Gators shoot over and run past Cardinal in 108-87 PK80 win
Three days after getting some tough lessons against North Carolina, the Cardinal faced yet another Final Four favorite and the Florida Gators poured in 15 threes to bury Stanford 108-87 on Thanksgiving.
Before the season there was a lot of anticipation among the Cardinal for this week and it was viewed as an opportunity. Now there is a bitter taste developing of what if, as in what if Stanford wasn’t missing key players Dorian Pickens, Marcus Sheffield and Kezie Okpala?
But that’s an easy excuse the Cardinal won’t accept, and it had little to do with the disappointment of head coach Jerod Haase watching the defense unable to stop Florida in transition. Redshirt juniors Robert Cartwright and Reid Travis were lockstep with their head coach after the game that the team failed to execute in the face of what they knew to expect from the Gators.
“They’re good,” Haase said. “They’re really good. That was as impressive a shooting performance that I believe I have ever seen, especially in the first half. It was awesome. The last three was off one-tenth of a second and it went straight through to the heart and we fouled them on one, so really you’re talking 15 threes in the first half.”
Florida officially made 13 threes in the first half as the Cardinal were routinely late closing out on the shooter or couldn’t get in position on transition. Cartwright grimaced as he talked about that number: “(It) is just ridiculous. It’s not what we’re going to do if we want to win games at this level.”
Florida shot 62.5 percent in the first half and led 11-3 with a little more than two minutes gone in the game. It was a sprinting start that the Cardinal could never catch up to or match.
There were positives on offense. The Cardinal shot 53.6 percent in the first half and were often able to get into the paint and attack the basket effectively.
Daejon Davis finished with nine points and seven assists three days after getting 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists versus North Carolina. Travis scored 23 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line, and Cartwright played aggressively through the final whistle to get 17 points.
That silver lining was eclipsed in the eyes of the players and coaches by the problems on defense.
“I think offensively is not really the issue at this point,” Cartwright said. “Clearly if you’re giving up 90 to 100 points it’s going to be tough to win games. I felt like we were getting to the basket and making some good plays when we weren’t turning the ball over. We’re trying to find ourselves defensively. We’re trying to find an identity. Unfortunately we didn’t execute what we wanted to tonight.”
Of course, one of the dangers of consecutive routs is what can happen off the court. Morale is important with a quick turnaround in 24 hours to play another top team, either Gonzaga or Ohio State.
“I believe we’re committed and together,” Haase said. “The positive is that when I went into the locker room after I believe genuinely the guys were hurting. They’re committed to getting better.
“We have a heck of an upside as the year goes on. I also think we have a heck of an upside in the short term. My job is to get them competing and playing at an increased level. If we do that I don’t think I need to talk about when guys are healthy or if other guys are out there, because I think the other guys we have can do some nice things. We do have to have an increased sense of urgency.”
Most of the work leading up to the next game will be mental, and Haase expects the players to approach the challenge with the same energy of the coaches.
"I promised them they’re going to get every ounce of energy from the coaching staff," he said. "We’re going to give them the best scouting report to prepare them. They’re going to get every ounce of our being between now and game time tomorrow, and obviously during the game. Their job is going to be to pay attention to us.
"One of our strengths, and I think it can become even a greater strength is our brain. We have to be able to take the information we give them and apply it even better. We have intelligent guys who can take the information and apply it quickly."
On Daejon Davis' play
Haase: I believe … every single game he has grown. I think he is a tough, tough kid. He’s growing, listening and really before my eyes he’s maturing. Yes, there are too many turnovers and some things he can do better, but I think very rarely can you actually observe somebody and say, ‘He’s getting better.’ A lot of times you say, ‘He’s improved over time.’ At this point I think Daejon is improving literally game by game. I believe he is fully committed to doing everything we ask of him. But we need all three of those perimeter players right now -- Oscar (da Silva), Isaac (White) and Daejon -- to grow up fast. And I know they’re going to do everything they can to do so.
Travis: “He’s mature. I think the biggest thing for us is he’s accepting the challenge and he’s taking it. He is becoming more vocal in the huddles. You can tell that he’s getting confident play-by-play in the games and he can see he can play against this caliber of teams we’re going against. We’re going to need him do that. We’re going to need him to run the show.”