Franz Beard’s Basketball Confidential

After two games it’s pretty clear that the Gators are going to have to rely heavily on three-point shooting this year, or at least that’s what they’ll have to do until the three freshman bigs are ready to contribute meaningful minutes. The Gators haven’t had much of a post-up game in their first two games and they haven’t done much in the way of slashing to the basket once the floor is spread.

If there is one thing to look for tonight when they face Southern Utah (8 p.m., Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Sunshine Network), it’s a better effort of trying to open the floor and at least get to the basket more. Billy Donovan said the Gators don’t necessarily have the personnel to run a standard post-up game, at least without the freshmen ready to play significant minutes in the blocks, so one way to get around that problem is to run more Princeton-like motion with a lot of guys cutting off a high or mid-post entry pass.

If the Gators are able to hit some three-point shots early, they should be able to get more inside action and more clear lanes to the basket. Look for Chandler Parsons to try to get to the rim a little bit more, particularly with his shot in somewhat of a slump. Parsons is an excellent ball handler at 6-9 and he has the ability to get to the rim off the dribble. If he’ll pull up and take that 12-15 foot midrange shot instead of relying so heavily on the three, he could really prove to be a big time weapon.

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Franz Beard
Back in January of 1969, the late, great Jack Hairston, then the sports editor of the Jacksonville Journal, called me on the phone one night and asked me if I wanted to work for him. I said yes. The entire interview took 30 seconds. It's my experience that whenever the interview lasts 30 seconds or less, I get the job. In the 48 years that I've been writing and getting paid for it, I've covered Super Bowls, World Series, NCAA basketball championships, BCS championship games, heavyweight title fights and what seems like thousands of college football, baseball and basketball games. I'm a columnist and special assignments editor for Gator Country once again, writing about the only team that ever mattered to me, the Florida Gators.