Mike Rosario is supposed to turn a corner this season, but all he’s shown on the court so far is more of the same.
After raving about Rosario’s improved attitude and consistency, Billy Donovan put the senior guard in the staring lineup for Florida’s 101-71 exhibition win against Nebraska-Kearny on Nov. 1.
Rosario responded with poor defense, four turnovers and a trio of badly missed 3-point attempts — hardly the effort Donovan was looking for from a player who has every chance to be a significant contributor in 2012-13.
“I don’t think he really played very well at all,” Donovan said. “He thinks his foot is part of his hand when he dribbles. … He turns it over way too much and he’s way too careless with the ball.”
Although Rosario is still listed as a starter for Friday’s season-opener against Georgetown, the disappointing showing could only hurt Donovan’s confidence in the senior.
While Donovan has been feeling more and more trust toward Rosario, the guard had along way to go to get in the coach’s good graces.
After sitting out the 2010-11 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Rosario was erratic on the court and struggled with injuries during his first year playing for UF.
Despite obvious talent — he averaged more than 16 points per game in each of his two seasons at Rutgers — Rosario scored only 6.6 points per game and was prone to air balls and turnovers.
He averaged just 14.4 minutes per game, missing six games and 25 practices with a slew of nagging injuries. Although some were related to his history of serious back problems, others were as mild as a hip pointer that sidelined him for 10 days.
“That is just mind-boggling,” Donovan said at the team’s media day on Oct. 10. “Ten days for a hip pointer? My daughter could work through that.”
After dominating the ball at Rutgers, Rosario watched UF’s Elite Eight run from the bench and then took a reserve role with the Puerto Rico National Team at the 2012 Centrobasket Championships during the offseason. Those humbling experiences have helped Rosario gain valuable perspective, Donovan said.
“The last three weeks for Rosario have been the best three weeks he has had since he’s been at Florida,” Donovan said on Oct. 10. “Mike’s made a real commitment.”
That’s much more than Donovan could say for Rosario last season, when the mercurial guard often chose to sit out practice rather than push through pain.
As Rosario looked on from the sidelines between trips to the treatment room, Donovan would crack jokes to the players on the practice court.
“He would say, ‘Let Mike run your sprints,’” Rosario said.
But Rosario had no interest in doing that. Unless he was fully healthy and ready to go all out and dive for every loose ball, he wasn’t going to step back onto the court.
The drawn-out recovery process began to affect Rosario’s mentality.
“You get down on yourself sometimes that you can’t really provide the things that you know you can provide,” Rosario said. “That’s what I was fighting last year.”
But Rosario was never labeled as a player with a bad attitude. Donovan said Rosario never pouted and was never selfish, calling him a “great kid” with an “incredible personality.”
He just lacked consistency.
“His biggest issue and No. 1 issues is inconsistency, and not on the court, everywhere he’s inconsistent,” Donovan said. “He’s not responsible. He doesn’t take care.”
Donovan said Rosario needs to do a better job of going to class, being on time and being accountable and reliable to his teammates in practice.
“It’s just the everyday grind,” Donovan said. “The process. The process of going to class, going to tutoring, coming to practice, working hard when you’re tired, when you’re sore and when you don’t feel like doing it.”
After putting an emphasis on stretching, treatment and understanding his body, Rosario said he finally feels 100 percent healthy.
He also said he is determined to improve his consistency, develop as a leader and keep a level head in 2012-13. He’s even prepared to push through an injury if something were to pop up during the season.
“You’ve got to learn and practice how to play through those,” Rosario said. “If it’s not really really severe, then you can play through them. … I’m looking forward to more playing time and I’m looking forward to doing more things for the team. I’m looking forward to those challenges.”
If Rosario wants a shot in the NBA, he’ll need to prove this season that he can become a consistent, dynamic scoring threat.
“I think he realizes this is it for him,” Donovan said. “This is it. He’s got to do it.”
