Kenny Boynton scored just two points against Mississippi State, his lowest scoring total of the season and only the second time all year he hasn’t reached double figures.
As the team ran off the floor into the locker room after the game, the junior wasn’t hanging behind with his head down or sulking as he strode to the showers. Instead, he cracked a small grin and glanced up at the scoreboard above the entrance to the locker room as he jogged past press row.
“I told Kenny after the game that I was really proud of him,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I think Kenny would maybe be a guy that would be upset a couple years ago, but I think it’s a real valuable lesson.”
Donovan has preached to his team all year the importance of not forcing things on offense. To simply take what the defense gives them and play every game without any individual intentions.
The “pick your poison” strategy Donovan hopes to get his team to perfect before the postseason is an area he has focused on in practices and games all year. If Saturday’s win over Mississippi State is any indication, the Gators are starting to get it.
In fact, there are some numbers in Florida’s recent five-game winning streak that suggest the veteran starting backcourt has already figured it out.
After scoring 33.1 points per game as a tandem in the Gators’ first 16 games, Boynton and starting point guard Erving Walker have combined for just 19.6 points per game during the five-game winning streak.
Despite scoring 13.5 less points per game, the duo has markedly improved in other areas, which has helped the Gators go stride for stride with Kentucky and Vanderbilt atop the SEC standings.
One of Donovan’s complaints earlier in the season had been the starting backcourt’s inability to recognize when the frontcourt had advantageous matchups in the post. Walker and Boynton would still hoist up shots, and while they scored a lot of points, they weren’t maximizing the team’s potential in Donovan’s eyes.
In Florida’s five-game winning streak, they’ve done just the opposite. The duo has combined for 39 assists to just 10 turnovers. That 3.9 assist-to-turnover ratio is a whopping improvement over their combined 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio in the Gators’ first 16 games.
“I was really, really proud of Walker and Boynton because they could never really get it going offensively, either one of them, and they had decent looks,” Donovan said after the win over the Bulldogs. “But combined, they had nine assists and zero turnovers. That was really important, their shot selection and not wanting to force things.”
As the backcourt continues to see its unselfishness and awareness is paying dividends in the beginning of games, the player’s comments are beginning to sound more and more like they know what Donovan’s asking for.
Walker was belted with questions from the media about how Boynton played following his two-point outing, and he fielded them all as if Boynton had just played the game of his life. His focus wasn’t on the two in the points column, but on the five in the assists column and the zero in the turnovers column.
“We’re not a one-man team,” the senior said. “[Boynton’s] a great scorer. Some nights you have nights like that, but he still played a good game. He was active on defense, he had like five assists. He’s a great player, and he knows next game I’m pretty sure he’ll be right back to where he’s normally at.”
Instead of forcing his shot, Boynton looked to play the matchup Donovan had pointed out before the game that he thought could change the game against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs’ frontcourt players weren’t showing enough on the pick and roll and pick and pop, and Donovan thought Erik Murphy would be open to shoot from the perimeter all day.
Sure enough, Boynton assisted Murphy on a pair of three-pointers. He did the same for Brad Beal, who finished with a game-high 19 points. Boynton even chipped in a fifth assist to Will Yeguete on a layup near the rim.
“He did a great job on ball screens, and he had five assists, he was active on defense and just his presence on the court is huge for us,” Walker said. “We’ve got other guys that can step up at all times. Pat did a great job, Brad, Murphy hit some big shots, and I think it was just a team effort.”
After a tough three-day stretch that included games against two of the team’s most athletic and lengthy teams, the Gators will have a couple more days to regroup before playing three league games in a six-day stretch.
That run will include games against undefeated Kentucky and one-loss Vanderbilt, so Donovan is hoping his team can keep playing the way it has lately.
“It’s just trying to get our guys to understand that every game presents a new set of challenges, a new set of opportunities,” he said. “You’ve got to take what the defense gives you. Trying to get them to really understand that being part of a team is when you can really share in the next guy’s success.”