It’s not the postseason tournament the Gators were hoping they’d be in but the National Invitational Tournament is where they find themselves and it tips off Wednesday when Florida takes on the Iona Gaels.
Just who is available for the Gators from an injury standpoint is unknown, and could be one of the big storylines entering Wednesday’s game. Keyontae Johnson and Jason Jitoboh are out for the season, and CJ Felder was unavailable in the SEC Tournament against Texas A&M. Anthony Duruji was able to play, but was hobbled due to an ankle injury. Myreon Jones has been playing with a broken hand that he’ll love to allow to heal fully. Colin Castleton has been playing with an injured shoulder for nearly all of the second half of the season.
Castleton, with NBA dreams, may feel it’s best to sit out the NIT and recover fully. Jones and Duruji could both be looking to go pro as well, and if that’s the case they may want to make sure they enter the offseason as healthy as possible. For that reason, we can’t be totally sure who the Gators are going to be able to roll out.
Of course, Florida will be playing without a head coach as Mike White announced mere minutes before Selection Sunday that he’d be moving on to the Georgia Bulldogs. In his place, associate head coach Al Pinkins will be the acting head coach.
Many Florida fans will hope to see more minutes and shots for young players like Kowacie Reeves, Niels Lane, Tuon Gatkek, and Elijah Kennedy. This is a common sentiment for high level programs who find themselves in the NIT, but looking at recent history–it’s rare for teams to play their young players over their veteran guys. Coaches are competitive, and they want to win no matter what the situation is. Pinkins, having to step up as head coach, would love to prove he can win leading a bench. However, who knows what lineups the Gators could be forced into due to injuries to Castleton, Jones, Duruji, Felder, and who knows who else could be nursing injuries that we aren’t even aware of.
Standing across from acting coach Al Pinkins will be Rick Pitino, one of the greatest coaches that college basketball, and basketball on the whole, has ever seen.
In his first year at Iona, which was last season, Pitino got the Gaels into the NCAA Tournament. This year they were on that path, winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season by three games before getting upset in the conference tournament to Rider. Midway through the season, the Gaels were actually in at-large consideration, right next to the Gators in the NCAA’s NET rankings. They proved their ability to play with the best back in November when they took on Alabama on a neutral court and won 72-68.
A team largely full of transfers from both high major, mid major, low major, and JUCO, Rick Pitino found guys that would fit his system and instantly put together a winner. They’re led in scoring by Tyson Jolly, transfer from SMU who started his career at Baylor. Jolly is a physical 6’4” guard who plays with high IQ and boasts a 38% three-point stroke, making him an efficient 15 point per game scorer who leads the Gaels’ attack.
Another key player is Nelly Junior Joseph, a 6’9”, 240 forward who leads the Gaels in rebounding at 8.1 per game and blocked shots at 2.0. Going back to Pitino’s time at Louisville he has always valued quality interior play on both sides of the floor and Nelly Junior Joseph provides that. He’s one of the best offensive rebounders in the country, and for a Florida team that struggles to contain the defensive glass that could be a major issue. Iona also sports a 7-footer in Osborn Shema who could also cause carnage on the offensive glass.
Offensively the Gaels play a structured offense that relies on player movement and passing to create action, not over dribbling or a ton of pick and rolls. They will play through post players on the block who can both score individually as well as find open shooters when teams overhelp. The Gators, being a team that double team the post a lot, will have to be aware that Iona is constantly throwing the ball into the block with the intention of turning it into a three-point shot.
Iona is a very good cutting team who is constantly creating easy layups with their movement off the ball. They run a lot of actions in a single possession which forces defenses to make multiple decisions in a row and the more decisions there are–the more chances there are for a breakdown. The Gaels are always looking to punish defenders for falling asleep, whether off ball for a cut or for an offensive rebound if perimeter players don’t box out, and Florida will have to be mentally locked in for the duration of the defensive possession.
The Gaels are probably more lethal on the offensive end, but their defense is no slouch either. Throughout Rick Pitino’s career you have known exactly what to expect from him defensively and this year is no different. They play exclusively man defense and focus on sitting in the gaps to take away driving lanes, and they can force long offensive possessions for their opponents who can’t seem to get anything going. The Gaels will also play a great deal of full court press, something that will challenge Florida’s ball handlers.
Entering the NIT the big question is how motivated the Gators will be. This isn’t the tournament these players thought they’d be in at the end of the season, and now they’re playing without a coach who left them unexpectedly. Between motivation questions and nagging injuries up and down the lineup this could be quite the contest between the Gators and Gaels.
This game takes place Wednesday, March 16 at 9 PM ET. It will be televised on ESPN 2. As the higher seed, the Gators will be at home for the late tip.