Good morning, my friends at Gator Country!
It’s Thursday morning, which means ready or not, I’m coming to you with a few thoughts I have about Florida basketball.
Here is the Around The Hoop newsletter!
If you are as good as who you have beat…
…then this team really has some work to do.
We can debate the classic saying in college sports of “you’re as good as who you’ve beat,” which I personally think has a bit of merit but it’s the end all be all, but it certainly gives some indication. Right now the Gators have played 5 good (to great) basketball teams in Xavier, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, UConn, and Oklahoma… and lost to them all. Perhaps most disappointingly, they haven’t looked fantastic in any of those games other than what I will call quite a good effort against Xavier.
Clearly things aren’t going great, and I’m not looking to pile on, but it’s awfully concerning to see the Gators 0-5 in quadrant-1 opportunities, as that’s the record against quad-1 teams you expect from low-major squads.
This is especially concerning going into SEC play where nearly every game will be quad-1 or quad-2. The Gators simply haven’t shown they can beat that caliber of team.
However, if I wanted to be positive, I’d say…
Things have not gone well for the Gators, at all really, BUT–they are currently 55th in KenPom, the college basketball analytics tool that is treated as something close to gospel when it comes to ranking teams. Things could be far, far worse for the Gators as there are plenty of high-major teams off to horrible starts that are way outside the top 100, showing how quickly the wheels can fall off for teams that might actually be bad. For the Gators to have all these struggles but be 55th in KenPom, it shows there is still something there.
No Felder?
I’m a bit surprised to see CJ Felder get a DNP-Coach’s decision against Oklahoma on Tuesday. Felder began the season as a starter before getting his position usurped by Alex Fudge, and now it’s at the point where he can’t even get on the floor.
It seems Felder is caught in the identity crisis the Gators are currently having. To start the season, the Gators weren’t great on either side of the floor, but they weren’t terrible, either. Then they started to score the ball, but couldn’t get stops on the other end. Now, the Gators are defending better, but can’t score.
Felder is someone whose value largely comes on the defensive side as a brute force 6’7” body that can move his feet pretty well on the perimeter. Offensively he hasn’t give a lot, but the ball doesn’t stick in his hands and he’s fully committed to playing a role within the offensive system.
While he hasn’t given much offensively in his year and a half at Florida, I still think he has a lot more game than he has shown. Simply look back at his time at Boston College where he was handling the ball, hitting jumpers, and isolating against future NBA big men in the ACC. Of course on that Boston College team (who was not good–and that’s important context) he was relied on to be one of the top options as opposed to now at Florida where he has committed to being a role player.
There were certainly times I was finding myself wishing he was on the floor against Oklahoma, so it will be interesting to see where Felder is in the rotation as SEC play starts.
Does Florida need to change up its offense?
Consider this a plug for an article I wrote at Gator Country last week breaking down their continuity ball screen offense. If you haven’t read it, it’s the kind of nerdy breakdown that only someone reading this basketball newsletter would enjoy.
Florida is running a continuity ball screen offense, and right now I don’t think it’s getting the most out of the talent.
It’s fairly predictable, and I don’t know if it gets the most out of the personnel. Tuesday was yet another game where the offense struggled, and it might be time for the Gators to look at shifting things up.
Florida’s Jordan Brand affiliation matters a ton.
Tuesday saw the Gators play Oklahoma in Charlotte for the Jumpman Invitational, a tournament that brings together schools sponsored by Jordan Brand.
Florida’s affiliation with Jordan Brand is absolutely massive, and I’m not sure it has been talked about enough.
This is all due to recruiting. Jordan is the premier brand combining athletics and streetwear in contemporary American culture and it matters greatly to players that they look good and feel good before they play good.
Talking to players Florida has recruited, I know the Jordan affiliation matters, and it matters a ton. Several players have told me that it plays a huge role in them considering Florida, one former Gator has told me (half-jokingly, at least I presumed) that it was the reason he chose Florida, and I have talked to a top-100 player in 2024 (who Florida hasn’t offered) that has told me if he gets an offer from a Jordan school he will take it over a Nike, Adidas, or Under Armour school–just because he wants to wear Jordan.
Is it completely shallow? You can be the judge–but the fact of the matter is that the Gators have an absolutely massive recruiting advantage by being a Jordan school and the Jumpman Invitational was an opportunity to remember that among the many recruiting advantages that UF has, their apparel and shoes are one of them.