UF Men's Basketball Prepares For Auburn
Monday, January 12, 2009 | Men's Basketball
On upcoming game versus Auburn:
"This is our first SEC road game for us against a team that is very quick and very athletic. Last year they played a good portion of the year without their center, Korvotney Barber, who is back and is having a great year. They have added some different pieces to their team and they are a team that shoots the ball from behind the line very well. They also are a team that changes defenses and tries to give you a bunch of different looks. Going on the road, I think us handling the ball will be critical. I think we will see some full court pressure and some changes in defense in the half court so our ability to continue to do a good job on assist to turnover ration will be very important. Another big key to the game will be those quickness plays and loose ball plays because they are so quick to the ball. They are a unique to team to defend because they do have the ability to play five guys in the perimeter and put five three-point shooters out there, so that will be a challenge. We have a lot to get ready for because they are a complex team that is consistent and somewhat experienced and older. They have guys that have been around for a couple of years."
On Gator's need for consistent play:
"You would always like to see the consistency get better. We have had some great shooting games and some awful shooting games. That is what you are always looking for in a young team, player development and growth."
On Billy Donovan inching in on 300 Gator victories:
"In today's day and age of coaching, it is really hard to stay at a place for a long period of time. I appreciate everyone in the administration for the opportunity they provided for me. In 13 years here going back to Greg Stolt and Eddie Shannon to Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem to Matt Walsh, David Lee and Anthony Roberson, and then to this last group, I have been very fortunate to have had some really good players to coach. I think when you see that number there, it takes me back to when it first started and believing in those guys that changed me as a coach."
On Billy Donovan's first year coaching at UF:
"We were not the most talented group but they played really hard and gave me everything they had. Certainly there were some frustrating games but I give that team a lot of respect. Because they really overachieved. It is always special when you get a chance to be apart of something, impact from the ground floor and be a part of the building process. There is definitely an appreciation for when it all started and everything that went into it."
On being out-rebounded against Ole Miss:
"It is always bad when you get out-rebounded by 24. It is no question a challenge for our frontcourt because they are not physically imposing. We have some guys like Allan Chaney , Kenny Kadji and Eloy Vargas that could help in that department but are deficient and behind in some other areas. Sometimes our players are very much consumed with trying to block out and in trying to do so physically, when the ball comes off the rim, a lot of times, we are not a great team at reacting to the ball. Those are plays that we have to get better in, where a shot is getting ready to go up and you see our guys trying to block out and are under contact and when the ball comes off and they are tangled up. That is one area that we have to try to get better in. The other area is what I call rotational block outs. Our guards sometimes on the perimeter get hammered way too much off the dribble and what happens is the ball enters the paint and we get caught with a big man providing help and the shot goes up and our guards have got to do a better job in rotating down to rebounders that are left open in the middle lane or on the weak side. Our guards contribute to being out-rebounded by 24 as much as our frontcourt did. Nick Calathes ended up having seven rebounds in the game and that is great for a point guard but in retrospect, he probably should have had 12 to 15. He needs to get down inside and rotationally block out. A problem is that our guys don't quite see the play developing in the middle of the play. They react after the play, and that is something they need to get better in. Hopefully through practice, we can try to put them in those situations where we can expose it to them and make them address it."
On Freshman guard Ray Shipman:
"Ray did a pretty good job while he was in there (Ole Miss game). More than anything else, when we play a team that plays zone like they did, Ray still needs to understand his niche on offense. In time, I think that he can be a very good three-point shooter. Most freshmen that come and play in the backcourt, we are not relying on their shooting but on their defense. His understanding in the game on Saturday on how we could utilize his skill set against a zone and be effective is something that will be important to him going in to the rest of the season. He is a guy that could help on the boards but I would not classify him as a great rebounder. He is an active rebounder, especially on the offensive glass, but Ray needs to be the type of player we can put on someone where he can play a defense and put pressure on his opponent and slow somebody down."
On this year's team compared to last year's:
"Last year, they did not know really how to practice. I don't know if Dan Werner, Marreese Speights, and Jonathan Mitchell, who were sophomores, saw the beginning product. To go all the way back to losing to Manhattan in the NCAA tournament and really being dominated in that game and the work that went in to becoming better defensively and getting better, there was a lot of hard work that went in there. Last year on our team, our players just did not know and we didn't have anybody who could really show them the way. At the end of last season, they started to see some of the areas where they needed to get better and saw the correlation between practicing well and having consistency in practice. The next step that comes from practice is the level of commitment on things that we need to get better at as a team. They have gotten better in a lot of different areas. I think we are a better transition defensive team than we were a year ago. There is definitely some deficiency in the things we have and I think every team has it. There is no pure team but the good teams identify what their problems are and what they have to do then find a way to overcome them or really confront them. Some of those things on our team have been exposed to us and now we have to see if can confront them."
On Auburn's Junior guard Tay Waller:
"He is a deep three-point shooter. He has had games where he has taken over 10 three-point shots. He has the green light to shoot and has great range, which is going to be a real challenge for us. This team has a lot of great three-point shooters and we have to be able to block out against this team. We also do not want to give them open, uncontested threes as they really thrive on that."
On Alex Tyus's recent production:
"We have got to understand his game and how to get him the ball and identify where he needs to get the ball. In his first few games, a lot of his points came on transition and in the open court. He did start the Ole Miss game that way as he got a dunk in transition and then Nick (Calathes) made a nice pass behind the defense and he got a layup. He got off to a good offensive start but in the SEC now, he is not going to be able to out run or sneak behind players and get those baskets he had early on. There were some times however, where we could have thrown him the ball and used his quickness and we missed him. I don't think that is anything other than the fact that I have to point that out to the team. Alex has got to find a way to get rebounds and be much more aggressive when he is posting up. I don't think he is ever going to be the smash mouth, post-up, physical guy but there are sometimes when we are coming down in transition and the ball gets past out to the wing and instead of passing it to the top, the guy on the wing should pass be able to pass the ball to him, even if he has a man on him, and let Tyus use his quickness."
