The last 8 minutes of the game he would stand on the wing, little to no movement to help himself or others to get open, lazy is all I can say. Coach has to work on a half court set that works with movement and play players that can work with the team so we can eat time when we need to. The last two games show that certain players don’t get it if he is working with the team to move without the ball
I feel bad for him. He is frustrated and sad. He needs a total 180, but that would be surprising. From what we've seen at end of last year and this year it's obvious he needs to be the best player on the floor and if not then he's lost. BD would have benched him for a full game around game 4 or 5, and then make him play D and only D for about 5 games. You work your ass off in practice or you don't even get that. You either learn humility and become a team player or sit.
That picture says it all. While it’s easy to disparage Kugel after yesterday let’s remember many star athletes are carrying the hopes and dreams of family members and friends on their shoulders. Perhaps financial pressure as well. It’s so easy to base your self worth on your athletic performance. That’s what I see in Kugel there.
I think Kugel was built up more than he is. When our center went down last year Kugel stepped up. A lot was expected of him this year and I'm sure he read the clippings as did most gator fans. But the reality is he is not the super star that he was made out to be and that's not fair to him. He may be trying to live up to the hype and it's just not happening. This year, we have so many other guys taking the load and shining which makes his lack of contributions more glaring.
I think people read too much into this stuff sometimes. Richard, Pullin, and Clayton are playing exceptionally well right now. Kugel isn’t. My honest opinion is that he struggles to play with multiple bigs. He took off last year with a rotation of Jitoboh, Shimmy, Fudge, and Richard at the 4-5. That’s a lot of space to operate in with his drives. The offense also ran through him after CC went down because we had no one else who could create his own shot. Our personnel is entirely different, and our halfcourt offense is to some degree, as well. The other three perimeter guys have found their stride with it. Kugel hasn’t. And I completely disagree with criticisms of his defense. He was dominant before he got hurt. By far our best perimeter defender. Pullin passed him up, and Richard largely has, too. His offense has affected his defense a little (as even Golden said yesterday about Richard earlier in the year). But he isn’t sitting for that reason at all. In any event, we absolutely need him to get right. His length, strength, athleticism, and hops enable him to get his shot whenever he wants to. And his stepback three is lethal—probably shoots it better that way than catch and shoot.
isn’t he one of the highest paid NIL guys on the team and maybe even SEC? Hard to bench a player when a donor has a lot invested financially.
As bad as our interior defense was in the last 10 minutes of regulation, I wondered if he would have been a defensive stopper
I believe I heard that on the Florida Basketball Hour podcast but in general it is hard to get any information on NIL contract details in any sport.
Not making first team in elementary school, my comments must be taken in that context. Too many players, in UF history, although many points guards, after a mistake try to make up for the mistake with a great play,, which is another mistake. He is having the same problem and it is building on him. Also feeling pressure from others. Love a board you can opine on with no personal knowledge.
Sure hope he turns it around, we really need him...our other 3 top guards are playing WAY too many minutes are wearing down at the end of games.
Was surprised he was preseason all sec and think he is feeling that pressure every time he misses a shot or turns it over. Evidenced by bad body language. Seems to be trying to make NBA shots/passes. When it doesn't work he gets down. It doesn't help that some of our guys can't handle his passes. Thought he got more hype than deserved preseason, but now think he gets more criticism than deserved. Btw, he wasn't in the game during the last 5 min collapse. I'm rooting for him. Go Gators.
He’s trying to play an NBA ISO game in college, instead of playing within the flow with his teammates. He often pauses and gives his man time to set his feet, dribbles too much, and then isn’t able to beat his man because of it. He then doesn’t have a mid range game to pull up, so it’s either 3 or driving into the lane, which he really struggles unless it’s a dunk. Think he’s also having a hard time being on a team where he’s not needed to be the man.
It's as easy to bench him as it ever was. What, did you think he would be wearing an "Eat at Joe's" sandwich board?
