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UF hopes to find a way to keep its Big Three on the floor and out of foul trouble.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 26, 2002
GAINESVILLE -- Saturday's game against Alabama might have been a microcosm of Florida's season.
With two regular-season games remaining and 10 days before the start of the SEC tournament, one thing is evident: The Gators go as Matt Bonner, Udonis Haslem and Brett Nelson do.
Against Alabama, when the three were on the bench late with foul trouble, Florida struggled, scoring one field goal in the final seven minutes.
"There are some issues there, not as far as (freshmen) James (White) and David (Lee) playing, just them being at the free-throw line, being on the floor when the game is on the line, they haven't had a whole lot of that," said coach Billy Donovan, whose team fell to 20-6, 9-5 in the SEC. "The bottom line is that Brett Nelson and Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner need to stay out of foul trouble. Plain and simple as I can put it: They can't foul. If they foul, it puts those younger guys in situations that they haven't gained a lot of experience in."
In Florida's six losses, Haslem, Nelson and Bonner have averaged a combined 43 points; the rest of the team 27.8.
Donovan said Monday that Florida's predicament is no different from any other team's.
"Do you have a chance to beat Kentucky if you stop (Tayshaun) Prince and (Keith) Bogans?" Donovan said. "Do you have a chance to beat Georgia if you stop Ezra Williams and Jarvis Hayes? I think every team falls into that category scoring-wise. We've got three guys that can provide that scoring for us. And I think Justin (Hamilton) has provided more scoring for us and Orien (Greene) has provided a little bit more scoring. But if you stop Nelson, Bonner, and Haslem, you have a good chance of beating us, provided nobody else steps up."
And that has been a problem.
In the loss Feb. 16 at Mississippi, starting guards Hamilton and Greene scored four points each. In the loss at Alabama, they combined for nine.
Forwards White and Lee were playing high school basketball at this time last year. Coming off the bench, White has averaged 6.4 points, Lee 7.7.
Traditionally, teams that make it deep into the NCAA Tournament rely on more than their marquee players.
Case in point: When Florida defeated Pennsylvania 75-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1999, then-freshmen Mike Miller and Teddy Dupay came off the bench to score 15 and 14 points, respectively. In an 87-78 win over Duke in the East Region semifinal, Nelson scored 15.
In 2000, Florida advanced to the Final Four when Nelson and then-freshman Donnell Harvey (10 points, six rebounds) came off the bench and added a spark.
Lee said he believes the bench will be able to provide quality minutes.
"When the Big Three go out, it was tough at first for us to step in in different situations and know what we should do," Lee said. "But now we've been through a season of wins and losses and played against every real style of team there is to play against, so as the year goes on, you're going to see us making more improvement and really raising the level of play when we come in."
White's missed free throw with 16 seconds remaining and a defensive lapse in the final seconds Saturday allowed Alabama to make a winning layup as time expired.
Donovan says it might have been a blessing in disguise.
"I think what happened to James White may have been the best thing that could've happened to him," Donovan said. "Obviously I hate losing the game, but I know when he shoots free throws at practice, he will take them a little bit more seriously than in the past. When we work on special game situations in practice, there will be more of a different focus."
In Donovan's mind, it is UF's veterans that must hone their games, be more in tune with the way officials are calling games and make sure they are on the floor when needed.
"Us being the three captains, we've been in these experiences before, and it's important to keep that experience on the court to face those situations," Bonner said. "If you get in foul trouble, you can't do that. But we're fortunate that Dave, James and some of those other guys can step up and play well in our absence."
At least, that's the hope.