Scouting Report: Florida Gators

It is going to be another big Saturday in Lexington. The Kentucky Wildcats fell short in their previous Saturday showcase game against Kansas, but will get another chance at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN against the Florida Gators. Despite the loss to Kansas, the Wildcats are still riding a five-game SEC winning streak and currently find themselves on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble at 15-7, 6-3. Meanwhile, the Gators enter Rupp Arena with a 13-9, 6-3 mark. This game has serious NCAA Tournament and SEC standings implications for both programs.

Coach Todd Golden wasted no time parlaying his success at San Francisco into a head coaching job in the Southeastern Conference. However, Coach Golden is no stranger to the conference. He spent two seasons working under Coach Bruce Pearl at Auburn before taking an assistant job out at San Francisco. After just three years he was elevated to head coach and turned in a pair of 20-win seasons including the Dons’ first NCAA Tournament berth in over two decades.

His arrival in Gainesville got off to a rocky start though. The Gators lost to Florida Atlantic, were blown out by West Virginia, and failed to beat a KenPom Top 100 team until January 14th. Florida was just 7-7 overall and 0-2 in the SEC early in the new year before things turned around. Now they have won six of their last eight including their most recent victory over #2 Tennessee.

As we do prior to every game, it is time to emerge from KSR Film Room and deliver another scouting report. We have a full personnel deep-dive, breakdowns of their offensive and defense schemes, and the overall keys to the game. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about the Florida Gators.

Florida Gators Personnel

Starters

#11 Kyle Lofton: 6’3″ 188 lbs, Graduate Student Point Guard

8.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.1 apg

Playmaker. Point Guard. Plays without turning it over. Not a good 3-point shooter. 12-44 from 3. Under 30% from his career. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. Much more dangerous as a driver than as a shooter. Have to stay between him and the basket at all times to take away his playmaking ability. Not worried about him shoot 3’s behind the ballscreens or handoffs. No right hand drives!!! Closeout short to him on the perimeter and guard against the right hand drives. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it. Go dig the ball out when #12 Castleton has it and then closeout short. Get your hands up and make him score contested 2’s with you between him and the basket. Don’t over help when he drives, especially driving left. No right hand drives! No layups! Don’t over help.

#0 Myreon Jones: 6’3″ 177 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.3 apg

Very willing shooter. 70 of 108 shots have been 3’s. Just 28.6% from 3. Has been much higher percentage in the past. Was 40% for two seasons at Penn State. Still need to treat him as a shooter because that is really all he is looking to do. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! You can help off of him some, but tighten up as the ball comes towards you and closeout to take away the initial catch-and-shoot 3. Then, once you take away the catch-and-shoot, bounce back and guard against the right hand drives. No right hand drives. You can hop under the ballscreens and handoffs. Just 4-22 from 3 off of ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and get over the flares. Do not over help when he drives it. He is mostly driving to pass. No catch-and-shoot 3’s!

#5 Will Richard: 6’4″ 206 lbs, Sophomore Guard

10.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.9 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s! 85 of 145 shots have been 3’s. 41.2% from 3. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch anytime there is too much space and switch out to take away the 3’s. Have to find him in transition. Always the next most dangerous guy. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot he is going to look to drive it right. He will drive it right to the rim and look for the pull-up going left. Need to contest all pull-up jumpers. Look to come take it off of him when he is driving it right. Not thinking about passing. 18 assists, 19 turnovers. Really pressure him out on the perimeter too. No 3’s!

#24 Riley Kugel: 6’5″ 207 lbs, Freshman Guard

6.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.9 apg

Very capable shooter. 37.2% from 3, but just two attempts per game. Need to be there to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3’s. He is hunting jump shots. Likes get into a one or two-dribble pull-up. Will use the shot fake on the perimeter to get by you and into his pull-up jumper. Stay down on the fakes! Likes to use the left to right crossover before his jump shots as well. No right hand drives! Very athletic and physical at the end of his drives. You need to stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Always coming back to his right hand to finish. Going to essentially play the “4” when he is in there, but he is a true guard. Have to treat him as such. Contest everything. Pressure him some. 18 assists, 31 turnovers. No right hand drives. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.

