As long as No. 1 Florida continues its winning ways, Billy Donovan is going to keep hearing comparisons to his past championship squads.
Fielding questions from reporters that compare the current Gators to the teams from 2005-07 has almost become a weekly ritual for the UF coach at his Monday press conferences.
It’s understandable why. The No. 1 Gators finished the regular season 29-2 for their best start in school history and wrapped up the Southeastern Conference slate 18-0 — better records than Donovan’s national champion squads in 2005-06 (24-6, 10-6 SEC) and 2006-07 (26-5, 13-3 SEC). UF is also on a 23-game winning streak.
But if Donovan had his wish, those questions would go away.
“We want to look at the records and draw these parallels, but I’m always a little bit guarded starting to compare one team to the next because it’s different,” Donovan said. “The personalities are different, the players are different — everything’s different.
“What these guys have done in the regular season has been really, really remarkable and special. I would hate to have that accomplishment all the sudden be compared to something else, because what they did has been, in my opinion, totally unique and special.”
For starters, Donovan believes his championship teams were at a different talent level than the 2013-14 Gators, who finished the season on a 23-game winning streak — something no previous Florida team has ever done.
Following his second consecutive NCAA title in 2007, Donovan saw Corey Brewer, Al Horford and Joakim Noah selected as lottery picks in the NBA Draft. No player on Florida’s current roster projects as a lottery selection, according to multiple mock draft websites.
But after trying to differentiate both units Monday, Donovan drew some similarities between the groups.
“The parallels you can make is a guy like (Al) Horford was this big, strong, kind of physical player. Patric (Young) is like that,” Donovan said. “(Joakim) Noah was this outspoken, Patric’s got a lot of emotions, [Will Yeguete is] kind of a little bit quiet. (Lee) Humphrey shot threes, (Michael) Frazier shot threes. (Casey) Prather was an athletic wing player, Corey Brewer was like that. Scottie Wilbekin, Taurean (Green).
“But at the same point, you know, this team is a lot different. I think the thing that both teams share that would be similar, in my opinion, is there is really, really good connection inside of our team.”
Coming off the heels of Saturday’s emotional 84-65 win against Kentucky in the O’Connell Center on Senior Day, No. 1 seed Florida now shifts its focus to preparing for the SEC Tournament after taking off practice Sunday and Monday.
As his program heads into the postseason and experiences the most hype it has drawn in about seven seasons, Donovan wants his players to block out distractions — comparisons, rankings or whatever they may be — and focus on the common goal.
“When the ball goes up in the air, I don’t think our guys are running around saying, ‘We’re No. 1 in the country, we’re No. 1 in the country,’” Donovan said. “Once the ball goes up and both teams are playing, seeding, ranking, record, all that stuff goes out the window.”
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Billy Donovan looks down the court during Florida’s 67-61 win against Kansas on Dec. 10, 2013 in the O’Connell Center. On Monday, Donovan said this year’s Gators are different compared to his back-to-back title-winning teams.
