By BILL KOSS
Florida Gators Basketball Color Analyst
The Gators are 9-3. Two of their three losses are to teams that are undefeated and ranked in the top 25. They have beaten a 6th ranked team on a neutral court and are only allowing teams to score an average of 58.8 points a game. Currently, it is one of the lowest defensive scoring statistics in the program's history.
The Gators are also only committing an average of 13 personal fouls per game which is the fewest fouls per game of any team in the country. Florida has made 56 more free throws than their opponents, and they have made just five fewer from the charity stripe than their opponents have attempted.
But Gator fans are restless. Florida's coaching staff is perplexed, and the Gator players are disturbed by how they have performed through the first 12 games of this young season.
Most of the anxiety is attributed to the Gators' shooting woes. The Gators are averaging just 69.9 points a game which is currently the lowest average scoring per game in the Billy Donovan era.
This team is making an average of only 5.2 three point shots a game. Of 345 Division One teams, the Gators rank 258 in that category. Furthermore, they are not getting to the free throw line, and when they do, they are shooting a very poor percentage.
There is only one team ranked in the top 25 that has a worse free throw shooting percentage than Florida's .644 and that is fourth ranked Pittsburgh at .641. The Panthers, however, are getting 24 attempts each game to Florida's 19.9.
What then is the prognosis for this Florida team, which plays three of its next four games at home and opens the SEC season at home on January 8th against Mississippi? It is still the $64,000 question.
The Gators were picked in a preseason poll to win the SEC this year because they had their entire starting five returning and a highly rated recruiting class. But the veterans have failed to show any appreciable progress from a year ago.
With an experienced backcourt, Florida's 14.3 turnovers a game are two per game more than last year and just about the same as their opponents. This team has worked hard to get stops on the defensive end but has handled their own possessions poorly.
Boynton and Walker have a combined 66 assists but have given the ball away 55 times with turnovers. Chandler Parsons is averaging just under ten points a game but has only made 23.1% of his three point attempts and only 50% of his free throws. Alex Tyus is averaging a full three points per game less than he has the past two seasons, and has only accounted for double figures in five of the first 11 games.
So, is the glass half full or is it starting to run on empty?
The next three games will tell us a lot about this team's fortunes as the Gators are now closing in on the start of conference play. With Fairfield coming into the O'Dome Tuesday night, Florida will play its final three non-conference games over the next week.
Florida fans are hoping Santa Claus has delivered a dose of shooting confidence for the Gators, and with 19 games left on the schedule, there is still plenty of time for them to start putting the rock in the basket, scoring some points and having the kind of season for which everyone is hoping.