#12 Colin Castleton: 6’11” 250 lbs, Fifth Year Forward

15.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 2.6 apg

Skilled post. Quick and mobile. He is VERY right hand dominant. No right hand drives. No right hand, left shoulder post moves inside. Always coming back right to finish. Capable of making face-up jumpers out to mid-range as well. Need to be there to contest. Don’t be so tight to him on the perimeter though that he can drive it right. Just 2-13 from 3. Will keep it on the fake handoff on the perimeter to drive it right. Get over and cut him off. Always spinning, pivoting, and shot faking around the basket. Stay down, wall up, and be physical on his left shoulder. Make him score over you. Very good passer. We have to come dig and help, but wait until he dribbles it. More likely to turn it over if you come on first dribble. 58 assists, 57 turnovers. Take away the right hand!!!

Bench

#14 Kowacie Reeves: 6’6″ 192 lbs, Sophomore Guard

8.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.8 apg

Very willing shooter. 90 of 159 shots have been 3’s. Just 28.9% from 3. Was higher percentage last season. He is hunting catch-and-shoot 3’s so we want to still treat him as a shooter. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! Need to tighten up to him as the ball comes towards you can get ready to take away the initial catch-and-shoot. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Find him in transition. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s he is looking to drive it right. No right hand drives. Will reject ballscreens and handoffs to drive it back right. When he drives it right you can bring some help and try to take it off of him. Not thinking about passing. 15 assists, 19 turnovers. Just make him finish when he goes left. No catch-and-shoot 3’s for him!

#2 Trey Bonham: 6’0″ 170 lbs, Junior Point Guard

7.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.5 apg

Backup point guard. Good shooter! 73 of 125 shots have been 3’s. Not a great finisher inside so we want to take him away from 3. Handles the ball a lot when he is in there. Very aggressive. Need to get the ball stopped in transition and contain him off of the ballscreens and handoffs in the half court. Go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. Excellent shooting behind when you go under. 10-23 from 3 off of the ballscreen. You have to go OVER and be ready to switch out to take away the 3 if there is too much space. Will attack the basket driving it right. When he drives it left do not over help because he is looking to pass. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Make him finish contested 2’s. No 3’s behind the ballscreen!

#3 Alex Fudge: 6’9″ 200 lbs, Sophomore Forward

7.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.4 apg

Long and athletic backup forward. Good all-around skill set. Capable shooter. Need to be close enough to contest his catch-and-shoot 3’s. More dangerous as a pull-up jump shooter and right hand driver. No right hand drives! When he drives it right he is not thinking about passing. Pressure him as much as possible without getting whipped to his right hand. Not super comfortable handling it. Looking for opportunities to come take it off of him when he drives it right. 9 assists, 28 turnovers. Likes to shoot the pull-up jumper going left. Give a hard contest to all pull-ups or face-up jumpers out of the post. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. He does not want the game to be physical. Will fly in and crash the offensive glass. Box out! No right hand drives.

#33 Jason Jitoboh: 6’11” 300 lbs, Senior Center

2.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.4 apg

Backup 5-man. Big, strong, and physical around the basket. Has a decent shooting touch so he will stretch out to mid-range some with his face-up game. Get a hand up to contest when he shoots the face-up jumpers. Still primarily looking to score at the rim. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Just give ground and stay lower than him on the roll so they can’t throw it up to him at the rim. Don’t help up off of him at the rim and give up a dunk. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Don’t let him duck you in. Be physical and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Better finisher than free throw shooter. Foul if you are beat. No And-1’s. Box out! No dunks of him.

Florida Gators Offense

The Florida Gators run a Princeton-style offense with a lot of ballscreen continuity principles as well. In their Princeton offense it is primarily out of a “Chin” type look with #12 Castleton getting a catch around the elbow and then getting into “3-man side” and “2-man side” actions. We will break all of that down more in the film room, but expect to guard a ton of movement and back cuts. When guarding the Princeton the primary rule is that you WANT your man to have the ball. That is when they are least dangerous. So, jump to the ball when your man doesn’t have it and stay between your man and the basket at all times. We also will have to guard a lot of ballscreens and handoffs. They have guys we can go under on to help stay in front of the ball. Can’t go under #2 Bonham.

