Saturday, February 27
Baton Rouge, LA
8:30 PM
Florida Gators
at
LSU
LSU forward Ben Simmons impedes KeVaughn Allen's route to the rim in Florida's 68-62 defeat of the Tigers in Gainesville on Jan. 9.
Bubbling Gators Look to Lock in on LSU
Saturday, February 27, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The defense to start the game Tuesday against Vanderbilt was "horrific." That was the word Florida coach Mike White used in Friday's session with the media.
White spent a minute or two reliving the carnage. He mentioned the ease with which Commodores center Damien Jones scored his 27 points. How the Gators lost 3-point specialists Matthew Fisher-Davis (in transition) and Riley LaChance (in the halfcourt) at crucial moments. A couple times, especially early, Vandy's straight-line drives to the basket resembled a pre-game layup line. The Gators doubled the post without rotating. They didn't box out well enough, allowing an offensive rebound off a free-throw that became a 3-pointer. Lack of communication, lack of awareness, yada, yada, yada.
The Gators had seen this tape before and heard similar coaches' critiques before.
Which is why White spent about the same amount of time reliving the Vandy disappointment with media as he did with his players.
To a man, Florida knows all about its shortcomings. The season is 26 games old. And now, whatever there is to make of 2015-16 will come down to the final week of the season, starting Saturday night when the Gators (17-11, 8-7), losers of two straight and three of the last four, face LSU (16-12, 9-6), losers of four of five, at the Maravich Assembly Center in a game with DEFCON 1 implications as far as both teams' NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Southeastern Conference is shaping up as a four-bid league -- maybe five, if someone gets hot down the stretch -- with both UF and LSU teetering on the edge between in and out. The loser likely moves to the latter category.
"It's a huge game. Every game from here on out is really big. It's big for LSU, it's big for us," White said. "If we spend too much time on the big picture and all the different scenarios, I think it takes away from your opportunity for success at LSU. It's there. We all know it's there. We don't even need to talk about it in the locker room. It's just a matter of, how can we somehow beat LSU by one point?"
Heading into the weekend, Florida sits at No. 42 in the Ratings Percentage Index the NCAA Selection Committee uses to field and seed the tournament. That's a tumble from a cozy 26th, where the Gators sat two weeks ago. They have some favorable factors on their side, namely the seventh-hardest non-conference schedule in the country and a huge win over West Virginia, but those mean nothing without an acceptable amount of victories.
Seventeen is unacceptable. Trouble is, UF has just three regular-season games remaining, plus at least one in the SEC Tournament. The Gators probably need 19, at worst, but 20 would look better.
"Of course, we to want to get to the tournament, but the only way to get there is if we block that all out right now and focus on what's next," junior forward Justin Leon said. "That's not really too big of a challenge. We just have to focus on every game."
LSU's situation is more precarious, which makes the Tigers more dangerous. Their RPI is 88th. They're non-conference slate is 188th and it's been a long time -- 15 games ago -- since their signature defeat of Kentucky on Jan. 5. The Tigers, led by All-America forward in-waiting Ben Simmons, have every reason to be a desperate bunch. Sort of like Vandy, which came to Gainesville earlier in the week on the NCAA's outside looking in.
How'd that go?
Whoops. Never mind. The Gators have moved on, though White admitted he senses his players are a little demoralized right now.
"I wish we were more angry, to be honest," White said. "Our guys have been down."
They'd better be up Saturday night. And Tuesday night against Kentucky. And next week at Missouri.
Opportunities are running out.
"We can get out of this, just as long as we just keep our composure and just go out there and give it all we can for these last three games," Leon said. "We know what's at stake, so we just can't have any let-ups. We've got to be on top of everything."
White spent a minute or two reliving the carnage. He mentioned the ease with which Commodores center Damien Jones scored his 27 points. How the Gators lost 3-point specialists Matthew Fisher-Davis (in transition) and Riley LaChance (in the halfcourt) at crucial moments. A couple times, especially early, Vandy's straight-line drives to the basket resembled a pre-game layup line. The Gators doubled the post without rotating. They didn't box out well enough, allowing an offensive rebound off a free-throw that became a 3-pointer. Lack of communication, lack of awareness, yada, yada, yada.
The Gators had seen this tape before and heard similar coaches' critiques before.
Which is why White spent about the same amount of time reliving the Vandy disappointment with media as he did with his players.
To a man, Florida knows all about its shortcomings. The season is 26 games old. And now, whatever there is to make of 2015-16 will come down to the final week of the season, starting Saturday night when the Gators (17-11, 8-7), losers of two straight and three of the last four, face LSU (16-12, 9-6), losers of four of five, at the Maravich Assembly Center in a game with DEFCON 1 implications as far as both teams' NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Southeastern Conference is shaping up as a four-bid league -- maybe five, if someone gets hot down the stretch -- with both UF and LSU teetering on the edge between in and out. The loser likely moves to the latter category.
"It's a huge game. Every game from here on out is really big. It's big for LSU, it's big for us," White said. "If we spend too much time on the big picture and all the different scenarios, I think it takes away from your opportunity for success at LSU. It's there. We all know it's there. We don't even need to talk about it in the locker room. It's just a matter of, how can we somehow beat LSU by one point?"
Heading into the weekend, Florida sits at No. 42 in the Ratings Percentage Index the NCAA Selection Committee uses to field and seed the tournament. That's a tumble from a cozy 26th, where the Gators sat two weeks ago. They have some favorable factors on their side, namely the seventh-hardest non-conference schedule in the country and a huge win over West Virginia, but those mean nothing without an acceptable amount of victories.
Seventeen is unacceptable. Trouble is, UF has just three regular-season games remaining, plus at least one in the SEC Tournament. The Gators probably need 19, at worst, but 20 would look better.
"Of course, we to want to get to the tournament, but the only way to get there is if we block that all out right now and focus on what's next," junior forward Justin Leon said. "That's not really too big of a challenge. We just have to focus on every game."
LSU's situation is more precarious, which makes the Tigers more dangerous. Their RPI is 88th. They're non-conference slate is 188th and it's been a long time -- 15 games ago -- since their signature defeat of Kentucky on Jan. 5. The Tigers, led by All-America forward in-waiting Ben Simmons, have every reason to be a desperate bunch. Sort of like Vandy, which came to Gainesville earlier in the week on the NCAA's outside looking in.
How'd that go?
Whoops. Never mind. The Gators have moved on, though White admitted he senses his players are a little demoralized right now.
"I wish we were more angry, to be honest," White said. "Our guys have been down."
They'd better be up Saturday night. And Tuesday night against Kentucky. And next week at Missouri.
Opportunities are running out.
"We can get out of this, just as long as we just keep our composure and just go out there and give it all we can for these last three games," Leon said. "We know what's at stake, so we just can't have any let-ups. We've got to be on top of everything."
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