By: Eric Fawcett -- April 8, 2025 When Todd Golden was hired at Florida he came in with an analytical approach, and he took the unshakeable belief in that style into whatever game the Gators were playing. Given that, it seemed rather poetic that the Gators would find themselves in a National Championship game with a Houston Cougars team who, well–couldn’t be more on the opposite side of the spectrum. Florida’s Unshakeable Belief In Analytics The Edge They Needed In National Championship Game | GatorCountry.com
I won't parse the whole thing, but it seems to me the simple point was/is: learn the other team's tendencies, figure out - through analytics - what usually works well in a championship-level game and what doesn't - and then bait the other team/coaches into implementing the not-work things in their game while attempting to take away those aspects that probably would work. Or just use a more intuitive approach and say "Sampson has not apologized to the basketball gods in earnest and so karma WILL strike him/them down at the most painful moments for his indiscretions." Personally, the intuition method seems less stressful, but maybe that is just me.
Nice read, but not totally accurate. Says we missed both our mid range shots. Will Richard made one and depending on the definition of “midrange”, we made several more.
That is a fascinating and illuminating article! I had no idea the analytics stretched into these areas. If I remember, I may watch our games slightly different now, as I’ll be more aware of what our analytical strategy entails. Eric, this may be your best article this year (among many) Well done and thanks!
Midrange - of or having to do with a shot that is taken in the middle range of the basketball court, generally in the 4’ to 10’ distance from the rim, measured in a half circle from the rim. (I made this up)
Whatever "midrange" means, if you get an open look against Houston, take it. 'Cause you won't get many.
It’s not like some of this is a new concept. Good teams are good teams because of a combination of factors. On offense, many can score inside or outside and as a coach, sometimes you have to pick your poison and/or adjust your game to give you the best chance. It’s why Billy switched and put Noah on Oden vs Horford on Oden in the 2007 NC game. Horford would defend Oden better but he also knew Horford could defend the 3 better. Billy rightly figured whoever was guarding Oden would be in foul trouble and if Horford was on the bench, that would be a worst case scenario. Kudos coach.
Defenses also follow analytics and hence the use of "drop" defenses to take the rim away on drives. Aberdeen and Clayton were great at pulling up short with "floaters". The new midrange shot.
It also helped that he could send in a defensive tackle named Cliff Ricketson, or something. Oden just bounced off Richardstons.
You can see our shot chart below. My eye is non-scientifically detecting four midrange shots, of which you are correct that one went in. Either way, it is clear that Houston took way more. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401746082/florida-houston
Sort for just the 2nd half and it becomes amazing that we won especially since uh was playing with the lead at halftime and the volume of extra shots they got off. Mega congratulations to CTG for instilling the grit necessary to out rebound by 8 on the defensive glass and valuing the importance of FTs by everyone (exception for MH)
We came back in multiple games. Was it our "grit" and "will to win" or did we just wear the other teams out? I think both were important but I don't know which one was more important. Discuss.
Both, I would say equally important. Some non traditional coaching strategies played a big part as well.
This is a great topic to discuss because we will never know, to any certain degree, what was THE most important factor in this team's run of success. I'll offer mine, based on my life's experiences: TRUST I saw ample evidence that this team shared a bond of trust between the members of the team, and between the coaches and the team. The selflessness we saw time after time only happens when the people involved trust each other. Coaches can tease individual attributes out to a greater/lesser extent as needed to win but the core element of trust, and the willingness to trust others, is an innate characteristic, formed from the cradle, a person's life experiences imparts. 'Trust' and 'love' are two attributes that are so inextricably tied to each other and are two sides of a coin. Hard to say where one stops and the other starts but I sure saw a lot of both from these youngsters.
