The Gators are expected to attack South Carolina’s Gamecocks on Wednesday night. Florida, who is 7-3 in a conference game, faces his next SEC opponent from the comfort of his court and is in good shape to take down the Gamecocks. South Carolina, on the other hand, fought for most of the season. They enter this game after a loss to Vanderbilt, leaving them with a 2-4 conference record.
Throwing more than 37% off and averaging over 17 points per game, DJ Lawson is the most dangerous player on South Carolina’s list. He was a top 3 star recruit and ranked in a similar range in the class of 2018 recruiting as current Detroit Piston Saddiq Bey and Michigan state Aaron Aaron.
There isn’t much else on the Gamecocks list, however. Your best point guard is a terrible sniper. Its leader in minutes has an average of less than 10 points per game and its only notable feature is its ability to rebound. The ESPN Basketball Power Index gives the Gators an 83 percent chance of winning over this uninspiring group.
I’ll be honest – winning streak makes me nervous. The law of averages insists that the team will lose more strongly with each passing game, even if it overcomes the opposing team. Here are three things Florida can do to prevent Gamecocks from defeating them.
Don’t excel in attack
Mandatory credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Gators’ guards were nothing short of delightful in attack this season. Tre Mann took a big step as a top scorer in his difficult freshman season and Tyree Appleby’s skill set was well translated for the SEC. Together, they form an energetic and proficient pair. They serve as the basis on which coach Mike White can reliably enact a pick and roll attack.
The guards are the most obvious part of the equation, in fact, the whole list works well in this offensive system. Exactly why UF is so good at p’n’r was detailed in detail (and with much more skill than he could muster) in late January by Eric Fawcett for Gator Country. Here is a sample:
It’s not just the guards who do the job, as Florida has two fantastic pick and roll bigs. Colin Castleton is someone who assembles really good canvases, choosing the right angle to allow the guard to attack. He also has great hands to finish when a pass is fired at him and those great hands also allow him to finish. Much of being a good big pick and roll is the right time, and Castleton’s decisions about when to launch from the screen and explode towards the arch have confused the defenses and allowed many of Florida’s open shots.
If it’s not broken, as the saying goes, don’t fix it. The Gators clearly created a system that works. Why should they leave this system in a game that should be one of the softest in their programming? The technical team is eager to try, say, unorthodox lineups during the low points of the season, but we are halfway to the playoffs. Don’t think about it too much.
Just stick to what works, win a relatively easy victory, and give thanks when you walk out the door.
Stay out of trouble
(AP Photo / John Amis)
Scottie Lewis is back on the court with a new haircut, which means that the Gators are finally as close to full strength with Keyontae Johnson indefinitely. That being the case, it is important for the team not to scratch when it is imprudent to get dirty at the beginning, thus making it difficult to execute game plans with the people who should execute them.
This applies particularly to Tre Mann, who Fawcett called one of the country’s best pick and roll guards in the article linked above. He is a deadly sniper and the team’s main ball handler. However, he withdrew from the Gators in the last game early in the action with a quick couple of fouls, and did the same in the previous game as well.
It is an uncomfortable trend to define for the best player on the team, especially since the Gators have been fighting time lost everywhere else on the court. For this team to shoot all cylinders, Mann has to be involved. This is not to say that they are dysfunctional without him, but they certainly look better on the court than on the pine tree.
Keep playing physically
Mandatory credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The biggest point of criticism for the 2020-21 Gators has been their apparent inability to maintain a high level of defensive play, especially in the countryside. They showed their potential in victory against the West Virginia Mountaineers, a team that lives and breathes physicality, keeping them in relatively modest numbers in the areas where that team thrives. Here’s what we had to say after that victory:
Florida has been good defensively in recent games, but has not faced a physical confrontation like the Mountaineers in that period. This victory shows that the UF internal team, Castleton and Omar Payne, can succeed against elite internal teams, and their guard game remains solid. Consistency will still be the issue for the Gators, but at their best, they can certainly compete at the top level.
This game is a good chance to show that Florida can not only show flashes of physicality, but also use it as a weapon. Gamecocks are not an especially large team; only one of the top five in minutes reaches the 6-foot and 6-inch mark. Gators have a good opportunity to create size mismatches and increase physicality to an extra level.