Where's the D on Billy D's team?


By Jeff Lippman
EastGators staff writer

When everything goes dark in the arena, "Welcome to the House of Horrors" plays loud through the speakers and "only Gators get out alive" spins around mid-court, you know you are in Billy D's house.

Florida Gators basketball is a perennial nationally ranked powerhouse; it has been for nearly seven years now. One man alone deserves the accolades of turning this broken UF program into title contender's year in and year out: Billy Donovan.

Since Donovan was hired on March 27, 1996 the Gators have achieved five consecutive 20-win seasons, five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, a national No. 1 ranking and an appearance in the national championship game.

These are pretty impressive statistics. But is Donovan the coach that many rowdy reptiles think he is? Is he the guy that can lead UF to a championship?

I am not so sure about that. Just look at the stats.

The Gators have gone dancing in March the last five consecutive seasons. In 1998-99, the Gators first year in the tournament under Donovan, the overachieving Gators advanced to the sweet sixteen. Well done Billy.

In 1999-00 an impressive squad led by sophomore Mike Miller advanced all the way to their first ever national championship game before giving way to Michigan State. Kudos again Billy, but wait, what if Miller never hit that buzzer beater prayer against the lowly Butler Bulldogs in the first round?

Oh well, wait till next year.

The 2000-01 season saw the Gators take personnel hit. It was nice knowing you Mike Miller. It was great having you play scrap minutes and then leave Donnell Harvey.

The Gators fought through the disappointing early NBA entries and had a wonderfully unexpected 24-7 season. Damn that pesky tournament though.

A young and talented team led by junior Associated Press Third-Team All-American Udonis Haslem and junior Teddy Dupay, who later got kicked off the team for gambling, only managed to reach the second round before bowing out to Temple.

Losing Dupay didn't seem so bad at the time because the Gators still had the big "U", Udonis Haslem.

It turns out that losing the last true point guard the Gators have ever had really did hurt. Haslem had arguably his worst season in a Gators uniform in 2001-02, and then there was the whole Creighton fiasco. It was see you later alligator after only one round.

And then there was 2002-03, last year. What a year for Gator nation. Led by seniors Matt Bonner, Justin Hamilton and Brett Nelson and freshman sensations Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson, the Gators reached their first ever No. 1 ranking.

They got murdered by Kentucky the next day.

These Gators obviously had flaws, which was apparent come tournament and another second round exit.

It wasn't that the Gators lost the game to Michigan State, it was how they lost, managing to put up a grand total of 46 points in defeat.

This year's Gators went all the way to the SEC Championship game and earned a good seeding in the tournament because of it. America's number one upset pick, the Gators got pounded by 12-seed Manhattan.

Billy Donovan is a great recruiter. Udonis Haslem, Teddy Dupay, Mike Miller, Donnell Harvey, Brett Nelson, David Lee, James White, Anthony Roberson, Christian Drejer and Matt Walsh were all great signees.

Haslem didn't get drafted (though he's playing well for the Miami Heat now), Dupay was kicked off the team, Miller left after two years, Harvey after only one, Nelson went from a great freshman to a horrible senior, Lee is still there although his game is getting weaker, White is now playing for Cincinnati, Drejer decided money and Spain was the better way to go and who knows when Roberson and Walsh will leave. My bet is early.

"I think what he has done is over assessed his talent," said former Utah coach and analyst Rick Majerus said in an interview on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" show. "You need more dirty work players and tough hardworking players and Florida does not have that."

Donovan may recruit them, but he doesn't teach them. These players do not prosper under his system and neither do the Gators win the big games. Defense wins championships.

Dean Smith, Bobby Knight, Tubby Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Gary Williams and Lute Olson are just some of the many elite coaches who have two things in common: They teach defense and they have won national championships.

Donovan seems content at letting his teams play little to no defense and settle for the three-point shot. He doesn't understand how to teach his players the skills they need to develop. The greatest thing to ever happen to Gators basketball, in my opinion, is one of the biggest reasons that UF fans sit in front of their televisions every March and say, "Oh no, how could they lose in the second round again!" Well this year it was the first round but who's counting? Everyone Billy, everyone.