Hoops Hodgepodge 2

NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY
Florida 77, Missouri 75
Three leftover thoughts from Saturday's win at Columbia.

1) Make no mistake about it. The decision by Chris Chiozza to go for the steal in the final seconds was a huge gamble. Coach Mike White said as much afterward. Chiozza has made similar gambles in the past (some this season) that haven't turned out well for the Gators, but the risk-reward ratio with their senior point guard is one the team is all too glad to live with it. Chiozza's speed and quickness are on a different level than all but a handful of collegiate point guards. Never was it more evident than Saturday (OK, maybe one other time about 10 months ago). On the game-ending sequence, Chiozza was guarding forward Jordan Barnett, who'd gone 8-for-13 for the game and 6-for-9 from 3 on his way to a career-high 28 points. Barnett set up on the far left side of the floor, in front of the Missouri bench. Chiozza was splitting the difference between Barnett and the ball as he watched guard Jordan Geist dribble and try to set up an isolation play for guard Kassius Robertson against Egor Koulechov. If Geist had been as intuitive as Chiozza, he possibly could have thrown a skip pass over the top of the defense and found Barnett for a step-in, rhythm 3-pointer, yet Chiozza said after the game he was in position where that pass would have been difficult to make. In other words, he was a step ahead of the play. Plus, it only makes sense that Chiozza could have been able to recover in time to at least challenge that play with a close-out at the arc. So, this was a calculated gamble, if such a thing can be executed in a split second. Then again, if anyone can do it, Chiozza can. His entire game is predicated on that aforementioned speed and quickness and he used both to rocket into the gap and make one of the great game-ending plays in UF regular-season history. A gamble? Yes. But the Gators will bet on Chiozza, the floor general and growing-louder-by-the-day leader, every time. Great basketball player. Great basketball play.

2) The combined post play of forward Keith Stone and center Kevarrius Hayes took second billing to an incredible shooting night earlier in the week at Texas A&M, but was no less a factor in that big road victory. Make it two straight solid outings for UF's two starting "bigs," which is as encouraging as anything that has happened for this team during its run of five straight victories, given how both were searching for their games not too long ago. Stone made five of his nine field-goal attempts, equaled his season-best six rebounds, drained two of four 3s and blocked two shots. Hayes, who had one of the finest all-around games of his career at A&M, put together another end-to-end, high-energy effort on his way to a season-high 10 points, five rebounds, a block, and a career-best four steals (four days after totaling a career-best four assists, no less). They were both really, really good — and against a really, really good basketball team with some tough front-court matchups. … [Note: Come March, we may be looking back on the Missouri win as one of Florida's best of the season] … It's tough to envision a game where either Stone or Hayes goes wild in the scoring column — like any of UF's perimeter players could on a given night — so this is what the Gators need from these two each time out. And so much of it starts with simply just playing hard. The coaches have talked themselves orange-and-blue in face about that. It appears to be sinking in.

3) This may be hard to believe, but Chiozza's plus-minus ratio in his 32 minutes against the Tigers was a minus-10. That's because he was on the bench in foul trouble in the first half during the bulk of UF's comeback. In the middle of that run was freshmen Mike Okauru (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) and Deaundrae Ballard (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal). They logged 12 and eight minutes before halftime, respectively, with Ballard doing so after being sick the previous 24 hours to the point White didn't think he'd play in the game. Instead, White singled out both players in his post-game interview, praising their play and poise in helping the Gators erase a 12-point deficit on the road and turn it into a one-point halftime lead. Their numbers may have been modest, but their contributions were not.

SHOW ME STATE OF SHOCK

This photo of freshman forward **Jontay Porter** pretty much sums up the day in Missouri.

OK, now let's flip the roles.

As exhilarating as it was to be on the Florida feel-good side, imagine being on the other bench as that horror Saturday at Mizzou Arena unfolded. Or in the locker room afterward. As Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin explained in his post-game news conference, the No. 1 objective for his team coming out of that final timeout was to make sure it got the last shot. A last-second miss was supposed to be the worst-case scenario.

With Geist dribbling, Mizzou ran some fake action on the right side of the floor and was locked in on getting Robertson that "iso" against Koulechov, who was sagged off Robertson and would have been forced to charge the ball, thus vulnerable to a straight-line, downhill drive at the basket.

Robertson, obviously, needed the ball first.

"[Chiozza] made a good read," said Robertson, the grad-transfer from Canisius, who by media accounts was near tears in the post-game locker room. "We didn't see him coming. He jumped the gap. It was risky. If he misses [the ball] we get a wide-open shot. But he got it."

