Welcome, friends!
Basketball season is well underway and that means it’s time for me to return to your inboxes with the Gator Country basketball newsletter!
This will hit your inbox near the end of each week with general musings I have about Florida basketball to supplement the regular articles at Gator Country. It can be some quick hitters, or I can rant about something that’s eating away at me.
I would also love for this to be a forum for me to answer questions that come from you, the Gator Country subscribers. So, if you have a question you’d like me to answer please head to the forums and send me a private message and I’d be happy to answer your question in one of these newsletters!
For the first time of many this season, here are some thoughts I am having about Florida basketball.
Trey Bonham is awesome, and might command more minutes at point guard.
I try to be bold with my opinions on Florida basketball and proudly state the opinions and beliefs I had, but I couldn’t quite be bold enough to share an opinion I couldn’t shake in the offseason.
I was starting to think that I thought Bonham would overtake Lofton as the starting point guard.
I started to believe it but it never turned into full on belief, so it was never an opinion I could fully share. Now, in retrospect, you’ll just have to believe me. Still, I’m not totally sure I think that Bonham would be better than Lofton as the full time starting point guard… but man, I might be getting there.
Lofton has a ton of experience and provides stellar passing ability and leadership. However, he is a below average offensive creator and a below average shooter, something that’s going to hinder him in SEC play. Remember rookie Andrew Nembhard? He was an otherworldly passer, but his lack of offensive pop limited his impact at times and therefore the team’s ceiling.
Trey Bonham, on the other hand, is able to create and knock down a shot–something that has been a breath of fresh air for an offense that is still searching for rhythm. Bonham doesn’t have the size or the bulk of experience that Lofton offers but in a game that revolves around putting a ball through a hoop one guy is a lot better at it than the other and it could make for some difficult coaching decisions down the stretch, particularly at the end of close games.
Are we seeing load management coming to college basketball?
Load management is a term that any NBA fan reading this will be familiar with as they hold out players, usually starters, for precautionary or rest reasons. It’s a huge issue facing the NBA as they try to balance player safety and making sure they have enough rest and recovery time while also making sure that the on-court product is satisfactory. Will Richard and Kyle Lofton both missed Wednesday’s game with what I am told are minor injuries, and ones that could be played through if needed. The Gators were playing Florida A&M, one of the worst teams at the D1 level, so it was the perfect game to give them some rest.
Load management isn’t something that we have seen at the college level yet, but perhaps the Gators will be one of the first teams to do it.
Personally–I’m happy the Gators were able to give some extra recovery time to these guys. I am huge on player safety and there won’t be much time for off days later in the season, so if you can give two starters a game off in November and still win by 40, you should probably do it.
Speaking of Florida A&M being one of the worst teams at the D1 level, prepare yourselves for this kind of scheduling.
Now that the NCAA has fully committed to the NET ranking and quadrant system for evaluating teams on Selection Sunday, teams who are wise are going to try to game it. One of the ways analytically savvy teams have started to change their way of scheduling is by realizing that when not playing the marquee high major opponents, playing teams in the 250-300 range (which is what Florida used to do) isn’t going to do anything positive while only giving an opportunity for a bad loss, so if you’re not playing games like the PK85 and you’re looking for a bad mid or low major opponent, you should literally find the worst teams possible to play.
This is a strategy that Florida’s coaching staff is going to utilize, so expect the Gators playing the 359th ranked KenPom team like Florida A&M was more and more. It’s not going to make for the most exciting home games, but it’s going to limit chances for bad losses while not really hurting the Gators’ NET ranking.
Kowacie Reeves not really playing in Portland was…awfully strange.
I’m still baffled by it.
The Gators lost a close game to Xavier and then got pummelled by West Virginia in games where they needed length, athleticism, and shot making–and they were keeping Kowacie Reeves off the bench. I have confirmed that Reeves was not injured, nor did he violate any team rules, so this was a pure benching for basketball reasons. Look, I’m not in practice every day so I don’t know what happened there, but based on what has happened in games it is extremely clear that Reeves shouldn’t just be on the floor, he should be on the floor for long minutes and important minutes, and he should be featured. Look, the modern game is won with athleticism and shot making and by not playing him in two important games I don’t think the Gators gave themselves the best chance at winning.
It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s in the past now and I hope that the Gators recognize what they have moving forward.
That’s all for now, see you next week!