SEC: Will Dorian Finney-Smith Lead Florida?
To have a successful team everyone has to have a specific role that they can thrive in. Each player has to know on a given night what their assignment is, and what they are expected to do.
For the Florida Gators we know that point guard Kasey Hill is their ball handler and distributor, we know that forwards Alex Murphy and Jon Horford are their energy guys, and guard Eli Carter is their secondary scorer (even though he possibly could become their leading scorer).
But between shooting guard Michael Frazier II and small forward Dorian Finney-Smith, which one between the two is going to become the go to scorer that the Florida Gators need moving forward and almost beginning SEC play?
Like one of my favorite characters, Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, the way that Dorian Finney-Smith plays is somewhat unorthodox but it works. He enjoys to shoot jump shots, but shoots about 33 percent on his two point jump shots.
The unorthodox part of his game is that he shoots better from the three-point line, exactly 41.2 percent.
In addition, Finney-Smith has a better field goal percentage (49 percent) than he does free-throw percentage (47 percent). With all of his crazy shooting numbers he’s a career high averaging 12.7 points per game. When Finney-Smith starts making his free throws at a higher clip, his numbers are going to skyrocket.
Like Captain Sparrow’s unorthodox style, if the Florida Gators want to succeed, their 6’8″, 218-pound forward from Portsmouth, Va.,is going to have to become the captain of their team. Or does he?
In the beginning of the year the Gators most exciting player, and the person everyone thought would become their superstar was Frazier.
As much as we enjoy watching the long-range shooting guard Frazier shoot from 30 feet away and making opponents feel stupid for not guarding him out there (memo to all of his opponents, he’s a marksman that has in-the-gym range), he hasn’t made the huge leap that many people expected him to make.
Sure Frazier has increased his scoring average a bit, and has even had better per game averages in rebounds, assists, and steals, his field goal percentage and three-point percentage is a bit down.
Because of the lack of production from Frazier, who’s averaging 14.9 points per game, the Gators have to start thinking about who they should build their offense around and that’s where Finney-Smith comes in.
Finney-Smith, who last year won the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, didn’t always have to have an awesome night. Coming off the bench and having four starters in front of him that were getting the bulk of his shots didn’t effect his production. If he had a good night he would only help the Gators become better.
If he had a bad night, well then he would just go back to the bench and that would be the end of his night.
This year it’s a lot different. Being thrust into the spotlight is a big adjustment for anyone. He might’ve started off a bit slow, but Finney-Smith is now on a tear. He scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block against Jacksonville.
Then he turned in another great performance against Wake Forest, dropping 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and a game high four steals in the Orange Bowl Classic.
If he can continue to maintain his scoring numbers and keep playing aggressive the Gators are going to become a way better team during their in conference schedule.
Offensively the Gators aren’t a great team. They are 184th in the country when it comes to points per game, only scoring 68 points a contest.
With Finney-Smith’s versatility he gives the Gators a weapon that most teams in the SEC don’t have, a highly skilled long, athletic forward that is extremely versatile. With conference play looming around the corner the games are going to get more competitive and a lot more fierce.
There a few teams in the SEC such as LSU, Arkansas and Alabama that all have more than seven wins and are looking to make the 2015 NCAA tournament.
Games are going to slow down and Florida is going to look at either Frazier or Finney-Smith for a big bucket. But which one of the two most of the time is going to have a matchup advantage against their opponent? It’s Finney-Smith.
Who’s going to step up though is the real question.