February 27th, 2009 06:47pm
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Incoming 2009 UF freshman guard Kenny Boynton received more honors this week when he was named as one of five finalists for the Naismith high school basketball player of the year.
The others include forward DeMarcus Cousins (Mobile, Ala.), guard John Wall (Raleigh, N.C.), forward Renardo Sidney (Los Angeles, Calif.) and forward Derrick Favors (Atlanta, Ga.)
The Atlanta Tipoff club will select the winner in early March.
Boynton was selected to play in the …
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February 26th, 2009 06:52pm
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It wasn’t quite Frost-Nixon, but ESPN cameras caught a verbal altercation between Nick Calathes and Erving Walker late in Florida’s 81-75 loss to LSU.
Both insisted Thursday it wasn’t a big deal, but for a team that has been unraveling late in games, it makes you wonder whether the chemistry that Florida coach Billy Donovan is seeking remains a work in progress.
“We were just in the heat of the moment,” Calathes said. “Me and Erv …
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February 19th, 2009 01:30pm
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Before emerging for postgame interviews following Florida’s 88-86 loss to Georgia, UF coach Billy Donovan chatted with Georgia associate athletic director Frank Crumley.
My guess is they weren’t exchanging Valentine’s Day cards. Instead, Crumley was probably talking to Donovan to try to gauge Virginia Commonwealth coach Anthony Grant’s interest in the Georgia opening.
Grant, Donovan’s former long-time Florida assistant, is 71-23 in two-plus seasons at VCU. He already has a Colonial Conference championship and NCAA …
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February 16th, 2009 03:12pm
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Let’s preface this by saying Billy Donovan is without question the most accomplished basketball coach in Florida history.
He’s led Florida to its only two national titles and three of its four Final Four Appearances. He has more wins (304) than any coach in school history, led Florida to three straight SEC Tournament titles and just its second outright SEC regular-season title.
Yet in games decided by five points or less, Donovan (48-55) is among a long list …
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February 12th, 2009 09:52pm
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Florida coach Billy Donovan said he was contacted by the Southeastern Conference regarding senior Walter Hodge’s flagrant technical against Kentucky.
Hodge was ejected for the final 16:04 of the game for the foul, in which he stepped on Kentucky junior forward Perry Stevenson.
“It was a hard, hard play because the officials had to make a decision based on Walter’s intentions,” Donovan said. “So what was Walter’s intention at the time. Well, nobody knows what Walter is thinking …
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February 11th, 2009 12:41pm
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Florida sophomore point guard Nick Calathes reached a milestone on a bittersweet night.
Calathes became the eighth-fastest player in Florida history following his career-high 33-point night at Kentucky. With 1,002 points in 60 games, Calathes reached 1,000 points the fastest of any player in the 13-year Billy Donovan era.
Calathes said following Tuesday night’s 68-65 loss at Kentucky he would have traded the big scoring night for the win. He missed three free throws with 0.6 seconds …
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February 10th, 2009 12:28pm
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To hear Florida coach Billy Donovan and Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie speak Monday, one would think both were auditioning for the mutual admiration society.
Donovan said Gillispie is doing a “terrific job” at Kentucky while Gillispie referred to Donovan as “a future Hall of Fame coach.”
The relationship didn’t appear as rosy during last summer’s recruiting period, when securing commitments from younger and younger basketball players came into question.
To review, after Gillispie was among a group …
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February 9th, 2009 09:32pm
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College basketball beat writers throughout the Southeastern Conference often like to help each other out.
So when one writer from Kentucky asked me to ask questions about how Florida is adapting to playing as a finesse team, it gave me an idea of the national perception of the Gators.
Namely, a perception of a team that relies on 3-pointers and treats defense like an ugly stepchild.
Is Florida a finesse team? The Gators ranks eighth in the conference in rebounding margin, …
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February 5th, 2009 01:41pm
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Florida freshman forward Allan Chaney will miss UF’s next game at Kentucky on Feb. 10 with a stress fracture in his left heel.
Florida coach Billy Donovan said that Chaney will be unable to practice for “a couple of weeks” meaning Chaney could also miss UF’s Feb. 14 contest at Georgia.
“That’s not really good for us going forward because I really thought he was starting to do some good things and starting to do some things in …
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February 3rd, 2009 02:32pm
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Florida sophomore point guard Nick Calathes has picked up where he left off last season, leading the Gators in scoring and leading the Southeastern Conference in assists.
But it appears that Calathes’ draft stock is falling. Projected as a mid-to-late first round pick at the end of last season, Calathes is currently projected as the seventh pick in the second round on the mock draft web site draftxpress.com. Meanwhile, nbadraft.net doesn’t have Calathes getting selected in the first two …
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