The Gators have spent plenty of time working to get their three-point shots falling again – extra shots in practice, individual shooting sessions, breaking down film.
But if recent history is any indicator, Florida’s schedule might be handing it the best chance to break out of its shooting slump.
UF (11-3) will open its Southeastern Conference schedule Saturday at noon against Vanderbilt (11-3) in Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn., where the Gators enjoyed a hot shooting day last season.
The Gators blew out the Commodores 94-69 and shot 15 of 25 from three-point range on Jan. 25, 2009. One game removed from missing a late free throw against South Carolina that turned a win into a disappointing last-second loss, Chandler Parsons made 7 of 8 threes, shot 10 of 11 on the game and finished with 27 points.
This year, Parsons will head to Vanderbilt coming off his miracle 75-foot game-winner against N.C. State. But he said neither his previous performances nor the team’s recent cold snap from beyond the arc will affect how he shoots Saturday.
“I’m going to shoot the ball. Even if I went 0 for 7 the game before or 7 for 7, I’m going to shoot with confidence,” Parsons said. “I’ve had some success in Vanderbilt’s gym before, but they’re the same team basically they were last year, just a year older and a year better.”
A repeat of last year’s performance would certainly boost the Gators’ confidence from beyond the arc, where they are shooting just 29 percent on the year.
UF coach Billy Donovan has repeatedly stressed the importance of having his players keep shooting, and the mood around the team’s practice facility is that the outside shots will have to start falling eventually.
“I’m a little surprised,” Parsons said. “If you come in here and watch practice, these guys are making shots all day. But it’s not like it’s not going to come around. They’re gonna continue to shoot the ball and take good shots and not force anything. I have confidence that our guys can start making them.”
The poor shooting has been a different experience for Donovan, whose teams have enjoyed tremendous success from the outside in the past. And while he isn’t saying his team will shoot as well as it has in previous years, he also doesn’t believe the team’s 3-for-24 performance against N.C. State is an indication of its true potential.
“Time will tell,” Donovan said. “We’ve had some very, very, what I would call horrific shooting games, where it’s been 1 for 13 or 2 for 24, and we’ve had some games where we shot the ball very well.
“Do I think that we’ll shoot 3 for 23 the rest of the year? No. Do I think we’ll shoot 12 for 24 for the rest of the year? No. It’ll probably fall somewhere in between.”
Whether or not Florida finds its stroke from long range anytime soon, the Gators will enter their SEC schedule this year looking to avoid a third-straight disappointing end to the season.
UF finished 8-8 in conference play in 2007-08 and 9-7 last year, and both seasons ended with NIT appearances.
“We feel like we deserve it,” point guard Erving Walker said. “I know we lost to some subpar teams, but we also beat some good teams. We know the SEC is a tough round, and we just want to take it one game at a time, but I feel like we can do it this year.
“Just seeing the other teams out there, I feel like we can compete with anybody.”
