Hoops Hodgepodge 7

NEXT-DAY TAKEAWAY
Florida 65, South Carolina 41
Three leftover thoughts from Saturday's win at Columbia.

1) Simply put (and Coach Mike White said as much afterward), this was UF's best all-around game of the season. On offense, the Gators (17-8, 8-4) shared the ball, ran actions, weren't slaves to the 3-point shot, and converted against a team that normally doesn't allow a lot of easy stuff. Defensively, they were connected, executed their plan in deep against power forward Chris Silva and out on the perimeter, and allowed a season-low field-goal percentage of 27.8. Florida rebounded, on both ends, at a level it had not approached this season. Every player gave White something in the stat sheet, but also something on the energy/effort front. That was a carryover from Wednesday's defeat of LSU, which was carryover from Monday's tell-all team meeting. Even better, they did it on the road. Senior point guard Chris Chiozza, after a couple games below the lofty standard he's set for himself, was the catalyst. He was terrific running the offense and guarding at the other end. Now, it's worth noting the Gators beat a team that lost a fifth straight game, as South Carolina remains winless since defeating UF in Gainesville on Jan. 24. The Gamecocks are woefully challenged on offense, especially in the backcourt, which in hindsight makes that home loss last month all the more perplexing (if not maddening). But USC is known for bringing it every night. The Gators turned the tables on the home team and seemingly had the Gamecocks on their heels and in retreat early on (and Coach Frank Martin said as much afterward). Now, Florida turns its attention to Georgia, which manhandled the Gators in the second half of its 72-60 win Jan. 30 at Athens. UF will need a third straight fiery effort to bang with Yante Maten and the Bulldogs' size advantage down low. Do the Gators have that in them?

Backup guard Deaundrae Ballard, who had gone five straight games without a field goal, scored six points off the bench Saturday.

2) When Kevarrius Hayes got an early foul while defending Silva, the Gators went to sophomore center Gorjok Gak, who did his job. Then they went to redshirt freshman Dontay Bassett, who was even better. Both seldom-used players delivered solid substitute minutes. In the backcourt, the Gators went early to both Mike Okauru and Deaundrae Ballard in an effort to buy Chiozza (with three straight games playing 35 minutes) a minute or so in each half. Okauru and Ballard delivered, as well. The six front-line rotation guys are going to have a longer leash when it comes to mistakes and such, but those four off the bench gave the coaches something to think about.

3) Of Florida's 14 turnovers, five were shot-clock violations. Obviously, that's not good, but the Gators tweaked with the offensive game plan heading in against the Gamecocks in an effort to spread out the USC defense. UF tried doing more off-the-ball screening, which allowed the Gators to fall into some open looks (with the help of good ball movement), but also freed up Chiozza to take advantage of some creases in the defense and attack the rim. The action got USC's post players occupied or in traffic on the perimeter and sometimes left Chiozza's defender on an island against one of the quickest players in the country. The late-clock stagnation was more a byproduct of the newness of the action, combined with more liberal substitution (all 10 players logged at least 12 minutes). UF will need to work on honing its off-ball-screening bail-out plan when the clock gets inside 10 seconds.

PARITY PARTY IN RUGGED SEC

Texas A&M forward Robert Williams flexes for his Aggies, but just as well could do it for the whole SEC.

The Southeastern Conference, by most metrics, checks in as either the third- or fourth-toughest league in the country, behind the Big 12 and Big Ten. At the two-thirds mark of the season, nine teams have a legitimate chance at NCAA Tournament berths. Though eighth-ranked Auburn (10-2 in SEC play) is cruising with a two-game lead over second-place Florida and Tennessee (both 8-4), the next six teams (Alabama and Missouri at 7-5; Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Texas A&M at 6-6) are all within two games of tha No. 2 spot.

And just look at what's happened in the last week.

A&M is getting healthier by the day and on Wednesday upset Auburn on the road, then handed Kentucky its third straight league loss Saturday. No one will want to play the Aggies in March. Tennessee, playing arguably the best basketball in the league, completed its first sweep of Kentucky since 1999 on Tuesday, then got destroyed Saturday at Alabama by 28. The Crimson Tide have now won five straight against ranked teams, but lost Tuesday night against Mississippi State, which Saturday had its five game win streak snapped at Missouri, which has now won four straight.

Got that?

This week, A&M is at Missouri, Kentucky is at Auburn, Alabama is at Kentucky, A&M is at Arkansas, so that jumbled center of the standings figures to start separating.
Or get more crowded, if Florida and Tennessee come back to the pack.

Great year for the conference.

CHARTING THE GATORS
Mike White's program at Louisiana Tech had defense as its calling card. He was a dogged defender as point guard at Ole Miss and strives for his teams to play that way. His first two UF teams did. His third had not, but showed what it's capable of doing Saturday when the Gators, for the first time this season, held an opponent under 35-percent shooting in a game. Compare that to White's first two batch of Gators. Florida held six opponents to 35 percent or under last season, and five the season before.

