Chris Silva is happy and all things Gators are South Carolina's miraculous (and, for UF, disastrous) last-second victory Saturday night at the O'Dome.
Hoops Hodgepodge 1
Sunday, January 6, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
THREE-POINT WEEK IN REVIEW
TAKE A BOW
On a team with two talented senior perimeter players who have garnered some form of All-Southeastern Conference honors during their careers, freshman Noah Locke has emerged, really without argument, as its top offensive threat. For the fourth straight game, the 6-foot-2 shooting hard led the Gators in scoring during Saturday's crushing 71-69 loss to South Carolina in the league opener for both teams. Locke scored 17 points, took six more shots than anyone on the team, and hit five 3-pointers for third time in four games. Since being inserted in the starting lineup Nov. 22 against Stanford, Locke is averaging 11.5 points. Over the last four games, he's at 15.5 per game. Locke played a career-high 30 minutes against the Gamecocks and exerted a lot of energy on both ends in trying to get open and guarding. He also played the front man in the 1-2-2 press the Gators used a good portion of the game. The totality of it all likely wore on the kid, given he made his first two shots of the second half, but missed his last five, perhaps a sign of heavy legs. He needed help and a good place for it to come would have beenKeVaughn Allen, who took just six shots in 27 minutes. Making matters worse? Allen made four of his shots, including both 3s he attempted. He's been told ad nauseam by his coaches to go get 12-15 shots (like Locke is doing). Fifth-year senior Jalen Hudson tried to get it going, but he went just 2-for-8 overall, only 1-for-5 from deep and absolutely got hammered when he drove the lane a couple times, though he did get to the line for four free throws, compared to none for Allen, a career 87-percent shooter.
Noah Locke led the Gators with 17 points against South Carolina, but hit just five of 16 shots and missed his last five attempts.
OF CONCERN
After a game like that, where do you start? In this space, I'll try to keep things fairly focused. While there were plenty of things that troubled White on defense (especially on the final/fateful play), correcting issues on that end of the floor — with this particular group and assuming senior centerKevarrius Hayes, by far the team's best all-around defender, can in the game for more than nine minutes — is a more likelihood that turning the corner on the offensive side any time soon. Teams that miss 11 of their 12 final shots, including the last eight, can't expect to win at this level. Florida doesn't have a bunch of playmakers who can go get buckets at a given time (especially if Allen is shooting just six times) and their best offensive players are not playing up to the billing thus far. That's a bad combination to roll out against South Carolina, as physical and aggressive in its defensive blueprint as any team in the country. The Gamecocks try to intimidate and take things as far as officials will let them — which was pretty far Saturday. UF let USC dictate the game on the home floor and, as the Gators have done too often this season, got stagnant in the halfcourt and it led to yet another alarming scoring drought. How many have there been this season? How many more will there be?
GET READY
Florida (8-5, 0-1) will go on the road to Arkansas (10-3, 1-0) Wednesday when it will try to avoid the program's first 0-2 start in SEC play since 2010. The Razorbacks opened league play Saturday with a 73-71 win at Texas A&M behind 15 points and nine rebounds from guard Jalen Harris and 11 points and 11 rebounds from 6-11 center Daniel Gafford. As if a trip to Fayetteville won't be tough enough (especially coming off a dismal defeat), the Gators will chase that one with a home game against No. 3 Tennessee, the defending SEC co-champion, which absolutely vaporized Georgia, 96-50, in the Bulldogs' first game under Coach Tom Crean. The Volunteers look like legitimate Final Four material.
CHARTING THE GATORS
The date was Jan. 21, 2009. The place was Columbia, S.C. The score was Florida 69, South Carolina 68 when sophomore forward Chandler Parsons stepped to the free throw line with two seconds to remaining and a chance to ice the game. Instead, Parsons missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Gamecocks rebounded the ball and inside those two seconds managed to throw a precision outlet pass that guard Zam Frederick dropped in for a layup as time expired (video below). That was nearly 10 years ago. In the decade since that debacle, the Gators (by my count) have now lost nine games in a similar gut-wrenching fashion. Below is an accounting of the nine games since that Frederick finish, using the final five seconds of regulation or overtime as a barometer. If you remember any (or all) of them, it's probably because you just can't forget them (even though you'd like to).
Opponent
Date
Score
Villain
What happened?
@Kentucky
Feb. 10, 2009
68-65
Jodie Meeks
UK 3 with :05 to go. Nick Calathes was fouled shooting 3 with a second left, but couldn't convert at free-throw line.
South Alabama
Dec. 22, 2009
67-66
De'Andre Hersey
Gators checked out for Christmas early, Jaguars were in control throughout and won with a layup at horn.
@Arizona
Dec. 15, 2012
65-64
Mark Lyons
Gators blew a 7-point lead in final minutes and, after Kenny Boynton missed a front end, lost on driving layup with :03 remaining.
*vs Georgetown
Nov. 26, 2014
66-65
D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera
Kasey Hill's 3-point play gave Gators 2-point lead with 12 seconds left, but Smith-Rivera 3 with :04 to go won it.
@Florida State
Dec. 30, 2014
65-63
#Jake Kurtz
Walk-on forward, chasing an uncontested rebounded, accidently tipped FSU air ball through the goal with :01 second remaining.
@Ole Miss
Jan. 24, 2015
72-71
Jarvis Summers
Two FTs with :04 left. Hill's running floater at the other end missed at the horn.
