Some observations following Florida’s 73-61 loss at Georgia:
– Does Florida need to shorten its rotation? The Gators are now 10-deep (they actually played 11 with a brief appearance from walk-on Lexx Edwards), but no one in the game logged more than point guard Kasey Hill’s 26 minutes. With different combinations on the floor, Florida never looked settled offensively and had 19 turnovers. Leading scorer Dorian Finney-Smith played 25 minutes and second-leading scorer Michael Frazier logged 23 minutes for the Gators. I understand Donovan wanting to conserve energy after a quick Thursday turnaround, but at this point, the veteran Gator coach may need to identify his best players and play them for longer stretches.
– The gameplan for Florida against Georgia was to press early and often. But UF’s press was not nearly as effective as prior games. Sure, Florida had 13 points off turnovers, but Georgia also was able to break the press and attack it for easy layups. I thought Florida would play more zone to conserve energy, but Georgia was so hot from outside, it forced the Gators to play more man-to-man.
– After looking strong off the bench for his first three games, junior guard Eli Carter took a step back on Saturday against Georgia. Carter had 5 points, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench against the Bulldogs on Saturday. He held his dribble too long for a shot clock violation in the first half and dribbled the ball of his leg for a bad unforced turnover in the second half. The Rutgers transfer needs to come back with better focus on Tuesday against LSU.
