Donovan Addresses Media to Preview Pivotal Clash With Tennessee
Monday, February 22, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan
Press Conference Quotes
Opening Statement:
“It's another short week for us. The one positive for us going into the game is probably a positive as well for Tennessee, in that both teams have already played each other. Their team has changed a little bit more getting (Brian) Williams back, who didn't play against us last time. He's a very strong, physical front court player. (Melvin) Goins is playing a lot more and has been moved into the starting lineup. There will be some personnel things that we'll have to deal with. The fact that they've been playing smaller at times and have been using (J.P.) Prince in the power forward spot will be a bit of a different look than we saw at the end of January.”
On Tennessee's rebounding in the last meeting between the two teams:
“We're going to have to do a better job as it relates to loose basketballs, block-out situations. In the first half, we did a fairly good job with block-outs on the glass, but in the second half, it was definitely a problem for us. Hopefully that was a game we learned from and have gotten better from. Our guys know the importance of rebounding now and I thought in our last game against Ole Miss, which is a spectacular rebounding team because they're so aggressive, we did a pretty good job at eliminating their second-chance shots when they did go up. We'll have to do the same thing for 40 minutes against Tennessee with their quickness, length and size.”
On Kenny Boynton's three-point shooting:
“You want to teach and you want your kids to learn. We had a crucial play in the game at Ole Miss. Everyone wanted to talk about Dan Werner stopping to shoot the ball. He made a huge, huge three on a blocked shot with the shot clock running down. Sometimes the ball falls in guys' hands when they are wide open. When you're dealing with young players, you can't say, 'never shoot, never shoot, stop shooting the ball.' Then all of a sudden they're sitting there wide open on a play and they think back about their coaches telling them not to shoot. I was happy that Dan Werner stepped up and took the shot with a level of confidence and a three-point game went up to six with under five minutes to go. It was a big shot for us. I think Kenny understands where his shooting percentages have been better and the shots he does make, in relation to the shots that are ill-advised, and it is all part of a learning process. He is a streaky shooter. He could knock down six or seven in a game and we'd like that because it would help our team win. The thing I love about Kenny is he's all about the team, he's a great kid and he'll do whatever is asked of him. The way he shot the ball bothers him more than anyone and I know how hard he takes it, but we need him. He's been defending well and I have a responsibility as a coach to let him know and teach him when good and bad times are to pull up and take a shot.”
On how Chandler Parsons has matured and how the maturation has affected his play:
“There was an enormous amount of success here at Florida that these guys followed when they got to campus and they didn't have any idea or picture or understanding about what it's all about. When they got here, as much as I tried to explain and tell them, they thought they were next in line to win it all. They didn't have any clue about what goes into winning. I think Chandler was one guy, in his first two years, that was disillusioned about what goes into a team and what he needed to do as a player to contribute. He never had a clear understanding and never addressed his issues during his first two years. He thought he had it figured out, what he needed to do, and he didn't because his focus was on things that had nothing to do with winning. The thing that I've seen, and he's one of the few players I've coached – he takes home game film, the game we played and he also takes home film of the next opponent we're playing. He actually watches film. I can tell he's changed because he talks about it in a totally different perspective than he did two years ago. There are things he's seeing out there that he would have never recognized two years ago. Through his ups and downs, the one thing about Chandler I love is that he has an incredible persistency to figure it out. Some guys don't have great resiliency when things don't go well – they give in and quit. Chandler has a mental fight to want to figure out what he's got to do to get better. It's allowed him to be more aggressive and confident as a player.”
On the key to Vernon Macklin being consistent offensively:
“One thing is our ability to try to get him the ball in areas that he can score. He made some pretty tough plays at Ole Miss. He ran the floor well and we were able to get him the ball over the top to get some lay-ups. The other thing is he went to the free-throw line and he made free throws. Against Xavier, he missed all of his free-throws and that helped him get motivated a little bit. This is really the first year he's played significant time in a significant role. He's playing more now than he did his first year at Georgetown, so there's still a learning curve for him.”
On approaching the game against Tennessee:
“I think it's a tough series in the SEC – the last several games in the past couple of years Tennessee has won. We were right there and it was a great game in Knoxville. I don't think a year ago we were capable of beating high quality teams, which was evident by what our record was against RPI top-50. We were 3-12 in two years. In this game right now, our guys understand what goes into winning. What's in the past is in the past. Certainly you can learn from tape, but I think it's another game that's a tough team on our side in the East that we've got to go out and battle. They've been ranked all year long and they've gone through their share of adversity. I'm sure for them, emotionally, it's been one of those years as well. For our team, it's about going in there and putting ourselves in a great position and committing to winning. We've just to focus on the things that we can control and our minds have to be in the game for 40 minutes.”
On being tied for third in the SEC East and how that will affect play:
“I hope our guys come out with intensity every game. I would hope our guys play their hardest and are focused every game. That's what you want as a coach. We need to go out there and play to the best of our ability. These guys have been confident all year and I haven't seen their confidence slip away in any situation. We haven't always played well, but I haven't seen a confidence issue.”
