A variety of explanations have been offered to justify the Florida women’s basketball team’s struggles this year.
First, it was six new players, then youth and inexperience. Then, the team wasn’t tough enough, and it turned the ball over too much.
The newest? Chemistry.
Junior guard and co-captain Jordan Jones said the best teams have the best chemistry. While it may not be a necessity for success, she does have a point.
Players on championship teams like each other, for the most part. They get along and hang out away from the structured routine athletics demand. More importantly, they know each other’s games and know what to expect.
Clearly, chemistry is beneficial rather than detrimental. It can also be the difference in close games, and the Gators know a thing or two about those.
They have had 12 games decided by six points or fewer — eight of them losses. Florida lost to No. 10 DePaul and No. 19 Kentucky by one and dropped games against No. 15 Florida State and Ole Miss by two-points.
No wonder Florida coach Amanda Butler criticized the team’s unity and togetherness after another debilitating defeat by a small margin against Alabama on Sunday.
“It’s just about us staying together and always knowing where someone’s going to be — just taking that extra step to be a better team basically,” freshman guard Brittany Shine said.
But that’s even tougher for Shine. After playing 39 total minutes and scoring 31 points against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, Shine played just 22 combined minutes in Florida’s next two losses.
The Gators routinely rotate at least 10 of their 12 players each game, and Shine’s minutes have occasionally suffered, but she isn’t quick to complain.
Instead, she credits time spent during the summer, practice and film sessions as reasons why the team should mesh well together.
Jones also said she doesn’t want to use that as excuse for the Gators’ decline, but admitted the team has had trouble with their chemistry in Southeastern Conference play.
“At the beginning of the season, that was one of our strengths,” Jones said. “We were playing together. We were doing the little things. We were young, but we were doing things that made up for that.
“It’s something that we’re going to get back to,” she continued, adding that chemistry off the court is just as important.
Jones said Florida could improve its chemistry with more trips to the movies, or out to eat — as a team.
She also said the team had a meeting about the topic, emphasizing maturity and avoiding the drama that can unfold by going behind one another’s backs.
The last time the Gators held a team meeting was on the heels of a similar four-game losing streak. They talked about being obsessed, another one of those explanations.
They also won their next two games.
“We’ve got to be like sisters,” Shine said. “That’s going to help us in the long run.”
