You better hope Nick Calathes really likes to play point guard.
You better hope he can score more and make even more plays than he would've before.
You better hope he'll be able to find his teammates with his eyes closed.
This is all because Calathes' job just got a whole lot harder.
To say losing Jai Lucas destroys UF's chance for a successful rebound season would be an overstatement. To say it won't affect Calathes, the Gators' best player, would be an understatement.
UF's offense - even more so than before - now lies in Calathes' hands.
Putting Walter Hodge at point guard is like Percy Harvin taking snaps out of the shotgun. Hodge, like Harvin, can still have his value. He'll spot up for that 3-pointer, and he'll even help out on the occasional press on both sides of the ball.
Just keep in mind that when Harvin is under center, he's running the ball. And when Hodge starts at point guard, he's not going to be running the offense.
Calathes was still the primary catalyst for UF's offense no matter what, but he had Lucas as his wingman. Now those wings have been clipped.
The Lucas-and-Calathes combination gave fans something to be excited for, something to hope for. The duo was being talked about as one of the top 15-20 backcourt combinations in the nation.
Now it's up to Calathes to be one of the top 15-20 players in the nation. If the Gators want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament, he doesn't have a choice. With Lucas, you can blame him some if UF's offense falters. That's the usual fate of a point guard. Now, if the Gators falter again this year, you'll hear the whispers:
Calathes can't win.
Calathes can't lead a team.
Calathes crumbles under the pressure of being the go-to guy.
Lucas would have been the 12-points-per-game and five-assists-per-game type of player who would have made Calathes' life as a playmaker so much easier.
Ask yourself this: Do you really want Dan Werner driving the lane to find teammates? Or how about Chandler Parsons?
Nothing personal against those guys, but how many 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-9 playmakers do you see in the college game?
Calathes now has to find his own shot off his own dribble, know who to give the ball to on offense and find consistent scoring options on his bench.
Perhaps Lucas felt Calathes was cramping his style. Perhaps he wanted to be the sole playmaker. Perhaps he didn't realize they could've complemented each other well.
It's too bad, really. You can accomplish very little on your own, after all.
Imagine trying to pick up that cute brunette without your best friend distracting her contingent of Express-clad friends. Odds are you're not going to be successful. If UF is to be successful, then Calathes better get used to finding ways to get his whole team dates.
They're going to need him now more than ever.
