OGT-Florida vs Merrimack College 12/5/2023 7:00 pm SECN+

2nd half

 

Nice to see adjustments being made.
Love the team fight
Condon has a beast mode.
Clayton has mad scoring skills

We have to figure out how bring it consistently
Pullin is a big part of that
I hope Micah fully recovers soon
We're best at a fast pace

Glad we avoided a bad loss.
Looking forward to watching this team grow

 

Just watch the second half, LOL.

 

I lurk every game. Don't post often but I specifically remember you saying he will get a T if he keeps doing that from a few games back

 

Richard continues to struggle. Kugel; only 5 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers. Impressed by Clayton & Condon, no doubt.

 

this zone was gonna cause problems for Kugel’s game. I wasn’t surprised he struggled tonite.

 

i missed it. Perhaps he was pissed bc he had told him to cut this crap a few games ago.

 

Glad to see the bench used.

Imagine Haugh and Condon together as seniors. Both 80% FT and 40% from 3.

 

Yep. He made some really careless passes.

 

Just back from the game.

They ran a very active 3-2 zone. I was impressed with how effective it was and it helped them that the refs were pretty much letting both teams play. In the first half we tried to break it by passing to a big in the middle. That is usually the first option for breaking that kind of zone, The result was bad passes and balls getting stripped. In the second half we attacked the zone off the dribble especially with Clayton. That worked.

Another thing that worked was that they expended a lot of energy running their zone D in the first half and in the second half their defensive rotations to the three point line were a lot slower and Clayton got a lot of very clean looks. And they were now shooting with tired legs.

 

He was using a foam roller just before the second half and was doing stretches when he could at stoppages of play. I used to be a bike racer and it looks like he is having some tightness issues that can be VERY painful. I give him a pass on this game because he trusted his teammates to get the job done.

 

Florida Basketball: Five takeaways from win over Merrimack Warriors

 

He's supposed to be NBA quality and a team like Merrimack affects his game??!!!

 

Man I've always loved a good 3-2 zone. Best case especially against another team running a 3 guard offense like so many teams are today. If a team can cover the area between the three point line with their three guards and their bigs protect the lanes its really tough to break. But they have got to move their feet.

On offense, its always best to get the ball past the free throw line on the wings against a 3-2 before reversing it cross court to set up open drives in the lane if you can take advantage of it. I didn't see any of that from us in the first half. The best offenses can get the ball to the corners only to pass it into cutters coming down the lanes for easy layups or bounce passes into the bigs along the base line. We didn't seem to follow much of any plan in the first.

 

Upon Further Review...

Overall another "teachable" game and another chance for players' games to mesh. A win is a win. A couple of, um, "points":

1) free throw shooting. It is like the O-line in football. It needs to get better or else it WILL lose games.

2) I still do not like that our "help" defense inside does not help us when they can't cover the 3 shooters. I continue to say, if their bigs PROVE that they can overcome ours, THEN use help. Otherwise we are not being "in the moment", we are slow to react. I know there is a reason why Golden and White both had this issue and I defer to their coaching acumen and philosophy. But still, I just don't get it.

A couple of other observations and a grumble. I wish we could figure out how to incorporate Rishwain and Aberdeen. As of now, they really don't have a role to play. We can't go pick-and-roll with Aberdeen and drive and dish to an open Rishwain? This all feels like a hole in the system that is going to bite us going down the stretch. Maybe we can devote more time doing that in the "gimmie" games coming up. Unfortunately, we need some time tuning up Richard and even Kugel, although I think Kugel is too casual in his demeanor and not out-of-synch. The freshmen are doing a great job. I do hope they hold up against the SEC bigs.

Now to a gripe. Merrimack's "star" player is a sophomore wing with some really nice poise. They also had at least two true bigs that were major college level (depending upon what the coach wants). Are you telling me that a MERRIMACK COLLEGE can sign players like this and a team like a UF somehow is on the outside? What I mean is they signed these players and they were developed (the star had to sit last year and pay his dues) and while they aren't going to win the NCAA tournament, they are not worthy of being a part of a collective whole on a really good team? Really??? Gotta do a better job of finding these players. The splash signings are good. The bench is just as important. End of my rant.

 

Typically, you conserve energy when playing in zone.

 

Looked into Derkack’s Hs film on YouTube and was even more impressed by his play. He’s a guard who we need asap.

 

Remember when we lost to Virginia 73-70 and some people said Virginia wasn't very good and that it was a bad loss? I agree that we could have won the game, but the Cavaliers are 8-1 now and probably will be ranked next week.

 

I don’t know wtf some people look at to conclude we’re not worthy of being ranked when we’ve competed against literally every team on our schedule and were in position to win all our games. Some people are just salty in general and use this platform to vent their frustration.