The Florida Gators basketball team (12-10, 5-4 SEC) faces a task of biblical proportions on Saturday night. A struggling Florida squad, coming off a road loss at Vanderbilt, will host a juggernaut in the form of the Kentucky Wildcats (22-0, 9-0 SEC).
Billy Donovan’s squad has yet to play consistent basketball and continue to squander away early leads with faulty play down the stretch. Following up three consecutive seasons of reaching the Elite Eight and a Final Four appearance last season the Gators are in the throws of rebuilding.
“That’s the process of rebuilding the thing. It would have been unrealistic to think they were just going to flip a switch and be who they were,” ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg said. “It took a while for them to be who they were last year. The guy went to the Final Four last year, you’re going to have years like this, and everyone has years like this.”
Everyone, that is, except John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. Calipari’s squad is in the midst of what ESPN is calling a “pursuit of perfection. No team has run the gamut of the college basketball season without falling at least once sine Bob Knight’s 1976 Hoosiers.
Calipari arrived in Lexington in the spring of 2009 and quickly embraced the unrealistic expectations of the Kentucky basketball faithful — the Big Blue Nation (BBN). Doing their part, BBN packs Rupp Arena to capacity every home game and they travel as well. Calipari hasn’t had to rebuild, per say, because he’s bringing in the top-ranked recruiting classes each and every season. Calipari’s found his hook. If you want to get to the NBA and do so quickly, Coach Cal will get you there.
“It’s amazing what he’s been able to accomplish and it’s exhausting. I think it’s exhausting for him,” Greenberg said. “But he’s established a brand of this is who we are and this is how we do it. Not all the kids are going to leave after one year but they’ve got a pretty good track record.”
It may be exhausting, but Greenberg thinks that Calipari is just the man for the job. Calipari has openly spoken about the sense that his teams need not only to win games, but the need to win them in astonishing, perfect fashion or BBN is unpleased.
“I joke with John about it,” said Greenberg. “The Big Blue Nation is like a drug to you and he’s a drug addict. He feeds off it. He’s the perfect guy to coach at Kentucky
Florida and Kentucky are the flagship programs in the SEC but this season the Gators are less of a co-star and more of an unaccredited extra in the SEC race.
Is there a blue print to beat Kentucky? 22 teams have answered the call only to be sent home with another loss on their résumé.
“You have to be able to control the rim, the tempo of the game and the rhythm of the game with your defense, the tempo of the game with your offense,” Greenberg said. “You better rebound the ball on the defensive end. I think you gotta make 10-to-12 three’s. You gotta drive the ball to kick it and make one more pass. You’re not getting to the rim against them. Those are the main things.”
The main things? That’s a dizzying list that calls for an opponent to play perfect basketball to even have a chance at upsetting Kentucky. The Gators have a mighty task ahead of them tonight, one that no matter how much they study for they’re still behind.
** Notes **
- This will be the 11th time that Florida and Kentucky have faced off while the Wildcats are the No. 1 team in the nation. Florida is 0-10 in those contests, including a 0-3 mark in Gainesville.
- The Gators have won three in a row and four of their last five games against Kentucky.
- Florida is 2-10 when facing the No. 1 team in the country but has never beaten a No. 1 in the regular season, both wins coming in the tournament.
- The Gators went 3-0 against Kentucky last season marking the first time a team had beaten the Wildcats three times in a season since 1979.
- Kentucky leads the country in blocked shots with 166. In comparison, the Gators have blocked 73 this season.
- Kentucky leads the SEC in scoring defense (51 ppg), scoring margin (+ 22.8), field-goal percentage defense (.329), three-point field goal percentage defense (.272), three-point field goals allowed (4.7 pg), rebounds (38.5 pg), turnovers (10.9 pg), turnover margin (+4.5 pg), and blocked shots (7.3 pg).
Ya just never know when a team is gonna gel and come together. Tonight would be a good night for that to happen, along with a little help from celestial bodies; you know, planetary alignment. Go Gators!
I just hope we put up a decent fight. This is the most disappointing gator team that I can remember. Kasey Hill has lost ALL of his confidence. For some reason he refuses to shoot open jump shots letting entire defenses sag into the paint. Chris Walker never steps on the court when he is our ONLY true center. Horford plays 30 minutes a game, but makes as many mistakes as anyon, so why not let Chris play and get experience. Alex Murphy is simply mediocre at best, he doesn’t nothing great, and barely does everything well.
I think losing Devon Walker really hurt us, and having Brandone Francis would have been nice. Egbunu is going to be a beast next year, but I never expected him to be eligible this season anyway.