Billy Donovan can yap all he wants.
Care about your defense as much as you care about your offense.
Don't just talk about defense - be about defense.
Look for each other on defense as much as you do on offense.
When Donovan said earlier this week that his team was totally consumed with offense, he was right on.
This team is too young, too small and not intense enough. The Gators have done better than I thought they would this season, but they would be better than that if they would just bring the same intensity on the defensive end as they do the offensive.
With 10:21 left in Wednesday night's 85-73 loss against LSU, Nick Calathes picked off a pass and then lightly dropped the ball down to Dan Werner.
Imagine if there was more of that. The Gators might actually have a decent shot to get past the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Instead, they'll probably be lucky to make it out of the first round and then get shellacked by the likes of a North Carolina, Duke or Memphis in a 1 vs. 8 matchup.
"Do you want to win or do you just want to score and make it look pretty?" Donovan said.
Seriously, being down 20-6 with 12:57 left in the first half against the dead-last team in the conference - that's just sad. And Donovan is right. There's nothing pretty about losing the way the Gators did Wednesday.
Sorry, but being a few inches shorter doesn't cause a team to shoot 60 percent against you and dunk the ball as easily as my 2-year-old niece dunks on her toy basketball hoop.
UF is trying to use its lack of size and abundance of perimeter speed to its advantage, and it isn't working on the defensive end.
The Gators can't help their lack of size, but saying it's because they're young isn't a valid excuse anymore. Their lack of size wasn't the reason they didn't rotate well or help each other out on the fast break Wednesday night.
When asked what his best defensive five would be to have on the floor at one time, Donovan replied with himself as well as his assistant coaches. He even gave a shout out to strength and conditioning coordinator Matt Herring.
"Coach Donovan's done all he could," Werner said. "He tried all different ways. He's yelled at us. He said it's up to you guys. It just falls on our shoulders."
Now UF has lost three of four and has given up a total of 336 points in those four games. That's 84 per game. I didn't realize a weak Southeastern Conference team was capable of putting up NBA-type box scores.
Marreese Speights said a team meeting would take place soon to talk about these struggles. That's not such a bad idea.
"We have to find a way to play defense," Walter Hodge said. "We have to help each other."
When Donovan said his team was lacking in "talent defensively," he wasn't kidding.
When my 5-foot-7, 140-plus-pound frame could score on you, well, may the good Lord have mercy on your soul.
