We’re well into the dog days of Summer and that means it’s time for another Gator Country subscriber mailbag!
One of the great elements of Gator Country is the ability to regularly hear from subscribers about the content they want, and mailbag series have become a regular part of the writing here. If you have a question you want answered, you can head to the message boards and post it now. There will be multiple parts of this series, so there is plenty of time to get your questions submitted.
This is part four of the series so if you haven’t yet read part three, you can do so here.
Here is part four:
JohnAGator: “Who will be the toughest out of conference opponent?”
I will admit, I waited until one of the later parts of this series because I wanted to see who Florida’s matchup for the ACC/SEC Challenge was going to be and boy I’m glad I did because it clearly answers your question with the Duke Blue Devils. It’s likely that a lot of publications and voters are going to have Florida and Duke number one and number two in the preseason rankings, and if both teams perform well through non-conference play this could end up being a rare one versus two matchup when the Blue Devils head to Gainesville.
The other potential matchup the Gators could have that could be the toughest is in the Player’s Era Tournament where Florida has a really good chance of playing Houston. The Cougars will likely be picked number three by some voters and publications, and if so–Florida could end up playing the number two and number three preseason teams in the country and who knows–by that point Houston could establish themselves as being in the mix for number one.
There is also a chance the Gators could play Kansas at this event, a team that will probably be somewhere in the 8-13 range preseason–though it’s tough to say what voters will do.
JamminGator: “How’s AJ Brown healing up and how do you see him fitting in going forward?”
For a while it seemed like AJ Brown was going to play last year and the redshirt was somewhat of a late offseason decision and that was probably for a mix of two reasons–one, Brown could use the time to recover and develop, and two, Florida thought they didn’t totally need him and his eligibility would be better used after a year of development.
You never know what would have happened and perhaps the Gators could have used Brown’s shooting during some of their semi-regular dry stretches, but regular Gator Country readers will know that I wasn’t someone who expected Brown to be able to do a ton at the SEC level. The jumper is legit, and Florida definitely could have used some more catch and shoot ability, but Brown doesn’t offer much in other areas. Most concerningly is the defense, and given how Florida’s identity was locking down and winning on that side of the floor it could have been a challenge for him to fit in.
It’s so hard to know what to expect from a player coming off a mid-career redshirt, but it will be interesting early to see how his processing speed is and if he was able to improve the defense, perhaps in part due to hopefully being fully healthy.
The way I see it currently–I’m not expecting a ton, and if he is a rotation player then that is gravy.
NCGatorFan: “The strengths of this team are obvious, quite a few … but which areas need improvement from both a player and coaching perspective?”
In a few past questions I’ve mentioned some areas for improvement for players, so I wanted to talk about coaching here if that’s okay.
I do think there are some big strides the team could make by Florida’s coaching staff showing a bit more creativity in the half court offensively, an area that was a weak point last year. Given how Florida was able to offensive rebound at an extreme rate the staff wasn’t too concerned with improving some of the halfcourt flaws as many of the issues were papered over by the offensive rebounding. Well, when it got to the SEC and NCAA Tournament–those issues were magnified. The Gators played a rather vanilla brand of offense and they didn’t have the kind of Walter Clayton guard creativity to make something happen out of it and it resulted in a lot of stale possessions. Florida didn’t add a ton of individual juice from a playmaking standpoint, so I think they’ll need to find some ways of creating shots out of the offense.
The Gators were also fairly set in their ways from a defensive standpoint and didn’t have a lot of variation in their coverages. Now, when you execute even a simple coverage at a high level it’s going to be effective and we saw that with the Gators for much of the season. However, when Vanderbilt and Iowa came with a clear game plan of how to attack them, Florida didn’t have an offspeed pitch to go to. I would love to see the Gators incorporate at least another pick and roll coverage that they would feel comfortable enough to use in late season scenarios.
ASmith1460: “I’m interested to see if Klavzar becomes even more of a contributor next year, what are your thoughts?”
Until arriving at Florida, Klavzar was a full-time point guard who was often looking to distribute as his first option. He was a very young player at the professional level with older, developed players–so he couldn’t be selfish, and he needed to understand how to create shots for others.
When he came to Florida, suddenly he was in an off-ball role with the Gators bringing in older, more talented guards to handle the ball. Because of the role, we have seen Klavzar’s three-point prowess but not much else of his offensive game.
So, will we see him distribute more this year? Potentially. This is more role related than player development related, and Klavzar could have more of a role with the ball in his hands now that Xaivian Lee is gone. Denzel Aberdeen, if eligible, could be someone that commands the ball but the Gators would like him to be more of a wing, and that could open up backup point guard duties fully for Klavzar which could put him in much more of a position to distribute and utilize his point guard skills.
OklahomaGator: “If, and of course it is a big if, Florida makes the finals, does CTG move to the NBA?”
There is a definite chance. Golden has a lot of interest in NBA coaching, but right now I do not think the interest is super mutual–per my sources. A lot of people talked like Golden was going to be involved in every opening this year and from what I’ve heard he didn’t really get a look. Now, that isn’t to say he wouldn’t next year–different organizations are looking for very different things, and there are rumors that an NBA job that would have interest in Golden will be opening next year.
Given how hype for the Gators will be through the roof, it would be very big for Golden’s NBA prospects to not underachieve and make sure this team gets to a Final Four and beyond.
KingTutt_Gator_MI: “Do you see Alex Condon’s shooting issues as more of a form/technique problem, or mental?”
Almost always, when a player struggles to shoot I see the issue more from a mechanical standpoint and less mental. Sure, missing a lot of shots does not help–but it’s very rare for a player to have picture perfect form and then go on extreme cold streaks. With Condon, I think he could tighten up his stand and alignment, get his wrist back and to the set point earlier, and play with some different elbow heights. His jumper certainly isn’t broken, but it’s not the tightest form and given the results it’s clear there needs to be some adjustments.
Bhs11: “Has Micah Handlogten heard about his eligibility?”
He has not, and because of that he hasn’t yet committed anywhere from the transfer portal. There are some rumors he has plenty of places still ready to take him if he was ruled eligible, but at this moment his case has not been decided. When Handlogten decided to come back for the Championship run he knew what he was risking, but he and Florida both really thought the “five in five” rule was going to be in effect before his eligibility was exhausted. Obviously, that has not been the case–and Handlogten finds himself in a frustrating position. He really doesn’t have any basis for a waiver so I am not predicting he gets one, though it will be an interesting case to monitor.