nike Hoops Summit on Saturday at 10 p.m. The game will air live on FOX Sports Network, so be sure to check your availability if planning to watch.

4 » Golden State Warriors center David Lee is on a bit of a hot streak right now, having scored 20 or more points in five of his last seven games with four double-doubles in that time. In six games since March 27, Lee is averaging 22.7 points and 13.5 board. Even more impressive is his last two performances, where he put up totals of 29 points/20 rebounds and 22 points/17 rebounds. Unfortunately for Lee, he won’t have much time to continue that streak as Golden State is 9.5 games out of playoff contention with only three more to play in the regular season.

Tags: Brad Beal, Chris Rainey, David Lee, Gatorade National Player of the Year, Golden State Warriors, NBA, NFL, Nike Hoops Summit, Orange & Blue Debut, Philadelphia Eagles, Riley Cooper, Trey Burton, Will Muschamp

Overseas in Spain starting every game for C.B. Gran Canaria 2014 of the ACB, former Florida Gators two-time National Championship-winning point guard Taurean Green took some nearly 45 minutes out of his busy schedule to sit down with OGGOA for a wide-ranging, in-depth interview late Tuesday evening.

Green, one of the four members of the Oh Fours and an integral part to the team’s success from 2005-07, discussed at length his college career and continuing relationship with his Gators teammates and coaches. He also provided some insight into what the current team is going through during their 2011 NCAA Tournament run and how they can improve going forward and make the most out of their opportunity.

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: With your father being a former NBA player and college coach as your adviser, what was it about Florida and Billy Donovan that had you winding up playing for the Gators out of high school?
TAUREAN GREEN: “Obviously Coach Donovan was a huge factor, the style of play, Coach [Anthony] Grant was a huge factor, too. It was just basically the style of play, how they get up-and-down [the court], and he’s a guard’s coach. I knew that he played for a great coach in Rick Pitino at Providence, and then he played some years in the NBA. Just from what everybody told me and from what I heard, he’s a guard’s coach and you’ll definitely get better [playing for him]. He’ll give you freedom out there but along with the freedom comes responsibility in running the team.”

AS: Your first year at Florida was obviously an adjustment as there were still a bunch of upperclassmen holding starting roles on the team. How was it walking into a team with established guys like David Lee, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson already comfortable with each other and running the show?
TG: “That was good for me. Some guys can adapt – you see freshmen get thrown into the fire right away nowadays. I felt like I needed that year to go against Anthony Roberson and all those guys just to get my feet wet. At the same time, I knew that I was going to be getting better going against Peep every day in practice. They led the way, and we just tried to contribute in whatever way we could.”

AS: You won the SEC Tournament that season and were a No. 4-seed going into the NCAA Tournament. What was it like playing at such a big stage so early in your career?
TG: “It was fun! When I was at Florida, the main thing was we just lived in the moment. We took it game-by-game. We wanted to do stuff that no other team really had done at Florida. We knew that we had David, Matt and Anthony, and we just wanted to contribute in any way we could. The main thing was just going out and playing hard, doing whatever it took to win.”

Read the rest of our exclusive interview with Taurean Green…after the break!
Continue Reading » Taurean Green: “We knew nobody could beat us.”

Tags: ACB, Adrian Moss, Al Horford, Alex Tyus, Andy Miller, Anthony Grant, Anthony Roberson, Billy Donovan, Chandler Parsons, Chris Richard, Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Corey Brewer, David Lee, Draft, Erving Walker, EuroCup Challenge, Gran Canaria, Jaycee Carroll, Joakim Noah, Kristen Youngblood, Lee Humphrey, Matt Walsh, National Championship, NBA, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, New York Knicks, Oh-Fours, Olympics, Patric Young, Portland Trail Blazers, Rick Pitino, SEC, SEC Tournament, Sidney Green, Sweet 16, Taurean Green, Vernon Macklin

With the 2010-11 NBA season still in full swing, a number of Florida Gators have been making strong impressions on the league with a few having a significant impact on their team’s game-to-game performance. OGGOA has checked and re-checked the box scores for the first half of the season to bring you a summary of what these Gators accomplished thus far. Figures below are per-game averages:

