Oh, Florida Basketball......

I said during my last Florida basketball-related post that to say that Gator basketball was frustrating was an understatement. I've downgraded my opinion.

Look, I love Florida basketball. I still think Nick Calathes is one of the best point guards in the country. I think guys like Erving Walker, Ray Shipman, and Kenny Kadji will be very good players in the future. However, this team has a lot of flaws, all of which begin and end with their desire.

This team doesn't lack for talent. Chandler Parsons and Dan Werner were four star recruits coming out of high school. Nick Calathes was a five star and a McDonald's All-American. Kenny Kadji was a five star as well. Obviously, these guys have the potential to do good things for a basketball team; college scouts didn't turn stupid when they were evaluating the Florida players. The problem is that this team doesn't have enough guys who want to win, who want to put forth the effort to win on a game to game basis. I think Parsons may have the most upside of any player currently wearing a Florida uniform, but he's also the guy most likely to mentally check out during a game. This team goes back and forth between wanting to play and not wanting to, like some see-saw being blown back and forth by a hurricane-force wind. This team's so unpredictable, that they're predictable. When they face a team that plays soft defense and lets them shoot from the outside, Florida wins. When they face a team that's physical and unafraid to attack in the paint, Florida folds like a ten-cent tent. Auburn was that unafraid team last week, when they out-hustled, out-played, and out-lasted the Gators en route to bursting the latter's bubble. Alex Tyus' 21 points and 11 rebounds were rendered useless in the light of poor defense down the stretch and a turnover-ridden Nick Calathes. Speaking of Nick, the last four or five games of the year should be enough for him to return for another year. The guy went 14-44 shooting, with 24 assists and 28 turnovers during that stretch. You think NBA scouts are looking at him and going ga-ga with the way he played in the clutch? Florida won games down the stretch in spite of him, not because of him.

I'm being harsh, though; I won't blame Calathes for tiring out late in the year, not when he spent the first 27 games or so trying to keep Florida afloat. I can't count the number of times when he was the only Gator to show up during a game this year. Walter Hodge only decided to step up during the last 5 games of the year, so outside of Alex Tyus and Erving Walker, it's not like Calathes was getting a load of help.

Back to Walker for a second: is there any other indicator of how little heart this team has than him. A 5'9" freshman might very well have the most heart of anyone on this team. It wasn't Calathes, Parsons, or Werner who took the last shot against Auburn. Instead, it was Walker who did his best to lift Florida up once again, only to have his shot blocked. After the block, Walker wept. Openly. On the court. If there's any better picture that sums up this season for the Gators, that would be the one. Why he's not starting is beyond me.

Actually, it's not beyond me. There's one guy who pulls the strings on personnel decisions, and that's the head coach. Billy Donovan might have coached Florida to two consecutive national titles, but he sure as hell didn't earn his $3 million-plus paycheck this year, not when a team with the talent to at least make the NCAA tourney has to settle for the NIT for the second straight year. Not when Florida went 2-6 against RPI top 50 teams. Not when Florida ended the regular season by losing 8 of its last 12 games. I understand youth being an excuse.........last year. Not this year, when everyone was a year older and the Gators only lost one player to the NBA draft. Instead, this team was the exact same in terms of mindset and attitude; that lies directly on the head coach. It's the head coach's job to inspire his team, to make sure that the same mistakes don't happen repeatedly. It's also his job to make sure that the best players actually play. If Ray Shipman is Florida's best defensive player, then why isn't he playing? It's not like Florida has a team full of Corey Brewers running around; Shipman could help out some on the wing. Watching a team that doesn't highlight its best players is maddening.

UPDATE: Florida lost in the NIT quarterfinals to Penn State. Coasted by two non-tournament teams, then lost against a team that had a solid case to make the tourney. Doesn't say much at all about this squad, in my opinion. Billy Donovan's statement that this team overachieved, when most fans with sense realize that this team underachieved, sounds more like he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else. I'm a Gator basketball fan, but unless Vernon Macklin and Kenny Boynton are for real, then next year is looking to be a repeat.