Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Welcome to the first edition of the 2016 Hoops Hodgepodge column (formerly known as the "Basketblog"). 

The first item, given the developments from Saturday night, are my three "Next-Day Takeaway" thoughts following UF's 77-63 defeat of Georgia in the Southeastern Conference opener that left the Gators 9-4 overall and 1-0 in league play. 

1) Has anyone noticed Florida is not a great free-throw shooting team? Note: Kidding. UF, which started the SEC season as the league's worst from the line through non-league play (.627), had another dismal outing there against the Bulldogs: 24 of 41 for 58.5 percent, the fourth-lowest performance of the season. This came after the team knocked down nine of its first 11, meaning it went 15 of 30 the rest of the way. Point guard Kasey Hill was 8-for-16, including 2-for-6 in the last 3:03 while the Bulldogs were trying to claw back. After the game, Coach Mike White -- again -- emphasized the work they put into free throws. Being at practice, I can vouch for that. Example: In the middle of practice, White will stop drills and order his players scattered to the six baskets around the gym, where they have to make 75 percent collectively or else they run. That's just any tactic. White told of how Hill often shoots 300 free throws a day, sometimes putting himself through three-a-day sessions. So this is epidemic (now in its second year for the team, which was last in the SEC in free throw percentage  in 2014-15) is not about practicing. Some players (and teams) just aren't good at free-shooting. Count the Gators, obviously, among those. That doesn't mean they won't keep working on them, and it doesn't mean they can't improve on them. Bottom line: replicating game pressure is impossible. So, again, it's likely going to be a recurring theme for this team -- until it's not. 


 

2) Georgia's J.J. Frazier was fouled on a 3-point shot with 1:35 left and made all three of his free throws to cut the Florida lead to nine. On UF's ensuing possessions, the Gators tried to eat up time. With the shot clock ticking down, KeVaughn Allen had the ball about 24 feet from the basket and was closely guarded. He took a couple dribbles on his man, shook the defender enough to create space and bombed a 3-point shot that swished at the horn. What a luxury it is to have a guy who can go get his shot -- and Allen, with his explosiveness off the bounce, can get it anytime he wants it. After averaging 6.2 points through the first nine games (twice going scoreless, by the way), Allen is averaging 19 points on 53.3-percent shooting from the floor, 35 percent from the 3-point line and 95.4 from the free-throw line over the last four games. This is who Allen has been every day at practice. Oftentimes, it takes a freshman weeks, even months, to figure some things out. This was worth the wait. 



3) And while we're on the subject of guards, Chris Chiozza has been every bit as impressive in his new role. Since taking over the starting point guard spot five games ago, Chiozza has 21 assists and just two turnovers. Unreal. A couple of his drive-and-dishes for 3-pointers against the Bulldogs were sensational and brought to mind the ways of Erving Walker, who also was undersized but left UF as the school's all-time assist leader with 547. Chiozza, though, doesn't hunt shots -- even though he leads the team in 3-point shooting at 40.5 percent -- like Walker often did. He hunts buckets for his teammates. 
 

D-ROB SHOULD BE OK 

Late in the first half, sophomore forward Devin Robinson was in the middle of a pile scrambling for a loose ball. In the process, Robinson took an elbow to the chest from Georgia forward Kenny Paul Geno. 

 
As soon as officials whistled a tie up, Robinson came to his feet and asked out of the game and Robinson was escorted to the locker room by team trainer David "Duke" Werner. He did not return. 

The 6-foot-9, 195-pound Robinson suffered a chest contusion. He was examined and treated at Shands Hospital and released later Saturday night. White said in the post-game he thought Robinson would be OK -- UF plays Wednesday night at Tennessee -- but he also praised Robinson's performance: 13 points (3-for-3 from the floor, 2-2 from 3 and 5-6 from the free-throw line) off the bench after the Florida coaches opted to start Justin Leon following a substandard defensive effort from Robinson in the loss to FSU. 

"He had a great first half and answered the bell for the first game in a while that he hasn't started," White said. "Arguably, his best half of the year." 

No argument here.



