The Florida Gators have struggled to get any kind of offense going. When leading scorer Michael Frazier II went down with an ankle injury the sputtering offense veered off the side of the road and into a ditch. Matters were made worse when Florida announced that forward Dorian Finney-Smith was suspended for violating team rules — Finney-Smith’s second suspension for a violation of team rules this season.
Billy Donovan addressed the suspension after the Gators win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday, saying that the suspension stems from an overall lack of commitment to the team.
“I think it has been a microcosm of this season with our team in what I would say is a lack of commitment and a lack of consistency of what really goes into winning,” said Donovan.
Finney-Smith was coming off the first double double of his career and without Frazier had become the Gators go-to option on the offensive end of the court. He was averaging 12.9 points-per-game and leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game.
“One of the questions that comes to my mind this year is can you force someone to be committed? And thinking about it, commitment is one of the most difficult things in life,” Donovan said. “To commit your heart, mind, soul, body, everything means something. I think that really is very, very difficult to do. I believe it’s the only way you can be successful. “Dorian’s decisions represent a lack of commitment.”
Finney-Smith will not be available next game and Donovan said that he would re-visit Finney Smith’s status on Monday.