Whistle. Whistle. Whistle.
Loss.
Few patterns have emerged during Florida’s first 8 games— a span during which the Gators have yet to post consecutive victories— but one statistic seems telling.
Florida’s fate appears to be ‘defined by the line’ – – – the free throw line.
In all four victories, the Gators have limited the opposition to 15 attempts or less and have conceded a mere average of 7 points from the charity stripe in those contests.
And in the losses?
Yikes! Or better stated . . . Foul! Awfully foul!
Against Georgetown, North Carolina and Kansas, the Gators allowed a whopping 85 freebies — and the Hoyas, Heels and Jayhawks happily walked away with a combined 65 points, while Florida left with defeat.
Perhaps even more telling are the games within the games. Versus both Miami and Kansas, the Gators seemed poised to capture key victories – – – holding halftime leads of 12 and 15 points respectively.
Whistle!
Both opponents roared back and snatched victory from Gator-jaws. And did so largely at the free throw line.
“I thought the difference in the second half was we fouled them an enormous amount of times,” Billy Donovan lamented following the Hurricanes improbable comeback.
‘Enormous’ equaled 16 attempts — 15 more than the lone free throw allowed in the opening half.
And versus Kansas? The Gators sent the Jayhawks to the stripe a modest 8 times during the first 20 minutes.
“We didn’t foul a whole lot in the first half,” Donovan said in explanation of Florida’s early, large lead.
Whistle.
Comeback.
Loss.
“We certainly fouled too much to start the second half and put them in the bonus,” he later conceded.
But don’t sound the whistle. . . err… alarm on this season quite yet. In its most recent outing Florida held its opponent, Yale, below its season average for free throw attempts — and won.
So, as this Gators team struggles, learns and gels — there will likely be many statistical categories that prove critical. But not all will be on the offensive end, and at least one may best indicate how close Florida truly was to victory or defeat.
Perhaps as close as 15 feet.