Nick has Creighton seeing Triple (Double)

[IHateUGAlyDawgs]

Celebrating was the last thing Nick Calathes was thinking about Friday night after he registered only the second triple-double in Florida basketball history. Forty minutes after the game, the Creighton Blue Jays and those 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists were already fading in his memory. It was after midnight but he was ready to go practice.

“The way we’ve been practicing the last few days, I want more of that,” said Calathes, as he peeled off his socks in front of his locker. “I’m ready to go practice and get a little bit better.”

In the eight days since Florida lost to Alabama in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Atlanta, there has been a change in demeanor in this team. It showed Wednesday night when they blew out San Diego State in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament. It showed again Friday night when they pounded a very good Creighton (22-11) team into submission, 82-54, before a crowd of 7,595 in round two at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

Now the Gators (23-11) advance to round three of the NIT. They’ll be in Tempe Tuesday night (9 p.m., Wells Fargo Arena, ESPN) to face Arizona State (21-12) with the winner advancing to New York for the semi-finals of the tournament.

The Gators might be advancing in the NCAA Tournament if they had played defense in the last month of the season the way they have played these last two games. They have dismantled two good basketball teams with their defense. It is a lack of defense, particularly in the last month of the season, that has the Gators playing in the NIT instead of the NCAA but Calathes thinks maybe this is what the team needed.

“I think this is good what we’re going through,” he said. “I think we have to go through a valley and it’s going to be step by step every day. I think we finally realized that we just can’t ever take another day off.”

They took too many games off on the defensive end prior to that wakeup call game against Alabama in Atlanta last week. After that loss, Donovan called his team out publicly. When they got back to Gainesville, he gave them a lesson in humility that they won’t soon forget. He treated them like the kids they are and took away some privileges. They were banned from their state-of-the-art practice facility. They couldn’t wear their Gator practice clothes. They had to launder their own socks, jocks and practice clothes.

The message got through loud and clear. The result has been intense practices where defense has been the focus.

“We’ve had great practices and it’s really showed how different it can be when we play with the right kind of mindset,” said Chandler Parsons, who contributed six points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench Friday night. “The way we have played lately shows the kind of potential we have. I think we’re a different team than we were even two weeks ago. We have to play defense with more passion and do it every single night.”

The increased defensive intensity showed up in two areas Friday night: the Gators shut down the Blue Jays from the three-point stripe and they played the passing lanes better than they have any game this season. Florida held Creighton to 4-20 shooting (20 percent) on three-pointers and the Gators picked up 13 steals plus numerous deflections.

“They’re trying to get better,” said Donovan. “They’re trying to get better at those things like rotating, helping out and using their hands. A lot of times this year we were rotating late and something was happening and we were always reacting after the fact. Now we’re starting to see things developing. It’s been good to see them helping each other and they’re starting to understand when you use your hands you’re protecting your teammates.”

If one play personified what the Gators were doing defensively, it was in the first half with 5:18 remaining when Creighton point guard Cavel Witter was trying to lead 6-8 Dane Watts to a spot in the lane with a bounce pass. Watts was trying to back door Alex Tyus but he never got to the ball because Lucas sealed him off. The ball bounced out of bounds and the Gators picked up an easy turnover.

“It’s reinforcing to see them starting to do or at least try to do all the things we’ve been talking about for a long time,” said Donovan. “When you rotate, when you help your teammates, when you get your hands up and in the passing lane, a lot of good things happen.”

Good things happened early and often for the Gators against Creighton. The Gators moved the ball efficiently, getting open looks against Creighton’s man-to-man. The Gators hit three of their first four three-point shots to take an 11-2 lead in the first 5:11 of the game. Creighton fought back to within three, 15-12, on a three-pointer by Watts with 10:39 remaining in the half but that was pretty much it for the Blue Jays.

