With Yeguete Out, Gators Will Need Additional Production Off The Bench Saturday At Georgia
Friday, February 24, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
ATHENS, Ga. -- About 30 minutes before practice Thursday, five players, a handful of managers and assistant coach John Pelphrey stepped on the Florida court. For Casey Prather and Cody Larson, this practice before the practice was every bit as important as the real thing.
Maybe more.
“It goes without saying that guys need to step up now,” Larson said. “Our teammates are relying on us.”
The Gators have needed them before, but not like this. When forward Will Yeguete suffered a season-ending broken foot Tuesday, UF lost a significant man in their rotation; the club's best front court defender and rebounder, and a guy who at the top of the press helps make the Gators go and get the game into a chaotic state.
No one player off the bench can replace the skills and intangibles Yeguete brought to his team, so Coach Billy Donovan must search for contributions among a series of backups, most notably, Prather and Larson, a duo that in 17 games since just before Christmas has combined for just four points, 15 rebounds and 15 DNPs (as in “Did Not Play”).
That's why Pelphrey had the two out on the floor early Thursday, working on post moves, baseline takes, shots off screens, etc. All while a trio of walk-ons pawed, patted and pushed them in the paint.
“The focus was to put those guys in situations to gain confidence,” Pelphrey said. “Were they going against the kinds of players they'll be going against the SEC? No. But they were going against guys that help promote confidence.”
It may not come right away -- like Saturday night, for example, when the 12th-ranked Gators (22-6, 10-3) go to Georgia (12-15, 3-10) at Stegeman Coliseum -- but some facsimile of faith in themselves, plus some positive results, needs to manifest fairly soon as Florida beelines for the finish line of the Southeastern Conference schedule and looks to the postseason.
UF needs one more win (or a Tennessee loss) to clinch a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. A date against the Bulldogs, who rank last in the league in scoring, represents the best opportunity to make that happen, what with trips to Vanderbilt and a season-ending home date against No. 1 Kentucky all that's left after Saturday.
The Gators need both Prather and Larson, who have averaged less than six minutes a game in conference play, to give the team something -- anything -- on either end of the court.
“Guys have got to step up,” Donovan said. “Simple as that.”
For these two, it'll be a big step, hence the extra preparation.
“It helps, just in putting us in situations that we'll be in during games. Helps me, helps Cody,” Prather said. “We have to be ready. The team is leaning on us now to help.”
Quite the dilemma, really, for two guys who call the other his best friend.
“We get to go through it together,” Larson smiled. “We'll be pulling for each other. We have more responsibility now.”
Prather, the 6-foot-6, 212-pound forward, might be the best athlete on the team, but he's averaging only 1.6 points per game on 25.6 percent shooting this season and has more than twice as many turnovers (16) as assists (7). The coaches just could not keep him on the floor earlier in the season because of turnovers and his hesitation with decisions in the half-court offense.
The 6-9 Larson has battled some illnesses during the season and is down from his listed 231 pounds and thus, at times, gets overpowered inside. He's averaging less than a point (0.6) and rebound (0.9) per game.
OK, now the good news.
Last week at Alabama, with Yeguete back in Gainesville recovering from a concussion, and the following outing at Arkansas, Larson came off the bench and grabbed three rebounds in each game. That's a start. But he also had a fairly easy chance at a basket in the post in one game, went up and got blocked from behind -- by a guard.
“That play kind of stuck out in my mind,” Pelphrey said. “He's good enough to make that play, but for whatever reason he hasn't figured it out or doesn't have the confidence.”
In Tuesday night's comeback win over Auburn, Prather scored his first field goal since Dec. 9 against Rider, grabbing an offensive rebound, power-dribbling once and taking the ball up for a stick-back.
“That was a big play for him,” Pelphrey said.
One play, but it was a reference point for success. Neither Prather or Larson have had many of those this season. They'll need some against the Bulldogs for the team, absolutely, but maybe more significantly for themselves.
“It's only natural. The more good things happen, the better you feel,” Prather said. “But I can't get caught up in that stuff and thinking about it too much. I just have to go out and play.”
Sounds simple.
“It is simple,” Larson said. “If I can go out and do some things to help the team, I can walk away with my head high.”
Maybe his confidence a little higher, too.
GATORS GAMEBOX
No. 12 Florida at Georgia
Tip-off: 4 p.m. (Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Ga.)
Records: Florida 22-6, 10-3; Georgia 12-15, 3-10
TV: ESPNU (w/Carter Blackburn and Dino Gaudio)
Radio: Gator IMG Sports Network (w/Mick Hubert and Steve Woodard) -- Click here for affiliates) / Sirius 220/XM 199
Game notes: Florida notes
Need to know: The return game to Georgia and rematch from a contest won earlier this year by the Gators 70-48 at Gainesville, giving UF 15 wins in the last 17 meetings. ... The Gators can clinch a bye in the Southeastern Conference Tournament with one win in their final three league games or one loss by Tennessee in its final three. ... After starting the season 0-4 on the road, UF has won two straight road games, and four of the previous five with the lone loss coming at No. 1 Kentucky ... Look for lots of four-guard sets for the Gators, following the loss of sophomore F Will Yeguete for the season with a broken foot. ... Florida won at Georgia last year 104-91 in double-overtime, keyed by senior PG Erving Walker's 30-foot 3-pointer with one second remaining in the first OT. ... Walker, after a four-game string of shooting 2-for-18 from the arc, is 13 of his last 22 (59 percent) from the floor in the previous two games, including 8-for-13 (61.5 percent) from distance. ... Walker is the team's third-leading scorer at 12.4 ppg and ranks second in the SEC in assists at 4.9 apg. ... Junior G Kenny Boynton (17.6 ppg) has been hot of late, too. He's made 13 of his last 25 shots, including 9-for-17 from 3. Freshman G Bradley Beal's numbers (14.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) are creeping up as well, but UF could use some more production inside from 6-9, 255-pound C Patric Young (10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg), who has grabbed more than six rebounds only once in the previous nine games. ... Georgia has lost three straight and seven of its last nine. The Bulldogs are led by their backcourt of senior Gerald Robinson (14.2 ppg, 4 rpg) and freshman G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (13.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg), who was a McDonald's All-American as a prep last year, but was held to just 8 points on 3-for-13 shooting in the first meeting against the Gators. ... Georgia ranks at the bottom of the SEC in scoring (61 ppg) and field-goal percentage (39.2), but also allows less than 63 points per game, preferring a slower, halfcourt tempo.
