Solving The Backup Point Guard Problem

Depth shouldn’t be a major problem for the Gators this year with multiple frontcourt bodies coming off injuries and the addition of some useful backcourt pieces in Andrew Nembhard, Keyontae Johnson, and Noah Locke. However, the backup point guard position caused the Gators all kinds of problems last season and it’s not an area they were able to distinctly address in the offseason. As they approach a season with high hopes and a veteran starting core that could do damage late into March the question of who could be the primary ball handler off of the bench still looms and it’s one I want to discuss today.

Starting Point Guard

First, an assumption. I think freshman Andrew Nembhard gets the nod here. He’s the only true point guard on the roster (more on that later) and his busy summer of international basketball for Team Canada’s U19 and Senior National teams, as well as his development at the basketball factory that is Montverde Academy, should have him ready for the massive stage that is the SEC. His passing ability is absurd, and with the starting lineup used to the distributional artistry of Chris Chiozza I think Nembhard could fill that role instantly. Possessing good size at 6’3” he’ll be able to compete when he switches on defense and his basketball IQ should often make up for foot speed that isn’t particularly impressive. Though I didn’t think he shot the ball particularly well and his stroke doesn’t look that polished in high school he was consistently above 40% from behind that arc in international competition this summer and that FIBA 3-point line is a stride further from the basket then the NCAA line. One reason he actually might not start? He may be better suited to helping out some of the bench guys as opposed to the starters. Jalen Hudson is going to have the ball in his hands a TON this season with the starter and Keith Stone will also be initiating a lot of the offense from pretty much anywhere on the floor. Nembhard is more of a true point guard and if Hudson and Stone are your #1 and #2 options having someone who could spot up and shoot a bit more or defend the position at a higher level might be the move. Additionally, I think Isaiah Stokes is going to a tough, tough matchup on pick and rolls and pick and pops and Nembhard is a surgeon when it comes to passing off screen plays. The Nembhard-Stokes pick and roll or pick and pop could be devastating to opponents and that combination would require Nembhard out with the bench. However, for the sake of this article, I’ll largely be making the assumption that Nembhard is the starter, but if you disagree you should still find some great info here that helps you in your own opinion.

Minute Load

How many minutes does the team actually need to cover up here? Chris Chiozza played 32 minutes per game last year, obviously leaving 8 minutes for someone else to do spot duty. Chiozza was elite in his conditioning and also was so relied upon that I don’t think he could be rested as much as Coach White would like so I wouldn’t expect 32 minutes from our starter this season. My belief that Nembhard is going to start also affects my opinion here and the fact that he’s a freshman probably means his conditioning isn’t going to be at a high level quite yet. With the average power five starting point guard playing around 29-30 minutes per game, I’m going to guess Nembhard plays 27 and we’ve got 13 minutes of bench play to figure out. Those are pretty valuable minutes, as even the 8 minutes per game Chiozza sat out last year turned pretty sour at times. The Gators scored 0.21 points per possession less when Chiozza was off the floor last season and though that could partially be skewed due to garbage time situations I think anyone who watched the games last year knew our offense was not the same without him.

Now, let’s look at some players who could fill the role of backup point guard.

Michael Okauru

Known as a point guard coming out of college last year Okauru was thought to be one of the options to back up Chiozza last year. The thing was, that didn’t actually happen. Even though he was probably considered to be the backup point guard by a lot of people the tracking stats actually suggest he only handled 2% of Florida’s point guard minutes last year (Chiozza played 77%, you’ll find out who covered the rest shortly if you don’t already know). Now, I don’t tell you this to say Okauru isn’t a point guard and I definitely don’t mean to suggest that he can’t play it moving forward, I just think it’s important to know that he barely played point guard last year, instead playing off the ball and using the 40.4% spot-up shooting abilities no one expected him to have out of high school where him lacking a jumper was a knock on his game. Could he shift back to point guard this season? Potentially. I think his handle looked loose at times when he did handle the ball last year and that will be an area he’ll need to improve if he’s going to initiate offense. Even though he barely played point guard last year he was still third on the team in assist rate and that suggests he has pretty good vision and the ability to generate for his teammates. He also has good length and a defensive toughness about him, something that could help him earn some valuable minutes for Coach White. If the team is going to rely heavily on Hudson and Stone offensively putting Okauru as the starting point guard with the starters could actually make sense as he’s a guy who doesn’t need the ball in his hands and could just be a spot up shooter, hopefully matching his clip from last year. Additionally, that saved effort means he could keep up the defensive intensity he showed last year which you’d definitely want on your starting unit. He’ll factor into the point guard discussion, that’s for sure.

