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Florida's Finish Wasn't In The Script

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

TAMPA - The season for the University of Florida basketball team somehow wound up in the hands of 5-foot-8 freshman with the Gators trailing by three and the clock winding down. This was not how you'd script things.

So when Erving Walker's desperation shot was swatted away as it left his hand late Friday night, securing Auburn's 61-58 victory in a quarterfinal Southeastern Conference tournament game, what followed seemed to capture perfectly the exasperation Florida felt as the season died.

Walker sobbed hard, real tears wrought by real emotion, seconds after the final buzzer sounded at the Forum. It means that the Gators' NCAA Tournament hopes have essentially flat-lined for a second consecutive year. It means that a season that held such promise just a few games ago has once again turned sour.

Senior Walter Hodge put an arm around the freshman in consolation.

"I told him 'you're good; it's not your fault. Don't stress out like that. Work to get better,'" Hodge said later in the deathly quiet Florida locker room. "I thought he was mad but I saw he was crying. It's like, 'Don't stress out baby boy.'"

Good advice. There is plenty of stress to go around this morning in Gainesville.

The Gators' biggest gun, sophomore all-conference guard Nick Calathes, searched in vain all night for his shot, finishing just 3-of-13 from the floor for seven points – about 11 below his average. His exasperation at repeated missed opportunities showed, his confidence seemingly gone.

"I don't know … I've just got to keep playing, keep shooting, get my teammates involved and just let it happen. I felt great but I just didn't make the shots I needed to make to help my team."

Couldn't Make Shots

Basketball is a complex game that can often be reduced to simple explanations. In Florida's case, a glance at the stat sheet is telling. There were 21 points, mostly inside, from forward Alex Tyus and 14 more from Erving.

"We just could not find any scoring from anybody else, and I thought at times we had some pretty decent looks," UF Coach Billy Donovan said.

The Gators shot a bland 36 percent for the game, also continuing an exasperating trend of late. But so much of Florida's offense depends on Calathes, who hasn't been the same since missing free throws at the end a month ago at Kentucky, costing Florida a win. In Florida's last four games, he has just 34 points.

"I'm hopeful it has been somewhat of a learning experience for him because he's got to learn that it's not going to affect the game all the time with scoring or making a great pass," Donovan said.

"Sometimes, just facilitating and starting it is the most important thing. But I think the last several games he has had a tough time in the shooting percentage. And I think teams have done a good job against him."

This was how it was inevitably going to end for the Gators anyway. Without an outside scoring threat, even Florida's scrap and determination wasn't going to be enough in the heat of March basketball. The Gators had to win Friday to have any realistic hope at an NCAA bid. Truth is, they may have needed even more than that.

That's why this loss carried such an air of finality.

"We just have to go back and wait," Hodge said. "I have had a great career here. I love these guys and, you know, we don't care where we're going. We just have to do it as a team."

Long Road Back

The back-to-back national championships seem like a long time ago, even though it has just been two years now. Finding that magic mix of camaraderie, work ethic and talent has proven elusive.

Last year's Gators simply didn't get it, at least not to the standard Donovan demands. This year's bunch worked harder, maybe played better, but couldn't make big plays when they had to.

That's how a freshman winds up with the ball in a desperate situation, followed shortly by an arm around his shoulder.

"They've got to understand what goes into it, and what the sacrifices are," Donovan said.

For now, though, that road back to national prominence remains laid out before them. It seems like an awfully long one right now.

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