by Jason Chatraw, Sports Editor, SundayPaper.com
ATLANTA - All the Florida Gators wanted to talk about after their 84-75 dismantling of Ohio State Monday night to win back-to-back NCAA Championships was how it felt in the moment. Thanks a lot, Billy Donovan.
Donovan, the "live in the moment" evangelist, made believers out of his players, convincing them that "the moment" was the most important place to revel, not the past, not the future. And for everyone who saw this obliteration of Ohio State coming, all we wanted to know was the answer to this simple question: "Three-peat attempt? Or NBA?"
Even Most Outstanding Player (MOP) Corey Brewer was spewing the Donovan rhetoric. "I couldn't even tell you right now," he said of his future plans. "I'm just so happy we won the national championship. Hasn't crossed my mind about anything else. Just enjoying this, enjoying it with my teammates. We worked so hard together, starting, going to Canada, being cold in Canada. Now we're going back to the sunny state of Florida and enjoying the national championship."
Yawn. That's about as exciting as Ohio State's offense Monday night. The only thing that jolted me awake was when Greg Oden decided to go up and jam one home. However, he loafed back down the court and a couple of times wasn't even to mid-court before the Gators had settled the score, or one-upped him with a 3-pointer.
Joakim Noah, the Gators' invisible star thanks to early foul trouble, wasn't biting either. "You people are not going to get me to say anything about a three-peat or playing on the next level," Noah said. "I won¹t do it!"
DONOVAN TO UK?
Is Billy Donovan headed to the University of Kentucky? Your guess is as good as anybody's. One reporter I spoke with close to the situation said it was a 50-50 guess on whether he'd leave for bluer pastures. But his hunch was that he would go if they won. After the game, Donovan was content to soak up the win.
REPORTER: "I recognize that everybody always wants to take you in the past or take you in the future, so I'll bite the bullet and ask it. Where is your future?"
DONOVAN: "I just got off the court (laughs). I mean, right here at the University of Florida. I'm going to enjoy this moment right now. Right now, it's this game. I think all that stuff will be addressed. But, you know, now's not the time to address it, as it wasn't when it got asked over the last week. It's all about these kids, our program and what happened. It was a good try, though."
ODEN'S NOT EVERYTHING
Greg Oden wasn't really stopped inside or contained. He finished with 25 points and shot 67% from the field, a monster game for him in a tournament where he has spent a large portion of his time on the pine for foul trouble.
But the Buckeyes were lost without their perimeter game - the only thing that would have given them a prayer at an upset of Florida. From 3-point land, Ohio State was just 4-of-23 for an abysmal 17.4 percent. Conversely, Florida was 10-of-18 from beyond the arc for 55.6 percent.
"It was so frustrating," Oden said. "Every time we would start to make a push and try to get some momentum, Florida would hit a 3-pointer. It seemed like it went that way all night."
To see more from Jason Chatraw about the NCAA championship game, check out his SLAMonline.com piece.
