Write On Sports LLC - "The Real Fab Five" by Troy Somero

The Real Fab Five

2007-04-03 23:52:18 | By: Troy Somero

Statistically, Florida did not appear to dominate Ohio Sate en route to its 84-75 victory in the NCAA Championship on Monday night. The Gators only shot two percent better from the field (49.1% versus 46.9%) and turned the ball over eight more times (15 versus 7) than the Buckeyes, but better offensive execution, excellent shot selection and an overbearing will to win combined to enable the Gators to chomp down Ohio State in Atlanta.

While Corey Brewer was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, there was great debate during the final minutes of the game as to who truly deserved to be named the MOP. Bill Packer seemed to think it was Greg Oden, but this was because Oden was the single, dominate player on Ohio State (and remember, Billy Packer is hardly ever correct). While Ohio State was essentially a one-man team for long stretches of the game, each Florida starter contributed to the team's victory in his own unique way. Simply put, the Florida Five was fabulous on Monday night.

No player played better for the Gators from the start of the game than Brewer. The 6'9" junior was an early spark plug for the defending champions, going 3-3 from three-point range in the first half and culminating his eleven-point first-half performance with a steal and dunk in the last two minutes of the half. While Brewer's stats themselves do not necessarily separate his performance from the performances of the rest of his teammates, he certainly established himself as the most talented player on the floor. 6'9", long and lanky, Brewer was able to both man up on the Buckeye guards and provide defensive help on Oden when needed. Offensively, Brewer was a double threat: he could either spot up on the perimeter and knock down a trey or slash to the hoop and blow by his man for the lay-up. Ohio State had some athletes on display Monday night, but none of them were as athletic as Brewer.

If Brewer was not on the floor against Ohio State, Al Horford would have been the MOP. Horford played what might have been the best game of his career, given his composed performance on the game's biggest stage. Big Al's line (34 minutes, 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks) was second only to that of Oden in terms of sheer stat-sheet stuffing. Even more impressive than his numbers was the way he put them up – spotting up and knocking down sixteen-footers over Oden, driving to the hoop past Ivan Harris, making the Buckeye defense respect his post game in order to kick the rock out for a three-pointer from Brewer, Green, or Humphrey. While the man appeared like a run-of-the-mill Four (a wide-bodied 6'10", 245lbs power forward), he dribbled the ball like a Three and shot it like a Two against Ohio State. The only performance that should – and did – overshadow Horford's was the performance by the entire Gator team.

The odd-man-out in the Gators' starting lineup this season, being that he is the only senior in the starting line-up, was two-guard Lee Humphrey. Going into the game, Humpty was the odd-man-out for a more impressive reason: in Florida's victory over UCLA in the Final Four he passed Bobby Hurley as the all-time leader in NCAA Tournament three-pointers made. On Monday night he showed a national audience yet again how easy it was for him to set the record. Humphrey went a slightly-above-average (for himself) 4-7 from three-point range, but the first three made was like a small dagger in the collective side of the Buckeyes. Each time Humphrey made a trey after the first, the dagger was slowly turned. Perhaps the most painful twist of them all was a missed three-pointer by Humphrey with 9:12 left in the game. Rushing to shoot the ball from the corner before the Buckeye defense rotated to him, Humphrey banked a three off of the side of the backboard…right into the hands of Gator forward Chris Richard, who scored a bucket and converted a three-point play after a Buckeye foul. When Humphrey was open, he was unstoppable. In addition, the only time he took a bad shot his team scored three points anyway. The player with the sweetest stroke on the court was able to provide a different pace of play in comparison to Brewer and Green, balancing the Gator attack, keeping the Buckeye perimeter defense honest and opening up the paint for Horford and Noah.

Taurean Green. If the name does not sound familiar that is because he was the most under-publicized of the five Florida starters on Monday night. However, the Gators' efficient and silky smooth performance is indicative of just how well Green played as the point guard. Although he had six turnovers, Green negated these mistakes with six assists, 4-6 shooting from the field and 5-5 shooting from the charity stripe. More importantly, his heady point play allowed the Gators to both shoot a high percentage from the field and to executive their offense effective in order to ensure that each player was taking quality shots. Taurean Green. Remember the name because he would very well be running an NBA offense in a few years.

The face of the Florida Gators the last two seasons has been Joakim Noah. Noah is a sure-fire lottery pick in June's NBA Draft, an effervescent personality that has indirectly drawn attention to himself throughout the season, and one of the most unselfish superstars in college basketball. It is the latter point that shined through the most on Monday night. Noah was held to only 21 minutes, three field-goal attempts and three rebounds in the game. In addition, Noah spent much of his time on the bench, sharing his usual playing time with Chris Richard and Marreese Speights due to the task of guarding Greg Oden. As a result of his lack of playing time, Noah was the ultimate team leader, cheering his teammates on from the bench and supporting each player who replaced him on the court due to his foul troubles. Perhaps the moment of the night was after the game when Noah ran into the stands and hugged his mother, embracing his second championship as much as his first. While a national audience witnessed a coming-out party for Greg Oden, that same audience should have noticed the intangibles that will make Joakim Noah an exciting, effective NBA player.

While the Michigan squad of the early 1990s – Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson – was the original Fab Five, the 2005-2007 Florida Gators has exemplfieid itself as a truly Fab Five. Each player contributed equally and in his own way to the team's success over the last two seasons. In addition, the Gators' coach, Billy Donovan, has excelled in getting the most out of each of his players. One has to look no further than the shot selection on Monday night to see that Donovan was a step ahead of Ohio State Coach Thad Matta's game plan (honestly, how do the Buckeyes attempt over half of their field goals from three-point range with the way Greg Oden was playing?). The combination of five unique and talented individuals, when combined with a coach who was flexible enough to exploit each of these talents, is what made the Gators the best team in college basketball over the last two seasons. Every non-Gator fan in the country is hoping for one of two things this off-season: Billy Donovan taking the job at Kentucky, or the rest of the junior Gators following their senior teammate Lee Humphrey out of college.