Sunday, February 14, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Three follow-up observations from Florida's home loss Saturday against Alabama that dropped the Gators to 16-9 overall for the season and 7-5 in Southeastern Conference play.
1) In processing losses -- and make no mistake, Florida's path to an NCAA Tournament got tougher because of this one -- the one thing that will get a coach's wrath more than anything is when a team doesn't compete or play hard. There's no way Mike White could after his guys on that front in the fallout from the Alabama game. Not when you smash an opponent 54-35 on the glass, including -- and this is ridiculous -- 23-6 on the offensive end. That's a lot of extra possessions. Unfortunately, they led to a lot more missed shots. It was that kind of night for Florida, which merely had its worst shooting day at home by percentage over the last 20 seasons (see chart below). It's one thing to bounce a bunch of 3s (UF went 3-for-21 for 14.3 percent), but the number of shots in and around the basket that popped out was insane ... and probably drove White crazy, too.
John Egbunu2) Make that five double-doubles for John Egbunu (11 points, 10 rebounds) this season, including two straight. A lot of the aforementioned point-blank misses, though, came from his hands, as the sophomore center finished 2-for-9 from the floor. And, again, the effort he put forth under the basket needs to be commended. Not only did he get five offensive rebounds, but all those fouls he drew in the post added up to foul trouble for the Crimson Tide and early bonus free throws for the Gators -- but you have to make more than 59 percent as a team and Egbunu has to make more than six of 14. And also, it's 25 games in and Egbunu still struggles with awareness when opponents fire the post with double and triple teams. While he's holding the ball against a collapsed defense, someone is open. He has to do a better job finding that open teammate or using that 6-foot-11, 255-pound body -- without hesitating -- to muscle the ball toward the rim.
3) The media and Twitter doomsayers pronouncing Florida's NCAA hopes dead Saturday were certainly predictable. It's all about reacting to the moment regardless of context. For UF, it's pretty simple: In addition to holding serve for the final two games of the season (yes, that includes red-hot Kentucky), the Gators can put themselves right back in the conversation by winning one of the two road games this week -- Tuesday at Georgia (also 7-5 and in a four-way tie for third place in the league) or Saturday at South Carolina (8-4 and alone in second place, one game behind front-running LSU and UK). If the Gators are an NCAA Tournament, stealing one on the road, where they're 1-4 in league play, will prove it. The Tide just did it. They were 1-4 away from home also before Saturday. No question, winning at Athens or Columbia will be really, really difficult, but that's the position the Gators have put themselves in. The one they have to deal with.
JOHNSON PRAISES ROWDIES Avery Johnson greets Mike White before tipoff. Alabama coach Avery Johnson clearly likes the view from his new sidelines.
After winning 268 games in eight NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey-turned-Brooklyn Nets, Johnson is in his first year at the collegiate level and after upsetting the Gators has the Crimson Tide eyeing a possible NCAA berth, even though he's not talking about it.
"What does 'RPI' stand for?" Johnson asked Saturday.
Good one, Coach.
Few in the O'Connell Center enjoyed the outcome of the game, but it was nice to see Johnson, a world-champion point guard with the 1999 San Antonio Spurs, come over to the Rowdy Reptiles section -- "Everything I heard about them, they lived up to their reputation" -- afterward to say hello and shake hands with the students.
"I really love the student sections on the road," Johnson said. "They get into it. Some of them call me the same bad names I heard in the NBA, so that hasn't changed. They make fun of my height, so that hasn't changed. But it's fun. That's what it's all about."
TWITTER PATTER
Win, and everything is fine. Lose, and everything is awful.
If watching Saturday's game was hard, there's good reason for it. In making just 28.6 percent in the loss to the Tide, the Gators had their third-worst shooting performance of the last 20 seasons -- and the worst at the O'Dome over the past two decades.
Percentage
Opponent
FGM-FGA
Date
Outcome
.255
Georgia Southern (at Jacksonville)
31 of 51
12/15/07
W 52-49
.283
at Auburn
15 of 53
1/20/11
W 45-40
.286
Alabama
18 of 63
2/13/16
L 61-55
.291
at Ole Miss
16 of 55
2/16/02
L 68-51
.312
Alabama-Birmingham (at Sunrise, Fla.)
24 of 77
12/27/97
L 80-73
ASK @GatorsChris
@GatorsChris Is Florida shooting over or under 15% in the 2nd half?
Over, as it turned out, but not by much. They finished just 27.3 from the floor and 1-for-12 (that's 8.3 percent) from deep.
Chris ChiozzaFREE THROWS
As of Sunday, Florida had dropped to 31st in the Ratings Percentage Index, just three spots ahead of Alabama, which is now 4-5 against RPI Top 50s and is the only team in the league to defeat four ranked teams. The Gators are 2-7 against the Top 50, but still have the No. 7 strength of schedule, including the second-hardest non-conference schedule. UF and Bama are the fourth- and fifth-highest RPI teams in the SEC. The Top three are Kentucky (13th), Texas A&M (24th) and South Carolina (25th). ... The Gators had a season-low five assists against Alabama, compared to 12 turnovers, while point guard Chris Chiozza had his first negative assist-to-turnover game (2/5). The sophomore's shooting woes also continued. Over the last four games, Chiozza has made just 10 of 42 shots (23.8 percent) and is 3-for-21 from the 3-point line (14.3 percent). ... UF, with its 11-game winning streak over Alabama snapped, fell one game shy of equaling the second-longest winning streak against an SEC opponent. The Gators defeated Mississippi State 12 straight from 1984-89. UF's longest conference run came against Tennessee, which the Gators beat 14 straight times from 1991-98.
