When the subject turned to defense last year, Billy Donovan could have been speaking some inter-planetary language. It was so far over the heads of his team that on at least a couple of occasions, he compared it to trying to describe a trip to Mars.
Donovan no longer gets that lost in space look from his team when he’s talking about defense and that’s one reason for optimism tonight when the 19th-ranked Florida Gators open their season with the Toledo Rockets (6 p.m., Stephen C. O’Connell Center, ESPNU) in the first round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
The Gators missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years last season and one of the reasons they plunged to NIT semifinalist after two straight NCAA championships was a lack of commitment on the defensive end of the floor. The Gators were good enough to go 24-12 last year, but like most teams dominated by freshmen, their offensive skills were way ahead of their defense.
Donovan expected that when practice began — it’s almost always that way with freshmen once they start practicing — but he never saw the lights go on.
“Last year, as with most young kids, they thought they can beat you with their offense,” said Donovan.
When the Gators got it going offensively, they had some exceptional games. The problem was on those nights when the shots weren’t falling and they had to find other ways to win. The previous two years, Donovan knew the defense would take over.
Last season, he just held his breath a lot.
“I don’t think it ever resonated with them the importance of defense,” said Donovan.
Donovan isn’t sure this latest team is going to turn into an outstanding defensive team, but he is seeing signs that they get it. When he speaks, he doesn’t get that faraway look anymore.
When he puts them on the floor to practice, they at least make a concerted effort to defend.
“They’re trying,” said Donovan. “I don’t look at us as being a great defensive team but I look at us as being better and improved and I look at them that they’re really trying to be committed to what we’re asking them to do.”
Critical to the improvement on defense will be the play of sophomore forward Chandler Parsons. A gifted offensive player capable of lighting it up from the outside or finishing strongly on the break, Parsons is a 6-9, 220-pounder who hopes 20 added pounds of muscle and improved quickness will help make up for some of the deficiencies he showed on defense last year.
Parsons’ added strength might allow Donovan to occasionally shift Dan Werner to the wing on defense while moving Parsons inside to guard the power forward.
“Dan Werner is clearly our best defender,” said Donovan. “He’s our best defender because he reads plays before they develop, he understands what a team is trying to do and he’s a great help defender and he plays a lot on the defensive end of the floor with his mind.
“I think Chandler has the same intelligence level that Dan does and he could do that as well but he has to make a concerted effort to do it. There are probably going to be some games when we want Chandler to line up and play on another team’s power forward and we have Dan play the small forward defensively. I think offensively Dan feels more comfortable at the power forward than he does at the wing.”
Donovan is also looking for some help from freshmen Ray Shipman and Kenny Kadji. Shipman is a 6-4, 215-pound guard/forward who has shown the ability to lock down scorers on the perimeter, while Kadji is a 6-10, 240-pound center with enormous potential.
When Donovan thinks of the roles that Shipman and Kadji could play he immediately thinks of how he used Corey Brewer and Al Horford when they were freshmen back in 2005. Neither one of them were much of an offensive threat but they were huge contributors to a team that won its first SEC Tournament that year.
Brewer became the Gators’ pit bull defender on the wings and that’s a role Donovan sees for Shipman.
“He doesn’t need to worry about scoring,” said Donovan. “He needs to focus and worry about finding a way to become a defensive stopper and trying to take out a team’s better wing player. That should be his goal and if he gets a chance to score, fine. I think guys that are freshmen the scoring usually comes later on in their career but he could help our team if he takes on that type of role.”
Horford’s role as a freshman was to rebound and play interior defense. If Kadji could adapt to that role, it would give the Gators the kind of size and presence on the inside that they will need.
“With Kadji we’re trying to get him to understand that it’s not about your offense right now,” said Donovan. “But, if you can be a reliable defender and bang and defend and rebound and just know what we’re doing on offense and be an opportunistic scorer on offensive rebounds or dump down passes or when he gets a chance in the low post to score that would be great.”
Donovan says he isn’t sure what to expect of the Gators defensively but he does know they are approaching things with a level of maturity and desire that was non-existent last season.
“I don’t know how much better we are,” said Donovan. “I feel better in terms of their focus and understanding and at least being a little bit bought into this is what we need to do to put ourselves in a position to win. They’re trying to do the things I’m asking them to do whereas a year ago I felt like they were never really felt they were bought in and they were we’re going to be okay, we just have to worry about their offense.”
NINE-MAN ROSTER FOR OPENER: The Gators will have only nine scholarship players available against Toledo. Sophomore Adam Allen is still unable to perform after a sprained MCL two weeks ago and freshman Eloy Vargas probably won’t be ready to play for another couple of weeks while continuing to recover from ankle surgery back in the summer.
The Gators will start sophomore Nick Calathes (6-6) and senior Walter Hodge (6-0) at the guards with Parsons (6-9 sophomore) and Werner (6-8 junior ) at the forwards. Sophomore Alex Tyus (6-8) will start at center.
The bench will be manned by four freshmen — Shipman, Kadji, Erving Walker and Allan Chaney.
RECRUITING IS COMPLETE: Billy Donovan’s recruiting class of 2009 is all set now that letters of intent have been faxed in from Kenny Boynton (6-2, 180, Plantation, FL, American Heritage, #13 ESPN Top 100), Erik Murphy (6-11, 220, Southborough, MA, St. Mark’s School, #24 ESPN Top 100) and Deshawn Painter (6-9, 220, Chatham, VA, Hargrave Military, #36 ESPN Top 100).
Boynton was the final touch to a class that ESPN has ranked third nationally. What helped seal the deal with Boynton, the best prep basketball player in the state since Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, was an in-home visit where Donovan brought a dart gun.
Donovan’s visit came one night after the entire Duke staff had visited the Boynton home. Donovan wanted to be sure his visit was unique.
“The one thing I was trying to get across to them is that I don’t want to sound like anybody else,” said Donovan, who told the Bontons, “If I start coming across like a used car salesman anybody in the room can pick up the gun and shoot me and get me to change my tone and my focus.”
So did it work?
Donovan said, “Kenny said afterward, ‘You must have done pretty good because nobody shot you.’”