Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Dorian Finney-Smith’s resurgence boosts Florida’s offense, bench production

finney-smith

Dorian Finney-Smith was supposed to be an integral part of Florida’s offense this season. The ex-Virginia Tech addition was highly-pursued when he announced his transfer, and the mix of his shooting touch and size helped conjure visions that Finney-Smith would be the next Gator stretch-4 to propel the offense. However, through the first few months of the season, that promise didn’t materialize -- during the month of February, a span of six contests, Finney-Smith missed 18 three-pointers before finally converting one attempt (on February 22nd).

Since that three-point make, which came in a win over Ole Miss, Finney-Smith’s game has been ascendant. The forward made 44 percent of his threes through the SEC tournament, and his ability to stretch a defense with his shooting as well as off the bounce has provided coach Billy Donovan with several offensive options. Florida isn’t known for its size -- Patric Young and Will Yeguete are the only other Gators who stand taller than 6-foot-8 -- so an effective Finney-Smith not only boosts the team’s scoring, he provides a height infusion. When he is connecting from deep, UF’s halfcourt spacing is much improved, with not only helps Young in the post, but also the Gators’ backcourt on dribble drives.

In the NCAA tournament, Finney-Smith has been the consummate role player; Florida doesn’t often dip into the bench -- Kasey Hill and Finney-Smith are essentially the only Gators who see significant minutes -- and the forward will need to continue contributing offensively to propel the Gators’ title run. His perimeter attempts haven’t been dropping, but he is making his twos -- 56 percent from within the arc -- and the ten points Finney-Smith dropped last night against UCLA helped fuel the team’s 1.13 points per possession.

Follow @HudsonGiles