GATOR ALUM OF THE WEEK 
 

Eli Carter walked to a degree in African American studies last summer, but did so with a year of collegiate eligibility remaining. Carter took advantage of the NCAA instant graduate-school transfer rule and is now a starting guard at Boston College. Make that three high-major programs in five seasons -- Rutgers to Florida to BC -- for the product out of Paterson, N.J. 

He's flying high offensively for the Eagles, too. 

Carter poured in 28 points Wednesday in 43 minutes of a 72-67 overtime defeat of New Hampshire, then went for 19 in BC's Atlantic Coast Conference opener, an 81-64 home loss to 15th-ranked Duke.
Carter has started all 13 games for the Eagles and is averaging 17.3 points and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 40 percent from the floor and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. 

Note: In his one full season at Florida, Carter averaged 8.8 points, 1.6 assists and shot 36.2 overall and 30.5 from deep. 

His coaches at BC apparently have given Carter the green light to fire away -- he's averaging 15-plus shots per game -- so something tells me we'll see him again in this space the next couple months. 

Good luck, Eli! 



TWITTER PATTER 

Constanza is always good for GIF. 

GO #GATORS !!! ?????????? @GatorzoneMBK @MBKRowdies pic.twitter.com/CmT5WUmad0

— Jordan Glasgow (@Jordy_FoxSports) January 3, 2016

Good perspective.

These #Gators are young but they have the toughest schedule in the country with a top 20 RPI. I'm impressed by what Mike White is doing.

— Micah Fries ? (@micahfries) January 3, 2016

Hmmm. Missed Billy D on the sidelines when Gators played OSU in Sunrise a couple weeks ago. Would've been a good pre-game storyline.

Did ESPN's Mike Morgan say Billy Donovan left #Gators for #OklahomaState? Yep. Not how I remembered it. Billy either, I'll wager. #UGAvUF

— Tom Jackson (@tjacksonTBO) January 3, 2016

If it were only that simple.

@GatorsChris Foul shots are the key. Desire, discipline and technique

— Very Concerned (@wellscch) January 2, 2016

CHARTING THE GATORS 

When KeVaughn Allen poured in 32 points in Tuesday night's last-second loss against Florida State, he became just the fifth freshman in school history to hit 30 in a game -- and the first in 13 years. Here's that freshman honor roll. 

Points	Player	Opponent	Date	Outcome
38	Vernon Delancy	Alabama	Jan. 24, 1981	W 97-91
37	Vernon Delancy	Florida Southern	Dec. 18, 1980	W 72-62
36	Ronnie Williams	Purdue	Dec. 27, 1980	L 95-87
33	Matt Walsh	Miami	Dec. 21, 2002	W 94-93 (2OT)
32	KeVaughn Allen	Florida State	Dec. 29, 2015	L 73-71
31	Reggie Hannah	Hofstra	Dec. 13, 1977	W 97-95

 



ASK @GatorsChris 
 

@GatorsChris Does Egbunu lead SEC in dunks?

— Jason Kessler (@Jasonkessler15) January 3, 2016

Not sure, but he definitely leads the Gators with 26 on the season. As for the SEC, I imagine LSU's Ben Simmons -- the next Lebron James and would-be No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft -- would be in the running. And he'll be in the O'Dome next Saturday. 



FREE THROWS 

Florida's trip to Tennessee this week will be its first in two years. ... As of Sunday night, UF was one of four SEC teams in the KenPom.com Top 40. The Gators checked in at No. 21. Only Kentucky (15th) and Texas A&M (20th) were higher. Vanderbilt was 26th. By KP's metrics, Florida is the nation's fourth-best defense and has played the 30th toughest schedule. ... By leaving and not returning Saturday, Robinson turned out to become the first Gator since Mareese Speights to score 13 points in a game despite playing 10 or fewer minutes. Speights went for 16 in 10 minutes against Jackson State in a 1-vs-16 NCAA Tournament matchup March 16, 2007. ... When Chiozza went for 11 points, six rebounds and six assists against the Dogs he joined Dorian Finney-Smith (20-6-6 vs. Vermont on Nov. 25, 2015) as the only UF players to hit those thresholds in a game. The last Gator not on the current team to do so was Chandler Parsons, who did it three times in his 2010-11 SEC Player of the Year campaign. ... Egbunu's seven offensive rebounds marked the 21st time in the last 20 seasons a UF player had at least that many.