The Florida Gators are roughly a third of the way through the 2023/24 season, holding a 7-3 record with just three non-conference games remaining until SEC play begins. Gator Country provides you with five takeaways from Florida’s first ten games of the 2023/24 season.
Florida wants to play fast
It’s evident that the Gators want to play with a fast pace under Todd Golden. Florida ranks 16th in college basketball in adjusted tempo (possessions per 40 minutes, adjusted for opponent) after ranking 70th in 2022/23. Florida’s average possession length sits at 14.9 seconds, well under the D1 average of 17.2 and ranks 12th fastest in the country.
Golden acquired players through the transfer portal that better suit his style of play, such as guards Walter Clayton and Zyon Pullin as well as forward Tyrese Samuel, who handles the ball well for a 6’10, 239-pound big.
One of the disadvantages of playing with an up-tempo offense for the Gators this season has been in the increase in turnovers. Florida is turning the ball over on 18.7% of their offensive possessions, which ranks 225th in college basketball, according to Ken Pom. If Florida can take better care of the basketball, Florida’s offensive metrics would see a significant bump.
Dominating on the offensive glass
Florida has been one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country through the first ten games, holding an offensive rebounding percentage of 42.5, which ranks 4th in college basketball. Florida’s vast improvement on the offensive glass has helped create a ton of second chances for this Gators’ offense, which ranks 34th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency.
Despite an effective FG percentage of 50.9% (154th in the country), Florida’s offense averages 82.3 points per game, ranking 31st in college basketball. Winning in the rebounding department was something Todd Golden and this Gators’ staff was unsure on heading into the season, but it’s played a major role in their offensive success this season. They thought they would be improved, but I don’t think they saw this coming.
Freshmen forward’s Alex Condon have given the Gators’ a significant boost in this department. Condon holds an offensive rebound percentage of 14.8%, which ranks 43rd in the country while Haugh sits at 8.3%, which ranks 389th nationally. Transfer forward Tyrese Samuel has also been a huge help, logging 13% of his offensive rebound opportunities, ranking 91st in college basketball.
Free throw shooting
This is an interesting one to evaluate. Florida is one of the best in college basketball at getting to the free throw line, attempting 26.7 free throws per game which ranks 13th in the country. The issue is that Florida is only making 65.5% of their free throws through ten games, ranking 312th in college basketball. The missed free throws have left a ton of points off the board and have allowed teams to hang around with the Gators.
Ultimately, Florida hasn’t lost a game due to free throw shooting this year, as the Gators connected on 78.9%, 77.8%, and 73.3% of free throws in their only three losses this season, outshooting both Wake Forest and Virginia from the charity stripe in those contests. However, the Gators let an East Carolina squad hang around on Thursday night after leaving 13 points on the free throw line (15-28, 53.6%). This wasn’t an area I expected Florida to be this poor in, but Walter Clayton, Tyrese Samuel, Will Richard, and Micah Handlogten are shooting well below their recent season trends from the free throw line.
Despite the missed free throws, Florida is still finding 21.3% of their total points from the free throw line, which ranks 83rd in the country. If the Gators can improve from the charity stripe, you will see an increase in the offensive metrics as Florida’s past face and aggressive nature gets them to the line quite often.
Gators need to get Riley Kugel going offensively
Riley Kugel has struggled offensively after entering the season with extremely high expectations. The sophomore guard is averaging 12.4 points per game on 39.5% shooting. The problem isn’t really with his statistics, although you’d like a more efficient shooting percentage, it’s the lack of consistency from the Orlando native that has raised questions from Gator Nation. Kugel has posted 24 and 25-point games against Baylor and Wake Forest while scoring just five points apiece against Merrimack and FAMU. Kugel has appeared too casual at times and has admitted that he’s had issues with playing up and down to his competition his entire playing career.
At times it looks as if Kugel is playing too aggressively, often turning the ball over or forcing a bad shot. Most recently, I thought Kugel played too passively against East Carolina, taking just six shots in the contest while passing up open looks. Whatever is going on with Riley Kugel, I believe it’s in Florida’s best interest to get it ironed out, as the 6-5, 207-pound guard is the most athletic player on the court for the Gators and can be a real weapon for Florida’s offense. Kugel is Florida’s best shot creator and has the athleticism to be Florida’s best defender. If Florida can play anywhere near his athletic ability, this Gators’ team could be built for a tournament run.
Florida has been sound defensively
The Gators rank 44th in adjusted defensive efficiency through ten games. The offseason additions improved Florida’s depth across the board, which I believe is helping the Gators’ defensively. Florida ranks on the better half of the division one average in effective FG%, 2P%, block%, steal%, and offensive rebounding %, many of which by significant margins.
One area where Florida doesn’t look as good defensively on paper is three-point defense, as they allow 34.7% of attempted three pointers to be converted, which ranks 250th in the country. However, Gator Country’s very own Eric Fawcett does an incredible job of explaining how that really isn’t the case in his recent article on Florida’s three-point defense, which you can check out here: https://www.gatorcountry.com/florida-gators-basketball/a-deep-look-at-floridas-three-point-defense/
The Gators are also considerably taller than the average division one team, ranking 20th in the country in average height.