Wednesday, September 08, 2004
pressure cooker
Mike DeCourcy just wrote-up Florida's late-season collapse and off-season adjustments.[Billy] Donovan believes his most important mission is establishing a defensive identity for the Gators. His defensive identity. Which means they're planning a return to the pressing style abandoned during the past three years because of a lack of depth and personnel that didn't seem to fit that approach.
Playing zone and halfcourt man defense wasn't working. SEC opponents shot 44.8 percent and outrebounded the Gators by 2.9 per game. Florida's work in the pre-tour practices was mostly on defense -- introducing players, including key freshmen Corey Brewer and Taurean Green, to the mechanics of pressing.
Sounds great, no? The Gators' two most significant problems last spring, however, were selfishness and laziness. Both qualities that make a pressure defense counterproductive.
Donovan is betting the farm. He's hoping running the press will force his players to play up to their potential. Perhaps. But if he's wrong, watch for either (a) Billy to abandom his new quick fix or (b) several clubs to post unexpectedly large victories against the Gators.
