For a defense-first coach like Todd Golden, Florida’s 94th ranked finish in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric last year was somewhere between a constant frustration and a full on embarrassment. Golden has always built his team from the defensive side first, but he went away from it with last year’s portal additions, instead going for offensive firepower that can hang with the gunners of the SEC. However, after last season’s inability to get stops, Florida’s staff entered the offseason determined to get better defensively and that started with talent acquisition from the transfer portal.
Enter Alijah Martin.
Martin was Florida’s top target the moment he entered the portal from Florida Atlantic, a team put on the national radar after making a Final Four in large part due to Martin’s efforts on the wing. When you look at what made Florida Atlantic one of the greatest Cinderella stories of college basketball history, a big reason was their defensive intensity and connectivity. Right at the center of that defense–Alijah Martin.
Now, Martin will be taking his defensive excellence to one of the best leagues in the country and will look to prove that he’s as good as there is at locking down on the perimeter, while also looking to showcase an expanded offensive role.
With Martin being one of the top players in the transfer portal at the time of his entrance and how Florida’s roster is built it came as no surprise when Florida announced he’d be starting in the backcourt. This will be a huge help to Walter Clayton whose defensive limitations have been well publicized, as Martin will be capable of taking the more difficult defensive assignment of any opponent. At Florida Atlantic Martin largely played the “3” despite being just 6’2”, but he would always guard the opponent’s best player whether that guy was an electric 5’10” point guard or a burly 6’7” downhill wing. While he could maintain that ability at Florida, it’s likely the Gators will want to keep him at the “1” or “2” in order to keep the most potent scoring guards out of the paint. Last year Florida’s defensive issues started with their poor perimeter defense and how much they allowed opposing guards to get paint touches and they see Martin as the solution to that issue. Martin has incredible lateral quickness, and his ability to stay in a stance for the duration of a defensive possession is remarkable. When teams try to screen him he slithers around the pick like it’s not even there, recovering back to his man without the offense having built any sort of advantage. When you see Martin standing next to other players you can tell that he’s just 6’2”, but it’s a height disadvantage that evaporates the moment the ball is tipped. Whether it’s due to his length, his tenacity, or his muscular build that he’s more than happy to throw around–his height limitations just simply don’t seem to come into play on the defensive end. Perhaps, his compact frame is even an advantage as he navigates the space of the floor to complete his defensive assignments. We’ll see if this holds up at the SEC level–but to this point Martin has been an outstanding defender and that should continue through his final season of college basketball.
One of the incredible elements of Martin’s defensive game is his ability to defend without fouling, committing just 2.7 fouls per 40 minutes. That number is impressive in a vacuum, but it’s even more impressive when you see the physicality and aggressiveness he plays with, as well as the fact he’s playing a ton of minutes guarding the opposing team’s best players. Florida fouled way too much last season and it’s an area they’re looking to improve and Martin will contribute to this in an extremely positive way.
If you’re looking for the biggest area of growth for Martin–it’s the offensive end. Martin has never been the primary offensive piece at FAU and has instead filled the role of offensive spacer. You can see the way that Martin’s offensive impact seemingly plateaued early in his career as he averaged 13.9 points as a sophomore, 13.4 points as a junior, and 13.1 points last game as a senior. Looking at how FAU played, Martin was always in the same role spacing the floor as a shooter–so it stands to reason why his point totals were nearly identical. A career 37% three-point shooter on just under 6 attempts per game Martin has excelled in that role, but it’s something he is desperate to expand as he tries to further his professional prospects and is something that Florida sold him on when recruiting him to Gainesville. Martin wants to transition to becoming more of a ball handler and someone who can play the point guard role, and right now that is something hard to project given just how little he handled the ball at Florida Atlantic. There he was largely the third guard on the floor and didn’t get many opportunities to make plays or run pick and roll–his job was to catch and shoot, or drive in a straight line. Martin has averaged just 1.4 assists per game throughout his career, and while assist numbers don’t always tell the whole story, it matches the eye test and advanced analytics that show he just hasn’t had chances to have the ball in his hands to this point in his career. Florida has said he has made strides in that area and they are encouraging him to continue to explore the ball handling space, but how that works in live game action will be something to watch for in the future.
For a Florida team that was desperate to improve their defense, Martin was the perfect piece. He is just what the Gators needed in the backcourt, and given that he’s a veteran player you know exactly what he’s going to bring from an intensity standpoint defensively and with the jump shot on offense. Whether he becomes the ball handler he wants to be we’ll have to find out, but even if he doesn’t he’ll be a massive contributor for this year’s Gators.