Will the Gators find their shooting stroke against Georgia tonight?
- Franz Beard
- Jan 6
- 5 min read
Seventeen points. That is the difference between life at the top in both the Associated Press and Coaches top 25 polls and everybody in the country asking what’s wrong with the Florida Gators.
At 9-5 which includes an 0-1 start to the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule has the Gators outside the top 25 in both polls for the first time since the 2023-24 season. Not exactly what was expected of last season’s NCAA champions. Sure, it’s a brand new year and the combination of the NBA and the transfer portal stripped Florida of a backcourt for the ages, but the way the Gators have played the likes of No. 1 Arizona, No. 4 UConn and No. 6 Duke – all away from the O-Dome – tells you this isn’t a bad basketball team.
When Todd Golden makes an accounting of the Gators as they near the midpoint of the season, he sees a team could certainly be unbeaten at this point. Instead, he’s got a team that is still trying to find its ability to close out big games and turn close call defeats into wins.
“I think we're close,” Golden said Monday after before the Gators took to the practice court to prep for tonight’s game with No. 18 Georgia (13-1, 1-0 SEC) at the O-Dome (7 p.m., SEC Network). “We've won all of our games by a lot. We've lost all of our games by a little, and we're kind of right on that breaking point. I think all the advanced metrics say we're still a pretty good team. We just haven't gotten over the hump that way.”
Fans see the missed shots in the final minutes of those five losses, but overlook what happens in the middle of the games. It’s what goes on in the middle that most concerns Golden. In the Gators 76-74 loss to Missouri this past Saturday, the last five minutes of the first half and the first five of the second half had plenty to do with turning a most winnable game into loss number five.
Florida shot the ball well to start the game, then went into a shooting funk in the final five of the first half when Missouri rallied to tie the game at 39-39. When the second half began, the Gators couldn’t make shots and had some serious lapses on the defensive end. Tommy Haugh, who finished the game with 24 points, caught fire in the second half but it was a case of too little, too late.
Those stretches when the Gators couldn’t buy a basket combined with inconsistencies defending and rebounding proved to be difference-makers. Golden looks back on Missouri and sees far too many avoidable mistakes. The Gators opened the game by making their first three 3-point shots, but they went 4-24 the rest of the way.
One more made three and the Gators would have walked away with a road win in a year where any win on the road in the SEC is to be savored.
“I think it's obvious our shooting has been the biggest issue for us, continues to be,” Golden said. “I think we played well in a lot of other areas. I didn't think we played defensively as well as we need to, you know, in a game like that to win. And, you know, I didn't think we were on the glass as well as we need to in a game like that to win, so those were the biggest factors on Saturday night for me.”
Shooting has been a problem all season. When the backcourt was occupied by Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin with Denzel Aberdeen filling in off the bench, Golden knew the Gators had dudes who could put the ball in the basket. Now, the three guys who make up the backcourt rotation sometimes have problems finding the ocean from the end of the pier. Xaivian Lee has started finding the range, but he’s hitting just 26.7 percent of his threes. Boogie Fland, who went 0-6 on threes at Mizzou, is 12-60. Klavzar hits a team-best 35.7 percent of his threes, but the moment he comes into a ball game opponents immediately tighten up the defense. When Klavzar gets into a rhythm he’s capable of taking a game over.
“I do think we’re dealing with some confidence issues shooting the ball,” Golden said.
The shooter that concerns him most is Fland. He was a very capable 3-point shooter a year ago when he suited up for Arkansas, but his shot has deserted him.
Is it a matter of confidence for his sophomore point guard?
“If he can lift that up and shoot the ball at a 33 percent clip from deep, we're gonna be pretty dang good,” Golden said. “So I'm so confident in him. I know our staff is. I think the team is, but as we’ve just said, ‘You gotta go do it, and you gotta step up and knock down your open shots.’ And I think once he does, hopefully it'll take some of the pressure off, and you can just kinda take off from there.”
Until that happens, the Gators are probably going to see a lot of zone defense. Missouri packed the paint to keep Florida’s front line of Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Haugh and Micah Handlogten from completely dominating the game. Missouri gambled that the Gators wouldn’t catch fire from behind the 3-point line and it paid off.
Expect something similar from Georgia tonight.
Game notes: This is the tallest and best team Mike White has had in four years at Georgia. White was 142-88 at Florida prior to taking the Georgia job just a couple of days after the Gators lost to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament in Tampa in 2022 … Georgia leads the nation in scoring at 99.36 points per game …The Gators lead the country in rebounding at 46.71 per game, offensive rebounds per game (17) and rebounding margin (15 more than opponents) … As a team the Gators are hitting just 28 percent of their threes … The Gators are 9th-ranked in defensive efficiency per the kenpom.com analytics.
ANTICIPATED STARTING LINEUPS
FLORIDA (9-5, 0-1 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 236, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 185, SR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, JR)
No. 18 Georgia (13-1, 1-0 SEC): Kanon Catchings (6-9, 220, SO); Somtochukwu Cyril (6-11, 260, SO); Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185, SO); Blue Cain (6-5, 195, JR); Jordan Ross (6-3, 195, JR)
Associated Press top 25: 1. Arizona 14-0; 2. Michigan 13-0; 3. Iowa State 14-0; 4. UConn 14-1; 5. Purdue 13-1; 6. Duke 13-1; 7. Houston 13-1; 8. Gonzaga 16-1; 9. BYU 13-1; 10. Nebraska 14-0; 11. Vanderbilt 14-0; 12. Michigan State 12-2; 13. Alabama 11-3; 14. Texas Tech 11-3; 15. Arkansas 11-3; 16. Illinois 11-3; 17. North Carolina 13-2; 18. Georgia 13-1; 19. Iowa 12-2; 20. Louisville 11-3; 21. Tennessee 10-4; 22. Kansas 10-4; 23. Virginia 12-2; 24. SMU 12-2; 25. UCF 12-1
Coaches top 25: 1. Michigan 13-0; 2. Arizona 14-0; 3. Iowa State 14-0; 4. UConn 14-1; 5. Purdue 13-1; 6. Duke 13-1; 7. Houston 13-1; 8. Gonzaga 16-1; 9. BYU 13-1; 10. Vanderbilt 14-0; 11. Nebraska 14-0; 12. Alabama 11-3; 13. Michigan State 12-2; 14. Texas Tech 11-3; 15. Arkansas 11-3; 16. Illinois 11-3; 17. North Carolina 13-2; 18. Louisville 11-3; 19. Iowa 12-2; 20. Georgia 13-1; 21. Kansas 10-4; 22. Tennessee 10-4; 23. Virginia 12-2; 24. Villanova 12-2; 25. SMU 12-2
SEC BASKETBALL
Today’s games
No. 18 Georgia (13-1) at FLORIDA (9-5)
Texas (9-5) at No. 21 Tennessee (10-4)
South Carolina (9-5) at LSU (12-2)
Texas A&M (11-3) at Auburn (9-5)
Wednesday’s games
No. 13 Alabama (11-3) at No. 11 Vanderbilt (14-0)
No. 15 Arkansas (11-3) at Ole Miss (8-6)
Missouri (11-3) at Kentucky (9-5)
Oklahoma (11-3) at Mississippi State (9-5)
It was not pretty but it was a W
"Klavzar can take over a game" LOL! against air maybe. Hes not physically capable in the SEC. Did you not watch the SEC tourney last year? No way any SEC team allows him to hit three 3s since the reg. season Auburn game last year. He doesn't rebound or play effective D or fast break either against good teams. Its like he is held to different standards. Todd needs to play the young guys more or it is gonna be a long year this and next.