Florida Basketball: 3 Positives & 3 Negatives in Loss to Auburn

Florida Basketball Negative #1: Shooting Efficiency

The biggest and most clear issue for Florida last night was their efficiency from the field and from three.   Not a single player for Florida shot above 50% from the field or from three, even if they only took two shots all game.  Florida would end the game with a 41.4% field goal percentage (24-58), 27.3% three-point percentage (6-22) and 67.9% free throw percentage (19-28).  Auburn would outpace them in all three levels, and the worst part is Auburn only had 9 blocks all night, so these efficiencies were almost completely on the Gators.

Many of these missed shots were rebounded on offense, however, Florida was out-rebounded too 30-20, so this also contributed to them not getting many more shots after the first try.  Only 3 Gators players made a 3-pointer all night, and those three would account for over 80% of the 3 point shots attempted by Florida (18/22).  Diversifying the shooters and getting the ball to other members of the team needs to be a priority, as three players cannot take the majority of the shots for Florida and still expect to win.

Florida Basketball Negative #2: Poor Play Outside Top 3

The second major issue for Florida was the inability to get anything going outside their top 3 scorers (Colin Castleton, Anthony Duruji, and Myreon Jones).  The rest of the Gators players outside these three shot 6-22 on the night (27.2%) and went 1-9 from 3 (11.1%).  This is a significant issue and led to the Gators missing 13 of their last 19 shots in the game, as well as Florida’s bench being outscored 35-9 on the night.

Phlandrous Fleming Jr. would account for much of this bench deficiency, shooting 1-6 on the night with 3 turnovers, 4 rebounds, and 3 fouls.  While he did shoot 5-5 from the stripe and had 7 points, he played 25 minutes in this game (more than starting guard Brandon McKissic at 24) and took more shot attempts than 2/5 of the starters as well.  Having to fully rely on your starters and not having nearly any bench help at all will end in failure for a team, which we saw against Auburn.

Florida Basketball Negative #3: Coaching Deficiency

As much as it may have been said in the past, Mike White is struggling for Florida and has not been able to correctly coach this team.  The main issue noticeable this game was during the previously mentioned 13 for 19 shooting to end the game, where Mike White would barely utilize his bench and just allow the starters to shoot more and more while they were struggling.  As a coach, you need to realize when your players are having difficulties and put in other players, considering two bench players barely got minutes.  Kowacie Reeves was not allowed to shoot at all (granted he is not efficient when he does, but they needed a spark) and only got 9 total minutes during the game.

Also, while watching the game against Alabama the other day, Jason Jitoboh stood out to me, as he was able to get into the paint and get rebounds/put-back shots and was a pretty effective player in close.  He got even fewer minutes at 7, and while he did start 0-2 on the night, he did not even get the chance to try again when everyone else was failing outside the top 3.  When you cannot shoot effectively, your first instinct as a coach should be going to your high percentage shooters, which Jitoboh is at 51.7% on the season and has been very good inside.  Mike white failed to utilize him, and this is not the first time we have seen him make a poor decision, and likely will not be the last.  This game is not solely his fault, but the late stretch where Florida had no momentum can certainly be seen as his issue.