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Donovan Fearing Opener

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By ANDY STAPLES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2007

GAINESVILLE - University of Florida men's basketball coach Billy Donovan said this about tonight's season opener during an interview earlier this week.

"This is as hard of a season-opening basketball game as we've ever had since I've been here just based on the youthfulness of our team and so many new faces and pieces and then playing against a basketball team that's really good," Donovan said. "They're a physical team. They're an older team. They're a highly intelligent basketball team. They rebound the ball very well. They get to the free-throw line.

"They shot 50 percent from the field last year. They run a motion offense. They have a lot of different guys inside their system that can beat you. This will be an unbelievable challenge going into it. It would be a phenomenal win for our basketball team to find a way to win."

So exactly which juggernaut will the Gators face tonight at 8 at the O'Connell Center? North Carolina? Kansas? UCLA? The 1998 Chicago Bulls?

It's North Dakota State.

And Donovan isn't poormouthing. He is legitimately worried his young team will lose to the Bison, who return four starters from a team that won at Marquette last season.

While the Gators officially are the two-time defending national champions, the team that will take the floor tonight will bear no resemblance whatsoever to the team that beat Ohio State in the NCAA title game April 2.

"The only thing the same from last year to this year," Florida forward Dan Werner said, "is the name on the front of the jersey."

Florida will start a pair of freshmen (guards Jai Lucas and Nick Calathes), two sophomores (Werner and center Marreese Speights) and junior guard Walter Hodge, the only Gator who played significant minutes on the two national title teams. Meanwhile, the Bison have three starters (guards Mike Nelson and Ben Woodside and forward Brett Winkelman) who averaged better than 15 points last season.

That's exactly what has Donovan concerned.

"These kids haven't proved anything," Donovan said of his team. "They haven't done anything. These guys haven't won a game yet in college basketball. A lot of it's based on what's happened here in the past. It's not a realistic question. Sophomores Dan Werner, Jonathan Mitchell and Marreese Speights have never been in a significant basketball game with the game on the line time- and score-wise. They've gotten in a lot of times at the end of the game when the game was over with."

So while he may have overdramatized the ability of early-season opponents in past years, Donovan won't need a coachspeak-to-English translation tonight. He means every word.

"I don't care if it's North Dakota State," Donovan said. "I don't care if it's Kansas. I don't care if it's UCLA. I don't care if it's Gonzaga. We have to go out there and play with an incredible sense of urgency to even give ourselves a chance to be in the game."

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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