From a results standpoint, it’s hard to find any fault with the way that the Gators have played so far this season.
They’ve snapped a seven-game losing streak to an in-state rival that was ranked at the time in Florida State. They’ve beaten an Ohio State team that was ranked in the preseason polls and is annually considered among the toughest teams in the country. They followed up each of those marquee wins by taking care of business and avoiding letdowns against overmatched mid-major teams a few days later.
Florida (6-0) is undefeated and ranked 14th in the latest Associated Press Poll. They’re ranked inside the top-25 in KenPom.com’s offensive and defensive efficiency ratings and No. 10 overall.
Still, as his team gets ready to play in its first true road game of the season on Wednesday at Oklahoma, coach Mike White is hoping to see them take their play to an even higher level in two primary facets – ball-handling and defending without fouling.
“Our assist-to-turnover ratio isn’t quite what I thought it would be at this point,” White said. “I think we’ll get there in time. I do. I think we’re a good passing team, and I think we’ll show up a little bit further along down the road, again, with that assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively, in our guys’ defense, we’re playing really hard, and we’re extending, and it’s hard to be very good at pressuring and not fouling, and we’ve got to find that right mix.”
Offensively, UF is averaging 76.8 points per game and is ranked 23rd in KenPom.com’s offensive efficiency metric. However, they would be even better if they took better care of the ball. They’re averaging 12.5 turnovers per game, including a season-high-tying 15 their last time out against Troy. Meanwhile, they’re only averaging 13.3 assists per game. That nearly 1-to-1 ratio isn’t exactly what the Gators expect.
“I think we can get a lot better,” forward Anthony Duruji said. “It’s really early in the season. I think we can really focus on our execution right now. If [it’s a scale from one to 10], we’re probably about four.”
While they have good passers and an unselfish mindset, they’ve had a tendency to try to make the spectacular pass instead of the routine one that’s right in front of them, which has led to some unforced errors. Because they’ve played elite defense so far and gone on some hot scoring streaks, it hasn’t cost them yet. It probably will at some point as the competition stiffens if they don’t improve.
“We’ll continue to morph offensively throughout this year,” White said. “We’ve also faced some very good defenses to this point. But heck, who knows? We could be running different stuff in January, February. We’ve got to turn the ball over less, and we’ll settle in at some point, hopefully sooner than later, and become what looks like a closer to a finished version offensively. But I think we’ve got a [high] ceiling there as well. We’re not as good as we’ll be in time offensively.”
Meanwhile, the Gators are limiting opponents to just 55.7 points per game and to just 39 percent shooting. Their attacking, in-your-face style of defense has caused an average of 16.8 turnovers per game that have led to 21.7 points.
While it might seem a bit nit-picky, White believes that they can be even better on this end of the floor if they stop giving away points at the foul line. They’re committing an average of 15.5 fouls per game, and opponents are averaging 18 free-throw attempts per game.
They’ve been a bit fortunate, as their opponents are only shooting 60.2 percent at the line, but that stat probably won’t stay that low for the entire season. In a close game in SEC play, the team that shoots more free throws will have an advantage down the stretch.
“The free-throw attempts to field-goal attempt ratio is not very good for us right now,” White said. “We’ve got to defend without fouling. We’ve got to play really hard, be really scrappy and keep our opponents off the foul line more.”
As for Florida’s opponent on Wednesday, the Sooners (6-1) are also off to a hot start, though this will be their first game against a high-major opponent. Like Florida, they’re one of the oldest teams in the country, as their starting lineup consists of three seniors, a redshirt senior and a junior.
Offensively, the Sooners are averaging nearly 76 points per game and are shooting better than 50 percent from the field. They’re better defensively, though, as they’re holding opponents to under 60 points per game and under 40 percent shooting.
“[Coach] Porter [Moser] does a great job, staff does a great job,” White said. “Really scrappy defensively, another good defensive team. It’s hard to score against [them]. Our first true road game for us, a new experience for this version of the Gators, for this current team. Great opportunity; it’s going to be very difficult, but excited about the chance to see where we’re at.”
Forward Tanner Groves is the engine that makes them go. He can do all of the things that you’d expect a 6-foot-10, 235-pound center to do; he’s shooting 57.5 percent from the field, averaging 6.1 rebounds per game and defending the paint at a high level. However, he also has some guard skills, as he’s shooting 38.5 percent from deep and dishing more than two assists per game.
He’s complemented by a pair of solid guards in Umoja Gibson (11.3 points, 1.6 steals, 38.1 percent shooting from deep) and Jordan Goldwire (9.6 points, 4.3 assists, 2.3 rebounds).
“[Groves is] so skilled,” White said. “One of the more skilled bigs that we’ll play all year, I’ve got to imagine, with his ability to drive it, to pass it. He’s got great hands. He’s a quick-thinker. He catches it in traffic and can fan it out, can finish on the interior, can make threes. He’s a really skilled dude who they play through and do a good job of it, and then they’ve got some veteran guards, of course, that can play. They’ve got good cutters. They space the floor on you. They’re a challenge.”
This game, though, isn’t about Oklahoma. It’s about the Gators being a better version of themselves than the one that showed up against Troy. Then, when the next game comes around, the goal will be to play better than they did against Oklahoma. The Sooners might be the opponent, but the Gators are really competing against themselves.
“We’re focused on growth and getting better,” Duruji said. “That’s our standard. We want to max out as a team. It’s another opportunity to play on the road. This is new. It’s a challenge, so we want to continue to get better.
“I think this team is really talented and really gritty, and I think we have a lot of potential, but we’re still not there. So, we need to try to continue to make strides.”