Freshman point guard Michael Okauru (0) will get extended minutes at the point guard spot Sunday against Division II Tampa.
Calling All UF Point Guard Candidates
Sunday, November 5, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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With Chris Chiozza sidelined, Gators will look at several next-up options.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Life without Chris Chiozza won't last very long for the Florida basketball team. For that, the Gators are counting their blessings.
In fact, there may actually be something of an upside to losing their senior point guard, if only for 10-14 days, due to that sprain to the AC joint after taking a hard hit to his left shoulder Thursday in UF's exhibition rout of Jacksonville.
Coach Mike White and his staff knew heading into the 2017-18 season that Chiozza would have to play major minutes, at least 30 a game, due to the absence of a true and/or experienced backup point guard. They also knew junior KeVaughn Allen, a pure shooting guard by trade, would slide to the "1" spot some this season to spell Chiozza, and thus give Allen a chance at developing some play-making skills that will enhance his post-UF opportunities. They also knew they could lean on guard Jalen Hudson, the transfer from Virginia Tech, in a pinch, and would get some looks at freshman Michael Okauru.
It's all just happened sooner than the Gators expected. And the early returns weren't very pretty.
"It was a chore without him, of course," White said of his offense sans Chiozza.
But it got better as the JU game wore on, with Allen dishing six assists and committing just one turnover (without really sacrificing his scoring, as he finished with 17 points). Okauru came off the bench to play 20 minutes on his way to seven points, two assists and two turnovers.
Chris Chiozza tried to play through a painful shoulder sprain Thursday night against Jacksonville before shutting himself down after just two minutes (with two assists and two steals) on the floor.
OK, so they won't be pushing it against the likes of Riley LaChance or Collin Sexton when they face the Spartans, but that's not the point, right now.
"KeVaughn is going to play some at the point for us this year," graduate-transfer forward Egor Koulechov said after the JU game. "And I think Michael is getting better every day. This was a good experience for him, and I think he handled it well."
This time out, the goal is to handle it better than the time before.
Against JU, the Gators weren't very good offensively in the first half, clearly a byproduct of Chiozza being unexpectedly yanked from the floor. They shot just 36 percent through the first period, and that was despite making six of the final eight field-goal tries.
In the second half, Florida had much better ball movement on the way to making 51.5 percent of its shot, but also defended better, which led to some transition opportunities and a 19-2 advantage in fast-break points.
Without the speedy Chiozza pushing the ball up the court, no less.
Said White: "I thought we got a lot out of it in terms of educating our guys on a lot of things we need to continue getting better with."
If White can say the same thing come late Sunday afternoon, all the better.
