Billy Donovan was hired as head coach of Florida March 27, 1996.
Around midnight that night, Frank Martin said his cell phone chirped with a message. It was Donovan. He told him he planned to come to his high school in Miami, Fla., the next day to recruit some of his players.
Two decades later, Martin and Donovan remain tight, a friendship forged from their earliest days in coaching. Donovan plucked Anthony Grant, one of Martin's assistants at Miami Senior High, to join his staff at Marshall. For 15 summers, Martin worked as a counselor at Donovan's basketball camps. Two of his former players, Brent Wright and Udonis Haslem, became centerpieces of Donovan's first Final Four team.
"If it weren't for Frank Martin, we wouldn't have played for the national title in 2000," Donovan told The Gainesville Sun.
That friendship will be set aside Wednesday, when the Gamecocks become the next team to take their crack at Donovan's #4-ranked Gators (16-2, 6-0 SEC). Pre-tip reads before the Gators and Gamecocks hit the floor (8:00 p.m. EST, Gamecock IMG Sports Network):
Inside The Efficiency: Demolished? Dismantled? Pick any verb. They all describe what Florida has done to SEC competition this year. The Gators have won their conference games by an average of 26.5 points, the latest an 82-47 drubbing at Mississippi State. The Gators' top seven players are juniors and seniors, and that chemistry shows: Florida ranks 2nd in the nation in Offensive Efficiency, averaging 1.23 points per possession (PPP).
"That ball never stops, which allows you to not get set defensively," Martin said at his Tuesday press conference.
How does Florida operate so skillfully? The Gators run lots of ball screens, primarily from the wings, with hulking center Patric Young as their featured screener. Their guards - leading scorer Kenny Boynton (13.6 ppg), redshirt senior Mike Rosario (11.8 ppg, 90% FT), and junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin (9.1 ppg, 40.4% 3pt.) - are exceedingly patient, and rarely force anything. If they find a seam on a pick-and-roll, they either attack the rim or wait until a backside defender steps up, so they can pop out to 6'10" forward Erik Murphy (12.8 ppg, 47.4% 3pt.). Murphy is one of the nation's better "stretch fours," making him a difficult matchup from outside.
Florida senior guard Kenny Boynton (right)
Florida also sends Young on "rims runs" on screen-and-rolls, looking to find a catch in stride. One of the SEC's most physical specimens, Young's north-south runs can be difficult to stop.
That unselfishness results in impeccable scoring balance. Four different players average in double figures, and the Gators shoot 56.8% from two-point range.
Stopping the nation's most surgical offense seems like a thankless task. The Gamecocks will need to lean on something they did well against Missouri and Mississippi State: defend the pick-and-roll. The forwards need to "jam the screener," pushing them up and preventing them from making a clean roll to the basket. The Gamecocks' guards need to jump screens, and not allow Florida's ballhandlers to turn corners easily. Any breakdown in communication could cause Carolina's defense to lose shape - and allow Florida's offense to get rolling.
But Wait, There's More: Martin didn't call Florida "national championship good" for offense alone. The Gators lead the nation in Defensive Efficiency, allowing a mere 0.8 points per possession (PPP). They also rank second nationally in scoring defense (51.2 ppg).
Florida Defense - NCAA Ranks
Defensive Efficiency 0.8 Points Per Possession (#1 NCAA)
Scoring Defense 51.2 ppg (#2 NCAA)
Two-Point FG% Defense 39.0% FG (#3 NCAA)
Fouls Per Game 15.8 (#25 NCAA)
The Gators close gaps, stay between the ball and the rim, and rarely foul. The Gamecocks picked a good time to have their best shooting game of the season, a 57.7% performance against Arkansas. Can a player like R.J. Slawson, who just strung together the best two-game scoring stretch of his SEC career, make a difference down low?
Did You Know: Before coming to South Carolina, junior Brenton Williams spent one season at Santa Fe Community College, a 2.5-mile drive from the University of Florida campus. Williams went scoreless against Arkansas after posting 16 points in each of the last three games.
Stat vs. Stat: The Gamecocks biggest strength will come under fire Wednesday. The Gamecocks are one the best teams in the nation at grabbing offensive rebounds; Florida is one of the best teams at denying them.
Rebounding Percentages
South Carolina Get 42.4% of available offensive rebounds (3rd NCAA)
Florida Get 73.8% of available defensive rebounds (11th NCAA)
South Carolina has only faced one team that ranks in the top 100 in the nation in Defensive Rebounding % (Missouri, 67th). Against a Florida team that only allows 39% shooting from two-point range, tenacious offensive rebounding may be South Carolina's salvation.
Bruce Almighty: Martin understands why fans want to see Bruce Ellington score 20 points a night. No player scores with as much kinetic flair as the Gamecocks' armor-plated, 5'8" dual-sport star.
It's not that Martin minds it. He just doesn't need it. Not when Ellington can affect so many more points on the other end. In the last three games, Ellington has posted shutdown defensive performances against the opponent's leading scorer:
Player Avg. Entering Game Points Scored
Kedren Johnson (VU) 15.9 ppg 3 pts.* (0-6 FG, 0-2 3pt.)
Phil Pressey (MU) 12.2 ppg 6 pts. (1-8 FG, 1-6 3pt.)
B.J. Young (ARK) 16.9 ppg 7 pts.* (3-12 FG, 0-2 3pt.)
5.3 ppg, 15.4% FG, 10.0% 3pt.
*-Season-low
Ellington will likely draw the assignment on Boynton, the SEC's active leading scorer with 1,833 career points.
Can You (Not) Top This: On the flip side, Ellington will likely be guarded by Florida's 6'5" junior Scottie Wilbekin, a leading candidate for SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Arguably the SEC's best on-ball defender, Wilbekin held Texas A&M's Elston Turner, who had just exploded for 40 points against Kentucky, to 4 points on 1-of-10 field goal shooting. In his next game, he straitjacketed Missouri point guard Phil Pressey, the SEC's Preseason Player of the Year, into a season-low 2 points and 10 turnovers. A hard player to screen, expect Wilbekin to "chest up" Ellington, and whittle away at his energy on the offensive end.
Wilbekin, though, may have his hands fuller than normal. In two career games at Florida, Ellington averages 19.0 ppg and 42.9% three-point shooting, his highest average against an SEC opponent.
Bruce Ellington Career at Florida (2g)
Points: 19.0*
FG% 48.2%*
3pt.% 42.9%*
*-Career highs on road vs. SEC opponent (min. 2 games)
And Finally... Martin isn't the only Gamecock coach with fond memories of Donovan's summer camps. Assistant Matt Figger also took turns as a counselor while coaching in the junior-college ranks. It was there that he first met Frank Martin, which led to him joining Martin's Kansas State staff in 2007.
Our pre-game coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. on the Gamecock IMG Sports Network. We'll see you in Gainesville. -AD--
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