I hope he can make a difference tonight.
I know we were half injured, half suspended in that Miami game, but it still hurt.
Come On Gators!!
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI
Bob Parks Realty, LLC
Real Estate Broker
145 Maple Row Blvd
Hendersonville TN 37075
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From: gatornews@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatornews@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Shane Ford
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2014 8:00 AM
To: GatorNews
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: The center of attention
The center of attention
Florida coach Billy Donovan said sophomore Chris Walker has done a better job of dealing with the enormous expectations that the former McDonald's All-American is faced with. Walker is making his season debut tonight after sitting out the first three games due to suspension.
Matt Stamey/Staff photographer
By Kevin Brockway
GAINESVILLE SUN Staff writer
Published: Friday, November 21, 2014 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 11:31 p.m.
College basketball players deal with expectations in different ways.
Facts
Gator GameTime
Who: No. 8 Florida (1-1) vs. Louisiana-Monroe (2-0)
When: 8 p.m.
Where: O'Connell Center
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 103.7 FM
Some internalize and crumble under the pressure. Others, like former Florida freshman guard Bradley Beal, flourish by realizing that hype is fleeting and preparation impacts performance.
Florida sophomore big man Chris Walker is in the process of figuring out that balance. The 6-foot-10 Walker will make his season debut tonight for the Gators against Louisiana-Monroe. Florida coach Billy Donovan has noticed more maturity from Walker in practice and is hopeful that will carry over into games this season.
"He's done a better job of handling the expectations that are out there on him," Donovan said. "I really think that sometimes when there's expectations on a player, a player can get really weighed (down) on those expectations or a player can say, 'There's no way I can reach that expectation of what's expected of me.'
"I think for Chris (Walker), maybe early in the year he was wrapped up in those things. Now, I've seen a growth in him where he's gotten back down to reality of, 'I need to get better. I need to improve. I need to figure out a way to help our team.'"
Walker sat out three games (including UF's exhibition against Barry) on a suspension for violation of team rules. Donovan would not get into reasons for the suspension, but said it "stemmed from something that happened a while ago" and that Walker has done what has been asked of him and on and off the court since.
"My thing for him tomorrow is just to go out there and to have both feet in a circle and to do the things we need him to do, to help us be a better team," Donovan said.
Walker's return comes at an important time for the Gators. After the Louisiana-Monroe game, Florida will face a higher level of competition next week at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in The Bahamas, beginning Wednesday against Georgetown. Junior forward Dorian Finney-Smith remains out for at least the Louisiana-Monroe game and had his broken left hand back in a cast on Thursday.
Donovan said that Walker and starting center Jon Horford have worked inside together during some stretches in practice, with Walker playing center and Horford playing power forward. Whether Walker starts or not, he will likely play significant minutes and a three-player post rotation with Horford and walk-on forward Jacob Kurtz.
"Jon being an older guy, he understands both positions," Donovan said. "Chris probably feels very comfortable now at the center spot. I think they could play together and work off each other a little bit more."
Kurtz said Walker has shown growth on the mental side picking up plays both on offense and defense. That was a big issue for Walker as a freshman, and why the Bonifay native didn't contribute more as a McDonald's All-American coming out of high school. Walker didn't play until February of his freshman season due to academic and NCAA eligibility issues and in 18 games off the bench, averaged just 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.9 minutes per game.
"Chris is obviously a freak athlete, does a lot of things that can help our team, that no one on our team can do," Kurtz said. "He can really help us. Plays hard, he's a great rebounder, attacks the rim. He's a tough matchup."
Donovan said he wants to see Walker play to his strengths, which at this point is rebounding, running the floor hard and protecting the rim.
"He's gotten away from this idea that he needs to be this scorer," Donovan said. "I think he's playing closer to his strengths and I think we as a coaching staff have tried to help him see that."
Walker could have helped on the boards during UF's 69-67 loss to Miami on Monday night. With the Gators up 67-65 and 46 seconds left, point guard Kasey Hill failed to come up with a defensive rebound off a missed shot from Miami point guard Angel Rodriguez. Given a second chance, Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left that put the Hurricanes ahead to stay. Miami outrebounded Florida 27-24 for the game and the Gators had just five offensive rebounds.
In evaluating UF's second-half meltdown against Miami, Donovan said he felt Hill and junior guard Michael Frazier II (who went a combined 2 of 11 from the floor in the second half) let their offensive struggles bleed into their intensity on defense. Florida failed to hold a 15-point lead in the second half by allowing the Hurricanes to shoot 65.2 percent from the field and 70 percent from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
"They are getting way too wrapped up in this idea or this notion that I let the team down, I missed a shot, I missed a rebound," Donovan said. "And there is not a high enough level of resiliency to battle through when it's not going well for them."
Sent From Shane's iPhone
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