In coach Billy Donovan’s eyes, the Gators truly played like Gators for the first time this season against Kentucky.
Florida played to its potential, showing up excited and energized for the matchup against the No. 1 team in the country who was undefeated coming into Gainesville.
Following the game, Donovan said "this game was lost in October" when players arrived at training camp and weren’t as motivated as they needed to be.
Lack of motivation resulted in a disappointing non-conference performance, with Florida dropping games to then-No. 5 North Carolina and then-No. 11 Kansas — games the Gators could have won to boost its subpar resume in an attempt to reach a postseason tournament.
Kentucky was not the first ranked opponent UF had played, but it was supposedly the best.
The top team in the country had swept through almost every team it had faced, and Florida had them on the ropes before eventually falling 68-61 on Saturday.
Donovan said on Monday that many of the Gators suffer from motivational issues.
To Donovan, the team has a problem developing a sense of urgency.
It often has played down to its opponents and this has caused Donovan to say the Gators may have difficulty motivating themselves.
"I mean, heck, if you can’t get excited to play in a game like that then you’ve got some serious issues, just calling it like it is," Donovan said about the team’s motivation against Kentucky. "That’s my thing about being externally motivated. How can you come out Tuesday that way (against Vanderbilt) and Saturday (against Kentucky) the next? And that’s the more I’m around these guys I’ll just say it like it is, the more I’m around them, they as a group they’ve got to be more internally driven and competitive than they are."
Donovan said he’s taken it upon himself to change the mindset of the team and help fix poor tendencies that have plagued them in their basketball careers to this point.
"I am trying to change mental disposition and habits that these guys have had their whole entire life, and these experiences are hopefully changing their mental approach to competing," Donovan said.
"And I feel like that’s like my No. 1 job for them to be successful even when they leave here."
If anything, Donovan is surprised it’s taken this long for the Gators to play with the intensity that their talent levels require.
Everything has come so easily to many players in their careers that they haven’t had to work hard.
Until now.
"There are games where the game is sometimes bigger than yourself," Donovan said.
"That was a game (against Kentucky) that was bigger than them. I’m not so sure the games that we’ve played this year, they haven’t thought at times they’re bigger than the game."
With Florida playing for its season — needing every win to improve it’s long-shot odds of making the NCAA tournament – Donovan hopes that the newfound awareness of the needed intensity isn’t too little too late.
Follow Graham Hall on Twitter @Graham311
Michael Frazier II (from left), Dorian Finney-Smith and Chris Walker huddle during Florida's 68-61 loss to No. 1 Kentucky on Saturday in the O'Connell Center.
