Florida Versus Alabama Basketball Preview

With the season getting into crunch time the Gators (13-10, 6-4 SEC) will enter one of their most difficult games of the season heading to Tuscaloosa to take on the undefeated in league play Alabama Crimson Tide (20-3, 10-0 SEC). 

 

Right now the Gators find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Tournament picture and they need to stack up some quality wins and there aren’t many wins available that would be better than a road contest at Alabama. Currently the Crimson Tide are #3 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings so a road win for the Gators would be even more valuable than their win over Tennessee who was ranked #2 because that game was played in Gainesville.

 

Alone at the top of the SEC standings at 10-0, the Crimson Tide haven’t even been tested that much. They did have a scare against Mississippi State, winning only 66-63, but outside of that game most of their wins over league competition have come somewhat comfortably. Outside of league play the Crimson Tide have wins over Michigan State, North Carolina, Memphis, and most notably the best win in college basketball–a road win over Houston who sits at #1 in the NET Rankings. 

 

Two of Alabama’s losses are games they won’t feel bad about dropping. They fell to Gonzaga early in the season when the Bulldogs were playing great basketball, and they also dropped a game to UConn on a neutral floor when the Huskies were dominating everyone in college basketball (as Florida fans will be very aware). The one game they would like back came in the Big 12-SEC Challenge where Oklahoma took the Crimson Tide by surprise, blasting them 93-69. Alabama bounced back from that game pretty quickly and took out their anger in their next game, embarrassing Vanderbilt 101-44 to prove once again that they are a force. A 1-seed likely awaits the Crimson Tide unless they drop several games they shouldn’t down the stretch, so the Gators will have quite a challenge ahead of them on Wednesday. 

 

As has been the case with Alabama ever since Nate Oats took the job, the Crimson Tide play extremely fast and are looking to push the ball at every opportunity. They’re currently first in the country in tempo and they are always looking to punish their opponents in transition. It will be interesting to see how their transition attack will look against a Gators team that prioritizes transition defense, sacrificing offensive rebounding almost entirely in order to match up in transition. 

 

While their transition offense will get much of the attention, it’s actually the defensive side of the ball where the Crimson Tide hang their hats. The Crimson Tide are currently fifth in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom and it’s often their suffocating defense that leads to the transition opportunities that they feast on. 

 

One of the biggest stories at the top of college basketball this season has been the outstanding play of Brandon Miller who is currently the odds on favorite to win player of the year in the SEC–and he’s doing it as only a freshman. In addition to player of the year in the SEC he’ll certainly get some looks for player of the year in college basketball and he will find himself on the first or second All-American team. Miller is currently averaging 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists per game and he’s doing it efficiently–shooting 44% from three on heavy volume. A future lottery pick in the NBA Draft, Miller is the perfect type of athlete for the modern game. He’s a 6’9” forward who can create and make shots, and he also takes pride in his matchups on the defensive end. Miller has been a matchup problem for pretty much anyone he has played against this year and the Gators will have some issues when it comes to matching length. Alex Fudge has a similar frame but his minutes have been down coming off of a concussion, and when he’s not on the floor it will likely be 6’5” Will Richard drawing the assignment. Richard is a capable defender, but he’ll be giving up a lot of length in the matchup. 

 

Another freshman that has been excellent for the Crimson Tide is center Noah Clowney who is a special athlete at 6’10” and provides the rim running, alley oop dunking, shot blocking presence that Nate Oats loves from his centers. Clowney is averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds per game and he’ll have the assignment of starting the game matched up with Colin Castleton who is coming off one of the best performances of his career against Kentucky.

 

Despite being freshmen the combination of Brandon Miller and Noah Clowney makes up one of the best frontcourts in the league, and what makes that position group even more special is that there is additional depth that would start on most other teams in the league. At the four, it’s Noah Gurley–a player that may sound familiar to you. Gurley started his career at Furman and was recruited heavily by the Gators who ended up losing the battle to Alabama. Gurley is a highly skilled offensive player and would start for a lot of teams in the league, but he comes off the bench for Alabama. In clutch time it’s usually Clowney at the five but to start the game it’s 7’0” Charles Bediako, a former top-50 recruit who dominates the paint defensively and offensively. You could put the frontcourt rotation of Alabama against just about anyone in the country and the Crimson Tide will feel pretty good, and that could mean a scary matchup for the Gators. Of course Florida is confident in their man in the middle Colin Castleton, but they don’t have much depth at the post positions and that has the opportunity to hurt them.

 

For the Gators, the hope will be that they’re able to slow down an Alabama offense that occasionally leaves something to be desired in the half court. If the Gators can keep the Crimson Tide out of transition and keep possessions low they might be able to keep the game close enough that it’s anyone’s game in the final minutes, and that would be a solid effort on the road against one of the best teams in the country. 

 

Florida and Alabama’s matchup will take place February 8 at 9 PM ET and will be televised on ESPN 2. 



 

Eric Fawcett
Eric is a basketball coach and writer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His work has been found at NBA international properties, ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, Lindy's and others. He loves zone defenses, the extra pass, and a 30 second shot clock. Growing up in Canada, an American channel showing SEC basketball games was his first exposure to Gator hoops, and he has been hooked ever since. You can follow him on Twitter at @ericfawcett_.