Gator Men's Hoops Prepares To Face Tennessee
Monday, February 4, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Billy Donovan Press Conference
2/5/08
Opening Statement:
“To come off a game like Saturday with a team that everyone felt was going to be right there to win the SEC West, and then we come back here and then leave to play a team that everyone feels is going to be right there in the East, tomorrow. They (Tennessee) are a very good team, they were ranked in the top 10 all year long, they've played a terrific schedule. Bruce (Pearl) has done a great job with his guys. They have a lot of depth in a lot of different spots, they have a player in (Chris) Lofton, who maybe to start the season wasn't shooting the ball well as maybe some of us have noticed him shoot it in the past. Really, the last several games he has gotten back on stride, taking shots that kind of made him famous in this league. I think the addition of (J.P.) Prince and Tyler Smith, very long lean and athletic type of players, they have a lot of depth and a lot of pieces and is a team that has played exceptionally well all year long. Tomorrow we'll have our hands full and it will be a great challenge to see the way we can come back from our game on Saturday.”
On how their shooting took the team out of the game:
“I think the shooting bled into a lot of the other problems. We did not shoot the ball well, I think we started the game 0-for-13 from behind the three point line and that affected our mindset on the defensive end of the floor. We, maturity wise, need to get through some of that stuff and get past some of that stuff when we don't shoot the ball well. A guy like Dan Werner who had really bought into and believed that he could still have an impact and effect on the game when he's not making shots, it was the first time in a long-long time where he was one-for-seven or one-for-eight from behind the line and it affected some of the emotional things that he did. Nick Calathes missed some lay ups early and had a shot blocked early in the game and there was no question that I felt like that affected them. The point I made after the game was that there's a part of me that's not happy that we lost, but a part of me that feels like they have to go through some of those things. Because, what I saw against Arkansas and after that game, was something that I had been seeing, going all the way back to South Carolina, when teams had been shooting too high a percentage against our defense. I know some cases we're limited, and we're not going to be a team that holds a team to 48-percent from the floor, so, the shooting percentages are going to be a little higher. It's the teams that shoot over 50-percent from the field, as South Carolina did, or in every road game we've played where teams have shot over 50-percent. Now, we've over come it, making some timely shots in key situations, but it goes back to what I said last week on Saturday when I talked about all of Vandy's missed lay ups and that it's not reality, it gets distorted. I think losses get distorted and wins get distorted and I'm looking for the truth and this is something that we've been trying to address with our guys. We've got to get better in playing unselfishly, screening to help each other on offense and then we've got to be, collectively, all on the same page on defense, trying to at least slow teams down or limit the percentages that we're giving up right now from the field.”
On Jai Lucas:
“I don't know if Jai was taken out of the game. Jai just kind of plays within himself, I don't know if he was taken out of the game. He didn't get a lot of shot opportunities, he got the ball in his hands some but he didn't really try to do a whole lot. I kind of respect Jai for that. He's not the kind of guy who is going to force things or do too much. I don't think Jai does that. I think he has a good, calm disposition about himself. It's not like Jai has put up big scoring numbers for us. He's been the guy to hit some jump shots, made some drives to the basket and made some key plays for us. I'd like to see him be a little more of a factor on defense more than anything else. Give Stefan Welsh and Gary Ervin and Sonny Weems and Patrick Beverley, give some of those older guys, they probably did a good job guarding Jai and Nick and Walter, I mean I don't know what you say, it's part of the game. This isn't going to be the last game if we keep shooting poorly. To me it always comes down to things you can affect and control and a lot of times you can't affect and control when you have that woeful of a shooting game. Last Saturday, everything we threw up the first 15 minutes of the half went in. You know, it's kind of the way it is but it really comes down to your ability to defend and rebound and give yourself an opportunity to win when the ball's not going in your basket and my thing for them, as long as we're taking good shots, I'll be able to live with that. I thought for the most part we took shots, and I thought for the most part we got some decent looks. Because we missed some shots, our rhythm offensively was taken away a little bit and that's where you give Arkansas credit because they did a good job in that area. Since I've been coaching, I've never known a solution when a team's not scoring and making shots other than to find ways to get defensive stops and on the fast break create some opportunities.”
Florida vs. Tennessee rivalry:
“Every single year there's going to be rivalries there, I don't want to say rivalries as much as competitive challenges. South Carolina and us, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky. I think anybody on the East is always a little bit of a different feeling because you're playing each other twice. Even thought you only play the West once, you're still seeing these guys and for our guys, they're going through it. But for a guy like Walter, he's seen Beverley and Weems the last couple years and Hunter and Steven Hill around. You play against these guys and there is a natural competitiveness there. I think that, right now, Tennessee is one of those teams that clearly has been a top 10 team. Them and Vanderbilt have probably been the most consistent teams remaining in the top 25 most of the year. Vanderbilt had a very difficult road schedule to start the SEC but Tennessee, where they've remained and who they've beaten, they're a very, very good team. I think when you're playing against a team like that, there's the football rivalry, I think it's always going to be like that just like Georgia and Kentucky.”
On Chris Lofton:
“He's a dangerous guy, like last year. He's not taking as many (shots) this year as last year but that's a product of having a guy like Tyler Smith and a guy like J.P. Prince and some of these guys that were freshmen last year, being a year older. He is the one guy, and I'd even throw JaJuan Smith in that category- those two guys to me that can totally open up the game at any time and they can really take contested, tough shots. It was two years ago we were playing we were up by maybe five or six coming inside four or five minutes left to go in the game and he hit a shot over Corey Brewer that you couldn't defend any better. Sometimes, when you got a guy like that, it's an incredible gift and talent you admire and watch. When you see a guy make shots like that it's like you want to leave him open because there's a better chance of him missing when he's open. He's as good as anybody I've seen being able to go up, rock back and create space when he can't get to it and he's really got an incredible skill and talent. That's why I've always felt he can play at the next level. He's such a shot maker and effortless. So I admire the other things that he does. He gets a lot of attention for his scoring and his shooting but he does a lot of different things. He's a really good passer, a smart, intelligent kid. I like watching him play a lot.”
Tyler Smith and J.P. Prince:
“Tyler Smith, to me he's a mismatch guy that's really difficult to guard because they play him at the small forward spot and he's a lot bigger and stronger than other small forwards in this league. He's got the strength to play the power forward spot but he's so much quicker than most power forwards. He's a terrific, terrific player. He had a great freshman year at Iowa last year but he just changes the complexion of their team athletically. Then you got a guy like J.P. Prince. I saw him play a lot in high school and at 6'8” he's almost like a point guard. Terrific passer, great feel for play. High school he was a pretty good three-point shooter but he hasn't taken as many threes at Tennessee but a guy who can get out on the break and distribute. There's no question those two guys have been a very positive impact.”
