ATHENS, Ga. – They were cruising along, up 20 well into the second half, when the Florida Gators found themselves facing an LSU defense that had switched from man-to-man to zone. It became a problem, just like it had in earlier games this season. The Gators got stagnant, struggled to score and saw their double-digit lead vanish.
"It's been an issue for us the last couple of weeks," UF coach
Todd Golden said Friday.
And it only makes sense that Florida's opponents will continue to make the Gators (17-7, 7-4) confront that issue again, starting Saturday afternoon when they face the Georgia Bulldogs (14-10, 4-7) at what should be a lively Stegeman Coliseum in yet another pivotal Southeastern Conference game.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
The Gators have won six of their previous seven and have put themselves in the SEC race despite Tuesday night's stomach-churning 82-80 home win over the Tigers. In that one, LSU trailed 60-40 with about 15 minutes left when it shifted into a 1-3-1 zone that morphed into a 2-3 and knocked UF out of whack. Florida made one of its next 11 shots and within eight minutes the lead was down to single digits. Thirteen minutes later, the margin was two.
With 90 seconds to go, the game was tied.
Yes, UF made more plays than LSU down the stretch to sneak away with the victory, but the Gators' trend of second-half droughts and ineffective offense against zone has been an emphasis the last couple days. It needed to be, given how UGA deployed its zone – Coach Mike White's trademark 1-3-1 that shifts to man, a scheme he used with fine success during seven seasons on the Florida sideline – to wipe out a 21-point deficit when the two teams played Jan. 27 in Gainesville. That day (like Tuesday), the home team escaped (again) with an 102-98 victory in overtime despite surrendering 51 points in the second period and turning the ball over 19 times.
The Bulldogs have lost five straight, dating to that defeat at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center, but they're more than capable of end that spirals and will be looking for something to prove on their home floor.
"Team's have to go zone against us because we can score at will," fifth-year forward
Tyrese Samuel said of a Florida offense that has tallied at least 43 first-half points in four of the team's 11 league games and built double-digit leads in eight of them. "Zone is one of the ways they're slowing us down right now, but we're going to get back to the drawing board and work on it and make sure that we execute so we can get [defenses] out of it."
Offenses negate zone by making 3s against or by making the spaced-out defense pay with offensive rebounding or downhill drives. Getting good shots requires excellent ball movement, including passes into the post, where the receiving "big" has to make good decisions and keep the ball rotating to move the floor.
The best way for the Gators to take Georgia out of its zone Saturday will be for Will Richard (4) and friends to shot the Bulldogs out of it.
UF point guard
Zyon Pullin has been a godsend this season with is ability to run the team. Pullin, though, is a high-usage player who dribbles a lot to get his teammates shots, which works great against man defense. He's not a quick-trigger 3-point shooter compared to Walter Clayton,
Will Richard or
Riley Kugel, however. Pullin usually shoots 3s off the bounce and late in the shot clock.
Clayton (37.3 percent), Pullin (38.2) and Kugel (42.1) have shot the ball well from distance in SEC play this season. Richard is trying to shoot himself out of a 27.5-percent slump in league play. It's worth noting that last season, Richard bombed a career-best five 3s and 24 points in his only other appearance at Stegeman, about 90 minutes from his hometown of Fairburn, Ga. Anything similar would be welcome; both for the team and against the Bulldogs' zone.
The Gators are too good on offense not to figure this thing out.
"We're just trying to prepare ourselves because Georgia runs a couple different types of zones. We want to make sure we have a couple things ready when we see them and make sure we're aggressive attacking it," Golden said. "Obviously, you have to make sure you have some actions and some sets you hope can open up some things, but it's also a mentality and staying aggressive and making sure you're not playing tentatively. I think that has been an issue for us when we've seen it lately."
As pronounced as the zone issue was against LSU, there was another pronounced factor in the comeback.
"A lot of it was on defense," Clayton said. "We just have to string together stops."
The Tigers shot a torrid 62.5 percent in the second half, including 6-for-9 from the 3-point line, and knocked down 11 of their final 15 shots (while the Gators were missing 17 of their last 25). LSU scored a numbing 40 points over the game's final 15 minutes.
The Tigers got comfortable on the offensive end in the Gators' gym. Florida let Georgia do the same thing three weeks ago. If the Bulldogs get comfy in their home confines, what already is a tall order – "Georgia is good and wants to kick our ass," Golden said – becomes even taller.
"Your offense – the misses and empty possessions – feel much worse in those moments because you're taking the ball out of the net [on defense] and they're [setting up on defense] on the other end," Golden said. "Offensively, I think we'll be ready. We just have to make sure that if we are fortunate enough to get a lead that we do a better job defending and finishing possessions."
