Donovan rips Gators after loss
March 13, 2008
OK, I was surprised at Alabama’s domination of Florida in the first half of Thursday night’s game in the Georgia Dome.
But Billy Donovan wasn’t.
The Florida coach made it clear in his postgame comments that his Gators got what they deserved. He also made it clear it won’t be much fun to be a Gator basketball player in the offseason.
“I’m not surprised,” said Donovan, who hadn’t lost in this tournament since 2004. “A lot of these guys talk a really, really good game, a lot of them do. I think our deficiencies, so to speak, that have affected our team are exposed and I have not been able to, as a coach, get them to focus on it, improve it, make it better or buy into it, or whatever word you want to use.
“No, I watch it every day, so I’m not surprised at all. ... The reason we got down by so many points is because we didn’t shoot 54, 54, 55 percent as we did in some of these last couple games (losses to Kentucky, Mississippi State and Tennessee). ... It’s just that we got exposed because we shot such a low percentage that we really didn’t give ourselves an opportunity to win the game by getting down so many points.”
Donovan seemed irked that Chandler Parsons said the team wasn’t ready to play.
“I’ve got to take responsibility for that because I think that’s my job,” the coach said. “That’s disappointing to hear. ... I don’t know how you can’t be excited. I think that that’s kind of the way Marreese came out.”
Marreese Speights was yanked from the game just 65 seconds in. He led the team with 15 points in just 20 minutes. But he was the poster boy of Florida’s defensive effort— or lack of it.
“We have some, I think, talent issues on the defensive end of the floor, foot speed-wise, that sometimes is not all their fault,” Donovan said. “But also, I think, we have a commitment issue, which bothers me as a coach because I just got done coaching a group of guys the last two years that were so committed.”
The coach rejected the idea that his senior-less squad will mature and get better.
“It’s hard for me to be excited going forward because I don’t see things getting fixed, you know?” Donovan said. “It’s in front of our guys, what it takes to win, and, like I said, for whatever reason, I haven’t brought it out in them. They’re not committed to it. But I’m not necessarily really that excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest.
“I think people’s initial thing is, well, they’re going to get older. I never believe in that. I don’t think people change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year. So it’s hard for me to get overly thrilled or excited.”
