Plenty to Work On as Dolphins Come Calling
Sunday, December 14, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Texas Southern's biggest player was 6-foot-9 center Nick Shepherd. In the Gators' 75-50 win Friday night, Shepherd logged 20 minutes and grabbed one rebound. The Tigers' leading man on the glass, Chris Thomas, grabbed none.
And yet the box score showed UF winning the rebounding margin by just two (34-32).
“I was disappointed in that,” Billy Donovan said.
The Gators' coach turned a finger at 6-foot-10 backup sophomore center Chris Walker, who had a nice offensive game with 12 points, but came away with just two rebounds. Walker, Donovan said, is a guy who needs to dominate in situations like those. It was certainly a point of emphasis in practice Saturday, as Florida (5-4) scurried to review the good and bad from the TSU win and ready for Sunday's quick-turnaround date against Jacksonville (2-8) at the O'Connell Center.
Boxing out, free-throw shooting and too many wide-open looks at the basket for the Tigers were areas Donovan and his staff figured to place in their crosshairs as they continue to groom and shape a team that appears to be shaking the early season funk that was a common thread against some really, really good basketball teams.
“Right now, it's about listening to what Coach D wants us to do,” junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith said.
The one message that seems to have sunk in -- PLAY HARDER! -- will remain an ongoing theme. In the interim, the UF coaches will lock in on various other elements that pop up and use them as teaching moments as the Gators work their way toward the start of the Southeastern Conference season next month.
Case in point: Those open shots for the Tigers Friday.
Texas Southern struggled to hit them (33.3 percent from the floor for the game, 26.3 from the 3-point line), but it wasn't because of anything the Gators were doing defensively.
The same open looks against JU Sunday or Wake Forest next week, or at Florida State later this month, or against Connecticut on Jan. 3, would be cause for alarm heading into the SEC season next month.
This (and many other things), the Gators need to understand.
“They're really, really awesome to coach. They do everything I ask them to do,” Donovan said. “But there are still some times, as a coach, where it feels like I'm pulling them, constantly pulling them, to give more and do more. That's an area where we need to get better. That comfort zone is not good.”
After Sunday, the Gators will have just two games over the next 19 days, with a short break for Christmas sprinkled in.
Comfort zones will be challenged.
