Hoops Notebook: Just a Scratch for Young -- and Maybe Some Eyewear
Thursday, November 24, 2011 | Men's Basketball
By Chris Harry
GatorZone.com Contributing Writer
It wasn't as nasty-looking as, say, Sugar Ray Leonard against Tommy Hearns, but center Patric Young's right eye did not look very good after getting poked chasing a rebound late in the first half of Monday night's 78-65 defeat of Wright State in Tampa.
Young had to leave the game, and when the team came out of the locker after intermission the 6-foot-9, 247-pound sophomore remained on the bench for nearly 10 minutes of game clock with an ice bag pressed against his face.
“It was really like a dark gray when I tried to open my eye,” Young said. “It was scary.”
So were the prospects of the Gators playing without their one, true low-post presence.
And so it was with relief for all Florida folks to see Young -- swollen, bloodshot eye and all -- re-enter the game at the 10:53 mark of the second half and chip in for his five points (granted on just 1-for-7 shooting) and seven rebounds.
Young's eye looked much better Wednesday and will get two more days of healing before the Gators (3-1) take the court Friday to face Jacksonville (2-2) at the O'Connell Center.
Coach Billy Donovan said Young suffered a laceration -- “I don't know the medical term, but it's on the white part of his eye.” -- but had been cleared by team doctors to for practice and games. Goggles have been advised, as a precaution.
“He may go with the Bo Outlaw glasses for a while,” Donovan said.
Added Young: “We've called Horace Grant. They're coming in soon.”
Young, a McDonald's All-American at Jacksonville Providence, has never worn protective googles on the court and isn't particularly excited about doing it for the first time in a game against his hometown Dolphins, who upset the Gators at the O'Dome last season.
Beats the alternative, though.
“It could be a whole lot worse,” he said. “I could have to wear goggles my whole career, but that probably won't happen.”
SHOT NOT QUITE ON POINT
Senior point guard Erving Walker is hitting just 36.4 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent from the 3-point line. That might be a reason for concern, if the Gators collectively weren't making 47.8 percent of their shots and 43.5 percent of their threes.
He's not too discouraged right now.
“I'm getting my teammates shots,” said Walker, who is averaging 5 assists per game and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. “I would say they're just not falling right now. I'm not going to be too concerned. Just keep shooting and stay confident.”
IN CODY'S DEFENSE
With Young on the bench Monday, Donovan turned to redshirt freshman Cody Larson for some frontcourt help in the second half. Larson never really looked comfortable, finishing with no points or shot attempts or rebounds, but had a turnover when he fumbled a pass out of bounds.
Donovan took the blame, saying Larson's ineffective minutes were more a symptom of a team (and coaching staff) still looking for the right rotation of reserves.
“That was a product of him being on the bench,” Donovan said. “The hardest thing, I think, for a guy being on the bench is that, 'When am I going in?' I think we have a little bit of that with our bench. There's not a flow where they know they're going in. Like last year, Scottie [Wilbekin] pretty much knew he was coming in to give Erving a blow. There was balance.”
This team is still searching for that balance.
“That's my responsibility, but I do think we have to get Cody in the rotation and get him in a position where he's giving us some more depth across our front line. And I do trust him,” Donovan said. “I just have to do a better job with our rotation. I like coming off the bench with Mike [Rosario] and Casey [Prather] early in the game, then coming back with Scottie. When we got playing small there in the first half [against Wright State], I probably needed to find some minutes for Cody, and never really did it.”
Larson has played in each of UF's four games (27 total minutes), hit two of three field goals and grabbed seven rebounds.
BILLY FEELING URBAN'S ANGST
Former Gators football coach Urban Meyer is reportedly considering -- or already accepted, depending on the media outlet -- a highly lucrative contract to go to Ohio State. Donovan and Meyer, of course, each won a pair of national championships from 2006-08.
They're also neighbors and good friends.
Donovan said he'd spoken with Meyer very recently and understood what his former UF colleague was going through and gave a long and thoughtful answer on the subject.
“I think he loves football. I think he's re-evaluating what he wants to do as a coach,” Donovan said. “I think that sometimes people look at things maybe a little differently than what reality is. I understand it's, 'Is he taking the job? Is he not taking the job? Has Ohio State offered him?' But i think the biggest thing for him right now that he's trying to get his arms around [is this]: When you get a chance to win a couple national championships, every coach wants to experience that. But there is a perception created that it brings a level of worth and value to your life -- and it really doesn't.
“Tom Brady made this comment after winning his third Super Bowl. He said, 'Is this all there is in life? There's got to be more.' You have to really enjoy the process of being with these guys each and every day, and sometimes there's victories that nobody sees but that you have to really look at in terms of getting these guys better. I think what happened for Urban happened for me, too. “OK, it's happened twice, [so] why am I coaching? What is my purpose for coaching besides just winning?' And I don't think your drive and desire diminishes in wanting that to happen, but it doesn't necessarily make your life complete when it does happen.
“I think there are so many coaches out there chasing that, thinking that something is going change, but when they get it, I'm not sure it does. And for Urban, it's a matter of balance right now. Of chasing championships, his family, his health, those things. Can I balance it? Can I make that all work? Can I do it in a way that I can feel good about myself? Feel good about my family? Feel good about me as a coach?' I think he's evaluating those kinds of things, and then he has to figure out how he can go about enjoying the process.
“This is not about Ohio State. Do I think he'll go back and coach? Yeah, I think he will. But he's got to get to a place where he feels good about the other aspects of his life he thought he was missing out on and wasn't as attentive to as he wanted to be.”
