Kasey Hill (0) has been a blur in the open floor for the Gators during the postseason.
Hill's Climb Has Gators One Win from Garden
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
WASHINGTON — Before his team played its first game in the National Invitational Tournament, Kasey Hill was asked about the two outstanding games he put together in Florida's short stay at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Hill, the junior point guard, scored 18 points in a win over Arkansas and another 18 in a hard-fought loss to league regular-season co-champion Texas A&M.
"I just stay in the gym," Hill said. "I just like working and getting better. Eventually, it will pay off."
Those remarks came more than a week ago and apparently Hill -- still -- hasn't left the gym. As a follow-up to his SEC Tournament performance, he went for 14 points and five steals in a blowout win at North Florida, then 15 points and five assists in Sunday's road defeat of Ohio State. Make that 16.3 points per game by Hill in the postseason on 53-percent shooting from the floor.
"He's been great," UF coach Mike White said. "He's playing his best basketball since he's been at Florida."
Anyone who follows the Gators closely knows the trials and tribulations of Hill, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound jet rocket from Umatilla, Fla., who four years ago was among the top-rated point guard prospects in the nation on his way to McDonald's All-America status while starring at the elite Montverde (Fla.) Academy. After apprenticing for a year behind Scottie Wilbekin — the 2014 SEC Player of the Year who led the Gators to the Final Four — Hill was handed the ball in '14-15.
At times, he surely wanted to hand it back.
In many ways, Hill's struggles as a playmaker, with his shot, at the free-throw line and with the immense UF expectations off a Finall Four season mirrored those of his teammates, as the Gators spiraled to the first losing record in 17 years. About a month later, iconic coach Billy Donovan was off to the NBA and Mike White showed up from Louisiana Tech.
Some late-season adjustments by Coach Mike White, a former SEC point guard himself, have unleashed point guard Kasey Hill to the betterment of the offense.
In the run-up to the season, Hill admitted he put so much pressure on himself to perform — specifically, to please Donovan, a task master when it comes to his point guards — that it led to the most frustrating and disappointing season of his basketball life.
On Tuesday, White reflected on Hill's plight, comparing being UF's point guard to its football quarterback. Sometimes the internal pressures are as difficult to deal with as the external ones. Ask John Brantley. Or Jeff Driskel. They arrived on campus with every bit the fanfare of Hill. Those guys never really figured it out.
Maybe Hill has.
Before, Hill explained, if the ball wasn't going in he assumed it would eventually.
"I'd be comfortable thinking it's going to get better sooner or later," Hill said. "Over the years, as things were bad for me and I wasn't playing well, I realized that I have to stay in the gym no matter what."
That was one part of the equation. White and his staff came up with another.
Over the course of their first season, the UF coaches toyed with various offensive concepts, but it wasn't until late February that they chose to shelve some of the structure on offense in exchange for some more free-flowing action.
"We've talked all season about offense being trial and error," White said. "I feel like we've finally found the best way for us to play."
More ball-screening. More spread pick-and-roll. More aggressive transition offense. Less longer-developing actions in the halfcourt.
Before a Feb. 23 home game against Vanderbilt, the Gators were averaging 72.9 points per game and shooting 42 percent from the floor, 31.3 from the 3-point line.
And since the coaches loosened the reigns?
78.8 points per game
44.5 percent on field goals.
33.8 on 3s.
"And Kasey has probably benefitted the most," White said.
When Hill is playing downhill, so are the Gators. That's a problem for opponents who are no match for his speed in the open floor. Throw in KeVaughn Allen or maybe Chris Chiozza on one of the wings, with Dorian Finney-Smith trailing and walkig into a 3-pointer, and Florida becomes a matchup problem.
Now, when he sees a crease and attacks the basket -- which he's always been able to do -- Hill is doing a better job of finishing plays. Sometimes jaw-dropping ones. His baseline take and high-banking reverse layup layup against the Buckeyes was one of the most spectacular plays in either tournament over the weekend.
"He's making us go," Finney-Smith said.
"I feel like he's got into a flow more, kind of going with what he sees," freshman center Kevarrius Hayes said. "Coaches have emphasized making better passes, getting it out more to the key and he's taken it to heart."
While taking it to the basket. Hard.
And without being satisfied.
"I hold myself to a high standard, so I'm not relieved, I'm not happy about it," Hill said of his improved play. "I want to continue to play better because the next game I could go out and not play well at all. I'm not going to just get comfortable with it."
The Gators, of course, would rather have been in the NCAA Tournament, but they're here now and looking to finish strong in the nation's capital and earn the right to keep this season going in New York.
If Hill gets there or not, look for him in the gym.
