A Sun Blog

Gators Gone Pro

Tracking former UF athletes through their professional sports careers

Bonner spearheads biggest wild card of NBA playoffs

Monday, at 2:39 by

The San Antonio Spurs’ ability to make it rain from long range is the biggest X-factor in this year’s NBA playoffs, and Matt Bonner is their ace. The Memphis Grizzlies got that memo in Sunday’s 105-83 Game 1 loss. Bonner is on fire from beyond the arc in these playoffs (60 percent) and after going 4-of-6 from deep in Game 1, the Grizzlies know they need a defender attached to his right shoulder cannon at all times. Only problem is,… Read More »

Jets fumble on Tebow Time

Monday, at 5:23 by

Tebow Time only lasted a New York minute. Tim Tebow arrived at the Jets’ facility on Monday morning and was told he had been cut. As if it would fly under the radar, a three-paragraph news release was sent out at 8:18 a.m. That early exit from Florham Park, N.J., serves as a microcosm for the quarterback’s one-year stint in the Big Apple. The truth is, we learned a lot more about the New York Jets than we did about… Read More »

How Gators can make an impact in NBA playoffs

Saturday, at 5:50 by

Even more impressive than the fact that eight of 10 former Gators in the NBA will be playing in the NBA playoffs is the fact that each of those eight players are key contributors, if not cornerstones, to their respective teams. While The Sun’s Kevin Brockway highlighted each player that will be in action starting today, I’ll go into each first-round matchup and what role each Gator can play to help their respective teams. DAVID LEE: The All-Star forward/center always… Read More »

Nelson a good addition to Browns’ receiving corps

Tuesday, at 6:07 by

The last time I saw David Nelson, it was in the visitors’ locker room of the Georgia Dome in 2009. The far corner of the locker room. The only thing you could hear was the sound of Gator players slowly taking off their equipment. All other media, and the hundreds that comprised it, were already gone. They had pooled at the podium not far away to lob the easy questions to Alabama coach Nick Saban, who had led the program… Read More »

Brewer clutch as Nuggets extend NBA’s other streak

Friday, at 11:25 by

Corey Brewer spiked the ball, then roared at midcourt. Fitting that his primal scream came on top of a logo with pickaxes since it was Brewer who dug the Denver Nuggets out of an improbable hole in a streak-saving 101-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. With the victory, the Nuggets extended their franchise record with a 14th straight win, a mark that would’ve ended if it weren’t for Brewer’s heroics. Denver trailed by five before the sixth-year… Read More »

Sources: Vikings trade Harvin to Seahawks

Monday, at 4:40 by

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has always had an eye on Percy Harvin, and now it looks like he’s finally got him. On Monday, the eve of NFL free agency, Minnesota agreed to trade the receiver to Seattle, according to multiple media outlets. The Seahawks are expected to surrender their 2013 first-round draft pick (No. 25 overall) and possibly other picks to the Vikings in exchange for Harvin. The deal is pending his agreement to a new contract with the Seahawks… Read More »

NBA Gators: Parsons drops 32 in best game as pro

Monday, at 11:55 by

Chandler Parsons was too busy having the best game of his young NBA career to realize he was closing in on one of the best games in his franchise’s history. Parsons, who scored a career-high 32 points in the Houston Rockets’ 136-103 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, was 11-for-11 from the field with 3:57 left in the third quarter after draining his fifth 3-pointer. At that point, Parsons admitted he got carried away the next time down the… Read More »

Noah’s historic night strengthens case for best big

Friday, at 12:46 by

Back in December, Joakim Noah said he’d haunt the City of Brotherly Love “for the rest of my career.” No one thought he’d channel the ghosts of Shaquille O’Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon. Noah recorded 23 points, 21 rebounds and 11 blocks for a monstrous triple-double in leading the Bulls to a 93-82 win over the 76ers in Chicago on Thursday night, numbers duplicated only by those aforementioned legends since 1985. “That’s legendary stuff,” Carlos Boozer told the Chicago Tribune. “I’ve… Read More »

Breakdown of 10 Gators at this year’s NFL Combine

Wednesday, at 3:34 by

The NFL Combine officially begins today in Indianapolis, and 10 Gators were invited. Let’s take a look at each Gator who will be participating. At the bottom is a breakdown of the combine schedule, detailing when each position group will arrive and what they will undergo during the process. Sharrif Floyd, DT Unlike the rest of his Gator teammates, Floyd is a sure-fire first-round selection. Some draft analysts even have Floyd going as the second or third overall selection in… Read More »

Report: Vikes look to trade Harvin, who has suitors

Wednesday, at 2:40 by

Reports out of Minnesota indicate that the Vikings will pursue trading Percy Harvin. A serious MVP candidate at the halfway point last season, Harvin got the ultimate endorsement from the player who ended up winning MVP at season’s end: his teammate Adrian Peterson. “To be honest with you, I don’t know if we will or not. But me, individually, and giving you my opinion, I wouldn’t trade him for nothing,” the Vikings’ running back said Tuesday in an interview with… Read More »