Donovan Wants Gators to Take a Stand
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Nearly two years ago, Eli Carter broke his leg during his sophomore season at Rutgers, the recovery of which -- most of it coming after he transferred to Florida -- was both difficult and devastating. Nineteen months later, when Carter finally made it back to feeling healthy and confident, he suffered a painful foot sprain. And right when he appeared recovered from that, strep throat settled in.
“Kind of one thing after another,” Carter, now a fourth-year junior at UF, said Monday. “It's been rough.”
Amid the maladies, Carter popped in and out of the Gators lineup, depending on the pain. Then came the illness, which hit after Carter was two games into his return from the foot. That cost him another game. He actually lost 13 pounds. 
Upon the team's return from Christmas break last week, Coach Billy Donovan met with each player individually and talked about their roles. His chat with Carter (pictured right) took into account his run of tough luck, but zeroed in more on his overall game and approach. Yes, the foot had a lot to do with going 2-for-18 in two games (and two losses) in the Bahamas tournament, but Donovan knew enough about Carter's hot-and-cold career at Rutgers to know this was part of the package. He also knew Carter is way too court savvy and capable of doing too much to let that inconsistency impact his overall game.
And thus the team.
“I told him, if he's missing shots and not helping the team in other areas, he's coming out of the game. Period,” Donovan said. “That doesn't mean I'm putting pressure on him to make shots. If he's having a difficult shooting night there's enough in other parts of his game to inject into what we're doing. But if he's having one of those tough nights and not making anyone better -- no assists, not playing great defense -- he can't play. He understands that.”
This isn't a story about Carter as much as one of the state of the Gators. Carter's tale of inconsistency sort of mimics the Florida 2014-15 season in microcosm.
That's why Donovan's has posed the question to his team both directly and rhetorically since the Gators returned from their holiday break. In some very spirited and competitive practices the last few days, winners of the mini-scrimmages have celebrated and the losers have run. Several times, the latter got the question.
“What do we stand for? We're going to find out.”
UF has operated the balance of its non-conference season without much consistency or identity, with the suspensions, injuries and eligibility issues absolutely factoring into it all. That's about to change.
When the Gators (7-4), winners of four straight, go the Tucker Center to face rival Florida State (7-5) Tuesday night they'll take the court will a full complement of players for the first time this season. With two games to go before diving into the Southeastern Conference schedule -- with defending national champion Connecticut coming to the O'Connell Center on Saturday -- just who this Florida team and, yes, what it stands for is about to come into focus. 
Whether that's more across the stat sheet from Carter, a constantly humming motor from Dorian Finney-Smith, Kasey Hill operating warp speed every possession or Chris Walker (left) committing to sprinting the floor with abandon, it's time for it to all start melding together. That means it's time for each player to carve his individual niche that helps the team win. The Southeastern Conference season starts next week.
Around the UF practice gym hang signs that say simply, “95%,” as in the amount of time the game is played without the ball in your hands. That's a whole bunch of time, so you better be doing something to help the team.
“What can we hang our hat on every single game that we'll do that will have an impact in the game?” Donovan said Monday. “For us, to be honest with you, that's been very, very erratic and not consistent. There's hasn't been one thing that I can look to and say, 'We're doing this at a very high level.' Whether that's your identity or searching to find out who you are, there are a lot of ways to put it.”
Defense was the calling card of the last two Florida teams. And the 2013-14 team didn't win a school-record 30 in a row without bringing a certain intensity every night; especially when those Gators -- ranked No. 1 in the nation the last six weeks of the season -- was getting everybody's best shot.
But with two key players (Finney-Smith and Carter) in and out of the lineup due to injury or sickness, another (Walker) suspended to start the season and yet another (forward Alex Murphy, by way of Duke) becoming eligible just 10 days ago due to NCAA transfer rules, the opportunity to find continuity and chemistry wasn't there.
That excuse is gone.
“I don't think it's any one solution or one simple thing you can do to become consistent,” Murphy said. “We've just scratched the surface of what we can do.”
After the Gators, in their last game, defeated Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla. -- and Murphy was folded into the equation with an impressive debut of nine points, four rebounds, a couple steals and blocks -- Donovan was quick to caution that just having all his players back wasn't necessarily a solution to some of the problems that haunted the team in losing four of its first seven games, all to top-notch teams in Miami, Georgetown, North Carolina and Kansas.
Now comes the return of Carter, the junior combo guard who has missed six games thus far. He had a big game early in the season when he went 8-for-9 from the floor and scored 21 points in two-point loss to Miami. His foot injury came three days later at practice; his illness two games into his comeback from the foot.
He's healthy now. So now what?
“It's my challenge,” Carter said. “I have to go into each and every game thinking about the 95 percent; affect the game in different ways other than scoring. Whether it's getting teammates involved, rebounding, assists, guarding one of the best players. Whatever Coach wants me to do, I'll have to do that.”
Time to take a stand.
