ESPN College Gameday’s Seth Greenberg has experience with Florida’s Dorian Finney-Smith. The Gators most consistent scorer was once a member of Greenberg’s Virginia Tech Hokies team, averaging 6.3 points per game starting in 30 of 33 games and earning Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team honors in 2012.
“The guy has always had the skill to guard and an instinct to rebound,” Greenberg said. “He’s an incredible teammate he’s not the leader I’d like him to be, he’s not the energizer bunny per se but Doe-Doe’s just a good dude, that’s just the way he is. He’s just a great kid. You wish he’d have a little more sense of urgency sometimes but he’s really grown, he’s grown up and just talking to Billy and talking to Doe there are things that he’s more willing to open up and share that he wouldn’t as a freshman which he was for me.”
Greenberg came to Gainesville with the barnstorming weekly pregame show to preview Florida’s matchup against the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats. Where Greenberg failed — in getting Finney-Smith to play with an advanced sense of urgency — he said Billy Donovan can succeed, developing a trusting relationship to get the most out of him. Greenberg knows Finney-Smith is a grounded athlete, someone who “looks at himself through a good prism,” it’s just up to the right coach to push the right buttons.
“Well if anyone can do it its Billy,” Greenberg said. “We tried to get him to get more greater sense of urgency but he was just a kid then. He was still trying to figure out who he was offensive and defensively. He was 20 pounds lighter, probably 30 pounds lighter and we were asking him to guard bigger players.”
Bigger players are Kentucky’s calling card. With six in its rotation that stand 6-foot-9 or taller the Wildcats have an average height that is No.1 in the nation according to KenPom.com while the Gators rank 114th in the country in average height.
The team length allows Kentucky to dominate on the defensive end, allowing only 51 points per game to opponents, second in the country and blocking 7.3 shots per game, also second in the country. Greenberg, a coach from 1978 until 2012, doesn’t have to gameplan to stop a powerhouse like Kentucky anymore, but if he did, he offered some tips for Donovan. Whether he uses them or not remains to be seen.
“I think there are certain things you’ve got to be able to do you’ve got to be able to control the rhythm and the tempo of the game, the rhythm of the game probably with your defense the tempo of the game with the offense,” Greenberg said. “You’d better rebound the ball on the defensive end, I think you’ve gotta make 10-12 threes. 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.”
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From left, Rece Davis, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Jay Bilas broadcast from John Paul Jones Arena during ESPN College GameDay on Jan. 31 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
