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Just showing flashes, Gators can easily flame out

In spurts, they are still dominant.

By GARY SHELTON
Published March 24, 2007

ST. LOUIS - In spurts, they are still dominant.

In flashes, they are still dynamic.

There are times, when the score is tight and the crowd is into it, the Florida Gators look as good as ever. In those times, when Al Horford is gripping the game by the throat or when Taurean Green is daring the other team to take it away from him, they still look as if they have the rest of college basketball outnumbered.

Then there are the times they look a lot like Apollo Creed, leaning against the ropes and wondering where the latest punch is coming from.

Halfway through the bracket, the Gators are still standing.

Three games to go, however, and you have to notice that they do look a little wobbly.

Last year's champion struggled again Friday night, chasing a small, scrappy Butler around the floor for most of the game. In the end, the Gators finally caught their opponent, which is the important thing. As they say in the NCAA Tournament, being good enough is good enough.

Still, the Gators' 65-57 victory was their third straight in which they struggled to find that familiar spark that has defined Florida basketball for the past two years. As impressive as reaching the Elite Eight is, as combative as the NCAA Tournament is, after a while, that gets to be a bit troubling.

Remember the way last year's Florida team rolled through the tournament, winning games by an average of 16 points. Remember the way this team strolled through the SEC, never trailing in any game?

Suddenly, the Gators are swimming upstream. Jackson State hung around longer than reason would suggest, then Purdue pushed Florida one way, then Butler pushed it the other. Put it this way, if you knew nothing of pedigrees going into the tournament, and you watched highlight tapes all of the games, there is no way you would figure the Gators as the team that won last year's championship.

Somewhere along the line, something seems to be missing. A bit of rhythm, perhaps. A touch of killer instinct. An ounce of intensity. Something.

"I don't know that we're a tick off," said Billy Donovan who is, yes, still the Florida coach. "Last year, we went through the tournament with such a large margin of disparity of scores, everyone thinks that's supposed to happen again. If it doesn't happen again, we're not playing well.

"We're not going to be a thing of beauty. I don't think anyone is going to play flawless and perfect basketball, and at times it's going to look ugly. It just is. You make sure your guys compete and play hard and play together."

As the tournament continues, playing better is going to be important, too. Three straight games, the Gators have had to come from behind. In the last two, they have been outscored 109-89 from the floor. Considering the size disparity in both games, the Gators' rebounding edge (a total of five in the last two games) isn't as pronounced as you would think. Considering the potential NBA draft picks in the lineups, the score hasn't been, either.

Of course, the other way to look at it is that the Gators did okay considering that they were playing against Butler and Kentucky on Friday night. You kept waiting for the Bulldogs' band to break into My Old Kentucky Home, just to drive Donovan closer to the edge.

You see, Billy would just as soon no one notice that this Kentucky job is open, and at this moment, Wildcat fans are racing to name newborn horses after him. Wait until the Nielsen ratings come in from Lexington. You get the feeling a lot of television sets were tuned into this one.

Friday night, Donovan seemed to have the same difficulty chasing away the rumors as his team did dismissing Butler. He kept saying that it wasn't his decision to make - although an announcement that he isn't leaving Gainesville would seem to be in his domain. As responses go, it wasn't exactly, "Don't call me."

Could be, Donovan figures he has some other things to concentrate on. There are still moments when the Gators struggle to score, when they fail to protect the ball (28 turnovers in the past two games), when they seem to relax once the lead has been taken. Once the talent gets closer to even - which is any day now - the Gators are going to have to be better for longer periods of time.

So far, they have looked like winners. As of yet, they haven't looked like champions.

On the other hand, there is still time.

Gary Shelton can be reached at (727) 893-8805.

[Last modified March 24, 2007, 01:39:04]