Ole Miss
Feb. 12, 2015
62-61
Stefan Moody
Sank a ridiculous, hand-in-face 3-pointer from Gator head logo with :03 left.
Florida State
Dec. 29, 2015
73-71
Dwayne Bacon
FSU guard hit driving, pull-up, closely contended 12-foot jumper with :04 to go.
Georgia
Feb. 14, 2018
72-69 (OT)
Yante Maten
Two 3s in final :15 of regulation (the second with :05 left) erased a 6-point lead. UF never led in OT.
South Carolina
Jan. 5, 2019
71-69
Chris Silva
No explanation needed.
* In 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Islands, Bahamas # Not a "villain," obviously, but a great kid who was really, really unlucky that day.
It was just 10 days ago that redshirt freshman forward Chase Johnson returned from Christmas break and informed the Florida coaches that he wanted to transfer and seek a new start elsewhere. On Sunday, the 6-foot-9, 220-pounder from Ripley, W.Va., announced via Twitter that he was headed for Dayton, which is home to several UF connections: Coach Anthony Grant, assistant Donnie Jones (a West Virginia native, as well) and director of basketball operations Darren Hertz.
At Florida, Johnson was plagued by a series of concussions that limited him to just six games over one and and half seasons. In those games (four last year before being shut down by trainers, and two this season), he scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds. He'll enroll at UD immediately, sit out the spring and fall semesters, per NCAA rules, but still be allowed to practice with the team. His eligibility to join the Flyers on the floor for games will begin once classes end in December.
Good luck, Chase!
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.]
So, I guess the players got to the last two NCAA tournaments (and an Elite Eight during a 27-win season) all on their own. Good for them.
.You left out how the refs overwhelming called the game in favor of SC, especially how Hayes was knocked over when the final in bounds pass came to him, and miraculously, it was a legal play along with countless other bad calls. Refs played a huge role in letting SC come back.
I do think the game got away from the officials, but that's not why the Gators lost. You can certainly make the case they lost it on the offensive end.
If I complain are you going to mock it in next article
Time will tell, but certainly can't argue that Florida is currently at the bottom of the league standings, tied with Georgia, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt at 0-1.
@GatorsChris you still think Hayes is good at defense?
He's not perfect (who is?), but, as mentioned above, he's the best defensive player on the team because of his communication, motor and ability to clean up mistakes from the weak side. You can't take what happened in the last 3.5 seconds Saturday -- Was he pushed, perhaps? Or did Silva travel, perhaps? -- and cancel out everything else he's done to date.
Our issue is empty on empty on empty possessions not D
This was a response to a tweet I made about the play of USC guard Hassani Gravatt. Excellent observation. He was great Saturday and every bit a factor as Silva because he kept the Gamecocks in the game when Silva was out of it.
Perspective: The video of my dad appeared unexpectedly from a kind stranger. It gave me chills. https://t.co/5OHB6U753S
Finally, on a personal note, thank you to all those followers and e-mailers who reached out to me regarding the story I wrote for The Washington Post last week. The subject matter, obviously, had a profound impact on our family. So did all the nice remarks. It all just shows there can be (and is) kindness out there in social media.
FREE THROWS
Tired of seeing Chris Silva smile at the Gators' expense (like this one in the Elite Eight two years ago)? Well, UF is done with South Carolina for the regular season and will only face Silva again if the teams are paired in the SEC Tournament at Nashville.
In his last six games against Florida, Silva has averaged 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, shot 47.7 percent from the floor, knocked in 36 of 44 free throws (.818) and blocked 12 shots. In the 2017 NCAA East Region final, in case anyone forgot, he had 13 points, nine boards and went 9-for-12 at the line. ... UF coach Mike White fell to 2-5 against South Carolina in his four seasons here. White talks about being accountable all the time. His players often repeat that a-word in interviews. In keeping with that theme, White said afterward that Frank Martin's team out-prepared, out-played and out-coached his team. ... Florida remains the only team in Division I without a 20-point game from a player on its roster this season. On a more upbeat note (sort of), for the first time this season the Gators now have two players in averaging in double figures (Allen at 10.3 ppg and Locke at 10.0). ... Locke became the third freshman since 1996 to have three games with at least five 3-pointers during a season. The freshman record of four belongs to Kenny Boynton (2009-10) and I'm betting Locke breaks it. ... Backup center Isaiah Stokes was forced into considerable action due to foul trouble for Hayes and backup Dontay Bassett. Stokes scored six points and made three of his five shots in 14 minutes, but grabbed just one rebound (which came on an offensive tip-in). In his last 10 games, Stokes has totaled nine rebounds. ...Keith Stone, like Hayes, didn't have time to break a sweat against the Gamecocks and finished with no points, two rebounds and three turnovers in only 12 minutes. Combined, Hayes and Stone, the starting "5" and "4", respectively, had three points, five rebounds, five turnovers and two steals in 21 minutes. Tough to survive those numbers, but also tough for those guys to get into any kind of rhythm when fouling every three minutes.
Todd Golden Media Availability 11-13-25 Todd Golden Media Availability 11-13-25
Thursday, November 13
Florida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-DoublesFlorida Men's Basketball | Rueben Chinyelu and Thomas Haugh Post Double-Doubles
PERSPECTIVE POLICE BEAT
