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Without Yeguete, Florida even more one-dimensional in a loss to Georgia

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I’m past lamenting the fact that No. 12 Florida’s back court doesn’t take advantage of Patric Young in the middle.

It is what it is, and if Young isn’t assertive enough to demand the ball from a pair of guards that he could eat if he was so inclined, than he probably doesn’t deserve to get the same number of post touches as Jared Sullinger. Its a two-way street. When you play with scorers, if you don’t make them give you the ball, they aren’t going to give it to you.

That said, if the Gators are going to win basketball games without funneling everything through the first round pick they have in the paint, than they are going to have to shoot the ball well from the perimeter. With Will Yeguete out for the season with a broken bone in his foot, Florida’s defense loses a bit of its edge. Yeguete was not only the best rebounder on the team, he was the point man on their press, the guy with the length and the athleticism to create turnovers in the back court.

Their trip to Athens to take on Georgia was all the proof you need. Georgia shot 52.9% from the field and committed just ten turnovers en route to a fairly dominating 76-62 win over the Gators.

Should I mention that the Gators shot 5-23 from beyond the arc?

Or what about the fact that Young finished with just eight points on nine shots without a trip to the foul line?

When Florida gets it going the way that they did at Arkansas last week, the Gators are going to be a tough team to beat. As much as we lament about Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton, when those two get it going, they are as dangerous as any back court duo in the country with the ball in their hands. Throw in the likes of Brad Beal and Mike Rosario, and Florida can be explosive offensively.

But as the saying goes, you live by the three and you die by the three, and on this night, the Gators died.

Without Yeguete, Florida becomes even more unpredictable.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.