Florida’s Fab Four Put Out Gator Bait

There is a certain symmetry to the sophomores who have transformed Florida from preseason afterthought to a postseason favorite.

There are four of them, each a starter who scores in double figures. They call themselves “the ‘04s” because that’s the year they arrived in Gainesville.

And they became a string quartet of sorts Sunday when they cut down the nets inside the Metrodome to celebrate a Minneapolis Regional title that sent them to their intended destination, the Final Four.

“As soon as we got here, we were always like, ‘We can’t wait until it’s our time and our year,’ ” forward Al Horford said. “We always talked about how we were going to do big things.”

It didn’t take long. Florida already has posted a school-record 31 victories and ended five consecutive years of NCAA tournament frustration, during which the Gators lost in the first or second round.

But Horford and his classmates -- big man Joakim Noah, swingman Corey Brewer and guard Taurean Green -- will be satisfied with nothing less than Florida’s first national title.

Four victories down, they figure, two to go.

Third-seeded Florida (31-6) can take the next step Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis when it plays 11th-seeded George Mason (27-7) in a national semifinal.

“It’s great when you have a lot of praise,” Noah said after the Gators had polished off top-seeded Villanova, 75-62, in a regional final. “But at the same time, you have to stay level-headed, stay humble and be poor, be hungry, be driven. P-H-D!”

Noah has been playing as if he holds a doctorate in basketball, posting double-doubles in regional victories over Georgetown and Villanova. In four NCAA tournament games, the surprisingly nimble 6-foot-11 forward-center has averaged 17.3 points and 10 rebounds.

Like Noah, whose father, Yannick, was a tennis star in the 1980s, the 6-foot Green and 6-9 Horford seemed destined for athletic greatness. Green’s father, Sidney, was a 10-year NBA player, and Horford’s father, Tito, played in the league for several seasons.

Brewer, however, can lay claim to two distinctions: He was the only McDonald’s All-American of the bunch, and he is the only player in school history to have posted a triple-double, 15 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, this season against Jacksonville.

The 6-8 guard-forward also is the Gators’ leading scorer, top defender and resident miracle worker, having converted a three-point play after tumbling to the court on a wild shot in the final minute of Florida’s 57-53 regional semifinal victory over Georgetown.

“It’s real nice to finally have a moment go your way, because I turned it over twice this year to lose games,” Brewer said. “For us to move on in the NCAA tournament, for me to make a shot like that, it just feels real good.”

Florida’s Final Four run has shocked the legion of nonbelievers who predicted disaster after the departure of standouts David Lee, Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson, who last season accounted for nearly 60% of the Gators’ scoring.

Unranked and unheralded, Florida opened the season with 17 consecutive victories and was ranked second in the country as the sophomores displayed the talent that had gone largely untapped their freshman year.

Green thrived after switching from shooting guard to point guard, his natural position, which had been played by Roberson the previous season. Horford blossomed into an inside brute who could do more than rebound. Brewer supplemented his scoring by regularly reaching double digits in assists. And Noah became an all-around force.

“They were unselfish,” Coach Billy Donovan said of his youngsters. “They wanted to win. They wanted to learn, wanted to work, wanted to get better.”

More than anything, they simply wanted to play. Noah, who had averaged only 9.4 minutes as a freshman, lost a tooth against Tennessee and tried to reenter the game with blood dripping from his mouth. Green played against Louisiana State after staying up all night with a stomachache.

“I think it all comes with experience,” Noah said of the Gators’ success. “People say this is a young team, [but] we have been through a lot this year, from people doubting us at the beginning of the season to winning 17 games in a row, to then losing three games in a row. We have learned a lot from pressure situations.”

Nevertheless, when it came time to play in the NCAA tournament, the doubters outnumbered the believers again. After all, Noah had played only one minute in the Gators’ second-round loss to Villanova last year; Horford had taken one shot and failed to score.

Their numbers Sunday against Villanova told the story. Horford had 12 points and 15 rebounds, eight on the offensive end. Noah was selected outstanding player of the regional after tallying 21 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.

The sophomores have strengthened their friendship while living together as suitemates all along, first in a two-bedroom dorm and now in a four-bedroom residential complex. There’s talk of getting a house next.

“We don’t ever get tired of each other,” Green said. “We say we do, but we’re just joking around. I think it’s to a point where we know when to give each other space. We know each other’s limitations, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Said Noah: “Some people doubted us, and that made us tighter as a group. We knew how good we could be. We worked really hard, and we pushed each other.”

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How they grew

*--* 2005-06 2004-05 Player Pos. PPG RPG FG% PPG RPG FG% Joakim Noah F/C 14.0 6.8 633 3.5 2.5 600 Taurean Green G 13.4 2.9 375 3.9 1.0 371 Corey Brewer G/F 12.6 4.7 469 7.5 3.4 515 Al Horford F 11.4 7.2 621 5.6 6.5 480

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