Florida is shredding everybody. How?

[chompalot]

Interesting SI article pointing out the possible impact Wilby is having on the team. The team is definitely playing at another level. Better shot selection and an emphasis on D has definitely played a huge part in the teams apparent improvement from last year's Elite-eight team. Coach Donovan seems to be pushing all of the right buttons and the players are executing to near perfection (Okay, I say that loosely).

It's a great question that I look forward to having a better answer to after I see the Gators at Arizona on Saturday.
On offense, after losing Bradley Beal and Erving Walker from last season's team, they have cobbled together a more balanced offensive distribution. The biggest thing to me is that notorious gunners Kenny Boynton and Mike Rosario have really evened out their shot distribution from last season. Boynton took almost twice as many 3s last season as 2s or free throws and he's rather close to a 1:1 ratio across the board so far this season. Rosario actually has taken 10 more 2s than 3s.
Is this the impact of subbing in pass-first point guard Scottie Wilbekin for Walker, who himself took 340 shots and another 135 free throws last season? If it is, it's also allowing stretch 4 Erik Murphy to rise to primary scoring threat level. He's easily the Gators' best perimeter shooter, and now contributes shot-wise on par with the two heavy-shot taking guards. Mix in a heavier dose of Will Yeguete this season, and the Gators have a nice inside-outside mix working.
Defensively, they have morphed into a destructive, dominant unit. They're turning opponents over at a crazy rate and, when opponents do manage to get a shot off, the Gators are No. 1 in the nation in 2-point field goal percentage defense. No one is scoring on them, and Florida has played some fairly credible teams. Can the insertion of Wilbekin and freshman Michael Frazier be that impactful? Florida's certainly bigger in the backcourt than it was last season, and maybe that's helping them with the increased amount of zone they are playing this season (as detailed in Luke Winn's Power Rankings).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/new...#ixzz2EpuQAUmA

Also, from SI's Power Rankings:

Using the 5-8 Erving Walker at the top of a zone was problematic last season. After losing Walker and adding 6-4 Michael Frazier, 6-6 Casey Prather and 6-7 Will Yeguete to the rotation, the Gators have become longer and more athletic on D. If they shut down Florida State, Arizona and Kansas State (their three big December opponents) as well as they did Wisconsin and Marquette, then they need to be considered not just the overwhelming SEC favorite, but a real national-title contender.

One down, two to go!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz2Epza2ccL

[GatorPlanet]

Each of those points are well-informed and valid, and each point is part of the equation. I'd add to those the individual improvement in Yeguete, Young, and Wilbekin. I'd also add in the greater experience level overall. It's an upperclassmen team, which generally pays off in better teamwork on offense and defense. On defense, it's really noticeable; you hardly ever see one of these guys out of position or missing the rotation on the defensive end.

All these things are adding up to one really good team.

[chompalot]

I agree, good points. Yes, the team's level of maturity has definitely played a big part in their success. Besides the players increased physical strength, it seems to have, also, been instrumental in their more efficient shot selection.

As far as the defense goes, the players seem to relish playing tough D; they know how devastating they are and they're loving it. They're so much fun to watch.

[Go2gtr]

With Billy, defense leads to offense so defense leads to playing time. Also we are defending the perimeter.

The other factor is rebounding has been taken to a new level. Casey and Yeguete are going to the glass and now Patric has finally gotten motivated. Boynton will get his share and even Griffin is a rebounder.

Taken together these are very significant factors. They are the difference between a nice 12 point win and a 27-30 point blowout.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by chompalot

I agree, good points. Yes, the team's level of maturity has definitely played a big part in their success. Besides the players increased physical strength, it seems to have, also, been instrumental in their more efficient shot selection.

As far as the defense goes, the players seem to relish playing tough D; they know how devastating they are and they're loving it. They're so much fun to watch.

being physically stronger leads to better shot selection? interesting correlation that I have never heard before.


perhaps it's true but I'll need a better explanation.


I think a more plausible explanation is having a more disciplined offensive mantra if you will. Along with having a situation where the whole cast of players are better able to maximize their capabilities.

the role of a point guard is to maximize team results by utilizing the capabilities of all parts and knowing how to create the correct opportunity for them to succeed.

