Coming to terms of what has become of the Florida Gators basketball team as they enter the conference portion of the season, sitting at 7-6, is the reality of who they are.
Finishing off the non-conference schedule and now entering SEC play, the Gators understand they haven’t performed exceptionally and from the looks of it, as head coach Billy Donovan has said, they aren’t even a tournament team right now.
In figuring out what can really help turn this team around, the players have to commit to each other as a unit and not on a self-centered approach. Once that comes together, they have a chance of getting over the hump.
“We’re 7-6, and that’s what we are,” guard Michael Frazier II said. “I mean, we know what we need to to win. It starts with us buying in as a team, and the coaches keep telling us we’re only as great as our weakest link. So if we don’t have everyone bought into the circle, we’re not going very far.”
From the coaches to the players, what has recently been repeated is for everyone to be bought in. Frazier said until the team buys in, he thinks things aren’t going to be changing.
But what really goes into being “bought in”?
As a basketball team, it can be many things, but with this Gators squad it’s the mentality to overcome situations.
Donovan said the team has the mindset of wanting to do good, but when getting caught down stretches or defining moments is how they falter.
“I think them wanting to do well is there. I think they have been pretty resilient in terms of coming back and trying to work,” Donovan said. “What has happened is, in the heat of a lot of moments when things have not gone well as I said after the game, there’s been a disconnection there’s been some of those things, those are some of the things that have gotten better. I don’t see, which sometimes you can see, finger-pointing, blaming, it’s this guy’s fault. We don’t have any of that stuff. This is a consistency issue in my opinion.”
For the majority of the season, the Gators have been compared to last year’s team and it’s a consistent trend that becomes part of the situation. But the comparisons have drawn conclusions. The unit last season had a second group behind them to keep the game stable, this team doesn’t.
Going along with that, it’s been difficult for Florida to play within an identity. As Donovan said, at times the team plays to their identity and at times they don’t.
With it being tougher to build cohesiveness, there have only been a few players that have made the strides of putting a teammate ahead of themselves.
“They don’t do anything to make each other better. And if there’s one guy who makes our team better than anybody else, it’s Jake Kurtz. He makes our team better. And I’d maybe throw Kasey (Hill) and Doe-Doe (Dorian Finney-Smith) in there too,” Donovan said. “Those three guys, they make people around them better. The other guys need to start investing in making other people better. I don’t think we have a divide on our team, but that’s where they’re divided.”
An interesting take from what the coaches do with the players every game is looking at the plus-minus system.
All the plus minus is if you are in the game does your team score more points than your opponent. Donovan said there’s only two players in the entire team that is in the plus and it’s a direct correlation of how the team isn’t focused on that things that go into winning.
With that being said, can the Gators save their season playing for something in SEC play and down the road become a NCAA tournament team?
“I’ll tell you right now we are not an NCCA Tournament team. I don’t believe we’ve earned that. Things can change. But do I think this is going to change this year based on what I’ve seen so far? I don’t know,” Donovan said. “Now, we’re going to keep cranking and working at it to get them in a better place.”
“The team has the mindset of wanting to do good”? Please tell me this wasn’t written by a professional.