--Gatorfans:
As disappointing as it is to see our beloved Men's and women's basketball teams fall in their respective championship tournaments, we can all be so proud of the campaigns just completed.The women showed a level of competitiveness that can make us all feel optimistic about the building that is continuing in that program.The men's season is particularly outstanding. This was a team with but one senior and he might be considered a pint sized dynamo with a giant heart. The only other returning starters was a junior who appeared to provide leadership and mentoring to the two sophomore and one freshman other starters even as he grew as a player right up until the elite eight game.If we are fortunate enough to see this team grow as much from this year to next year as was shown from from last year to this, next year should be another fine one.So thanks Coaches Butler and Donovan, together with your outstanding staff of assistants, for continuing to make itGreat to be a Florida Gator!
Commentary: It's another Elite Eight meltdown as Florida Gators lose 72-68 to Louisville
By DAVE GEORGE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PHOENIX — The only time to start thinking about cutting down the nets is when you're standing on top of the ladder and somebody's handing up the scissors.
Those are the words that Florida should put on a plaque and hang next to Tim Tebow's famous speech about renewed dedication in the face of defeat.
That is the lesson that Billy Donovan will have to teach again, and again, no matter how many times the Gators basketball team comes within strutting distance of a national title.
Saturday's 72-68 loss to Louisville in the West Regional final was another example of Florida falling headlong and helpless into the canyon of competitive fire that separates the Elite Eight from the Final Four.
Just like last year's Elite Eight loss to Butler, the Gators led by 11 points in the second half. Just like last year, they ended up firing desperate three-point shots at game's end and marveling at how shockingly simple it is to kill a dream.
"We thought we had control of it, and we thought we'd be able to keep them at bay," said senior guard Erving Walker, who draped a towel over his head in the locker room to hide tears that, likewise, couldn't be stopped.
Louisville went on a 23-8 run in the game's final 10 minutes. Even worse, the Gators didn't score at all in the final 2:39. In the end, Donovan turned to freshman Bradley Beal, who almost surely will leave Florida now as an NBA lottery pick, while the veterans tortured by that close call against Butler last March clung to the blind hope that the basketball gods couldn't possibly drop the same anvil on them two years in a row.
Beal missed a couple in close coming down the stretch, bothered by 6-foot-11 shot-blocking specialist Gorgui Dieng. Louisville, meanwhile, kept coming, with a couple of tough buckets by Chane Behanan down low to finally take the lead at 69-68 with 1:06 remaining.
From there, nothing went right for Florida, with a missed jumper by Walker, a traveling call on Beal and a foul by Kenny Boynton to keep Louisville from dribbling out the clock, which led to a pair of free throws by Russ Smith and a 71-68 Cardinals lead with 17 seconds to play.
Donovan's last timeout was to draw up a three-point opportunity for Beal, who had a good chance but missed it. An offensive rebound set Boynton up for one last attempt to force overtime, but his three-point try also clanged off the rim. One tack-on free throw by Louisville officially ended the season for Florida and sent Rick Pitino over to shake the hand of Donovan, his former player at Providence and assistant at Kentucky, to offer condolences.
If Pitino really were a pal, he wouldn't have changed Louisville's defensive strategy at halftime, going from an unsuccessful zone to a smothering, switching man-to-man. Just like that the Gators went from a ridiculous 8-for-11 on three-pointers in the first half to 0-for-9 in the second.
That's not the only reason that Billy's basketball daddy ran his career record against Donovan to 7-0. The Gators helped by getting stagnant on offense, letting Walker dribble too much and trying to bleed the shot clock down too much. Aggressive play is what pushed Florida out to a 41-33 halftime lead and 65-54 with 8:16 to play. Overthinking by the Gators, mixed in with a run of clumsy turnovers, gave Louisville a way to come back even after star point guard Peyton Siva fouled out near the four-minute mark.
"Believe it or not," said Donovan, "I think Russ Smith is more dangerous than Siva because he really has got a fearless spirit about him. Siva is a little more under control. Russ Smith is sometimes crazy, you know, with some of the things he does."
March Madness is crazy by definition, and Smith's 19-point effort, marked by knifing drives and killer whistles in the lane, fully played the part.
No real highlight-reel plays in there, like the one-handed dunk that Patric Young slammed down on an alley-oop pass from Walker, but more than enough body shots to take the fight out of Florida.
"I've got a different feeling than I did last year," said Donovan, who squeezed a 26-11 record out of a Gators team that lacked a great post game and lost three times to Kentucky because of it. "I think last year we didn't do enough to win the game (against Butler). I felt like our guys did enough in this game to have a chance to win."
