After a first-round loss in the SEC Tournament, Florida Coach Billy Donovan questioned the commitment of his players to get better.
“You know, it’s hard for me to be excited going forward because I don’t see things being fixed,” the Florida coach said after an 80-69 loss to Alabama. “We’re 31 games into the season, and I’m not going to sit up here and talk about youthfulness or what we don’t have or what we lost or those type of things.
“You want to see a group of guys really understanding what it takes to win. . . .
“They’re not committed to it,” Donovan said of the Gators’ willingness to work to win. “I’m not necessarily excited about these guys being sophomores, to be honest. I think people’s initial thing is, well, they’re going to get older. I never believe in that. I don’t think poeple change a whole lot, and I don’t think you’ve seen the basketball team change at all this year.”
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
I think it’s a shame that he gave his team no credit for coming back from a 26 point deficit to within 6 points. I think he just humiliated himself, his team and the University of Florida. Glad he’s not at UK.