The Florida Gators have been worse at three-point shooting than GPD has been at trying to catch criminals listed in UF Alerts.
It has already caught up to them. FSU exposed that flaw to the utmost degree in the first game of the season.
For a team predicated on three-point shooting, 26.2 percent isn’t going to cut it. In fact, UF (2-1) has yet to shoot better than 30 percent from deep in any of its three games this season.
The Gators have ridden to easy wins against mid-major opponents La Salle and Charleston Southern, but without a consistent outside presence, they’ll have a much more difficult time against top-tier teams.
Coach Mike White isn’t too stressed out about it, though.
“I’m really not concerned, call me crazy,” White said. “I think we shoot the ball pretty well...I believe in these guys and that (the shots) will go down.”
Florida takes on Oklahoma next Wednesday in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas and can’t afford to miss threes at such a clip.
With that being said, the team has reason for hope.
In last night’s win over La Salle, the team went 3-of-13 from three. At least six of those 10 misses were wide open and just clanked out. Eventually, Florida will hit those shots, and when it does, it will be a serious contender in the SEC.
UF needs guard KeVaughn Allen to be more consistent in the meantime. Allen followed up his efficient 14-point game against Charleston Southern (6-for-11 from the field) by going 0-for-3 against La Salle. He did go 8-of-8 from the free-throw line but had a quiet game otherwise.
One aspect of their game that’s really showed for the Gators thus far is depth. There are 11-to-12 players who have the ability to reach double-digit scoring on any given night.
Even forward Chase Johnson, who played sparingly prior to last night, got going with six points in six minutes on an efficient 3-for-4 from the field against La Salle. Against Charleston Southern, Allen led the charge. The same goes for guard Deaundrae Ballard in the loss to FSU.
The deep bench allows for White to get creative with his lineups. There was a point against La Salle in which he had four guards on the floor with 10:16 remaining in the contest - Andrew Nembhard, Noah Locke, Jalen Hudson and Ballard.
Notes
White said both Nembhard (hip) and forward Keith Stone (ankle) are dealing with minor injuries. Both played through them last night.
Forward Isaiah Stokes looked much-improved defensively against La Salle. He fouled out when Florida hosted Charleston Southern but keyed in on positioning last night.
“I just needed to move my feet better, get in position earlier rather than try to be athletic and block shots,” Stokes said. “Just do everything Spidey (Hayes) would do.”
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Florida guard KeVaughn Allen went 0-for-3 from the field in the Gators’ 82-69 win against La Salle on Saturday in the O’Connell Center. He shot 6-for-11 in his previous game against Charleston Southern.
