Some days Amanda Butler thinks her team will be a run-and-gun type offense. Other times after practice, she's not so sure the UF women's basketball team will be as outside-oriented as she previously thought.
She may be indecisive about the offensive image of her team, but Butler is sure about two things: her team can shoot, and she's going to make sure the Gators pound the paint this season.
"We've got the potential to put five kids on the floor that can shoot the three," Butler said. "Does that mean that we're going to live and die by the three? Absolutely not."
Last season, the UF women's basketball team averaged nearly two more 3 pointers than its opponents.
The team also shot .365 from downtown - as opposed to the .310 percentage opponents fired.
And while the team is comprised of shooters, Butler listed some of the shooters on her team from memory like reading from a list: Jordan Jones, Jennifer Mossor, Steffi Sorensen and post players Sharielle Smith and Lily Svete.
"We're great shooters, but we have to punish (opponents) in the paint so that they have to worry," Azania Stewart said.
UF may just be able to shoot from beyond the arc all night and day, but the team plans to stick to defense and post play.
Butler has made it clear she's not afraid to tell her shooters when they're trigger happy. But they're not yet. She made that known from the beginning.
The Gators will go to the rim first - running until they're stopped - before going to the 3-point line.
"Sometimes they don't hit (threes) all the time, so we do have to go and rebound," sophomore Trumae Lucas said. "We have to pick those points back up that they don't knock down from behind the arc."
The offense will undoubtedly take a different look with the departure of superstar seniors Marshae Dotson and Sha Brooks, the team's two leading scorers last year with 16.4 and 14 points per game, respectively.
This may raise red flags for outsiders, but Butler points out how she and her coaching staff have known since their arrival that the duo was were bound to leave.
"There's a lot of different people that are going to assume bigger roles because there's not a Marshae Dotson and a Sha Brooks any longer," Butler said.
Even without the unmistakable offensive production the pairing brought, Butler is still preaching offensive aggressiveness.
Ndidi Madu, who has been singled out by the coaching staff for her higher level of play in the preseason, said being assertive was one of the most pivotal things she learned from Dotson last year.
Madu said she's been working on being more aggressive in the paint and working on her low-block scoring. A player who likes to face the basket, Madu is striving to score in other ways.
But she, like the other post players, feels completely confident about kicking it out if she doesn't have a shot.
"I never have a doubt, if I'm kicking it out - it's automatic, it's going in," Stewart said.
