NCAA Tournament 2000 - Forty minutes of fun for Florida

Forty minutes of fun for Florida
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- On the chalkboard of the Florida locker room was the message that told it all.

"40 Minutes."

The Gators start running as soon as the ball is tossed in the air and they don't let up until the horn sounds. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to their style of play, just five guys scurrying around like dogs chasing their tails. Of course, it all makes perfect sense to the man who orchestrates this chaos.

"Every team in the country practices their half-court offense," said coach Billy Donovan, whose team meets Michigan State in the national championship game Monday night. "We try to be as disruptive as possible and take teams out of what they practice on a regular basis. That's the essence of what we're trying to do."

Donovan's don't-take-no-for-an-answer approach to recruiting has given him the 10-deep roster he must have to keep up the pressure for an entire game. In Saturday's semifinal victory over North Carolina, nine guys played between 13 and 20 minutes. The only exception was star Mike Miller, who was on the court for 29 minutes.

"Most teams can't do that," forward Brent Wright said. "But they get caught up trying to play 'Billy Ball.' They can play that way for maybe 35, 38 minutes. But when they get to 39, even 39½, they start wearing down."

North Carolina was ahead 48-42 with 15 minutes remaining but couldn't hang with the Gators at the end. Florida (29-7) closed the game with a 16-6 run, holding the Tar Heels without a point over the final 2:44.

Michigan State, which slogged its way to a 53-41 victory over Wisconsin in the semifinals, is ready to run with the Gators.

"I am a little happier to be playing Florida," Spartans star Mateen Cleaves said. "I'm not saying it's not going to be tough and physical, but we pretty much can get up and down and try to play our style of basketball."

Donovan, who was schooled in this style by Rick Pitino, focuses on several key statistics to determine if the Gators are following orders:

Win the turnover game. Florida lost the ball only 10 times in the semifinals, while harassing the Tar Heels into 17 miscues.

Keep on shooting. The Gators create extra scoring opportunities by pounding the offensive boards, which is why they have put up more shots than their opponent in 26 of 36 games.

Guard the 3-point line. Even the frontcourt players will pop outside to harass the other team's perimeter players, which helped limit North Carolina to 5-of-22 from beyond the arc.

"A lot of times, teams with a lesser seed in the NCAA tournament beat a higher seed because of the 3-point line," Donovan said. "Although we want to take advantage of the 3-point line, it's even more important to guard the 3-point line."

Offensively, the Gators are working to escape the perception they're nothing more than a bunch of 3-point gunners. Even after shooting 28 treys in the semifinal, Florida is averaging only 19.8 attempts for the season -- nearly four less per game than the last two years.

"This year, probably more so than at any time since I've been at Florida, we've had a formidable front court to throw the ball inside to, people who have the ability to score," Donovan said. "Good things happen when those guys get the ball."

The inside starters -- 6-foot-7 Udonis Haslem and 6-8 Wright -- combined for 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Tar Heels. The next wave -- 6-8 Donnell Harvey and 6-9 Matt Bonner -- added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Even when Miller was struggling, the Gators still found a way to beat North Carolina.

"I'm not the man on this team," said Miller, who hit just 3-of-13 shots for 10 points. "We have a lot of players who can get 10, 12, 14 points a game. To me, that's a lot tougher to handle than stopping one guy who can score 20 points."


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