Billy Donovan is not one to sugarcoat anything.
He would probably say he doesn’t pay attention to such things, but the fact is, Florida is ranked 82nd in RPI and is 0-7 vs. RPI top-50 teams and 1-8 vs. RPI top-100 teams.
Donovan might not know the numbers, but he does know his team isn’t in good NCAA tournament shape.
"I’m not going to be one of these guys who’s going to be this optimist and say, ‘Oh yeah.’ I have to go off of what I’m dealing with today," Donovan said.
"We’ve shown no signs of consistency. Now, we’re working on those things, but I haven’t seen any signs that makes me say, ‘Yeah, we’re OK, we’re OK.’ We’re not OK."
While the Gators are struggling, it’s not because of internal strife or character issues.
It’s consistently about his players applying what they are coached onto the floor when the lights come on.
They get it — Donovan knows they do — but he said things get lost in-game when things speed up.
"If this was an attitude or behavioral issue, I’d be a lot more disappointed," Donovan said.
"It’s not that at all. It’s the consistency of being able to do it night in and night out for 40 minutes, practice in and practice out for 40 minutes."
Frazier faithful to Hill: Kasey Hill bore the brunt of quite a bit of Florida fan frustration Saturday night when he failed to get a shot off as time expired and Florida fell to Ole Miss 72-71.
Hill raced the length of the court but instead of pulling up for a jumpshot, he drove deep into the lane in order to try and get a layup.
While Hill’s drive may have cost Florida the game, junior shooting guard Michael Frazier saw things differently.
"I don’t think we would have had enough time anyway for him to pass it, so I think he made the right play by trying to get a shot off at the basket," Frazier said. "Unfortunately the time expired."
Gators lamenting lack of listening: Donovan could just stand up in team meetings and say "I told you so," because he did, multiple times.
He told his team this year would be tough, that it would be difficult to replicate anything close to last year’s level of success, but his team didn’t listen
And now at 10-9, they wish they would have.
"Coach told us before the year what we had to do. Me included, we didn’t really listen to him," Frazier said. "We are where we are right now because he chose not to listen to him, and the only thing we can do is move forward."
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Junior shooting guard Michael Frazier II drives into the paint during Florida's 61-56 win against Louisiana-Monroe in the O'Connell Center.