Opponent	Outcome	Date	FG Pct.	FG-FGA / 3P-3PA	Comment
@Navy	W 59-41	Nov. 13, 2015	.288	17-59 / 4-19	White's first game as UF coach (Veterans Classic at Annapolis)
North Carolina A&T	W 104-54	Nov. 16, 2015	.327	17-52 / 4-16	UF's second game under White.
Florida Gulf Coast	W 70-50	Nov. 27, 2015	.345	20-58 / 3-8	Not a lot of "Dunk City" going on this time.
Richmond	W 76-56	Dec. 1, 2015	.339	21-62 / 7-20	Seventh game of White's tenure, fourth game under 35 percent (tone set).
@Georgia	W 57-53	Feb. 16, 2016	.323	20-62 / 8-21	First sub-.350 vs SEC foe.
*Charlotte	W 87-46	Dec. 17, 2016	.275	14-51 / 4-16	Orange Bowl Classic at Sunrise, Fla.
@South Carolina	L 57-53	Jan. 18, 2017	.294	15-51 / 4-13	UF shot 35.2 percent, but went 0-for-17 from 3-point line.
@Oklahoma	W 84-52	Jan. 28, 2017	.277	18-65 / 1-16	Worst home loss for Sooners since 1906.
Missouri	W 93-54	Feb. 2, 2017	.302	19-63 / 8-21	Third straight win for Gators by 30-plus points.
@Georgia	W 72-60	Feb. 7, 2017	.333	21-63 / 6-18	Three Bulldogs starters combined to go 3-for-21 from floor.
*Virginia	W 65-39	March 18, 2017	.296	16-54 / 1-15	Third-round NCAA Tournament play in Orlando vs program renowned for its D.
@South Carolina	W 65-41	Feb. 10, 2018	.278	15-54 / 2-13	Across-the-board defensive excellence for the first time all season.

* Neutral site

UF ALUM UPDATE

The arrival of Justin Leon didn't come with much fanfare. He was part of White's first incoming class, but a late addition via the junior college ranks after asking out of his letter-of-intent with LaTech to come and play for the staff that recruited him out of tiny Shawnee Community College in Illinois.

In two seasons at Florida, Leon started 47 of 70 games, averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds, while growing into a dangerous threat from the 3-point line, hitting a team-high 39.8 percent for last season's Elite Eight bunch. Above else, though, he was work-hard workhorse -- a so-called "glue guy" -- the likes of which the team could definitely use this season.

Leon graduated last May and now is playing in the G-League for the Oklahoma City Blue, under the tutelage of Coach Mark Daigneault, who served for four seasons as assistant to the head coach for Billy Donovan. Leon is doing Leon-like things, averaging 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds and shooting 37 percent from deep as a backup (those stats look familiar?). In a game earlier this season, Leon scored 26 points and went 6-for-6 from the arc. In another, he had 11 rebounds. He's doing great and the coaches and players, of course, love his team-first attitude and willingness to play his role.

Yes, Leon is a longshot to make the NBA, but he's going to get paid to play the game he loves for a long time.

Congrats and good luck, J-Leon!

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. At times, we'll also recognize those who "get it" and acknowledge 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.]

Pretty quiet Saturday on my Twitter timeline. What happened to all the Chicken Littles from the week before? I'll tell you what happened? They didn't have anything to complain about. My guess is they'll be back in time, as the ebbs and flows of a long season hit the home stretch.

Gators play best when I don't watch https://t.co/zIvcLdok7k
— Gators (@UFgatorskickass) February 10, 2018

Please don't watch.

Sindarius Thornwell not walking thru that door. https://t.co/OcwviwtNZV
— zero halftime adjustments!! (@Gatorcwboyfan) February 10, 2018

Pay the man, Shirley.

Ugly start...
— CliveEndiveOgiveIV (@ClivetheClubGuy) February 10, 2018

Wonder if Gamecock Fan would agree?

The USC student section is ROCKING 20 minutes before game time. Truly electric. ?? pic.twitter.com/lV9kXB1e1D
— Rowdy Reptiles (@MBKRowdies) February 10, 2018

Student section shade wars.

That their play and effort isn't acceptable. I'd start Bassett, okauru, Ballard, gak, and a walk-on.
— JB Wilson (@jb_wilson5) February 7, 2018

And you'd be wearing a Walmart vest the next day.

Bad coaching.. lbh..
— Seth Owens (@SethodMan561) February 7, 2018

Career record is 166-72 (.697 winning percentage) and he was 2017 SEC Coach of the Year. And, if you were watching, you might have noticed the Gators won the game .. lbh..

And the pattern returns...
— Matthew Boedy (@MatthewBoedy) February 8, 2018

What, the one where they came from behind in the final six minutes and force the opponent to go 0-for-its-last-8 from the floor? That one?

make me sick
— Becky Obarts (@BeccaO) February 8, 2018

You probably should see a doctor, but you also may be beyond help.

FREE THROWS

The two wins didn't help the Gators a bunch on the Ratings Percentage Index front. They moved up just four spots, to 43rd, which is eighth among SEC teams, yet another testament to the league's overall strength. UF trails Alabama (31st), Arkansas (30th), Missouri (22nd), Kentucky (18th), Texas A&M (15th), Tennessee (13th) and Auburn (7th). Florida, though, has six wins against RPI Top 50s — including a 4-1 record against the SEC teams — and still has games at Tennessee and Bama, plus home against Auburn and UK. … South Carolina's 41 points were the fewest allowed by Florida in conference play since beating Texas A&M 69-36 at home on Feb. 1, 2014. … Hayes recorded two blocked shots against the Gamecocks, moving his 2017-18 total to 51 and into UF's all-time top 10 single season marks. He's tied, for now, with Al Horford (2004-05) and Andrew DeClercq (1993-94).

Gators Calendar

Players Mentioned

Deaundrae Ballard

Dontay Bassett

Chris Chiozza

Gorjok Gak

Kevarrius Hayes

Mike Okauru

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