Finally eight games into the season the Florida Gators played a complete game.
The pure definition of balance, confidence and consistency that the Gators showed proves they’re capable of putting on a show and remain effective as they did.
Here are the 5 Takeaways from the Florida-Yale game:
What Offensive Woes?
For a game this season, you can basically say the Gators were perfect at shooting the ball. Although the team wasn’t 100 percent from the field it was still 63.8 percent, which is above average and outstanding for this squad. Then the 3-point shooting was fantastic as well at 52.6 percent and they swished 10 treys, which was a season-high. Florida also put up a season-high in points with 85. Individuals were efficient too. Kasey Hill was 4-for-4, Dorian Finney-Smith (still playing with a brace) 6-for-8, Michael Frazier 7-of-11 and Jake “The Snake” Kurtz was 5-of-5. Efficiency at its finest. So who was talking about poor shooting?
Donovan’s Take: “I looked up at the scoreboard when there was around 10 minutes to go in the game and we were right around 70 points, the first time the whole year. I thought that we played to our identity for the whole game offensively.”
Equal Play
If you noticed when the Gators play as a unit everyone scores. The amount of ball movement flowed beautifully throughout the game and as a result, all the regulars scored against Yale. Frazier II led with 18 points, followed by Doe-Doe at 14, Walker with 13, Kurtz with 10, Devin Robinson at nine and the point guards Hill and Chris Chiozza with eight. There’s no “I” in team, but there’s an “I” in win.
Frazier II’s Take: “We can shoot the ball, you know? Tonight we got good looks. We were able to knock them down so we just gotta continue to get good shots, shoot good reps with confidence.”
40 Minutes
For the first time this season UF played a 40-minute game. Not in the sense of playing counting the seconds off the clock, but from the opening tip to the final buzzer they played to their identity. Florida certainly needed to have a game like this to see where they stand as a team. They are capable of displaying performances as they did against Yale and although it was the first time they did that, the team and viewers alike can’t rest on one performance. Florida has to develop this on a game-by-game basis. But don’t get anything wrong, they showed they could play as one and gel together as a team should in order to come out with victories. UF actually played a great second half and it was key after starting the game hot, they didn’t want to extinguish the flame.
Finney-Smith’s Take: “We made a promise to each other that we were going to start the second half with more energy than we started in the first half and that’s what we tried to do. We didn’t want to take a deep breath this game, we wanted to keep pushing.”
All Fun and Games
Who wasn’t happy and ecstatic from the court to the fans in the stands? For the first time Gator Nation was able to be joyful and enjoy a victory after a two game skid. The best part for the players and fans was probably winning in blowout fashion. The Gators have been playing disappointed, tired and frustrated for these past games. It was only right they got it figured out and enjoyed it back in the O’Dome, but they can’t rest on one game.
Frazier II’s Take: “Definitely. I agree. (When asked if the team had fun in the game) But that’s what we’ve been telling each other in practice, you know? We gotta have fun. We haven’t been having fun these last couple of weeks so I think hopefully we get some momentum from this game and in practice keep working to continue to get better and continue to have fun and maybe put some wins together.”
Skywalker emerging
After the Kansas game where he eclipsed his career-high in points of eight and recorded 12, Chris Walker came out again and displayed another career-high performance. He scored 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, snagged six rebounds and had two rejections in 21 minutes played. With Walker being able to fit more comfortably in this team’s system and identity, he’s showing he will continue to grow. Not only on the court he’s producing, but also off the court and his work ethic, discipline and demeanor has gravitated to simply the approach to the game. With playing to his strengths, results will come.
Donovan’s Take: “The last two games now he’s played a really really high level of intensity. We’ve tried to simplify things for him to get him engaged into what he can do well and he’s along the baseline and guys are finding him and he’s rebounding the ball and doing some things, but this is the hardest he’s played this past week to 10 days in practice and the Kansas game and this game, than he has since he’s really been here. “
It is becoming apparent that this is an as goes Frazier as goes the team. Until a second guaranteed scorer or scorers step up, we will win or lose based upon his field goal percentage.
Frazier has to be able to get his shot up to allow others to be open.