Losers of three of their last four, the Florida Gators, the defending national champions, are officially on a slide.

The Vanderbilt loss was tolerable but the losses at an LSU team that shot 52 percent and were playing without Glen Davis and at Rocky Top to a Tennessee team that I’m picking to make a first round exit come tournament have to make you wonder if this team really has what it takes to make a deep tournament run.

The problem with this team is simple: chemistry. Dickie V’s comments about a private conversation he had with coach Billy Donovan may have caused a permanent fissure between Donovan and “star” Joakim Noah. While he could have gone to the NBA last year and been a lock to go top 5 in a compartively weak ‘06 draft class, Noah would be lucky to go top 15 in a draft class that could include Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Aaron Afflalo, if he declares after this season. Quite simply, averaging almost 13 points, 8 rebounds a night… the chest-pounding forward from New York City is one of the most overrated “stars” in all of college basketball. I can’t say I disagree with Donovan when he said NBA scouts would be crazy to take Noah over the 6′10″ Horford.

But all is not lost in Gainesville. If this team can pull together and make a deep run into the SEC tournament, they’ll be right back on track. In spite of this recent slide, I’d say the Gators are almost a can’t-miss to make it to the sweet 16.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.