Donovan and Gators do balancing act

The SEC portion of Florida’s basketball schedule doesn’t start until January, but late December still provides enough concerns for coach Billy Donovan and his men’s team.

Coming off their first loss of the season, an 85-73 setback to No. 5 Syracuse in Tampa, the Gators aren’t able just to focus on the loss and how to improve. Players are missing practices because of exams and final papers, injuries have dismantled the front court and there is still a very good Richmond (7-2) team on the horizon this Saturday in Sunrise.

Just in case the physical drain of playing eight games in 17 days hasn’t been hard enough, the emotional drain of being some of the last students in Gainesville has been hard on the players.

“Not just for our players, but for all players, there’s an emotional grind that goes into it,” Donovan told reporters Tuesday. “The other thing you’re always dealing with is them being able to come to practice and separate practice when we’re there. I think a lot of times, when we’re in practice, the focus isn’t there and rightfully so—these guys have papers and exams. It’s hard, and I try to work it where they’re getting their academic work done, getting their tutoring in and doing what they need to do to prepare for the finals.”

The one catalyst for focusing—and Donovan would rather not have it—is the fact that the Gators are coming off a loss. Asked by reporters if it’s easier to coach after a loss, Donovan laughed and said, “I much prefer to coach after a win.”

Still, the loss does help Florida’s players focus on what they have been doing wrong and how they need to improve. The interesting thing for Donovan now is gauging what kind of team he has and seeing how the individual players each react after the loss.

“It’s always interesting to me to see how different kids over the years handle losing,” Donovan said. “Some kids don’t handle it very well, and they come in feeling sorry for themselves. Then there are other guys who are really disappointed and want to come in and work hard. And then when you win, sometimes you have guys who think that they’ve got everything figured out. You always worry about a team’s confidence off a loss, and you also worry about handling success after a win. There are always challenges you’re dealing with, with wins and losses, and they keep coming on a regular basis. It’s how you respond after them that’s most important.”

As for injuries, practicing since the Syracuse game has become a difficult balance for Donovan. Injuries have mainly affected the fountcourt where forward Kenny Kadji has been battling a back injury for much of the season and freshman center Erik Murphy has an injured shoulder from the Syracuse game.

To make up for their absence in practice, which now essentially includes just eight starting-caliber players, small forward Chandler Parsons has spent some time playing the power forward position and Dan Werner has subbed in at center along with incumbent Vernon Macklin and power forward Alex Tyus.

“We’ve had our challenges in practice because we’re not totally healthy,” Donovan said. “There’s a fine line where we want to get the guys that are out healthy, but the guys that are healthy, you still have got to work to get better.”

The preparation is important as ever this week as the Gators head into a game against an experienced Richmond team that have beaten the likes of Mississippi State and Missouri.

“They’re a very, very good team, with a different style than we’ve faced all season long,” Donovan said. “You know, they play a matchup zone, and they’ve got a style of offense and terrific 3-point shooting from all five spots, a tremendous backcourt and they are a team that’s extremely physical on the defensive side. They’ve had some great wins against Mississippi State and Missouri. They recently fell to VCU, which is a great city rivalry. I think, maybe outside of Syracuse, Richmond is as good a team as we’ve played so far.”

The game continues Florida’s early season tour of the state of Florida, which has included stops in Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami. Because basketball games aren’t always on the weekends, like football is, it can be more difficult to get fans to travel to Gainesville for the games. These road trips, Donovan said, help feed the following around Florida.

“We’ve got good followings in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, and we try to spread ourselves around those cities,” Donovan said. “It’s not something that we always want to do. We want it to make sense for our scheduling, and the Orange Bowl has been very good to us down in Miami. I think playing around the state over the last few years has been good for our team.”

TURNOVER TROUBLE: On paper, the Florida turnovers didn’t seem to be the deciding factor against Syracuse—Florida finished with 19, Syracuse with 15. But to Billy Donovan, it was the type of turnovers – and who was responsible for them – that hurt his team.

Whereas Syracuse’s turnovers mostly went out of bounds and allowed their defense to get set, Florida’s turnovers put them in poor position to play transition basketball.

“I think a lot of it is a level of carelessness on the break, where we’ve got guys trying to do too much or make passes that I would call low-reward passes,” Donovan said. “If you make it, great, but the reward isn’t as great as the risk. But it’s something we’re focusing on and trying to help those guys get better at making those decisions.”

BIGGER DANCE BETTER: Asked about the possibility of an expanded tournament when CBS’ rights to March Madness expire in 2011, Donovan said that he is fully in favor of expansion. But he wants someone else to figure it out.

“I think as it speaks toward the players and the kids, yeah, the more the better,” Donovan said. “I’m all for that. Now, how economically it works out, and whether it makes sense, and whether they can put teams in pods, that’s something you need a Calculus major to figure out.”

AROUND THE NBA: Former Florida players are having unprecedented success this season. They’re making more than $40 million this year as a group, and they’re succeeding individually as well. The Knicks’ David Lee is coming off a season in which he lead the NBA in double-doubles. Al Horford of Atlanta and Joakim Noah of Chicago are both coming off playoff seasons, and Noah is fifth in the NBA in rebounds per game this season.

“The thing I’m most pleased about is that the experience that they had here at Florida put them in a position where they weren’t overwhelmed, but were prepared to make that next step,” Donovan said. “A lot of that has to do with, (1) their work ethic and (2) their talent.”