KeVaughn Allen

Who, according to the tracking stats, was technically last year’s backup point guard logging 22% of the total point guard minutes for the team? Okay, I spoiled it with the header, but I’m guessing that stat comes as a surprise to many of you. KeVaughn Allen didn’t play any minutes at point in his first two seasons before getting pressed into service when he was trusted with backup minutes as a junior. Those minutes didn’t go particularly well with the Gators dropping 0.21 points per possession with Allen running the point versus when Chiozza was on the floor. Allen actually played really well as the point guard against zone defenses keeping up production similar to that of Chiozza’s regular numbers (my theory being that his shooting from the top of the key worked well against the many 2-3 zones the Gators faced) but against man defenses he struggled. Allen’s assist rate was second on the team at 14.3% (Chiozza was 22nd in the nation at 36.1%) and he took care of the ball really well (266th in the country in turnover rate) but there was just something about the way the offense struggled with him on the floor that made him at point not seem right. In all fairness to him his point guard minutes almost always came with the Gators’ bench unit, one that wasn’t very efficient offensively, so perhaps he will be better in the role when he plays with the much-improved reserves this season. As the player who actually played the backup point guard minutes last year I think he would be the leader to take the role again even if his production wasn’t outstanding in the job.

Noah Locke

Noah Locke is an interesting option that we may not see at point this upcoming season but is one I could see taking the reigns in the future. Locke has told me on multiple occasions that he prefers playing off the ball than handling it but also that he’s open to playing some point guard if needed. He’s been taking some point guard reps in practice this summer and his ability to shoot off the dribble is one that could really pressure defenses and is a skill he could likely bring better than Okauru or Allen. Though he is a freshman and I can’t point to any big-time college stats as an indicator of what he could accomplish, his scoring ability in grassroots basketball was well-established and if the Gators wanted to bring him in as a change-of-pace scoring guard he could really give opponents a different look than the pass-first Nembhard who I think will be starting games. Getting Locke comfortable at the point could also be helpful with the star-studded nature of the point guards White is bringing in. There is a chance Nembhard could be headed to the pros after this season and it wouldn’t be shocking if Tre Mann went one-and-done in 2019, so having a player like Locke who could be a multi-year guy get some point guard experience to help in transition times could be valuable. Standing at 6’2”, Locke moving to point could also help his NBA dreams as he’d go from being an undersized shooting guard to a decently sized point guard. I’m not sure we’ll see Locke get the primary backup point guard role this year, but we may see it in the future.

Jalen Hudson

Here is one that hasn’t been talked about at all but one that I thought I should throw out. We know Hudson is a ball-dominant player and his ball skills are conducive to a lot of point guard play. He also played some point guard in high school and even took 10% of the point guard minutes when he was at Virginia Tech. That’s not a ton of college experience and that was several years ago at this point but I could genuinely see Coach White rolling out a long lineup with Hudson running the show. If Coach White staggered minutes and got Hudson out with the bench we could see a lineup of Hudson-Locke-K. Johnson-C. Johnson-Stokes, a lineup that’s pretty switchable and has Noah Locke and Chase Johnson spacing the floor while Hudson creates off the dribble or runs pick and rolls with Isaiah Stokes. Hudson takes great care of the ball (66th in the country in turnover rate) and his assist rate while playing point at Virginia Tech was passable (15.9) but putting him at point would also be all about him getting favorable matchups against small point guards and letting him pressure defenses with his scoring. Hudson will also be looking to showcase himself to NBA teams with this being his final season and proving himself as a 6’5” ball handler could do great things to his draft stock. With him not playing any point guard last year this could seem like an odd proposition, but it’s one I could see working.

Who do you think handles the backup ball handling duties for the Gators? Let me know on the Gator Country message boards.

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_.