"Billy the Motivator" leads Florida Gators in NCAA Final Four
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Maybe you missed last year's NCAA tournament. Maybe you watched little or no college basketball this season. Maybe you just don't know much about the Florida Gators, the defending national champions who returned all five starters and their top seven scorers in hopes of becoming the first team since Duke in 1992 to win back-to-back titles.
Here's some help as the Gators (33-5) prepare to face UCLA in the Final Four in Atlanta on Saturday:
Billy Donovan
Florida's coach earned the nickname "Billy the Kid" while leading Providence to the 1987 Final Four. He's 41 years old now, and a more appropriate moniker might be "Billy the Motivator."
Donovan knew his biggest challenge this season would be avoiding complacency.
It was easy to motivate the Gators last season, because they started the year unranked and few expected much.
It was much different as a heavy favourite. Donovan relied on big-name guest speakers, movie and sports clips, and his "live in the moment" motto to keep the players hungry and humble.
It worked.
"Any time something great and special happens in your life, like you had with the national championship, it's only human to become a little complacent, a little unmotivated, to maybe feel a little full of yourself, to think you've arrived and have it figured out," Donovan said. "I would have to say that these guys have stayed focused."
Corey Brewer
The six-foot-nine, headband-wearing forward could have been an NBA lottery pick after last season. His size, speed and ability to handle the ball make him tough to guard.
But Brewer returned for his junior year, improved his outside shot and became one of the Southeastern Conference's best defenders.
He has become so confident he doesn't even mind talking about his teddy bear, Pudding. Brewer brings Pudding on the road, dresses him in a Spiderman outfit and sits him in front of the television to watch the Gators play.
Most expect Brewer to take his game and his bear to the NBA following this season, especially given his family situation.
His dad, Ellis "Pee Wee" Brewer, has had open-heart surgery and three angioplasties in recent years. His leg was amputated in October because of complications from diabetes. Corey has travelled home to Tennessee twice this season just to lift his father's spirits.
"He's fighting hard," Brewer said. "He's always been a fighter."
Taurean Green
The son of former UNLV player and college coach Sidney Green is the one who makes it all happen.
Green has started every game the last two years, averages 33 minutes and leads the team with 13.3 points a game.
He's the primary ball-handler, an accurate three-point shooter and the team's best free-throw shooter. When the six-foot point guard plays well, Florida is tough - some might even say impossible - to beat.
"I have all the trust and confidence in the world in him," Donovan said.
Green and Brewer share a room on the road. Like Brewer, Green brings his teddy bear, Bubba, along for company.
"It's good luck," Green said.
Al Horford
He was nicknamed "The Godfather" by Donovan because - like the character Don Corleone - Horford doesn't "say a whole lot but has great presence."
Horford, the son of former NBA player Tito Horford, carried the Gators down the stretch against Purdue and Butler in the tournament, flexing his muscles and staring down opponents with every big basket.
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