Walk-on guard Zach Hodskins drives past JU's Darius Dawkins for his first career basket Monday night.
'Next-Day Takeaway' (Florida 84, Jacksonville 65)
Wednesday, December 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
'THE NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY'
FLORIDA 89, JACKSONVILLE 65
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from UF's home win Tuesday night over Jacksonville that moved the Gators to 8-3 on the season.
1) Oh boy, was Mike White ticked at his team after this one. Pay no attention to the final margin. What irritated White and his staff was the blatant disregard for the pregame message not to let the pending Christmas break impede progress, coupled with some horrendous individual defensive plays, most of which had to do with effort and awareness. Forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Devin Robinson may have appeared to get the brunt of White's wrath, given their benchings to start the second half, but there was plenty more spread throughout the locker room. Candidly, this is Finney-Smith's team. He's the fifth-year senior and UF's best and most popular player. Naturally, the Gators are going to take on his personality. That puts more of an onus on him to be consistent with his motor. It was good to hear Finney-Smith admit as much after the game -- and after the coaches had say their post-game pieces -- but it shouldn't have to come to that. Time will tell how Finney-Smith, Robinson and friends respond in the long term, but in the short term White gave his players something to think about before releasing them for Christmas break Wednesday morning. The Gators were at the practice facility at 8:30 for some lifting time with strength/conditioning coordinator Preston Greene, followed by about 90 minutes of shooting/conditioning drills the likes of which none of them will want to repeat.
2) The maturation of Kevarrius Hayes is going to be a pleasure to watch. As a freshman, he's far from perfect, but there is nothing negative that can be uttered about the 6-foot-9 backup center's consistency and want-to; in games or at practice. Against Jacksonville, he carded career bests of nine points (3-for-3 from the floor) and a game-high seven rebounds (four on the offensive end). He also went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line after coming into the game just 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) for the season. With the makeup of the UF frontcourt, Hayes is really in a good spot as far as his role. The expectations for him to have an instant impact aren't unrealistic (or even necessary), but he's good enough to help the team as a 15-minute reserve at two front court spots.
3) No one knows for certain what Zach Hodskins expectations (really and truly) were in coming to Florida as a walk-on and thus bypassing opportunities at a lower-level program (where he might actually play meaningful minutes). He doesn't get a lot of action in practice and his one minute of playing time Tuesday gave him just 13 over nine games the last two seasons. But his driving-and-spinning reverse lay-in -- the first field goal in six career shot attempts -- was certainly an inspirational shot heard around the social media world. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt led his midnight SportsCenter broadcast with the moment in his "Best Thing I Saw Today" segment.
FLORIDA 89, JACKSONVILLE 65
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from UF's home win Tuesday night over Jacksonville that moved the Gators to 8-3 on the season.
1) Oh boy, was Mike White ticked at his team after this one. Pay no attention to the final margin. What irritated White and his staff was the blatant disregard for the pregame message not to let the pending Christmas break impede progress, coupled with some horrendous individual defensive plays, most of which had to do with effort and awareness. Forwards Dorian Finney-Smith and Devin Robinson may have appeared to get the brunt of White's wrath, given their benchings to start the second half, but there was plenty more spread throughout the locker room. Candidly, this is Finney-Smith's team. He's the fifth-year senior and UF's best and most popular player. Naturally, the Gators are going to take on his personality. That puts more of an onus on him to be consistent with his motor. It was good to hear Finney-Smith admit as much after the game -- and after the coaches had say their post-game pieces -- but it shouldn't have to come to that. Time will tell how Finney-Smith, Robinson and friends respond in the long term, but in the short term White gave his players something to think about before releasing them for Christmas break Wednesday morning. The Gators were at the practice facility at 8:30 for some lifting time with strength/conditioning coordinator Preston Greene, followed by about 90 minutes of shooting/conditioning drills the likes of which none of them will want to repeat.
2) The maturation of Kevarrius Hayes is going to be a pleasure to watch. As a freshman, he's far from perfect, but there is nothing negative that can be uttered about the 6-foot-9 backup center's consistency and want-to; in games or at practice. Against Jacksonville, he carded career bests of nine points (3-for-3 from the floor) and a game-high seven rebounds (four on the offensive end). He also went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line after coming into the game just 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) for the season. With the makeup of the UF frontcourt, Hayes is really in a good spot as far as his role. The expectations for him to have an instant impact aren't unrealistic (or even necessary), but he's good enough to help the team as a 15-minute reserve at two front court spots.
3) No one knows for certain what Zach Hodskins expectations (really and truly) were in coming to Florida as a walk-on and thus bypassing opportunities at a lower-level program (where he might actually play meaningful minutes). He doesn't get a lot of action in practice and his one minute of playing time Tuesday gave him just 13 over nine games the last two seasons. But his driving-and-spinning reverse lay-in -- the first field goal in six career shot attempts -- was certainly an inspirational shot heard around the social media world. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt led his midnight SportsCenter broadcast with the moment in his "Best Thing I Saw Today" segment.
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