Despite the Florida Gators starting the weekend with a season-opening victory over William & Mary Friday, the following days would provide a turn of events.
Dorian Finney-Smith landed awkwardly after diving for a loose ball in the game. He would be taken to the locker room to have his left hand taped and played the remainder of the game effectively.
Finney-Smith was later taken to the hospital to get an x-ray on his hand. The result showed two hairline fractures on his middle and index finger and was given a cast to wear. Head coach Billy Donovan predicts it’ll take a month to fully heal and Finney-Smith was in significant pain on Friday and will have to tolerate the pain for the Miami game by wearing a brace.
“Right now, he is cleared to play,” Donovan said. “The biggest thing they were concerned about was if the fracture was lower in his knuckle they were worried about possible ligament of cartilage damage where if he got hurt again, it could require surgery, but we are beyond that right now. So he is cleared to play.”
Considering how Finney-Smith can impact the team on both sides of the court, the forward’s amount of playing time will be crucial when facing a talented team at the guard position. Donovan said the injury has kept him out of practice and they don’t expect much from him in the game.
Saturday, sophomore Dillon Graham decided it was the right decision for him to transfer from Florida. Despite having mixed feelings during the week, Graham met with Donovan over the weekend to discuss the matter and felt like it was the right move to take.
No. 7 Florida (1-0) will renew their in-state rivalry with Miami (1-0) since 2009. With a quality matchup this early in the season against the Hurricanes, Billy Donovan compares this situation to a battle from last season.
“Well, I think, it reminds me a little bit of the Wisconsin situation,” Donovan said. “You know we had Wisconsin come in here very early and then we went there last year, I think the second game of the year, I just think a game like this early in November gives you a really really good gauge of where you’re at and where you need to get better.”
Miami is coming off a 35-point slaughter over Howard to debut their season and with it came a great display of scoring from their guards. Sheldon McClellan, Angel Rodriguez and Manu Lecomte all scored double figures and add a new look to head coach Jim Larranaga’s program.
Florida will have its hands full again with guarding Miami’s backcourt, but Donovan believed Kasey Hill and the team did an impressive job of creating that defensive awareness on Marcus Thornton of William & Mary to shut him down Friday.
“Miami’s got three outstanding guards and a couple of them coming off the bench that are very gifted too,” Donovan said. “So this will be a challenge, not only for Kasey, but our entire backcourt and our team.”
Donovan noted that Miami is a lot like Florida in the sense of losing four starters and working on gelling a team to play together. He said Miami is a creative team on offense and can cause a lot of turnovers.
With entering the second game of the season, Donovan believes this matchup will aid both teams in growing for the rest of the season and for future meetings.
“The one thing that’s good with our schedule is not only Miami but the fact that we’re going to get some other good quality opponents here in November,” Donovan said. “That we I think, can grow and get better from some of these experiences. I think certainly for both schools the game made sense playing.”