Good Dooley column on Tennessee game

[IHateUGAlyDawgs]

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/2 ... 044/sports

This was a game about heart.

Tennessee showed the heart of a champion Wednesday night, clinching the outright SEC title on Florida's floor.

Florida showed the heart that seemed to be missing so many times this season.

The Gators came up just short, a last-second 3-point shot off target, bouncing harmlessly off the rim. They were so close to blowing the game open in the first half and so close to wilting the way they did in the last five minutes at Tennessee.

But the same team that ran out of gas in Knoxville used the fuel of desperation and white noise from a boisterous crowd to crawl back into it.

A play here, a play there. You box out on a missed free throw with the game tied. You hit one more 3.

Instead, it was a what-could-have-been night.

It's funny, but there have been plenty of games this season where Florida has lost and Gator fans just couldn't understand where the want-to had gone. Not this night.
This wasn't about a lack of effort.

This wasn't about a lack of passion.

This wasn't about the team that “wanted it more” winning the game.

This was about the better team making one more play, one more shot.

When Florida so badly needed one more win.

But because they showed that heart, because they played as if this was the most important thing in the world, the fans applauded these Gators when they left the court.

Sometimes in all of the bright-light scrutiny about whether or not this team will make the NCAA Tournament, all of the bubble talk and March Madness uncertainty, we lose sight of some things. So when you step back and look at the two teams who squared off Wednesday night, what do you see?

We see a Florida team that showed what it can be when it plays with passion and smarts and listens to the coaches.

On the other side, we see a team that is the SEC champion, which it was supposed to be. Bruce Pearl has done a remarkable job getting a program that has consistently underachieved to play to the level of its talent. Maybe that's because he's always been an overachiever himself.

And we also saw that a guy who is among the best coaches in America — and Billy Donovan is among the elite — has an albatross wearing orange and singing Rocky Top.

Here's a stat for you — Donovan is 88-15 against every coach not named Bruce Pearl the last three seasons and 1-5 against the Vols' coach.

Give Pearl credit — he has figured out five times in six tries how to beat two great Florida teams and one that played as hard as it can on Wednesday night.

The two losses to UT didn't hurt Florida two years ago and the one loss didn't hurt last year. In truth, the two losses aren't the reason these Gators may not make the NCAA Tournament. There are other losses that hurt more, losses where heart was in question.

But, my, what a win could have meant.

You knew Florida couldn't keep shooting the way it did in the first half when the Gators led by 13 and scored 55 points. So you knew it would come down to making stops and grinding out baskets.

But when a team is making fallaway 3s the way Tennessee was, there's only so much you can do.

We did see in this game why Tennessee may make it to the Final Four ... and why it may not survive the first weekend.

The Vols score in bunches and have two guys who are incredible shooters. And neither one of them is the best player on the team in my opinion. JaJuan Smith and Chris Lofton can shoot from anywhere, but Tyler Smith is the guy who makes the biggest baskets. It happened again Wednesday night when Smith snuck inside the Gator big men on a missed free throw with the game tied and 44 seconds to play, grabbed the rebound and put it in.

But I will say this — for all of the in-your-face, hand-checking defense the Vols play, they are really a poor defensive team. You will get open shots on Tennessee. The question is whether you can make enough to survive the offensive onslaught on the other end.

Florida almost did.

Despite coming out to start the second half without the confidence they displayed in the first half, they kept fighting.

Forget about whether it was a good sign for next year.

It was a good sign for Sunday in Lexington.