Beyond the arc: 3 takeaways from Florida’s 63-59 loss to UConn

[News Bot]

Some observations from UF’s 63-59 loss to Connecticut at the O’Connell Center.

– Florida coach Billy Donovan used his ninth different starting lineup in 13 games this season. Donovan said he started a three-guard starting lineup with Chris Chiozza, Kasey Hill and Michael Frazier in an effort to give Hill some support bringing the ball up the court. Don’t expect this to be the last starting lineup tweak for the Gators this season. “I just envision, because of our inconsistencies as a team, our starting lineups changing a lot,” Donovan said. “I think the two mainstays every day that give us what we need, have good effort, and are really focused in on the team, are Dorian (Finney-Smith) and Kasey (Hill) … everybody else on our team, if you look at it, it’s been up and down.”

– UConn outrebounded the Gators 34-29 for the game and came up with 7 of its last 9 second-chance points. Florida’s inability to hold the Huskies to just one shot proved costly in the outcome of the game. Chris Walker (5 rebounds) and Finney-Smith (5) didn’t give Florida enough inside on the boards.

– Another stark contract between Florida and UConn — rim protection. UConn 7-foot center Amida Brimah had two of UConn’s three blocked shots and altered a few missed drives by Hill in the closing minutes. Florida, meanwhile, had just one blocked shot by Walker. Damontre Harris would have helped the Gators in that area, but was dismissed from UF last spring for repeated violations of team policy.

Source: GatorSports.com - Hoops Scoop

 

[DRU2012]

Let's face it: This is a Gator team that never DID "ignite" as they finally started getting at least some of their better players back, and at the moment--and probably overall, damn close at least--is NOT Tournament-deserving.
I know there are a lot of reasons why it came to this, and most have been (mostly) beyond Billy's control (injuries, eligibility etc. keeping things inconsistent and uneven), but however you look at it and more and more as the weeks and games slip away, this is looking a lot like the team after the "back-to-back" years: All kinds of "promise", but when all is said and done, just not enough in the way of toughness or character.