While Billy Donovan’s USA U19 squad cruised to victory on Monday, Gators shooting guard Michael Frazier had a game to forget.
USA (4-0) defeated Brazil (1-3) 91-66, but Frazier scored only five points on 2-of-12 shooting and a 1-of-9 clip from three-point range in the second round of the FIBA U19 World Championships in Prague.
Frazier went 0 for 5 from beyond the arc during the first half, which USA finished with a 40-34 lead.
Despite the off performance, Frazier remained optimistic.
“The ball just didn’t go in. Sometimes it happens,” he said. “But as a shooter, you’ve got to keep shooting. You have to understand you’re not getting that day back. I’m not getting it back, so I just have to move forward.”
In four games off the bench, Frazier has averaged 8.5 points on 28.9 percent shooting in 19.8 minutes per contest. He has made only 7 of 32 three-point attempts.
“My teammates are doing a great job of finding me. They’re finding me, I’m wide open, but I’m missing,” Frazier said.
“I’m just going to keep shooting and, hopefully, the ball starts falling.”
Although his shooting percentage in tournament play is low, Frazier pieced together two strong performances on Friday and Saturday.
Frazier’s highlight of the World Championships came during USA’s 113-57 win against China on Friday. During the victory, Frazier scored 15 points – second most on the team – on 5-of-13 shooting. He drained 4 of his 11 attempts from behind the arc.
The next day, he recorded 12 points, three rebounds and two assists against Russia.
Frazier said playing under Donovan has made the transition into tournament play smoother. During the past few weeks, Frazier said aspects of his game, such as his court awareness, have improved because of playing with elevated competition.
“It helps a tremendous amount because I know the system that we’re running,” Frazier said. “I know the offense, the defensive schemes, everything – the same thing we run at Florida.
“[Donovan] adapts to the system according to his players. We have a very athletic team, so we press more than we do at Florida because we have a group of guys who are very athletic that can get up and down and get out in transition, get in passing lanes. … So he really takes advantage of that.”
USA plays Australia (2-2) today at 2:15 p.m. EST. The quarterfinals begin Friday, with tournament action ending Sunday.
Contact Landon Watnick at lwatnick@alligator.org.
Michael Frazier II goes for a layup during UF’s 101-71 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 1 in the O’Connell Center. Brazil held Frazier to five points Monday.
