Are The Gators Too Concerned With The Score?

Down 17-14 with 11:58 left in the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats, Florida Gators’ guard Kenny Boynton took an off-balance three with a defender in his face. Boynton missed the shot, the Wildcats secured the rebound, and Kentucky would go on to score the next eight points to make it 25-14 before Florida would get another bucket. It was early in the game, but were the Gators too concerned with the score?

That seems like an odd question to ask. You win games by out-scoring your opponent; therefore, shouldn’t you be concerned about the score? Well, yes and no. You need to know the score in order to employ certain strategies and give yourself the best chance to win the game, but the Gators may be too concerned with it.

The shot taken by Boynton in that situation is just one example, but one Florida fans are very familiar with. The Gators can be a very good three-point shooting team, but can also die by the fact that you get that extra point if you make one from distance. They know that and at times seem to try to get back into games with it at the wrong moment or far too early. With just less than 32 minutes remaining in the game, it was the wrong moment. Had the look been clean for Boynton, we wouldn’t be questioning that particular shot, but similar situations have presented themselves many times before.

Florida looks to work itself back into games quickly; almost too quickly. Down three to the nation’s No. 1 team with 12 seconds left, you need a three. Down three with 12 minutes left in the first half, you don’t. That particular shot didn’t kill the Gators’ chances and they didn’t lose because of it, but what about other shots taken throughut the course of the last few seasons?

Billy Donovan has always been able to bring talent to Gainesville and lately that talent has come in the form of guards with range. Even larger forwards with range are welcome (see: Erik Murphy). But those players need to be disciplined enough to know when to take the deep shot and when not to.

Odds are one of the upcoming games will be a close one. It’s hard to imagine Florida being blown out in consecutive games in both the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. It’s also just has hard to imagine them running right through both with double-digit wins straight to the championship.

The Gators will need those deep shots, but they’ll need them to be smart attempts. They won’t survive if they continue to try to work themselves back into games quickly by forcing shots at ill-advised times. “Live by the three, die by the three” is ever present for Florida. We’d all prefer if they live by them.

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