Florida Gators

THREE-POINT WEEK IN REVIEW 

TAKE A BOW
A few elements warrant mentioning here. Three nights earlier at Mississippi State, KeVaughn Allen bypassed a couple late-game offensive opportunities to go make a play. Not against Georgia. This time, the actions that were run to get Allen shots ended with the senior stepping up and making a pair of big ones that helped stave off any chance of the Bulldogs making a comeback. Both times, Allen got passes on the wing, threw back out, then sprinted the baseline to get the ball at the other of the floor off screens. The first time, with UF up four, he caught and without hesitation bombed a 3-ball from the corner with 3:33 left. A minute later, after a couple UGA free throws, the Gators ran the same play, this setting Allen up the opposite wing. This time, Allen drove into the paint and feathered in a soft, left-handed floater for a seven-point margin with 2:21 left. Clutch shots. What's more, Allen also played his best overall defensive game. Meanwhile, credit Noah Locke for stepping up, his team down by one, and launching a cold-blooded, 3-ball that gave the Gators back the lead they'd blown five minutes earlier. UF never trailed again. For a freshman to take the shot, and not be afraid to miss that shot, speaks volumes to his moxie. Finally, credit the Florida defense. Yes, the same defense that let UGA hit nine of its first 10 shots (and go 4-for-4 from 3) over the first 11 minutes of the second half. No one is going to confuse the Georgia offense with Auburn, but the Gators forced 20 turnovers and converted them to 28 points. Five of those 20 turnovers came from taking charges (three by backup center Dontay Bassett in just 12 minutes). Remember. In the previous game at Mississippi State, those Bulldogs hit four of their last five shots, while the Gators missed four of their final five in what was the latest of a handful of poor finishes to date. In this one, UF outscored UGA 19-4 over the finale nine minutes. That's good basketball on both ends. On the road. Now, take that take-charge mentality deeper into the Southeastern Conference season.

OF CONCERN 
Lack of depth and production in the frontcourt has been an on-going issue for this team all season -- and for every season since Coach Mike White has been here (see below). And, as (bad) luck would have it, no sooner does Keith Stone get a little something going — 3-for-4 from the floor, with a big 3-pointer, and eight points in just nine first-half minutes — the fourth-year junior goes down with a season-ending knee injury. Stone was averaging just 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds for the season. In SEC play, those numbers dipped to 2.4 points and 1.8 rebounds, as Stone's confidence waned and his role diminished. And yet, everyone in the basketball building knew Stone was capable of eventually producing something, given his 8.8 points and team-best 42.4-percent shooting from the 3-point line a season ago. He had 18 last year at Texas A&M, 23 at Ole Miss, 14 at Kentucky, 20 at Vanderbilt and 22 against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament. He just needed a breakout game, maybe even a breakout moment. That insane, drive and throw-down dunk, followed later by a 3-ball in the final seconds of the half, looked and felt a lot like just that kind of breakthrough. Now, with Stone out, the Gators will have to play more small-ball by necessity, rather than choice, with a lot of responsibility falling to freshman Keyontae Johnson, who has two very good games in a row, including his first career start at Athens. UF may also look to redshirt freshman Isaiah Stokes, who's played in just one SEC game to date and leads the team in fouls per minute, to give them some minutes here and there in the post. 

GET READY
The fourth week of the SEC season is always one of the coolest because it means a mini-break to the SEC season. It was four years ago that the folks at ESPN determined that a really good event, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, was getting swallowed up by college football and the NFL in early December and looked to inject some life into the two-day, 12-game matchup. The network decided to move the SEC/Big 12 into January — smack in the middle of the conference season — and play the 12 crossover games on the Saturday between the NFL conference championship games and the Super Bowl. The fifth such turn for the leagues comes next weekend. But first, the Gators, after two straight road SEC games, will be back home Tuesday night to face Texas A&M (7-9, 1-4), which Saturday got drummed at home, 66-43, by Missouri, a team that came to College Station winless in league play. That's one UF has to have. After that, Florida gets another Lone Star State squad, this one on the road, when the Gators face Texas Christian (13-4, 2-3) at Fort Worth, a team that reached No. 18 in the Associated Press poll last month. Florida is 5-1 in the SEC/Big 12 event, including 4-0 under Mike White.  

