Before the basketball season started we did a Q&A with Gator Country subscribers and it was so successful we decided to do it again now that the non-conference portion of the season has concluded.
If you’re a Gator Country member who wants a question answered, you can submit it on the forum. And if you’re not a member, now is a great time to join!
Let’s get into it.
UFGator84: In this day and age of offense, why is it so hard for Florida to find decent shooters?
I do think this question has a bit of recency bias as the Gators just had an abysmal shooting game against Oklahoma shooting 2-22 from three, or 9%. However, on the season the Gators have actually shot the three pretty well from a percentage standpoint and are 90th in the country in three-point percentage despite coming off that dreadful game against Oklahoma.
While the percentage is good, context is important–and it needs to be noted that Florida is 296th in the country in three-point attempts, so they have been reluctant to let threes fly which would be a fair criticism if you want to say that this isn’t a great shooting team.
I would fall on the side of saying this is an okay shooting team, factoring in both the good percentage but the lack of total attempts.
In terms of it being hard to find shooters, I simply don’t know if it has been made a priority in recent years. Not that we want to get too deep in the past, but you can look at the three-point percentages of some of the players the previous staff brought in and they weren’t elite shooters at their previous stops. Fast forward to this year’s team and you see Kyle Lofton, who hasn’t shot well his whole career…struggling to shoot. You see Myreon Jones who struggled to shoot last year…struggling to shoot.
Then you look at Kowacie Reeves who was recruited as a shooter from high school…and he’s making shots. Trey Bonham, who was a good shooter at VMI…is hitting shots.
What I’m saying is that nothing has really surprised me about Florida’s shooting in recent years based on who is on the roster.
I will say this–I don’t know if Florida’s shooting issues (when they have been there, like against Oklahoma) are completely personnel based, as I think it’s also to important to look at whether or not the Gators have created open looks and in the games they have struggled to shoot, I don’t think they have created quality looks.
NJGator11: What do you think are the biggest issues with this team and are they correctable? So you think we have any chance at a year-end tourney?
Florida’s offense is the biggest concern at the moment. According to KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric the Gators are 72nd offensively, and it’s tough to win at a high level scoring that way. It would be one thing if the Gators were stellar defensively, but they aren’t (there are issues that could be discussed on that end as well) so the offensive issues are amplified. Florida scored 53, 54, and 55 points against Oklahoma, UConn, and West Virginia, and while those are some good teams, they aren’t unlike anything the Gators will see in the SEC.
Are those issues correctable? Absolutely. Florida has talented offensive pieces on this roster. I don’t think they have been utilized to their fullest extent, which would certainly be a criticism I have of the scheme, but if you’re asking “are they correctable?” I would say definitely because the team has the talent. It’s certainly concerning that we’re through conference play and I don’t think this team looks close to figuring things out offensively, but there is definitely still time to turn things around and it’s totally possible.
In terms of a year-end tourney, let’s get right to it. Right now the team is far more an NIT team than an NCAA Tournament team. They’re 64th in NET and 0-5 against quadrant-1, so simply put if the Tournament was tomorrow, the Gators aren’t even considered for a spot. Florida will have every opportunity to better that resume in the SEC so the case isn’t closed, but if I had to make a prediction today, the only reasonable answer is to say that this team is an NIT team.
TJGators: If my memory is correct, you thought Niels Lane should start at the beginning of the year. You didn’t believe he would, but you’d like to see him start. He’s not playing. Has TG stolen the confidence of the kid that played really well to finish last season?
You are correct–before the season when asked who I thought should start I said Niels Lane, but I was also quick to say that while I thought he should start, I didn’t think the staff would feel the same way.
Well, clearly that was the case and the staff not only didn’t think he should start, but didn’t think he should play at all.
I am still someone who thinks Lane should be playing a regular shift, and I think it will only become more apparent in the SEC where you need size and athleticism at the perimeter to compete. Florida has been playing a lot of minutes with a Lofton-Bonham-Richard perimeter and while those are all talented players, it is sorely lacking in the size, physicality, and athleticism level when stacked up against SEC competition. We have seen Florida get dominated on the perimeter when the Gators have had small, under-athletic guards and wings and I fear that is about to happen again.
Something I do think about when advocating for more minutes for Lane is the fact that this is now the second coaching staff to look at him in practice and say “ehh, I’m good” and choose to play, well, pretty much anyone else on the roster over him. They are the ones in practice with him everyday, so they should be the authority on the matter.
Still, I watch how this team plays and I look at how other SEC teams play and I think Lane needs to be in the mix, so I’ll likely continue to suggest he should play.
Louisville_Gator: Should the signing of one 2023 high school player, who is ranked 198 by another site’s composite, be highly concerning? Good programs have a mix of homegrown talent and transfers.
I don’t think it’s highly concerning. It was going to be difficult for any staff to come into the high major level from the mid major level and immediately compete for 2023 players so you have largely seen Florida’s staff attack the 2024 class where they seem to be making some strides.
Yes, in a perfect world there would be some major names in the 2023 class, but I don’t know if it was realistic to expect.
It’s definitely going to put a lot of pressure on the staff to deliver in the portal next offseason, and plenty of pressure on them to land some big names in 2024. However, I wouldn’t say you should be all that concerned about 2023 recruiting.
67walkon: How can you fix Myreon Jones?
I’ll be honest, when I first saw this question my first reaction was to say “maybe you just don’t.”
The style of streaky three-point gunner is not a player archetype I am personally a fan of, and even if he starts shooting in the high thirties in percentage starting in Florida’s next game I’m not sure it makes up for his deficiencies in other aspects of the game.
I have expressed my skepticism about his role on the team in the past, but the staff is clearly keen on playing him a good deal of minutes, so I’ll get to your actual question of how to fix him.
The answer of how to fix Jones comes from his time at Penn State where he was successful. They utilized him in a very different way than he has been used at Florida, running him off screens and sprinting him into immediate threes off of dribble handoffs. Jones has never been a player best at simply catching and shooting with his feet set, but those have been most of his threes attempted at Florida even going back to last season. Right now he’s shooting 20% from three, and I think it’s because he’s continually put into situations to take shots he isn’t comfortable with. If I was trying to fix Jones I would look at what he did at Penn State and replicate that, running him off screens and letting him use his shooting touch as opposed to getting him stationary threes that are all mechanical, because as we all know his mechanics are shaky which makes for an inconsistent stroke.
Unfortunately, those kinds of shots aren’t really in Florida’s offensive design right now so it would be a bit of a departure from what they’re doing. But, since Florida’s offense hasn’t been great, this would be one way of changing it up.
While I don’t think Jones has been utlized to his strengths…he’s still got to be able to make an open catch and shoot jumper. Believe me, by pointing out how I don’t like how he’s been used I’m not taking away any of the blame from Jones. The wide open catch and shoot jumper is the easiest shot in the game, and he has to be able to knock that down if he’s going to stay on the floor–at least in my opinion.
That’s all for today! Be sure to get your questions in at Gator Country to see it in one of the next articles.