Gators, Noles Prepare For Showdown On The Hardwood
Sunday, November 28, 2010 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida men's basketball coach Billy Donovan keeps looking at the calendar, and sure enough, the calendar keeps saying it is November to his surprise.
In what has been a busy early portion of the schedule, the No. 16-ranked Gators (4-1) leave the comfort of the O'Connell Center for the first time tonight when they play here at archrival Florida State (5-0).
The Gators' only loss came to No. 3 Ohio State and freshman star Jared Sullinger. Florida has also faced Morehead State and power forward Kenneth Faried, a projected first-round NBA pick. In Tuesday's win over Florida Atlantic, veteran coach Mike Jarvis and his team gave the Gators all they wanted.
Next up: a very athletic FSU team featuring junior forward Chris Singleton, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and in Gators senior forward Chandler Parsons' mind, the best player he saw at last summer's camp hosted by NBA star LeBron James.
“He's really good,'' Parsons said. “He's strong. He's a freak athletically. He can do a little bit of everything. He's already had a triple-double. He's a guy we are going to have to really focus on.''
Singleton is FSU's leading scorer (17.4 points per game) and rebounder (10.8 per game). He is also a player that demands the kind of attention that forces coaches to game plan around him.
Parsons could spend some of his night defending Singleton, as are his frontcourt mates in power forward Alex Tyus and center Vernon Macklin. Singleton is more of a natural small forward, but his size (6-foot-9, 220 pounds) allows Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton to use Singleton in a variety of ways.
The Seminoles lost power forward Ryan Reid and center Solomon Alabi to the NBA following last season, and Singleton contemplated leaving school early. Instead, he stayed and has FSU shooting for a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“He's a guy you can't play one-on-one,'' Donovan said. “You've got to give a lot of help. For a power forward matching up against a guy like that is unique because he can do so many things. He can put it on the floor, he can get his own shot, he shoots 3s, he can play out in transition, [and] he can take you off the bounce.
“He's got a whole variety. He'll be as good as anybody we play against in terms of being a complete player.''
For the Gators to have a better trip to Tallahassee than the UF football team's visit on Saturday, they will not only have to keep Singleton from taking over the game, but they must play their game.
Since a 79-66 win over FAU on Tuesday, Florida has gotten some much-needed practice time due to their first extended break from game action. Donovan wants to see a team making better decisions tonight against a tall and athletic Seminoles team.
Through five games, UF's returning players have 57 assists and 56 turnovers.
“That's not good,'' Donovan said. “It's just too much. We need to make better decisions with the ball – shot-selection decisions, passing decisions, offensive decisions.''
Parsons knows he is one of the players who must improve in his decision-making. Parsons admitted he was frustrated at times in the FAU game, which led to some unforced errors. Parsons finished with eight points and six rebounds against the Owls.
“When our offense wasn't going well, we didn't handle that well,'' Donovan said. “We can't create adversity for ourselves.''
Facing the Seminoles adds another twist in tonight's game. The Gators won last year's meeting in Gainesville, 68-52, forcing FSU into 23 turnovers.
They hope to have similar results Sunday.
“It's huge. It's a big in-state rivalry for us,'' said Parsons, who committed to FSU early in his high school career before changing his mind. “We just want to go in there and our play our game. We want to be disruptive and press.''
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton has been around the UF-FSU rivalry long enough to know what to expect.
“We have some experienced guys coming back that are the core of the team and so does Florida,'' Hamilton told the Tallahassee Democrat. “I'm sure they're going to play extremely hard. I know we'll be excited and give tremendous effort. These games always bring out the best in someone — some individual steps up and has a great game.''
Meanwhile, Donovan can finally flip the calendar to December soon. But first, the Seminoles and Singleton stand in the way.
“They are a very, very good team,'' Donovan said. “Anytime you are going on the road playing a good team, it's always going to be a challenge.''
GATOR GAMEBOX
Florida at Florida State
When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee
TV: FSN
Radio: Gator Radio Network
Notes: Donovan said Macklin is not expected to miss any games to rest his sore right knee. “We talked to him about the resting part. He doesn't feel like he needs to rest. I don't anticipate right now us holding him out of any games or just shutting him down a couple of weeks.'' … The Gators are 39-22 all-time vs. FSU; they have lost three in a row in Tallahassee, last winning Dec. 6, 2002 … The UF backcourt of Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton is averaging 28.6 points and combined for 21 of UF's 31 three-pointers.
