When Alex Tyus decided to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Florida following his junior season, his play was expected to take a considerable step forward.
Tyus averaged 11.8 points and tied for a team high with 6.9 rebounds per contest in 2009-10, but the forward appears to have taken a step back.
He is currently the only starter not averaging double figures in scoring, and his 8.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game are his lowest since he was a freshman.
Although ESPN’s Chad Ford and Andy Katz said last offseason that Tyus should return to school or risk going undrafted, his regression as a senior is noticeable to even his strongest supporters.
But performances like his second half against Kentucky on Saturday — when Tyus had eight points, three rebounds and two blocks — provide flashes of what he is truly capable of.
“That’s the Alex we know,” senior forward Chandler Parsons said. “That’s the Alex we want to play for 40 minutes every game. He’s a great player and he’s helped us all year long, but the way he played in the second half was unbelievable.”
Teammates, coaches and fans have seen what Tyus can do when he is at the top of his game, but there have been few signals to how well the senior will play on a given night.
Saturday’s game proved to be a microcosm of his inconsistency.
Tyus scored six points in the first four minutes of the second period. With 1:11 left, he capped off the night with a clutch turnaround jumper as Florida led by one.
The senior even displayed the physical attributes necessary to be a quality defender.
“He might be the fastest guy on the team just running from end to end,” junior guard Erving Walker said. “He’s quick, he’s long and he’s athletic, so we expect him to be there to guard guys like (Kentucky freshman Terrence) Jones.”
Tyus has occasionally shown flashes of greatness this season, but the senior has also played stretches like his first half against the Wildcats, in which he failed to score and grabbed just one rebound.
This trend has been present on a larger scale as well, as Tyus has scored 18 or more points in three games and failed to record more than two points in four contests.
According to coach Billy Donovan, the difference between Tyus’ good days and his bad days is simply his ability to make shots.
Gators frontcourt players have scored UF’s first points 19 times in 23 games, and Donovan has been adamant that scoring inside early on is the key to opening up the outside.
Florida has consistently made an effort to get Tyus involved, finding him for a shot in the opening three minutes in all but four of his 22 starts.
Tyus has taken UF’s first shot and scored the team’s first points eight times, likely because of the effect this can have on his production. Tyus averages 11 points and 5.5 rebounds in games where he hits his first shot but just 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in games where he misses his opening look.
“You always feel like you’re in the flow of the game when the ball is going in the basket,” Donovan said. “That’s an area that Alex has got to get better at, because he hasn’t scored a lot, hasn’t shot the ball but he’s still athletic enough that he can do other things to really help the team.”
