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It Wasn't Pretty, But Gators Find A Way To Win

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By JOE HENDERSON

jhenderson@tampatrib.com

Published: March 13, 2009

Updated: 03/13/2009 12:33 am

TAMPA - It's never going to be easy for the Florida Gators, and whatever they are able to accomplish from here on out probably won't look real good while it's happening. So if we accept that essential truth about Gator basketball, then Thursday's 73-58 victory over Arkansas was a thing of beauty.

Measuring these Gators by what they can't do - say, for example, shoot the basketball - doesn't work. There is an edge to them that can, when the stars align properly, overcome the continual clanks off the rim.

You could pick at the effort it took to dispatch a team that was 2-14 in league play, but the fact is the Gators did get past the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament and that's something they couldn't say a year ago.

They shot just 42 percent, but they live to play tonight anyway against Auburn at the Forum. That's another game they simply have to win if they want to play in the NCAA Tournament next week.

We'd say they have to play better than they did in beating Arkansas, but the Gators are who they are at this point - a team that pretty much can beat anyone, or lose to anyone.

Now if we just knew which Gator team would show up ...

They work hard. They defend hard. They crash the boards as best they can. And if they had some consistent scorers they might be a lot more comfortable right now about their future. As it is, they get by the best way they can.

Sometimes it works.

Late Start

Of course, it couldn't have been easy sitting around all day waiting to play. The game, the fourth on the opening day of the tournament, didn't tip off until 9:58 p.m., so maybe we should cut both teams some slack about the way they shot. They were probably just bleary-eyed.

At one point late in the first half, Florida was shooting 34 percent - and winning. Nick Calathes, the Gators' top gun, had nearly as many air balls (two) as he did points (four) right around that time.

But Billy Donovan also has a team with a little moxie, and the Gators will need every bit of it to keep advancing. Eventually the lack of consistent scoring will take them down, whether in this tournament or next week sometime - or both. But when that happens, at least it will be a fight.

They couldn't always say that last year. They certainly couldn't say it in the first round of this tournament a year ago, when Alabama blew them out. What this team lacks in style, it makes up for in floor burns.

At 23-9, it's reasonable to ask why Florida hasn't sewn up a spot in the Big Dance already. Well, its nonconference schedule wasn't overly challenging and anything the Gators did in league play gets discounted a bit because the SEC is down. That's why the Gators absolutely have to win tonight - and it may take more than that.

You can make an argument that they still need two wins to make things comfortable.

Then again, given the up-and-down nature of this team, could there be any other way? This bunch doesn't know a thing about comfort.

Kept Plugging Away

Arkansas lacked the firepower to take advantage of Florida's shooting struggles, so the Gators could plug away until things got reasonably comfortable at 56-43 with 8:51 to play.

They had gotten what they needed.

They got leadership from Walter Hodge, whose 16 points led the Gators and kept things afloat until Calathes could recover his shooting eye enough to score 11. They had an edge on the boards. They had 11 steals. They forced 16 turnovers.

And when the game was there to be won or lost, it's only fair to note that they did shoot 54 percent in the second half.

With all that, asking for smooth from start to finish might be considered greedy.

The way the Gators stumbled down the stretch, losing three straight before beating Kentucky leading into the tournament, all the elements were there for a collapse on par with a year ago.

Whatever happens from here on out, at least they avoided that.

What they do now, well, that's anyone's guess.

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