From 3-Point Range, Kenny Boynton Has Been a Long Shot

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Kenny Boynton is a good 3-point shooter. Oh sure, maybe not in the classical sense, where "good" is defined by made shots. Instead, he is good at shooting threes -- literally. Like, slightly squatting, raising the ball above his head, bending his knees, exploding upward and firing the ball towards the rim. Unfortunately, for Billy Donovan and the Florida Gators, he's not too good at making them.

Boynton leads the Gators (6-2) by a wide margin in field goals and threes attempted, but his scoring has been lacking. Despite studying tape throughout his freshman season and hiring a shooting coach over the summer, Boynton is a paltry 13-49 from beyond the arc. And that's including a 5-8 effort from three in Florida's blowout loss at the hands of Ohio State. Boynton doesn't have a make in two of his last three, and has seen just one (of 17) go through since Thanksgiving.

Despite this, Donovan claims he's not worried about the sophomore guard inability to hit even wide-open shots.

"I don't worry about that because I'm not going to allow him to stop shooting," Donovan told the Gainesville Sun. "What I want him to do is to take good shots."
Well, sure, isn't that what every coach wants from every player? Last year, Boynton was a less-than-average shooter from deep, making less than 30 percent of his threes. However, he's far more efficient from elsewhere on the floor. In fact, Boynton is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor, not including his threes.

Florida will need something to change soon. No. 5 Kansas State looms Saturday, and the Gators need a big win after two lousy losses. One to the aforementioned Buckeyes, the other a home loss to Central Florida. As per usual, they have loads of potential with a scoring point guard in Erving Walker, Boynton, an experienced and versatile player in Chandler Parson, and a scoring big man in Vernon Macklin.

Still, the Gators have not yet lived up to their early season ranking. They were a preseason top 15 team and were picked by media members to win the SEC over No.17 Kentucky and No. 7 Tennessee. That seems unlikely at this point, and much of that is due to Boynton's erratic play.

But Donovan's not worried. Not even after Boynton was held scoreless last Sunday against American University.

"He's not going to do that every game," Donovan said. "I'm more worried when he shoots for a low percentage and he takes very hard shots. He didn't make some shots (against American) and there's gonna be some games when he's gonna really, really explode."