[chompalot]

I was referring to their level of maturity. Aren't you the one who said you scored a 99.7 in reading comprehension on your LSAT?

[madgator]

Originally Posted by chompalot

I was referring to their level of maturity. Aren't you the one who said you scored a 99.7 in reading comprehension on your LSAT?

"Yes, the team's level of maturity has definitely played a big part in their success. Besides the players increased physical strength, it seems to have, also, been instrumental in their more efficient shot selection."


Yes, and I wasn't questioning the OTHER part of your claim regarding level of maturity. I agree with that. However, you had ALSO stated that the players increased physical strength has been instrumental in their more efficient shot selection.

I don't understand why you are being defensive about this. I said that this is a correlation that I have never heard before. Maybe you're on to something new here. Please explain more in depth how this could be. I'm always up for new ideas.

[demosthenes]

It's worded a little wonky but he said maturity led to increased physical strength and better shot selection.

[chompalot]

Not being defensive, just want to make sure you don't misconstrue what I wrote.You might want to reread what I wrote.

Seems to me that I agree, good points. Yes, the team's level of maturity has definitely played a big part in their success. Besides the players increased physical strength, it seems to have, also, been instrumental in their more efficient shot selection.

(the it, in this case, is referring to the team's level of maturity and not physical strength.)

[rserina]

Interesting statistics on twos from Boynton and Rosario. Much of that is the result of teams having to defend the pick and pop with Murphy, as well as the smaller lineups with Yeguete and Prather or Murphy and Prather at the posts. There is just so much more space to operate allowing Boynton and Rosario to get to the hoop. Donovan really gushed about the matchup problems our small lineups created late last season after we lost Yeguete and I think he has run with it this year since it makes us far less dependent on the three than we were at times.

Defensively, the increased volume of zone has a good bit to do with the low two point shooting percentages. Donovan still seems concerned about our defense of the arc (he keeps bringing up the UCF game in interviews), but hopefully as the season goes along and everyone gets on the same page defensively we can tighten up our rotations.

[chompalot]

rserina, I posted, on the Full Court Press board, an excerpt from ESPN insider about Zona's deft 3-pt shooting. How do you think we'll handle this? I was trying to find out how much of a 3-pt FG% this team allows, but I couldn't find anything on it. I figure with as much zone as the Gators play, that would be one of its vulnerabilities.

Below is part of the excerpt that mentions their 3-pt shooting.

"40 percent of Arizona's field goals have been threes, and the squad is converting 40.5 percent of those shots"...that's pretty good damn good."

[chompalot]

Here's the whole excerpt for y'all.

Excerpt ESPN Rumor Central:
Arizona Wildcats Solomon Hill's diversifying game

During his four years as head coach at Arizona, Sean Miller has begun to rely more frequently on three-point field goals. During his initial season, the Wildcats three-point attempts percentage was just 32.2 percent, but through seven games in 2013 (as well as the entire 2012 slate), Arizona's point production has heavily depended on perimeter shooting. In 2013, 40 percent of Arizona's field goals have been threes, and the squad is converting 40.5 percent of those shots.

Specifically, Kevin Parrom's game has transformed since his freshman year. The wing, who has historically been efficient within the arc, spend much of the offseason working on his outside shot, and is connecting on 45.2 percent of his three-point attempts. Throughout his three seasons in Tucson, Hill's perimeter percentages (and attempts) have risen, culminating in a very accurate final season.

Miller expounded on Hill's shooting prowess recently, mentioning opponents played far off Hill last year: "A year ago, Gonzaga and San Diego State really dared him to shoot. If you can imagine, Gonzaga guarded him with [7-footer Robert] Sacre. And now he's probably our team's best three-point shooter and it's because he's put in the old fashioned time type of work in the off-season."

- Matt Giles

[madgator]

Originally Posted by chompalot

Not being defensive, just want to make sure you don't misconstrue what I wrote.You might want to reread what I wrote.

