Eric Fawcett has written a nice analytical article breaking down some of the reasons Florida is having trouble shooting. The numbers lead to a lot more discussion, so I'm posting it here to make sure all NBN'ers can read the analysis. Why Can’t The Gators Shoot? | GatorCountry.com
I truly think he was one of the most under appreciated Gator basketball players ever, and the fact that now it seems point guard play around the country isn’t at it’s regular level, his skill set is even more valuable.
I think this team is getting gassed. I don't know if they're still recovering from being sick or if they're just poorly conditioned. Here's another angle: First half FG% in SEC games: .446 First half 2P% in SEC games: .556 First half 3P% in SEC games: .276 First half FT% in SEC games: .714 Second half FG% in SEC games: .363 (-8.3%) Second half 2P% in SEC games: .455 (-10.1%) Second half 3P% in SEC games: .277 (+0.1%) Second half FT% in SEC games: .535 (-17.9%) I'd be interested to see if there's a 1st half/2nd half correlation between guarded and unguarded. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
Locke in his 6 ACC games: 29 mpg 19-37 3P (51%) 71 points 15 rebounds 7 assists 8 turnovers 4 steals Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
I think that is a possibility as well, but the FT% has me leaning towards gassed. Of course, it could very well be a combination of the two. It just seems like we have a lot more standing around on offense in the 2nd half. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
IN FAIRNESS - I think the kids shot so poorly from the line because they were gassed from the defensive effort. This also effects 3 point and all shooting of course. Which is directly attributable to team depth, allocated minutes and so forth.
most of what we run offensively is pretty simple 4 out stuff looking to get CC a post up opportunity, so it's not surprising we're not generating a lot of open shots. White seems to value athleticism and defense a lot more than shooting and playmaking in his recruiting, and his love of the dribble drive offense where guys mainly create their own scoring opportunities goes hand in hand with that. He's not much of an offensive strategist or "here's how we'll scheme guys open" coach, he wants to get a team full of physical specimens and out-athlete you offensively while playing great defense.
I'll throw this out there, with little more to back it up than personal observation and muddled thinking (at least I recognize and admit it, unlike most Internet wankers). We were all thrilled when UF opened the best practice facility in America, expecting big things in recruiting (which didn't materialize). But it seemed to me that our distance shooting sort of declined after that. The practice facility has the feel of a high school gym. The depth perception is different than that of a typical D1 arena, and seems to affect 3-point shooting. Anybody that's shot the ball in both types of places knows what I'm talking about. So... are we shooting ourselves in the foot (pun intended)? Maybe we should move at least half our practices back into the Condome, and see if that helps. Couldn't hurt. It would be nice if, say, a Fawcett came in and did the heavy statistical lifting here to see if there's any validity to my feeble analysis. I'm too lazy.