Eight three-pointers in the first half and 50 percent shooting overall in the game should give a team more than a chance. It should make victory almost impossible to avoid. That Florida failed here is confirmation of its No. 7 seed in the region. Halfway to the six tournament wins needed for an NCAA title, the Gators understand again how much farther there is to go.
Meanwhile, it's time to hide the scissors and other sharp objects from the Gators. Somebody else will be cutting down the nets next weekend in New Orleans, somebody that won't start looking up at the clock with 10 minutes to play and a nice lead in hand, somebody that doesn't know when to quit.
Florida Gators crumble late, fall to Louisville
In a virtual repeat of last year's Elite Eight, UF watched a late 11-point lead evaporate.
BY MATT WATTS MIAMI HERALD WRITER
PHOENIX -- As Peyton Siva, Kyle Kuric and Russ Smith celebrated, jumping up and down on the US Airways Center floor and donning T-Shirts and hats emblazoned with the words "Final Four," Brad Beal, Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton fought back tears.
For these Gators, Saturday's 72-68 loss in the Elite Eight was painful if not just because it of the way it happened and the fact that put a disappointing bookend to their season, but because it ended a second consecutive season just two games from the ultimate prize.
"It hurts more for me, personally, and probably for a lot of guys that returned," forward Erik Murphy said. "A lot of people don't get the shot to go to Final Four ever, and we've had it twice and did the same thing both times."
Florida (26-11) led from the 12:27 mark of the first half to the 1:06 mark of the second, establishing a 41-33 lead at halftime and extending it to as many as 11 midway through the second half. But a 10-0 run coinciding with a nearly six-minute scoring drought brought the Cardinals (30-9) back into a game they had been shot out of by the Gators, who made 8 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half before being held to 0 of 9 when it mattered most.
Last year, Florida allowed an 11-point lead at the 9:26 mark of the second half to evaporate down the stretch against Butler in the Elite Eight. This year, Florida held the lead by the same 11-point margin at the 9:04 mark of the second half.
"Same feeling," said Boynton, who sat slouched backward in his locker while reporters surrounded him, using his white iPhone as a distraction. "We made mistakes on our own. It wasn't that they were playing good, it wasn't anything that they did, it was just we lost the game on our own, our mistakes."
The Gators were 0 for 4 from the field during the Cardinals 10-0 run and 1 of 12 in the final eight minutes. Walker, a senior, missed two key free throws after drilling four in a row earlier in the game after a foul and technical called on Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
Beal, who was named to West regional All-Tournament Team, also committed a turnover which led to a jumper from Louisville guard Russ Smith and he was called for a travel with just 18 seconds left after coming up with a steal. In all, Florida turned it over 14 times, giving Louisville 15 points.
But the Gators and Beal had their chances late. Beal, who scored 63 points on 23-of-38 (60.5 percent) shooting and grabbed 33 rebounds in UF's four tournament games, had a layup attempt blocked with 48 seconds left and Florida trailing by one.
"It's terrible," Beal said of letting the game slip away. "I was thinking about that as soon as I saw the shot miss. … When you foul and you're walking down to the other end, you're like, 'Dang, we had the game in our hands.'"
Still, with the Gators down two after a couple of free throws from Russ Smith, who scored six of Louisville's final eight points, Beal had a chance to tie it. But his three-point attempt from near the top of the key clanged off iron, as did Boynton's second attempt with just eight ticks left.
"I felt I was open for a minute, and then I let it go," Beal said. "It went off. I got the rebound back, kicked it to Kenny, it was off. It just happens. We just didn't execute plays down the stretch at all."
Florida was 21-1 when leading at halftime before Saturday's loss, and now head into an offseason uncertain about the future. Walker is graduating and Beal, who is projected as first-round pick in the NBA draft, said he wasn't even thinking about next season yet.
Five Gators scored in double-figures, with Murphy and Beal leading the way with 14 apiece. Murphy also grabbed eight rebounds, while Beal had seven.
Walker, who afterward in the locker room clutched a towel to his face to block the tears, finished with 12 points and seven assists in his final collegiate game.
Pitino is now 6-0 all-time against Florida coach Billy Donovan, who played under Pitino at Providence 25 years ago and coached under him at Kentucky. Both talked fondly of the other leading up to Saturday, and that didn't change after a closely contested game with everything on the line.
"I personally, for me, am very happy for coach Pitino," Donovan said. "Certainly emotionally going into the game it's always a difficult situation like that, with our relationship, but I don't think any coach enjoys losing in this type of situation. But if I had to lose, it would be to him."
After saying Friday that it's not difficult for him to play against a coach he loves, Pitino backed off that statement and was similarly effusive Saturday.
"It was very difficult because of the way the game ended, because they outplayed us," Pitino said. "For 32 minutes they outplayed us. And it really hurt inside. As much as I felt like celebrating, it really hurt because he did such a masterful job of coaching."
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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