Florida was finally able to take the court again after a two-week layoff which is great for a number of reasons, one of which being this very newsletter!
I’m so glad you tune in every week to read my musings about Florida basketball, it truly means a lot to me!
But, enough of the sentimental stuff, let’s get to some thoughts.
Florida coming out flat against Arkansas should have been expected.
When Florida came off their non-conference pause and played great against Vanderbilt that may have given people some false expectations that teams can come off lengthy pauses without missing a beat. While Florida did play well in that scenario, for most teams pauses have been devastating. Additionally, the later in the season the pause, the worse that teams usually have been when coming back.
That was definitely the case against Arkansas. Florida was ice cold from the three-point line hitting less than 20% of their attempts, and for a team that has been great from behind the arc this season that is definitely something that can be chalked up to rustiness.
The Gators also attempted to play a matchup zone defense for a stretch, which was nothing short of a disaster. That is a difficult style of defense to play that is all about communication, and considering the Gators had all of one practice with everyone able to participate before the game, some sloppiness could have been expected.
However, this can’t totally be chalked up to sloppiness.
When it comes to missing open shots that a team would regularly hit, I think it’s fair to say it’s rust. For Florida, that was the case on a number of possessions where Noah Locke, Tre Mann, or Tyree Appleby had a good look at a three that didn’t fall.
However, much of Florida’s issues were problems they have had all season. There were defensive breakdowns guarding the pick and roll, and a lack of urgency in transition defense.
Some of Scottie Lewis’ and Tyree Appleby’s turnovers were deemed due to rust on the TV broadcasts, but when they are the same turnovers that have happened all season I think that’s more of an underlying problem and not just an issue that came from Florida sitting out for 13 days.
There are going to be some people that look at the loss as a throwaway due to them coming off a break, but there were issues that I don’t think can just be chalked up to rust.
Let’s also remember that Arkansas is a good team.
The Gators were expected to lose this game by 4.5 points, if you’re into the betting odds, so it’s not like letting the game slip was some choke job by the Gators. That number didn’t even factor in that Florida was coming off a pause, so the spread could have been much wider.
Right now Arkansas is arguably the hottest team in the SEC, except for maybe Alabama, and losing to them in a vacuum isn’t a bad loss, especially on the road. The Razorbacks have beaten some good teams this year and will likely beat some more. They have excellent upperclassmen full of experience, and a couple of elite freshmen highlighted by likely one and done talent Moses Moody. It was certainly a frustrating game for Florida, but let’s not forget how good a team Arkansas is.
Florida’s late game execution left much to be desired.
The Gators were up by 1 point with around three minutes left and ended up losing by 11.
That’s rough.
They truly got blasted in the final minutes of the game, in clutch time where each possession has extra value.
A large part of this was the fact that Florida’s ball handler duo of Tre Mann and Tyree Appleby weren’t able to get the job done. In the final minutes of games it’s all about scorers who can get the ball and make plays, and these two simply didn’t perform at a high enough level.
They weren’t able to get separation and challenge the defense and when they had looks at three, they often weren’t able to convert. Appleby had 7 turnovers, many of which were him forcing something that wasn’t there, and down the stretch it still seemed like Mann never had his rhythm or his feet underneath him.
Florida was also unable to guard straight line drives, a problem that has plagued them all season. Getting dominated in the final minutes of a close game definitely can’t be encouraging for this team.
One last thing:
The book on how to beat Florida is out.
The Gators are one of the most pick and roll reliant teams in the country and in fairness to them they have been really effective with it–until the last two games.
It started with South Carolina who used “drop” pick and roll coverage–dropping their big man into the paint while the player guarding the ball handler chases over the top. It’s a conservative way of playing pick and roll defense that gives up midrange shots but takes away the rim.
It also takes away from multiple help defenders needing to be involved in the play, eliminating drive and kick opportunities.
The Gamecocks completely shut down Florida’s pick and roll attack, and in doing so won the game.
Arkansas saw that and then employed the same strategy. It was very apparent that they took the strategy from South Carolina because all season they have “hedged” pick and rolls, so the change against Florida was totally noticeable. Like South Carolina, the Razorbacks had great success with it. The Gators struggled to get good looks all night as Arkansas never got themselves into rotation, simply giving up floater after floater to Florida.
And, for the second game in a row, Florida didn’t have an answer. They kept going to the pick and roll like they have all season, not totally sure what else to do against a defense that was suffocating them.
Big props to Arkansas for a great scout. They made adjustments based on their opponent and their players were able to execute a really good game plan.
For Florida, they simply have to have some more offensive options. Against South Carolina they knew the Gamecocks would drop pick and rolls and they didn’t come with a gameplan to counteract it, which is frustrating.
Against Arkansas they were probably expecting a hedging defense, but when they saw something different they weren’t able to adjust.
Heads up, teams are going to continue to drop pick and roll coverage against the Gators as they haven’t shown they can handle it in any form or fashion. They desperately need to adjust if they want to win games.
That’s all folks, have a great week!