Doe-Doe Getting It Done-Done for Gators
Thursday, January 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There's a running joke directed at Dorian Finney-Smith. Not a single joke, but more of a comical theme.
The guy knows how to get his sleep on.
“It's unbelievable,” said teammate Jake Kurtz, who rooms with Finney-Smith on the road. “If he has to leave to go somewhere in five minutes, he'll take a four-minute nap first.”
Finney-Smith's 2012-13 season, when the Florida forward could only practice per NCAA rules after transferring from Virginia Tech, has been referred to by Coach Billy Donovan as a “Motel 6 season.” You know, the Gators would leave the light on for him.
Now a fourth-year junior, maybe Finney-Smith has an internal light that has gone off. That or the guy is really, really well-rested. Whatever the case, the one known as “Doe-Doe” is no longer looks like he's sleepwalking through moments of his basketball career.
“I'm just trying to play with more energy,” said Finney-Smith, who will lead UF (9-6, 2-0) into Thursday night's Southeastern Conference game against Auburn (9-6, 1-1) at the O'Connell with a chance to remain unbeaten in league play. “It's about getting out of myself and just trying to do things to help the team win. What we're doing as a team is putting me in position to do things like get shots and rebounds.”
Dorian Finney-Smith chases a rebound at South Carolina. [Photos by Tim Casey]
The upward trend of Finney-Smith play has reflected the pace with which he has recovered from a pair of hairline fractures suffered to his left hand Nov. 14 against William & Mary before the regular season was even four minutes old. Finney-Smith missed the next game (a last-second loss to Miami), then played the next eight with a split on his hand.
The first four games -- three of them against a formidable run of Georgetown, North Carolina and Kansas -- he averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting 44 percent from the 25 percent from the 3-point line. In the last eight, as both the pain and the size of the split decreased, Finney-Smith has averaged 16.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in making 54 percent from the floor and 43 from long-distance.
“He's playing at a really high level right now,” forward Alex Murphy said.
But his statistics only tell part of the story.
The aforementioned commentary directed at Finney-Smith's penchant for enjoying his rest also cover his willingness to bring a motor not just to every game, but every possession. His skills set and selflessness have allowed Donovan to play him at all five positions at times this season -- including possessions at point guard each of the last two games -- but it's a totally engaged, energized and locked-in Finney-Smith that flashes at a different level; even more than the one who was the 2014 SEC Sixth Man of the Year last season when he started just two games yet averaged 8.7 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds odd the bench.
“He performs better when he's challenged and last year was sort of a Catch-22 for him,” Donovan said. “Last year, coming off the bench, was one of those things where he kind of wanted to fit in. ... but he was never one of those guys that really wanted to inject himself and do more. He never wanted to hurt chemistry. At times last year we needed him to do more, and I'm not so sure he ever felt comfortable that doing more would be the best thing for our team.”
This year, with a far younger team and not one player in a similar role as last season, Finney-Smith not only has to provide more winning basketball plays, more intangibles, too.
Like his voice.
“He's way more vocal this year,” Kurtz said.
You can hear him barking on defense and also when gathering his teammates together during timeouts. That is something that hasn't come naturally for Finney-Smith, yet something he was told the team needed.
From him.
“I've taken that as something of a challenge,” said Finney-Smith, whose overall demeanor on the floor is much more animated. “Sometimes I can be a little laid back, but I'm basically a senior now. I have to take on that role.”
Finney-Smith howls as he sprawls across the floor after an offensive rebound and stickback basket in the second half against the Gamecocks.
There's a far more confident look about him that Finney-Smith wears like a finely tailored suit. He's come a long way since last season when he battled mental demons whenever his shot wasn't falling -- and, boy, was it not falling. At one point, Finney-Smith missed 22 straight 3-point shots over a seven-game SEC stretch. Through it all, his teammates encouraged him to keep firing away. Which he did.
And then at Vanderbilt, Finney-Smith buried a trio of trey balls, including a game-sealer with 30 seconds left in what turned out to be a 3-point win in UF's first game of the season ranked No. 1.
“I haven't changed my shot,” he said. “I've just stopped worrying about the last one.”
That's a mentality junior guard Michael Frazier II has often struggled with. Donovan even benched Frazier two games ago for thinking too much about previous misses. Maybe Finney-Smith can rub some of that off on his teammates.
Given the way the Gators have played the last two games, both very Florida-like SEC wins, maybe he already has.
For sixth man to main man.
“Last year was an opportunity for me to learn. Coach always says you earn all your failures and all your achievements,” Finney-Smith said. “I wouldn't say this is a new Doe-Doe, but I'm definitely playing more freely and my teammates are doing a good job keeping me in the moment.”
For the good of the Gators, he needs to stay right where he is.
