The confluence of those points – and others (see beneath) – has UF off to the worst begin by a school basketball defending nationwide champion in 11 years. UF coach Todd Golden is assured enchancment is on the best way, however till that occurs that extremely simplistic and on-point cliché made well-known by Professional Soccer Corridor-of-Fame coach Invoice Parcells rings relevant.
You might be what your document says you’re.
And, proper now, the Gators (5-4) want wins, beginning Saturday after they face George Washington (8-3) in what has turn into a biannual date within the Orange Bowl Traditional at Amerant Area. UF has exited the meat-grinder portion of its pre-Southeastern Convention schedule, having trekked to Las Vegas, San Diego, North Carolina and New York Metropolis to soak up 4 losses that, with a play right here or break there, may simply as quickly have been victories.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry‘s “Pregame Stuff” setup here]
However making the aforementioned errors in opposition to Arizona (now No. 1 within the nation), a defense-first program like Texas Christian (elite at forcing and scoring off turnovers), at powerhouse and fourth-ranked Duke (within the crew’s first journey to Cameron Indoor Stadium in 27 years) and final week in opposition to No. 5 Connecticut (the winningest program this century, on its regional house ground) have the Gators of their present predicament.
That mentioned, there aren’t any Koa Peats, Cameron Boozers or Alex Karabans on the horizon between now and New Yr’s Eve. Nope. After dealing with GW on what needs to be a reasonably pleasant semi-neutral South Florida ground, the Gators will probably be house – the place they’ve not performed since Nov. 21 – to face Saint Francis, Colgate and Dartmouth earlier than turning their consideration to the SEC opener at Missouri on Jan. 3.
“Collectively, we’re all disenchanted that our document’s not a little bit higher proper now, however I feel you’d must be actually soft-minded to not notice that we have competed in opposition to actually good groups and been ready to win or play right down to the final second in opposition to the groups that, over the primary two months of the yr, folks would argue are in all probability top-five, top-six groups in America,” Golden mentioned. “So, you possibly can give attention to the adverse of not attending to the end line and what our document is or give attention to the truth that we have performed some actually good ball in a whole lot of areas. Once more, we’re not ready the place we have performed our greatest and we’re simply not fairly adequate, and having to type of stability that disappointment.”
CHARTING THE GATORS: Second quarter woes
Within the three losses to groups presently ranked within the Related Press Prime 5 (Arizona is now No. 1), UF has began robust, however hit a wall within the remaining 10 minutes — or “second quarter” — of the primary half. Add that development to the fix-it checklist earlier than the Gators hit Southeastern Convention play in January.
| Opponent | 1st | 2nd | third | 4th | Ultimate rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs No. 13 Arizona (Las Vegas) | plus-10 | minus-16 | minus-1 | minus-1 | L 93-87 |
| at No. 4 Duke | even | minus-12 | plus-7 | plus-4 | L 67-66 |
| vs No. 5 Connecticut (at New York) | plus-7 | minus-14 | plus-8 | minus-4 | L 77-73 |
| Complete level differential per “quarter’ | plus-14 | minus-42 | plus-14 | minus-1 | Document: 0-3 |
They usually have to maneuver on.
Subsequent play, as they are saying.
Cannot do something about these 4 missed alternatives, aside from be taught from and deal with the shortcomings. And essentially the most urgent merchandise on the to-do checklist is to start out making photographs, given the Gators are at 27.3% from the 3-point line on the season. That ranks 343rd nationally and dead-last among the many 79 energy convention groups.
For the reason that 3-point line was adopted by the NCAA for the 1986-87 season, no Florida crew has shot beneath 30% from the arc.
“We had been one in all six on our open threes [against UConn]. We now have to be higher than that. We now have to at the least make two and you’d anticipate to make 50% of these,” Golden mentioned. “Once more, that is a little bit little bit of the distinction within the recreation. So, I give attention to getting good [shots]. Hopefully, we begin making extra of them. However that is a little bit out of our management. Once more, we wish to make sure that we take higher care of the ball, which I believed we positively did that. And defend with out fouling higher, which I believed we did a significantly better job with that.”
Electronic mail senior author Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu. Discover his story archives right here.
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