Despite running some unique offensive action, the Gators still rank just 146th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metric. That has come in large part due to poor three-point shooting. Florida is just 32.4% from deep, 257th nationally, on the season. Guys like #0 Jones and #14 Reeves have not shot anywhere near their career averages, but still must be treated as shooters in this one because that is what they want to do. When those guys get hot this Gators offense looks more like a Top 50 unit. They also get to the foul line a lot because of their constant cutting and ball movement. We must play without fouling to not give up easy points at the free throw line.

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About 20% of the Florida Gators offense is ballscreen based. That is among the higher numbers in the Southeastern Conference. Our ballscreen coverage must be sound and continue to show improvement from the Kansas game. We would definitely prefer to hop underneath on #0 Jones. He is just 4-22 from 3 shooting off of ballscreens and handoffs this season. However, if you do get caught going over you have to recover and get back in front with more urgency. Tennessee’s big man does a good job giving ground to take away #12 Castleton on the roll, but the guard never recovers back in front of #0 Jones.

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The obvious concern at all times when the Gators have the ball is #12 Castleton. His versatility at 6’11” makes him a really tough cover and he is the trigger point of almost all of their offense. Whether it be hopping underneath to take away the need to help at the point of the screen, being more aggressive with a hard hedge at the point of the screen, or quicker backside rotation, we must find a away to take #12 Castleton away on the roll. Error on the side of making their guards finish as opposed to giving him an And-1 like this on the roll.

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Here is a look at the Florida Gators Princeton-style offense. After #12 Castleton gets the ball at the elbow the point guard will determine the initial action. If he cuts to the right side as he does here that creates the “3-man side” actions. Two guards come together at the wing with one back cutting to the rim and the other either coming off of the handoff or turning to downscreen as you see here. The Gators are essentially in a zoom action here and #0 Jones shoots this one behind the ballscreen. At least to begin the game we will live with this. Just 4-22 shooting 3’s off of the ballscreen or handoff. Have to play the percentages.

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On this possession the Gators into the “2-man side” action with the point guard cutting over top of the ball on the elbow entry. The two guards come together with the first coming off for a handoff, but #12 Castleton keeps it. Then, he hits #0 Jones and get into a ballscreen. Whether we go under or switch the ballscreen we need to give a better contest to the jump shot here.

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Containing Florida offensively ultimately boils down to containing #12 Castleton. He is extremely right hand dominant and you have to be thinking about that at all times when guarding him. However, he is also very comfortable out on the perimeter so you will be guarding him off of the dribble a lot. He isn’t just a back to the basket threat. When he slips or pops into space, as you see here, he is going to get to his right hand. Look for opportunities to help and come take it off of him. LOVES to spin back to his left shoulder to finish with his right hand. Make him score over you!

Florida Gators Defense

This is where the Florida Gators have made their money this season. They have put together a Top 10 unit defensively on the back of elite rim protection and their ability to take away the three-point line. We hear a lot about analytics on the offensive end with teams wanting to take layups and 3’s. However, Florida has embraced that on the defensive end under Coach Todd Golden. They are excellent at taking away the exact shots their opponents are trying to get. Florida does that primarily by icing the ballscreens and funneling ball handlers towards the rim. They also forgo offensive rebounding in order to get back in transition which helps them protect the basket and take away transition 3’s. The Gators are among the best defensive rebounding teams in the country too.

Keys to the Game

• No 3’s for #5 Richard or #2 Bonham. Need to hold those guys to no more than three combined 3’s. Have to still treat #0 Jones and #14 Reeves as shooters despite low percentages. No more than three combined 3’s for them.
• Contain #12 Castleton. No right hand drives. No right hand, left shoulder baskets. Hold him below his average. Make everything hard for him. Come dig and stunt at him when he has the ball.
• Dominate the glass. The Florida Gators don’t try to offensive rebound so we have to end possessions with a defensive rebound. They also are excellent on the defensive glass. Need second chance opportunities. 80% or better on defensive glass.
• Shoot 75% or better at the free throw line.