For the first three games of the season, the Gators’ offense went through Casey Prather. Nearly a third of the team’s total points scored came from the senior forward.
But as the season progressed, Scottie Wilbekin was reinstated from his suspension, Michael Frazier II gained more confidence shooting the ball and the frontcourt came into its own with efficient play from Patric Young, Dorian Finney-Smith and Will Yeguete.
After defeating Tennessee 67-41, coach Billy Donovan said No. 6 Florida’s offense is finally balancing out and using all of its weapons in its arsenal.
“We were behind in terms of these guys playing together because of suspension, injuries and a lack of cohesiveness,” Donovan said.
“Right when we were going into the (Southeastern Conference), we were not utilizing our personnel to the best of our ability. It wasn’t out of selfishness; it was just a lack of awareness. And I think we’re getting better at that.”
Wilbekin, Young and others have lifted some of the weight off Prather’s shoulders in terms of scoring, and the Gators are now the only SEC team with five players averaging more than 10 points per game.
Each one of the five has also led the team in scoring in at least one game this season.
In three of Florida’s previous four games against Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, Frazier has led the charge by scoring a team-high 21, 18 and 17 points, respectively.
But on Jan. 18 at Auburn, the sophomore guard was held scoreless for the first time this season, leaving Donovan to rely on his other offensive threats to pick up the slack.
“Auburn had made a real conscious effort to take Michael Frazier out of the game and Michael Frazier was 0 for 2, very, very frustrated and didn’t get a lot of looks,” Donovan said.
“It was one of those games where they just basically said, ‘We’re not giving this guy a three-point shot.’
“Like I tell our guys all the time, you don’t know whose night it’s going to be in terms of having a big offensive night.”
Rather than let the performance of one player dictate the outcome of the game, the Gators shared the wealth against the Tigers as Prather, who had not led the team in scoring since Dec. 21 against Fresno State, jumped back on top of the leaderboard with 21 points.
Donovan said not diversifying the offense is a recipe for failure because coaches will focus on the sole offensive scorer to shut down the team’s production, as Auburn attempted to do by taking Frazier out of the game.
When the offense ran through Prather earlier in the year, Florida struggled to find consistent scoring when its opponent would shut him out. Against Wisconsin in the second game of the season, Prather managed only 12 on the road, which led to the Gators’ first loss.
Now, only 20.8 percent of the squad’s scoring is from Prather. Players such Young, who went from averaging 6.7 points per game after the first three games of the season to 10.6 following the win against Tennessee, have stepped up to create balance. Donovan said the Gators offensive attack against the Volunteers was one of the most balanced games they have had this season. Finney-Smith fell just one point shy of reaching double digits Saturday, but Florida still had four others with 10 or more points.
“You want four to six guys in double figures,” Donovan said.
“I’ve never been a big believer of just having one guy. I just think you want to be balanced. On any given night, I want people to look at our team and say, ‘Geez, this guy’s had 18, this guy scored 25 and this guy’s done this.’”
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn
Michael Frazier II drives the ball down the court during Florida’s 67-41 win against Tennessee on Saturday in the O’Connell Center. Frazier led the Gators with 17 points against the Volunteers.
