Parsons Says Both Gators and BYU Better Than a Year Ago
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Women's Golf, Scott Carter
The Gators are scheduled to depart Gainesville around 6 p.m. for New Orleans, where they will play BYU in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.
Senior forward Chandler Parsons, the SEC Player of the Year, met with the media this morning to discuss some topics surrounding the game.
Here are some highlights from Parsons' interview:
--BYU's Jimmer Fredette is the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 33 points a game in the Cougars' first two games. No surprise there since Fredette led the nation in scoring during the regular season.
Parsons said the Gators know Fredette is going to score and can't get caught up in being too concerned to stop Fredette since BYU has other talented players around him.
“They are a really good team, and obviously Jimmer has had a ridiculous year, been doing some special things,'' Parsons said. “Their other guys don't get a lot of credit, but they're very good. You don't understand how good they are until you actually play them.
“They are even a better team this year.''
--While Parsons sees a better BYU team than a year ago when the Cougars beat the Gators 99-92 in double overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he also sees an improved Florida team.
“We had a lot of careless turnovers [in last year's loss],'' Parsons said. “That led to them getting a lot of easy buckets. I think we are a totally different team. I think we are a better team.”
The Gators are making their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in 15 seasons under Donovan; meanwhile, this is BYU's first trip to the Sweet 16 since 1981.
--Point guard Erving Walker has reduced his turnovers as the season progressed. Parsons said that has played an important part of the Gators' improvement.
“He is doing a better job of keeping his dribble alive and playing smarter and understanding who is open,'' Parsons said.
--Back to Fredette. He's a major storyline not only of this game, but of this college basketball season.
Gators guard Kenny Boynton is expected to start out guarding Fredette, but freshmen Scottie Wilbekin, Casey Prather and others are likely to take turns.
Parsons is excited about the challenge the Gators face and the opportunity to play against Fredette.
“You watch so much film on him and just wonder how he does it,'' Parsons said. “He's an unbelievable player. We can't give him anything easy, and like I said, we've got to worry about the other four, too. When you play against a guy like that, you understand how good he is, and you try to take away what he's really good at.
“He is going to hit some ridiculous shots. We can't hang our heads on shots that he is going to hit like that. You just have to smack his butt and go down to the other end.''