The collective gasp inside the arena was pronounced, but it turned out to be a mere microcosm of what played out for sports fans across the state as the day unfolded.

Consider, also, the Kansas Chiefs blew an 18-point lead at home in their AFC wild-card playoff game and lost 22-21 to the Tennessee Titans. It marked the seventh straight home playoff defeat for the Chiefs, dating to the 1995 season, and the 11th loss in their last 12 playoff games overall, dating to '93.

The NHL St. Louis Blues lost Saturday night, as well, falling 6-3 at Philadelphia.

And if there were any non-bitter fans leftover from the St. Louis Rams' relocation last year to Los Angeles, they got a late-night gut punch, courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons, 26-13.

Call it, the "Show Me Rolaids State."

FORMER GATOR UPDATE

Brandone Francis-Ramirez got a fresh start after transferring to Texas Tech in 2016.

Brandone Francis-Ramirez was a top-40 national prospect out of Jacksonville, by way of the Dominican Republic. He was loud, gregarious, passionate and loved the game -- but for whatever reason, it just did not work out for him at Florida. A 6-foot-5 guard out of hoops factory Arlington Country Day, "B-Fran" could not practice with the team his first semester due to NCAA academic issues, then could not compete in games until his sophomore season. That was his freshman 2014-15 year. Then came '15-16, and it wasn't pretty. Francis-Ramirez averaged two points and one rebound a game and was (inexplicably) a mental wreck with his shot -- 20.2 percent from the floor, including 10-for-59 from the 3-point line (16.9 percent) -- which was not the case day to day at UF practices.

But, hey, it happens.

After that season, Francis-Ramirez opted for a change of scenery, and apparently made a very good decision.

If you happened to be watching college hoops highlights the night the Gators beat Texas A&M, that was Francis-Ramirez, now a redshirt junior, squaring up and nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key in No. 18 Texas Tech's huge road upset of 10th-ranked Kansas. In 20 minutes, Francis-Ramirez scored seven points and grabbed a couple rebounds as the Red Raiders won 85-73 after going 0-17 at historic Phog Allen Fieldhouse to that point. What a win. On Saturday, Francis hit both of his field-goal attempts, including a 3, grabbed two rebounds, had a couple steals and an assist in his team's 74-58 wiping of Kansas State, as the Raiders moved to 14-1 overall and remained unbeaten in Big 12 Conference play.

Tech, under Coach Chris Beard, has a rotation of 10 guys playing at least 14 minutes. Francis-Ramirez, who sat out the '16-17 season per NCAA rules, is one of those 10, right at 14 minutes per. He's averaging 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds, while shooting 48.1 overall and 44.4 percent from long distance. The Raiders look like serious contenders in their league this season. And Francis-Ramirez looks like he's rebooted his career.

Good for you, Brandone, and good luck the rest of the way.

CHARTING THE GATORS
After watching Florida sink 27 of 30 free throws and losing my seven Dec. 30, Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew lamented after the game the dilemma of having to decide which 80-percent free-throw shooter in the final minute of a game in hopes of stealing a possession. True. Pick your poison. After going 17 of 25 from the line Saturday at Missouri (not great), the Gators are now shooting 76.7 percent as a team -- that's second in the league behind Auburn (77.8 percent) -- and have three of the SEC's top five free-throw shooters, including the name at the top of the list. Here's the league's top 10.

Percentage	Player	Team	FTA	FTM
95.7	Egor Koulechov	Florida	45	47
92.0	Jordan Barnett	Missouri	46	50
90.0	Chris Chiozza	Florida	45	50
89.8	KeVaughn Allen	Florida	44	49
89.0	Jeff Roberson	Vanderbilt	73	82
86.8	LaMonte Turner	Tennessee	33	38
	Skylar Mays	LSU	33	38
86.5	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Kentucky	45	52
86.4	Duane Wilson	Texas A&M	38	44
86.0	Juwan Parker	Georgia	37	43

PERSPECTIVE POLICE BEAT
(i.e. "Twitter Patter")

Coaches are held accountable. Players are held accountable. Even senior writers are held accountable. This space is dedicated to holding the fans (and fan boys) on Twitter accountable. We'll also, at times, recognize those who "get it" by responding to comments and acknowledging those who offer entertaining social media fodder, or (God forbid) the proper perspective. [Note: If you're completely unreasonable and wonder why you don't show up here, it's probably because you've been muted or blocked, and thus in "Perspective Prison." I'm the cop, judge, jury and warden of that legal system, by the way.]

