SEC tournament was a proving ground, and they proved they can play.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published March 18, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. - Florida freshman guard Lee Humphrey was so unsure of himself midway through the season he considered redshirting.
Six days ago he hit a winning shot against Alabama in overtime of the SEC tournament, sparking the Gators to a title-game run.
Humphrey's basket was part of a three-day span in which Florida's role players contributed like never before. If the Gators are to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, they need more of the same.
"We're going to need all of those young guys to step up and play hard for us like they have been lately," sophomore guard Anthony Roberson said. "If they all can come and help us, they click and put the little pieces together like that, we will be fine. They surprised a lot of people last weekend. It's a good thing to see them come in and clicking at the right time." Since the departure of forward Christian Drejer in mid February, Florida has been referred to as a team with three experienced players - junior forward David Lee, sophomore forward Matt Walsh and Roberson - and little else.
By the time the SEC tournament ended Sunday, things had changed. It's now the "Big Three" and a few other guys who are growing up fast.
Humphrey has started nine of the past 15 games and is providing "solid minutes" at point guard, coach Billy Donovan said. Redshirt sophomore forward Adrian Moss has started 13 of the past 14 and averages nearly eight points. Sophomore guard Rasheed Al-Kaleem and freshmen forwards Chris Richard and Mohammed Abukar have shown improvement: Richard had nine and seven points in two games last week, and Al-Kaleem scored 11 in the championship game.
"We feel a lot more comfortable since the first game of the (SEC) tournament," said Richard, Florida's "Mr. Basketball" last season. "We have to keep doing that if we want to win a national championship. When we get the chance, we have to take advantage of it, because when we do we take a lot of pressure off our other guys. It makes teams have to key on us when we get hot, and it opens it up for our three main guys to play the game they like to play."
Florida had been so hampered by the inconsistent play of its inexperienced players late in the season that Donovan said he would have to use more zone play in the postseason to get maximum minutes from Lee, Walsh and Roberson.
While that strategy hasn't completely changed, Donovan is encouraged by the play of the young players.
"I have been very happy with what our young guys have done," he said. "The one guy who I felt was playing pretty well was Mohammed Abukar before he injured his back (in the SEC tournament). Chris Richard has improved, Moss has improved and Lee (Humphrey) has improved. We have gotten good minutes from those guys. The experience that they have gained hopefully will be helpful down the road."
Moss was most impressive inside the paint, where Florida has struggled, especially when Lee is out of the lineup. He scored in double figures all three games and averaged seven rebounds.
"It's a progression," he said. "For me personally the game is slowing down more. Everything was moving so fast, but it's slowing down more and I'm seeing things better and taking my time with things. I'm finishing more around the bucket, that's basically it. It's something I worked on. ... I think we gained a lot of confidence (last weekend). Now we need to step up a little bit more to relieve the pressure on Matt, David and Anthony. We need to play better. It's time."