FAB FRESHMEN TRIO 

When Locke, Johnson and point guard Andrew Nembhard walked on the court before Saturday's opening tip-off, it marked the first time since Jan. 2, 1999 that Florida started three freshmen in a game. That night 20 years ago, when Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and LaDarius Halton were in the first unit, ended with a 93-58 loss at seventh-ranked Kentucky, the most-lopsided defeat of Coach Billy Donovan's time at UF.

Maybe that's why he didn't start three freshmen anymore.

The Gators actually opened that season with four freshmen in the starting lineup, with Teddy Dupay making up the rookie quartet, for the first time in program history. Donovan stayed with that unit for three games. Miller, though, missed some games early in the season with an injury. He returned, but the Gators were blown out by 30 at No. 3 Duke, then by 35 in a blowout at Kentucky, and were turning it over a bunch. Eventually, Donovan moved to get more experience in the game for the start of the game. 



CHARTING THE GATORS Post players, as in centers and forwards, have been an endangered species at the UF basketball complex the last four seasons. Unfortunately for White, he's been the head coach of record each of those years. It's difficult to get balance to an offense when constantly dealing with long-term injuries and a revolving door at one area of the floor, but exactly no one is feeling sorry for the Gators. They still have to play the games.

Here's a review of those frontcourt maladies.
 

Season	Player	Injury	Fallout
2015-16	F Alex Murphy	Plantar fasciitis rupture	Appeared in just three games as a fifth-year senior.
	C John Egbunu	Third-years sophomore tore a ligament in thumb during practice the week of SEC Tournament	Wore cast for two SEC Tournament games, but missed Gators' three NIT games after season-ending surgery.
	F Devin Robinson	Postseason X-rays revealed stress fracture in foot	Was not cleared for live action until August of his junior year.
2016-17	C/F Dontay Bassett	Broken foot on first day of practice his freshman season.	Sat out the season and eventually granted medical redshirt.
	C John Egbunu	Fourth-year junior torn ACL in January at Auburn	6-11, 255-pounder missed Gators' run to the Elite Eight.
2017-18	F/C Isaiah Stokes	Arrived in July still rehabbing from torn ACL suffered in January	Eventually granted medical redshirt for his freshman season.
	C Gorjok Gak	Injured knee at World University Games in August.	Averaged 2.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 8.8 minutes in 29 games; never close to health; underwent surgery after season.
	F Chase Johnson	Suffered second concussion in late-November.	Played in 4 games, eventually granted medical redshirt for his freshman season.
	C John Egbunu	Suffered setback in rehab from knee injury and never returned to court.	Did not play his entire season fifth-year senior season.
2018-19	C Gorjok Gak	Unable to practice on surgically repaired knee.	Has not appeared in a game this season.
	F Chase Johnson	Third concussion and illness limited him to two games.	Transferred to Dayton between semesters.
	F Keith Stone	Torn ACL in January at Georgia.	Will miss the remainder of the season.

UF ALUM UPDATE
CATCHING UP WITH ... BRADLEY BEAL  Seven years later, he remains just one of two "one-and-done" players in Florida history. 

Guard Bradley Beal's time at UF was brief, but he flourished under Coach Billy Donovan, especially late in the season when the Gators made a run to the Elite Eight. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Beal was a very good player from the start of his pro career. Now, he's a great one. 

Last week, in an epic 140-138 double-overtime loss to Eastern Conference-leading Toronto, Beal out-dueled MVP candidate Kawhi Leonard by scoring 43 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing 15 assists in 55 minutes for the second triple-double of his career. How many players before Beal had ever gone for at least 40 in their first two triple-doubles? Ah, that would be two. The other? Wilt Chamberlain. 

There's more. 

Earlier this season, Beal's first triple-double came against Phoenix. His numbers that night showed 40 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists. With his output against the Raptors, Beal became the second player in NBA history to have at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists twice in the same season, joining -- wait for it -- Oscar Robertson. 

That's not just elite triple-double company Beal is keeping, it's historic, Hall-of-Fame company. 

The Wizards are 19-26 on the season, but 6-5 since star point guard John Wall was lost for the season with an Achilles injury and left Beal as the alpha and go-to guy. Here's hoping he gets that second all-star nod. And here's also hoping either the Wizards can fix that disjointed franchise or that Beal, in the second season of a five-year, $127 million contract and averaging a career-best 24.8 points (13th in the league), gets a chance to play for contender one day.  


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.]

Take a Twitter "Moment," if you will, and enjoy one of the most refreshing posts (make that thread) you may ever read about Florida basketball.  

Finding Sanity on Perspective Police Beat