MAYPORT, Fla. -- For an entire offseason and deep into the preseason,
Billy Donovan and his Florida coaching staff toyed with various lineups
and combinations in trying to forge an identity for the Gators 2012-13
basketball team.
And in the last four days, they’ve had to blow a lot of it up and practically start over.
“We’re kind of making this up as we go right now,” Donovan said Thursday.
Losing
transfer forward Damontre Harris to a torn labrum last month hurt, but
only for bodies to bang at practice. He had to sit out the season per
NCAA rules anyway. Sophomore center Cody Larson’s decision to quit the
squad two weeks further depleted the frontcourt and took away a few
reserve minutes per game.
Then came backup forward Casey Prather
and his two concussions in nine days, the latest coming Monday. Losing
his athleticism, versatility in the press and defense was a significant
blow.
But with Thursday’s suspension of starting point guard
Scottie Wilbekin, the heir apparent to the spot locked down by Erving
Walker for the last three years, the 10th-ranked Gators moved into
full-blown remake mode, what with the season opener against Georgetown
set for Friday night in the Navy/Marines Corps Classic on the USS Bataan
at Naval Station Mayport.
“This throws a wrench into some things,” Donovan said.
Wilbekin,
suspended for violating team rules, had been UF’s No. 1 playmaker since
the Gators resumed workouts following the loss to Louisville in the
Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last March. After Wilbekin, an
outstanding man-to-man defender and an underrated (45.7 percent) 3-point
shooter, Florida has no true point guard.
But as Will Muschamp would say, “Man down, man up.”
And that means you, Kenny Boynton.
“I’m just gonna try and do the best I can,” Boynton said.
Think
about this: Boynton is the No. 8 scorer in UF history and begins his
senior season 502 points from breaking the school scoring mark; he’s had
the green light to shoot (especially from 3-point range, where his 757
attempts are more than any Gator ever has taken) since arriving from
Pompano Beach four years ago.
In three seasons, he’s taken 1,303 shots, compared to 290 assists.
Now,
he’s the guy who has to get teammates shots. And he’s got to do it
against a team like the Hoyas, who may have just two starters back from a
team that went 24-9 -- and were a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament --
but is always formidable.
“He has enough pieces where he can
substitute and make changes,” Georgetown coach John Thompson said. “Down
two players, all that means is two other good players are going to get
quality minutes.”
That’s the attitude the Gators will tip off the season with.
Everything will start with Boynton the shooting guard-turned-Boynton the scoring point guard.
“I
really have confidence in Kenny back there,” Donovan said. “I think he
knows what I want and I think he can run our team. He understands
there’s going to be a different role for us and him, but there’s a fine
line with how he runs the team and how he needs to score. He has to
understand what’s going on in the game.”
That means feeding
Patric Young in the post, finding Erik Murphy on the wing and attacking
the basket while also fighting the instinct to pull up for jumpers and
trade them for passes to open teammates.
It’s a big responsibility (to some degree, an unexpected one), but Boynton is ready for it. More than that, he needs it.
Last
offseason, he considered forgoing his senior year and turning pro, but
scouts told him he needed to improve his game with the ball in his
hands.
“I’m ready for the challenge,” Boynton said. “One of the
main reasons I came back to school was to play more at the point guard
spot.”
What an opportunity.
Ditto for UF’s four-man
freshman class. Trouble is, Donovan probably was counting on key minutes
from half that class a few days ago. The losses of Prather on the wing
and Wilbekin in the backcourt mean Michael Frazier, Dillon Graham, DeVon
Walker and Braxton Ogbueze will have to play against Georgetown;
probably two positions each; in Frazier’s case, maybe three positions.
Their
baptism to the next level will demand they match the Hoyas intensity,
while maintaining awareness of the multitude of backdoor cuts they’ll
face against the Princeton-style offense.
Finally, throw in
whatever intangible elements -- such as temperatures in the high-40s and
enough wind to affect shots much shorter than 3-pointers -- and some
Gators will be need to grow up in a hurry.
“We didn’t recruit these guys to sit ‘em,” assistant coach Matt McCall said. “They came here to play.”
They’ll play, all right.
“We need the freshmen to step up,” junior forward Will Yeguete said. “We’ll need everybody to step up.”
Donovan put it another way.
“It’s not optimal,” he said, “but it’s what we have.”
