College basketball

Gators savoring chance to end their season right

Instead of fading, Florida is playing its best basketball.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published February 19, 2005

It's mid February and Florida is in an unusual situation.

Junior guard Anthony Roberson doesn't want to try to define it, he just wants to keep it going. Teammate Matt Walsh refuses to call it "peaking" but says it's exactly what Florida wants right now.

Call it what you want, but there's definitely a different atmosphere surrounding this team. March is approaching and the Gators aren't down and out. They aren't struggling. In fact, they are playing arguably their best basketball of the season.

The right chemistry, right time, right place.

The Gators enter today's game at LSU with a 16-6 record, sitting solidly in second place in the SEC East at 8-3 and feeling like a team that, finally, has its act together when it most counts.

"I think the biggest difference this year is we've got older and mature players," Roberson said. "Looking at the three years I've been here, Matt and I have grown over the years and we've combined that with some freshmen that are hungry, ready to listen and ready to do whatever it takes to win. ... Time is going by fast so we've got to play hard and leave it all out there while we can."

Of late, that philosophy seems to be working. With a starting lineup that includes two freshmen, the Gators have won five of their past seven games.

"We're not peaking yet, but I think we're playing better basketball toward the end of the season as a team than we ever have since I've been here," said Walsh, who is averaging 14.5 points. "We're outrebounding people and we never did that before."

By this time the past two seasons, the Gators had peaked and were struggling, en route to being knocked out of the NCAA Tournament on the first weekend. Florida reached the top of the Associated Press poll in each of the past two seasons, but fell to No.10 in 2002-03 and dropped out last year.

Two years ago, the Gators lost four of their last five games. Last year, they lost three of their last five and had a midseason stretch in which they lost four of six. After a No. 1 ranking on Dec. 8, they had fallen out of the poll by the week of Feb.16.

The Gators have spent most of this season out of the polls; they are not ranked in the AP poll and are No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. That's fine with them.

"Honestly I don't pay attention to the polls or (standings)," Roberson said. "What I've learned in this league is if you take care of yourself everything is going to be good. From here on out, if we take care of it game by game and day by day, if we take care of Florida, Florida is going to be all right."

Today will be another challenge as the Gators face an LSU frontcourt that is one of the best in the league.

"We have to do a great job of rebounding as a basketball team, one through five," coach Billy Donovan said. "I couldn't think of a better opportunity than to go against two guys like (Brandon) Bass and (Glenn) Davis. They're two of the best in the country at what they do and I think it's a great challenge."

Florida has thrived with the help of its entire team. Roberson has scored 15 or more in 13 consecutive games and is averaging a league-leading 21.1 points in SEC competition. Freshmen Al Horford (6.7 points and 6.6 rebounds) and Corey Brewer (7.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) have had impressive seasons and reserve freshmen Joakim Noah and Taurean Green also have played well. Sophomore Chris Richard has vastly improved and is providing solid minutes. It took Walsh a few games, but he's back to form. He and Roberson have combined for 75 and 77 points, respectively, in the last four games, with the Gators going 3-1.

Donovan said he's trying to make sure this team is the best it can be by the time the season ends. The wins are building a confidence that can't be measured, the players said. You won't hear the Gators making predictions about the conference title or the NCAA Tournament. Their only talk since Wednesday's win over Mississippi has been LSU - their next opponent. They've learned the hard way that today is all you can control.

"How you finish up in the conference and the SEC tournament really has no bearing on the NCAA Tournament," senior forward David Lee said. "I'm sure you could win your last 15 games of the year and then lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament or vice versa. But it really does feel good having that momentum and going into postseason play feeling good about your team and feeling good about at least knowing you've made improvements along the way."

[Last modified February 19, 2005, 00:57:17]