(the it, in this case, is referring to the team's level of maturity and not physical strength.)

my mistake, although the "it" clarification didn't help. I always knew what "it" was referring to.

the word "also" with the comma usage threw me off. That and the term "level of maturity." Which in my mind speaks to emotional maturity more than physical growth. Sorry, but never heard of a player needing to improve his "level of maturity" in regards to physical growth.

As the statement is, it read to me like emotional maturity and physcial strength has led to better shot selection.

again, my mistake.

[G8RNTN]

The Arizona game will tell us how good we really are... IMO I think we are a contender now.

[chompalot]

No problem, mad. Catch you later on THFSG.

[madgator]

Originally Posted by rserina

Interesting statistics on twos from Boynton and Rosario. Much of that is the result of teams having to defend the pick and pop with Murphy, as well as the smaller lineups with Yeguete and Prather or Murphy and Prather at the posts. There is just so much more space to operate allowing Boynton and Rosario to get to the hoop. Donovan really gushed about the matchup problems our small lineups created late last season after we lost Yeguete and I think he has run with it this year since it makes us far less dependent on the three than we were at times.

Defensively, the increased volume of zone has a good bit to do with the low two point shooting percentages. Donovan still seems concerned about our defense of the arc (he keeps bringing up the UCF game in interviews), but hopefully as the season goes along and everyone gets on the same page defensively we can tighten up our rotations.

Regarding your comments about increased zone usage this year as opposed to last.

When Walker was in the game, didn't we almost always run a zone defense? I only remember playing man to man for any meaningful amount of time with the Wilbekin/Boynton combo in the game. Occasionally with Rosario in. I really don't remember much man being played with Walker on the floor. Not to say that we didn't play man, but we played far more zone. With Walker averaging 31-32 minutes a game, we had to have played a lot of zone defense.

One thing that I have noticed this year, as opposed to last, is that we have been running different zone sets as opposed to just the basic 2-3 from last year. I have seen us run a 3-2 as well as a 1-3-1 against FSU.

[regurgigator]

Originally Posted by chompalot

Interesting SI article pointing out the possible impact Wilby is having on the team.

Actually, I would put much more emphasis on the possible impact of Yeguete on the team than these writers do. They're giving him a bit of a short shrift if you ask me.


As many of us said last season, losing Yeguete was a huge loss for us going into the tournament. I was very surprised we made the Elite 8 without him (although we got robbed by the refs in that loss). WY's Rodman-esque talents and impact on this team are quite unique (and, risking redundancy, rare).

[chompalot]

Originally Posted by regurgigator

Actually, I would put much more emphasis on the possible impact of Yeguete on the team than these writers do. They're giving him a bit of a short shrift if you ask me.


As many of us said last season, losing Yeguete was a huge loss for us going into the tournament. I was very surprised we made the Elite 8 without him (although we got robbed by the refs in that loss). WY's Rodman-esque talents and impact on this team are quite unique (and, risking redundancy, rare).

Yep, losing WY was a travesty. Who knows how far we would have gone with him in the lineup.

[HALLGATOR]

Originally Posted by chompalot

rserina, I posted, on the Full Court Press board, an excerpt from ESPN insider about Zona's deft 3-pt shooting. How do you think we'll handle this? I was trying to find how much of a 3-pt FG% this team allows, but I couldn't find anything on it. Below is part of the excerpt that mentions their 3-pt shooting.

Opponents are scoring 3 pointers at a 32.2% pace against the Gators. We are ranked 148 in that category.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball...nt/team/518/p3



We are allowing 7.7 made 3 pointers per game.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball...nt/team/153/p2


But the big one is this. Overall scoring defense we are # 2 in the nation.

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1

[regurgigator]

The second link in the OP gives the following stats regarding percentage of zone defense versus man defense this season (so far) and last season:

2011-12: % Man: 88.5 PPPA: 0.785
.............% Zone: 11.5 PPPA: 0.959

2012-13: % Man: 77.7 PPPA: 0.613
.............% Zone: 22.3 PPPA: 0.762


Looks like we're playing almost twice as much zone so far. But, I would have thought the percentage of zone was higher both seasons (but I agree it seems like we're playing more zone so far this season compared to last).


You have to like those point-per-possession numbers!!!