The Gators ripped off 14 straight points to go up 29-12 and after Creighton narrowed it to 31-19, Florida went off for eight straight points in the final 2:39 of the half to close out the most impressive first half of basketball the Gators have played since they beat Vanderbilt at the O-Dome back in January.

Calathes had six points, five rebounds and seven assists at the half and once the Gators got off to a blazing start after the intermission, the countdown to the first triple-double since Corey Brewer got the first one back in December of 2005 became the foremost thought among the crowd and teammates.

Calathes got his tenth assist at the 18:03 mark in the second half when he fed Lucas for a fast break layup. He got the tenth rebound at the 9:59 mark and that left only the points.

It wasn’t a particularly great offensive night for Calathes, who took only seven shots the whole game, but he had missed a layup with 12:13 left in the half that could have put him in double figures. Sitting on the bench after that miss, teammate Walter Hodge let Calathes know he was close.

“I was first aware of it [triple-double] when Walter told me,” said Calathes. “He said, ‘Nick [attempting Hodge’s Spanish accent], you got one more point left’ and I started laughing.”

It was Florida’s defense that created the opportunity for Calathes to get the points. Jonathan Mitchell, who scored eight points, grabbed three rebounds, handed out an assist and blocked a shot, got the third of his three steals on the left wing and passed ahead to Calathes who outraced two Creighton defenders to the hoop for a layup with 6:16 remaining.

Donovan was particularly proud of the way Calathes got his triple-double. Offense was the least of his concerns. He had a pass first mentality and he was outstanding on the back side of the rim picking up rebounds.

“He had a great game and he only took seven shots but he affected the game in a lot of ways,” said Donovan.

Calathes said that Donovan told him before the game to focus on other things beside scoring and that the points would take care of themselves.

“He said make your teammates better and don’t worry about scoring,” said Calathes. “He said just win and make your teammates better. My teammates really came through tonight.”

Florida’s last two wins have looked rather easy because in both games the Gators shot at least 50 percent (53.8 percent against San Diego State; 50 percent against Creighton) and Florida has done its job on the defensive end. San Diego State shot 42.9 percent from the floor while Creighton shot 40 percent. San Diego State and Creighton combined to shoot 25 percent (8-32) on three pointers.

Calathes said that after the Alabama game, the Gators took what Donovan was saying to heart and they put everything they had into the defensive work in practices.

“We really just finally figured out that we have to get better on defense,” said Calathes. “We’re still a long way from where we need to be but it’s moving along good. We’re going to get better.”

Donovan said he saw another breakthrough with this young team and its approach to defense on the bench during the game Friday night. During a stretch when Creighton missed two or three make-able shots, Werner made a comment that really caught Donovan’s attention.

“They had some pretty good looks in the first half that they didn’t knock down,” said Donovan. “Even Dan Werner said to me from the bench, ‘Coach, we’re giving up some looks.’ It was good for him to see that from the bench.”

Hodge led a balanced Gator attack with 15 points. Marreesse Speights finished with 14, while Calathes had 11 and Lucas had 10.

[RickySlade]

“The way we’ve been practicing the last few days, I want more of that,” said Calathes, as he peeled off his socks in front of his locker. “I’m ready to go practice and get a little bit better.”

Am I the only one who has a problem with Franz's writing style (I'm assuming this is his work)? He tries too hard...everything he does appears to be for the descriptive composition assignment in 101. Was the "peeled off his socks" portion really necessary? "...as he peeled off his sweat-stained socks in front of his locker, the pungent cocktail of bacteria and toe jam causing my eyes to glisten like the placid waters of Lake Alice during the summer solstice." [img]{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

[IHateUGAlyDawgs]

you nailed it, Ricky, it was Franz.

I usually have more of a problem with his constant pumping of sunshine up my ass. Every recruit is coming to UF and UF will win every game and if they don't clearly it was a fluke or whathaveyou. It's astonishing really.

[TheTodd]

He's no Pulitzer prize winner that's for sure.