GAINESVILLE — To borrow from the computer age, when things crash try rebooting.
That’s exactly what the Gainesville boys basketball team faced after a shocking, and disappointing, loss to Apalachee in the Region 8-6A finals two weeks ago. The Red Elephants looked to have, at least on paper, the region title gift-wrapped to them when the No. 5-seeded Wildcats took down No. 1 seed Lanier the night before. But they were held to their third-lowest offensive output of the season in a 51-47 loss.
“We lost our identity in that game,” Gainesville coach Chuck Graham recalled with a slight groan. “Whether in basketball, or life, you can’t be something you’re not. We tried to do things that we are not comfortable doing and it did not go well. It was a great lesson for this group. We told everyone it was time for a reset.”
And what a reset it has been in the Class 6A state playoffs.
The Red Elephants have resembled the Starship Enterprise after receiving new dilithium crystals. They exorcized a huge demon in taking down two-time defending state champion, and recent playoff nemesis, Langston-Hughes in the first round (73-69) and then outlasted Cambridge 98-88 in the second round in double-overtime in one of the most intense road playoff settings Graham said he has ever experienced.
“Just an unbelievable playoff atmosphere,” Graham said. “It was everything you love to see at tournament time. It was hostile and just fantastic for our kids to experience that.
“They had a huge student section; we brought a lot of students, and both sides were just loud and into the game from the very beginning. It was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
It’s easy to say that if you come out on the other side. But talking to Graham as he now prepares his group for another monumental road challenge against Tucker on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. tip) in the quarterfinals, he makes you believe it. And he said his team feels the same way.
“This has been a fun group to coach and they really seem to enjoy the competition the harder it gets,” Graham said. “Every time so far in the playoffs they have responded when they’ve gotten behind or had some adversity hit. You want to see that kind of growth as a coach and these guys are really growing up quickly and having success.
“They are really beginning to believe in themselves as a team. That’s what makes it so fun from where I’m standing.”
It also doesn’t hurt when your best player goes off for a career night. Junior guard Rafael Rubel torched the Bears for 42 points, 29 in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, and nearly carried the Red Elephants into the Elite 8. However, he was accompanied by junior post Makius Scott, who also posted a career game with 19 points and 11 rebounds to help take some pressure off Rubel.
Will Gainesville need similar performances against a Tigers team (26-4) that was ranked fourth at the end of the regular season?
Perhaps. Tucker is 9-1 at home, including home playoff wins over Valdosta (65-49) and its own double-overtime thriller over Evans, 65-63, in the second round. However, it is the deepest playoff run for the any of the current Tigers, who were not part of their 2015 semifinals run.
Meanwhile, several members of the current Gainesville squad, which is just 7-5 in true road games but has won four straight on the road, were integral parts of last year’s state title run, including Rubel and senior Brent Kelly.
Graham said both teams are similar in that they like to start fast and play even faster. Which is why he was more than optimistic about being able to continue as Road Warriors. He also knows that this team is not able to rely on just it’s talent, unlike the previous two seasons.
But there was no real go-to guy last season for the Red Elephants because they had six guys that could lay waste to the opposition at any moment. That actually worked to their detriment in last year’s championship game loss to Hughes.
“Last year’s group was so deep we could just do our thing and if one guy was off there was another to come off the bench and take his place,” Graham said. “I think that hurt us so to speak last year, especially in the title game, because sometimes you need to know you can give the ball to one guy and he’ll make something happen just about anytime. It was a very unselfish group and sometimes they were maybe too unselfish when someone just needed to take over.
“This team has a lot of talent but in a different way. We don’t have as many guys to pull off the bench that can score 20 every night. But we have a lot of role players that know what they are supposed to do and are doing that. That is what is making this team so successful right now.
“But we also know that Raffy (Rubel) is our go-to guy. We have a high comfort level with Raffy having the ball in his hands at any time. He is good enough to create something no matter who is guarding him. We saw that against Cambridge. He opened things up in the fourth quarter and overtime and that left Makius, who is just too big to guard with one guy, for some easy buckets and that eventually wore them down.”
Graham said he is expecting a similar showdown on Wednesday in Tucker, right down to the hostile crowd – no reset necessary.
“It should be another tremendous atmosphere. That is one heck of a tough place to win,” he said. “But our guys have been in a lot of big games already, and in some really hostile crowds like last week. That Cambridge game is really going to help us I think. We don’t need any resets right now. I love exactly where we are. We just need to keep humming along.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/2/767306/playoff-basketball-reset-driving-red-elephants-in-the-playoffs