Gators Hope Strong Non-Conference Schedule Has Prepared Them For SEC Play
Friday, January 7, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
(For ticket info click here)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators faced a lineup of skyscrapers against Florida State. They were pressed like a Cuban sandwich by UCF. They battled one of the nation's elite big men in Ohio State's Jared Sullinger. They went mano a mano in a win over then-No. 6-ranked Kansas State.
Next up is the rough-and-tumble Southeastern Conference. The Gators open SEC play on Saturday night at home against Ole Miss.
Florida coach Bill Donovan sees the Gators' tough non-conference schedule – Florida's strength of schedule currently ranks seventh in the nation – as the perfect launching pad for SEC play.
“The only style of play that we have not played against is really a Princeton-style,'' Donovan said Thursday. “We've had a lot of things thrown at us.''
The Gators enter Saturday's SEC opener at the O'Connell Center playing some of their best basketball of the season. They have won three consecutive games, including back-to-back wins over Atlantic 10 members Xavier and Rhode Island. After ending Xavier's 30-game home win streak on New Year's Eve, the Gators played perhaps their most complete game in an 84-59 home win over Rhode Island on Monday.
Florida led from start to finish against the Rams, avoiding any kind of letdown following the impressive victory at Xavier. For a team seeking it first NCAA Tournament victory since winning back-to-back national titles in 2006-07, Donovan and his players feel they are prepared for the challenges the 16-game SEC schedule poses.
Florida was picked to win the SEC by the media during the preseason.
“I think we're ready,'' senior forward Chandler Parsons said. “We've played some really good teams. We've been in some battles, and I think it's really helped us prepare to get ready for conference play. I think our schedule this year has really helped us out.''
The Gators' three losses have come to Ohio State, UCF and Jacksonville. The Buckeyes and Knights are currently ranked, and Jacksonville proved its no slouch with a pair of wins already over SEC teams – the Dolphins also beat Auburn.
While no one is ready to crown the Gators SEC champs, there does seem to appear a renewed sense of confidence entering Saturday's game against the Rebels, who feature guard Chris Warren. He leads Ole Miss in scoring (18.5 points a game) and assists (4.3) and is considered one of the league's premier players.
That confidence comes from the recent win streak against a pair of quality teams and a group of starters who know the rigors of the SEC.
“It's always good to play good teams,'' junior guard Erving Walker said. “That prepares you for now and later on down the line. You don't get a lot out of just blowing people away, so us being in close games, it can't hurt us.''
Two areas the Gators are thriving at are rebounding and defense. They know they'll need to continue to do well at both to win the SEC. Florida leads the SEC in offensive rebounding (42.2 percent), averaging 13.9 offensive rebounds per game.
Defensively, the Gators are limiting opponents to 59.4 points and game and have allowed opponents to shoot only 31.2 percent from three-point range.
The next step according to Donovan is improving at the free-throw line – the Gators are shooting 65.8 percent overall – and reducing turnovers. Florida's assists-to-turnovers ratio is 14.4 to 14.3, which is a point of concern considering the Gators know that the intensity is getting ready to turn up a notch in the SEC.
“I think we've made progress there,'' said Donovan, alluding to Florida's 19 assists against 13 turnovers in Monday's win over Rhode Island. “We are going to have to do a good job of handling the ball.''
The Rebels are expected to aggressively defend Gators guards Walker and Kenny Boynton on Saturday with their three-guard lineup of Warren, Nick Williams and Zach Graham. That could mean extra ball-handling duty for Parsons, who averaged six assists in the wins over Xavier and Rhode Island.
Parsons enjoys that role. He has also tried to make sure his younger teammates know what to expect now that it's SEC time.
“You realize how much more physical it is in the SEC,'' Parsons said.
As was the case last season, the SEC East appears much stronger than the West. The SEC East's top four teams – Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt – went 24-0 against the West a year ago.
Donovan, in his 15th season, downplayed the East's perceived advantage on Thursday and the Gators' dominance over Ole Miss recently. The Gators have won eight of nine over the Rebels and went 6-0 against SEC West teams last year.
What's important in his view is that the Gators shouldn't be surprised at what they see once league play starts. After all, they've pretty much seen it all thanks to that difficult non-conference schedule.
“The one thing that is very, very clear is we've played a really, really competitive and difficult schedule up to this point,'' Donovan said. “And that's a good thing, because I feel like what you're able to do, sometimes your warts, your problems, your issues flower themselves and come to light and you have to address them.
“Because we have played against a lot of different styles and a lot of different teams, I feel like our team is prepared competitively going into the SEC.”
GATOR GAMEBOX
Ole Miss at Florida
Tip-off: 8 p.m., O'Connell Center
Tickets: Available (here)
Game Notes: (here)
TV/Radio: Comcast Sports South (Affiliates)/Cox Sports (Affiliates)/Gator Radio Network (Affiliates)/XM Ch. 141/Sirius Ch. 121
Records: Florida 11-3 (0-0 SEC); Ole Miss 12-3 (0-0)
Need to know: Florida F Erik Murphy (foot/ankle) is not expected to play according to Donovan … Freshman F Will Yeguete, who left Monday's game due to a lower-body injury, returned to practice Thursday and is expected to play … Gators C Vernon Macklin has a strained pectoral muscle – not a shoulder injury as originally diagnosed – but is cleared to play “as pain tolerates'' according to Donovan … Florida football coach Will Muschamp will address the crowd during the first timeout.
