Donovan talks Boynton benching
Monday, March 5, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It had little to nothing to do with Sunday's outcome, but the Florida Gators didn't need the distraction Kenny Boynton provided by being 25 minutes late for a team meeting Saturday morning.
Boynton's tardiness cost him the start against Kentucky. The junior guard from Pompano Beach was benched from the starting lineup, replaced by sophomore Scottie Wilbekin, and checked in at the 14:11 mark of the first half with his team down one point.
The Gators took their only lead of the game 20 seconds later, then lost it for good 10 seconds after that, as the No. 1 Wildcats rolled to a 74-59 win at the O'Connell Center.
It's pretty late in the season for players, especially a stalwart like Boynton (99 starts in 101 career games before Sunday) to be manufacturing adversity -- even of the minor variety -- but that's what Coach Billy Donovan had to deal with over the weekend.
“Kenny is a great kid,” Donovan said. “Being on time. Doing what [you're] supposed to be doing. Every year your team goes through something that just has to be learned. We have to get better at that.”
He went on to point out that one of the most impressive things about the Kentucky, now 30-1 after finishing 16-0 in Southeastern Conference play, is the way the players obviously take care of business, including freshman Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
“The reason they're special is because of their maturity, their focus [and] because of their ability to remain undistracted in what they're doing,” Donovan said. “I think at that age, it's rare.”
The Gators, Donovan said, sometimes lack that maturity as it relates to the demands of life at a high-level Division-I program with equally high expectations.
“As much as I want to expedite the process with these people,” he said. “You can't.”
Boynton came off the bench to score seven points, making two of eight shots, including 1-for-5 from the 3-point line, in 25 minutes.
