Atlanta – As French philosophers go, Joakim Noah will never rank up there with Camus, Sartre or Voltaire. But curled up in the corner of his locker at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, the Florida forward spewed a piece of basketball philosophy that will be etched on the Gators’ locker room wall.
And on UCLA’s gravestone.
“Revenge,” Noah said, “is so overrated.”
UCLA would have to agree.
Using last year’s 73-57 thumping in the championship game as a rallying cry, the Bruins marched into the Final Four and looked even worse than last year, falling behind by 18 midway through the second half before losing 76-66.
The loss sets up a colossal rematch – in more ways than one. Florida (34-5) meets Ohio State (35-3), both No. 1 seeds, for the national title Monday night. The game will match the schools that played for the national football championship three months ago.
Noah’s philosophy stretches beyond UCLA. Florida not only thumped Ohio State 41-14 in the football game, it whipped the Buckeyes in a Dec. 23 basketball game 86-60. It didn’t help UCLA on Saturday. Can it possibly help Ohio State on Monday?
“Revenge: You’re worried about what happened last year?” Noah said. “That’s the problem. Our whole motto as a team this year was, ‘Live in the moment.’ Teams have to understand it’s not what happened in years past. People talked to us about the Butler game in 2000 (when Butler beat Florida, then lost to the Gators in the Sweet 16 this year): ‘How does that affect you guys?’
“Are you kidding me? I was in the seventh grade when that happened. I lived in France. I hardly spoke English.”
All along, second-seeded UCLA (30-6) wanted another shot at Florida. Yet Saturday’s rout had a haunting resemblance to last year’s meeting, like a boring sequel of a predictable horror film. Florida, taller in the frontcourt and faster nearly all over the floor, buried the Bruins defensively.
UCLA hit only 5-of-23 3-pointers, making it a frosty 8-of-40 (.200) over two Final Four games against Florida. And while the Gators are the most balanced team in the entire 65-team NCAA field with five players averaging 10.1 to 13.3 points per game, UCLA rides heavily on the shoulders of junior guard Arron Afflalo.
The Pacific 10 player of the year struggled with fouls, and his first points came with 6:17 left. Joakim’s father, former tennis star Yannick, could have said it himself from the stands: Game. Set. Match.
Not that Afflalo was the only culprit. Florida threw a shutout at point guard Darren Collison, the “2” of UCLA’s 1-2 backcourt punch, until 9:24 remained. The pair finished 8-for-28. Take out Josh Shipp’s 7-for-14 night for a team-high 18 points, and UCLA made only 18-of-50 shots (.360).
“Give their post players credit,” said Collison, who finished with nine points. “They really contested our shots when they had to down low every time we penetrated.”
And when UCLA missed – which was most of the night – Florida rebounded. The Gators crushed the Bruins on the boards 43-26. In the first half, Florida’s Al Horford had 10 of his 17. UCLA’s whole team in the first half had only 11.
The shorter Bruins tried similar strategy as past Florida victims. They tried to help down low against Horford and Noah, but they were killed from outside. Corey Brewer filleted Shipp, roasting him for 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, and Lee Humphrey hit three 3-pointers to spark a 12-0 run in the second half for a 44-28 lead.
It never got prettier, with Florida’s defense stuffing UCLA’s backcourt and Florida’s front line grabbing every rebound, particularly the Bruins’ air balls. Afflalo wound up with 17 points, all in the last 6:17.
“After our regional final game against Oregon, (the Bruins) said they wanted to play us,” Florida guard Taurean Green said. “They said that ‘unfinished business.’ We knew last year was last year, but we felt like they had no respect for us.”
Is the business finished now? “Yeah,” he said. “Definitely.”
