Gators Basketball Gearing Up for Repeat?
Billy is back, but with modest expectations.
I know that everyone is probably watching the thrilling LSU/Bama game or CFB game of the week ASU/Oregon right now but I thought I would share with you Billy Donovan’s interview with ESPN on the upcoming basketball season. As many of you know, the Florida Gators are coming off back-to-back National Championships but Donovan does not return a single starter and loses alost 100% of his scoring from last year.
I thought it was interesting in the way Billy Donovan explained how the expectations from last year weren’t to win the championship. As all summer long last year, I heard Joakim Noah proclaiming that they would repeat. But Donovan is right in that this year’s team needs to build it’s own identity. The Noah, Horford, Brewer, Humphries group was totally unique and something we won’t see at Florida or any team for a long time yet. I also found it interesting to hear Donovan talk about running a different offensive style to compliment the talent he has now. I guess we won’t see as much spread pick and roll with Joakim Noah that we saw the last two years.
Still, the Gators bring in a top 10 recruiting class and have some real talent in Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas. Though, a national championship is far too much to expect out this group, certainly an NCAA appearance would not be. I think that with Donovan coaching, and the talent he is bringing in, the Gators could be final four contenders in less than one year.
Lastly, I also found it interesting how Billy Donovan danced around the whole Orlando Magic fiasco, Kentucky flirtation and his big fat contract extension. He is clearly still bothered by some of those events and it’s yet to be seen if it will have any effect on his coaching. The full interview is below,
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