Billy Donovan was irritated following Florida’s season-opening victory against North Florida.
He was unhappy about giving up nine three-pointers, he was confused as to how the Ospreys finished the first half on an 11-0 run, and he questioned his team’s basketball IQ in terms of knowing where to be on defense.
But if there is one thing Donovan could change before tonight’s matchup against No. 20 Wisconsin (1-0) at 9 p.m. in Madison, Wisc., it is No. 11 Florida’s (1-0) attitude on the court.
After Friday night’s 77-69 win, which was the Gators’ smallest margin of victory in a season opener since 2001, Donovan said his team did not show the intensity or determination needed to be ranked.
“One thing that gets under my skin is this look of entitlement, (like) everything is supposed to go my way, and if it doesn’t, I get deflated,” Donovan said. “(Where’s) our resiliency, our fight, our grit? Our team didn’t show remotely close to the grit that North Florida showed; so maybe our guys can learn something from them.”
When the Badgers visited the O’Connell Center last season, the Gators raced out of the gates with a 9-0 run and never relinquished the lead. The 74-56 victory was Florida’s second largest margin of victory against a Big Ten opponent under Donovan.
However, guard Michael Frazier II said this year’s squad has a lot to learn from past teams. He said the Gators need to make adjustments in order to stand a chance Tuesday night.
“We talked about when we played them last year and our energy level, our focus,” Frazier said. “We were on edge, and the coaches have been talking about that. We don’t have that same edge in practice that we did a year ago when we played these guys. So, they’ve really been talking about how we’re going to have to be on edge during the game, because if we relax for a second, then threes go up.”
Wisconsin’s 33 percent shooting from behind the arc was tied for 211th in the nation last year, but it sank 11 of 23 three-pointers in a 86-75 victory over St. John’s on Nov. 8.
Florida has given up a total of 22 threes this season, including in its exhibition against Florida Southern.
Including last year’s exhibition against Nebraska-Kearney, the Gators gave up just one more three in five games last season than they have in two games so far this year.
“If we play that way like we did on Friday, we have no shot to win the game,” Donovan said.
Donovan said the Gators were light years away from being a ranked team. Following Friday night’s game, he increased the intensity of practices to get the team in the right mindset for its first top-20 matchup of the season.
Frazier said the focus has been on fixing the broken defense and the broken attitude, both of which he said will improve vastly when Florida takes the floor of the Kohl Center tonight.
“Instead of just saying that it’s going to happen, we actually went out there and approached it as if it was our last practice,” Frazier said.
“Every possession is a championship possession. That’s what the coaches really have been talking about. Just playing every possession like it’s our last and having that focus and edge every play.”
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn.
Billy Donovan shouts from beside the bench during Florida’s 77-69 victory against North Florida on Friday afternoon in the O’Connell Center. No. 11 Florida plays against No. 20 Wisconsin tonight at 9 p.m.
