Forward Devin Robinson (above vs Purdue) and Dorian Finney-Smith look to bounce back from their second-half benching last week against Jacksonville.
Gators Better Be Ready to Run with Seminoles
Tuesday, December 29, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Welcome back, guys.
Now, go play one of the biggest, fastest teams in college basketball.
That's the charge for the Florida Gators (8-3), who sleepwalked through the first half of their last outing -- an 89-65 home defeat of Jacksonville that drew the ire (both public and private) of Coach Mike White -- and now a week and short Christmas adjournment later gets a call from rival Florida State (9-2) Tuesday night at the O'Connell Center.
FSU, led by a pair of high-scoring freshmen who were among the hottest recruits in the country a year ago, will come to town with guns loaded and ready to fire. In 6-foot-7 Duane Bacon and 6-5 Malik Beasley, the Seminoles are an open-floor nightmare in waiting, which means any facsimile of the defensive effort (or lack thereof) the Gators displayed the last time out with will cost them dearly.
In the form of run-out dunks.
Or 3-pointers in transition.
"These guys go," UF sophomore forward Devin Robinson said. "They leak out, get the ball and they score. They're scoring machines. Our defense has to step up a lot this game to contain that. If not, it'll be a long night."
Senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith (No. 10 above) plays defense in UF's win over Oklahoma State during his MVP performance in the Orange Bowl Classic on Dec. 19 at Sunrise, Fla.
It was Robinson and senior forward Dorian Finney-Smith who took the bull Gators' share of White's wrath in the aftermath of the JU game. Florida led by just eight at halftime and its two forwards had shown little in terms of effort or energy.
They stayed on the bench when the second half commenced. Obviously, neither player was happy about, but White wanted to see how they'd respond.
"It was his way of challenging us," Finney-Smith said.
White wasn't the only one. Point guard Kasey Hill went to both players and encouraged them to keep their heads in the game. Stay engaged, Hill encouraged. When back in, Hill said, bring energy and change the game.
Once White put them on the floor, Finney-Smith scored 10 points and Robinson scored five during a 16-0 run that blew the game open.
"I learned my lesson, right there," Robinson said. "It was definitely a wake-up call that something given to us can always be taken away."
White reiterated the lesson the next morning by putting his team through a brutal 90-minute practice -- after a weight-lifting session, no less -- of running, shooting, running, free throws, running, running, shooting ... well, you get the idea. It gave everyone something to think about when they left afterward for the short Christmas break.
If White has tried to instill one concept more than any other in his first season, it's playing hard and doing your job, especially on the defensive end. Shots may not fall (and with this bunch, that is often the case), but energy is something everyone can control.
The message took on an even more critical meaning, given the Southeastern Conference season starts Saturday. Robinson "We have to hold each other more accountable," Robinson said.
The players returned from holiday break Saturday night. Sunday was one of the team's best practices of the season. Monday wasn't bad, either. Good thing. The Gators needed to be crisp (and better be Tuesday night) because the Seminoles have the speed and firepower to turn the O'Dome into an indoor 5-on-5 relay race.
"They're as talented of a team that we'll play all year," White said.
Offensively, the Gators better be cognizant when it comes to rotating back on shot attempts because the Seminoles will get rebounds and be gone. That makes offensive rebounding, something UF has done pretty well, a pivotal factor, also. As Robinson said, FSU likes to "leak out," which means there will be opportunities for man-advantages on the glass.
Defensively, closing out the 3-point line will be paramount. The Gators have been OK at this year, but also paid for inefficiencies in that area in losses at Purdue and Miami. And against Jacksonville, it was one of talking points going into the game, but the Dolphins still went 7-for-17 for the game (41.2 percent).
FSU isn't a great 3-point team (29.7 percent), but they have a great 3-point shooter in Beasley (20 of 47 for the season, 42.6 percent), and given the offense-first makeup of the team and its skill in the open floor -- with Bacon, Beasley, Devin Bookert, Benji Bell and assist maven Xavier Rathan-Mayes -- UF does not want to allow the Seminoles to dictate tempo and get good looks in transition.
With all due respect to Jacksonville, this isn't Jacksonville.
Better not show up like it's Jacksonville.
"If we don't go out and play as hard as we can, it's going to be a one-sided game," Finney-Smith said. "But I think we are going to play hard."