F/C AL HORFORD`, Atlanta Hawks: 16.0 points [56.8% shooting – team-best], 9.8 rebounds [team-high], 3.6 assists, 0.85 blocks, 1.06 steals, 82% FT …in 35.4 minutes with 51-of-55 starts [51 games played*]

C JOAKIM NOAH, Chicago Bulls: 14.0 points [51.4% shooting], 11.7 rebounds [team-high], 2.7 assists, 1.63 blocks [team-high], 1.17 steals, 73% FT …in 36.8 minutes with 24-of-54 starts [24 games played*]

F/C DAVID LEE, Golden State Warriors: 15.9 points [49.2% shooting], 9.4 rebounds [team-high], 3.4 assists, 0.37 blocks, 0.89 steals, 77% FT …in 36.2 minutes with 46-of-55 starts [46 games played*]

G/F COREY BREWER, Minnesota Timberwolves: 8.6 points [38.4% shooting, 26.3% downtown], 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.25 blocks, 1.59 steals [team-high], 71% FT …in 24.1 minutes with 22-of-56 starts [56 games played]

F/C MATT BONNER, San Antonio Spurs: 7.3 points [48.4% shooting, 50% downtown (team-best > 5 mpg.)], 3.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.38 blocks, 0.30 steals, 73% FT …in 22.0 minutes with 0-of-56 starts [40 games played*]

G/F MIKE MILLER, Miami Heat: 5.9 points [41.1% shooting, 38.7% downtown], 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.32 steals, 78% FT …in 19.3 minutes with two-of-56 starts [22 games played*]

C MARREESE SPEIGHTS, Philadelphia 76ers: 5.4 points [50.8% shooting], 3.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.22 blocks, 0.11 steals, 75% FT …in 11.6 minutes with 1-of-56 starts [45 games played*]

PF UDONIS HASLEM, Miami Heat: 8.0 points [51.2% shooting], 8.2 rebounds [team-high], 0.5 assists, 0.23 blocks, 0.54 steals, 80% FT …in 26.5 minutes with 0-of-56 starts [13 games played*]

PG JASON WILLIAMS, Memphis Grizzlies: 1.9 points [35% shooting, 32% downtown], 1.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.42 steals …in 10.2 minutes [19 games played, two teams~]

PG ORIEN GREENE, New Jersey Nets: 1.0 points [50% shooting], 0.3 assists, 0.33 steals …in 1.7 minutes [three games played~]

NOTES
` Horford was named to his second-straight NBA All-Star Game this season.
* Horford missed four games with a back injury.
* Noah missed 30 games with an injured thumb (torn ligament).
* Lee missed nine games with an infected elbow.
* Bonner missed 16 games with an injured knee (marrow edema).
* Miller missed 34 games with a broken thumb.
* Speights did not play in 11 games (coach’s decision).
* Haslem has missed 43 games with an injured foot, is thought to be out for the entire season but has an outside chance of returning.
~ Williams was traded from the Orlando Magic to Memphis and has yet to step on the court for the Grizzlies.
~ Green was recently called up by New Jersey from the NBDL.

Photo Credit: Atlanta Hawks

Tags: Al Horford, All-Star, Corey Brewer, David Lee, Jason Williams, Joakim Noah, Marreese Speights, Matt Bonner, Mike Miller, NBA, Orien Greene, Udonis Haslem

Former Florida Gators forward/center Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks has been named a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game.

His second-straight All-Star selection, Horford also played in the 2010 game along with then-New York Knicks F/C David Lee. He scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting and accounted for four rebounds in 12 minutes of action in the game.

“It’s a real honor to be nominated to that game,” he told OGGOA in an exclusive interview last year. “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.”

Horford continues to improve each year and is currently riding career-highs in points (16.1), rebounds (9.9), assists (3.6) field goal percentage (56.7) and free throw percentage (81.3). He has 24 double-doubles on the season and is fifth in his conference in field goal percentage.

The No. 3 overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, he was named a team captain this season and signed a five-year, $60 million contract extension in November 2010.

Al Horford for ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive

Photo Credit: Unknown

Tags: Al Horford, All-Star, Atlanta Hawks, David Lee, Draft, Eastern Conference, NBA, New York Knicks