Honest question: what are the reasons Keith Stone sees the court, much less starts? He makes poor decisions and lacks coordination and talent. - Frustrating to watch almost every game
— Cameron MacMillan (@RotoGrindersCam) January 3, 2018

Stone's numbers over last two games: 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 12-for-23 from the floor, 6-for-10 from arc. Guys have to develop at their own pace. Some taking longer than others and need to hit rough patches and absorb teaching moments along the way. There will be more of those rough times, to be sure, but encouraging moments, also. [Note: To Cameron's credit, he cited Stone's promising week after Saturday's game, via a tweet.]

Just saw the highlight chris chiozza's steal and buzzer beater. Nice play by the 9th year senior. That dude's been there forever it seems. #Heisgood #Gators
— Keith Barkley (@Parcelman18) January 7, 2018

This from a Kentucky fan. Tough to grasp the bizarre concept of an actual four-year player. Must be like seeing Bigfoot.

Best 4 year gator PG ever.
— Florida Native (@sshever) January 6, 2018

Whoa, now. The kid is terrific, but let's not forget Dan Cross, Erving Walker and Scottie Wilbekin, to name a few.

Can't slow tempo without inside presence. Gators are about to get throttled
— John David (@JLD_IV) January 6, 2018

They were down 10 or 12 at this point, but It's not an eight-minute game.

Who'd a thought after the Clemson game.
— Gator1 (@Gators1205) January 7, 2018

Clemson is 14-1 overall, unbeaten and tied for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, ranked 25th in the Associated Press poll, and No. 6 in the Ratings Percentage Index, as of Sunday.

I didn't take the picture - nor am I in it. Year was 1989 though. If I knew who took the picture I'd give him/her credit. pic.twitter.com/1ppCTYyEIS
— Tony Agolini (@tonyagolini) January 2, 2018

This was a cool tweet. Nice throwback, Tony.

Means a lot to have the support of Murray, Ralph and all the pandas in the world behind me for #NBAVote! https://t.co/j92ezM6zR6 #PandaPower for Bradley Beal! ?????? pic.twitter.com/GCDGednnXd
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) January 5, 2018

If you haven't yet, vote for Brad.

FREE THROWS

Junior guard Jalen Hudson, who scored seven straight points during UF's rally from five back twice in the final three minutes, will start the week fifth in the SEC in scoring at 16.9 points per game. Hudson went 5-for-7 from the floor and made two of his three 3-pointers in scoring a team-high 16 points off the bench. He hasn't started the past three games, but that may change as Florida stil looks for a spark, assertiveness and consistency from junior KeVaughn Allen, who had two points in 19 minutes against the Tigers. It was Allen's third game in the last four that he finished in single-digits. ... The Gators have started 3-0 in the SEC for the second straight season, and for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Yes, even the 2014-15 that went on to finish with the program's only sub-.500 record over the previous 19 seasons opened league play with wins at South Carolina, then home against Mississippi State and Auburn, before going into a tailspin. ... UF, with back-to-back road wins against teams that ranked in the RPI Top 25 at the time, have moved from its spot of 83rd after the non-league slate concluded up to 43rd, which is eighth among SEC teams. League teams in front of Florida: Kentucky (9), Tennessee (10), Auburn (11), Arkansas (13), Texas A&M (25), Missouri (28) and Georgia (34). UF's opponents this week, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, are 56th and 89th, respectively. ... Koulechov had a first-half free throw spin out against the Tigers, snapping a streak of 32 consecutive makes, the fourth-longest in school history. He went 5-for-6 from the line, including two big ones with 4:36 remaining that made it a one-possession game. ... The Gators had five players reach double figures for the third time this season, with North Florida and Stanford the previous two. ... There were some very questionable whistles that impacted the game Saturday, with both teams making veiled references to the officiating afterward. Martin, the Mizzou coach, came very close to the line. "It was a tough game for me," he said. "I guess I have to keep my mouth closed. I don't want to say anything. But very, very tough for me. Very tough for me, you know what I'm saying? It was one of the toughest ones I've ever been a part of. I'm not a complainer. But it was hard." We get the idea, Coach. ... Chiozza currently ranks second in the SEC in assists (5.8 pg) and fourth in steals (1.7). That latter stat, at least today, seems like it should be higher.

Gators Calendar

Players Mentioned

KeVaughn Allen

Deaundrae Ballard

Chris Chiozza

Kevarrius Hayes

Jalen Hudson

Egor Koulechov

Mike Okauru

Keith Stone

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