What Did We Learn About Gators Basketball vs. Texas A&M, Georgia?

What can we take away from the Florida Gators loss to Texas A&M and a win over Georgia in a two-game home stand to tip-off 2023?

Photo: Colin Castleton, Will Richard and Myreon Jones; Credit: University Athletic Association (Maddie Washburn)

Gators basketball is 1-1 in 2023 after a week that contained an odd mixture of highs and lows for the program.

Standing at 7-6 (0-1 SEC) prior to January, head coach Todd Golden was candid about the importance of the week ahead when asked about the home matchups with Texas A&M and Georgia staring them down.

"When you're trying to figure [out] what our team really is, this is another opportunity to learn who we are," he said during a media availability at the beginning of the week. "We're excited to get these games at home."

It marked the first time Florida would compete against middle-tier teams this season after six Quad I games and nine Quad III and IV games. 

Golden expressed optimism for the road ahead as a result.

In the first contest, the Aggies got the better of the Gators in a close matchup. The defeat was the first bad loss of the year for a team that endured one of the tougher out-of-conference schedules in the nation. It was their first non-Quad I loss of the season (Quad III) following adjusted metrics to account for the dropped game to an excelling mid-major squad in the NET top 15 FAU Owls.

Despite the sense of urgency provided by Golden and veteran guard Myreon Jones to walk away victorious in the first leg of a two-game home stretch against formidable but conquerable opponents, the Gators were met with the same unfavorable result.

However, when Georgia visited just a few days later, Florida saw the light bulb turn on offensively to down the Bulldogs. The win over Mike White in his return to Gainesville sits as the arguable highlight of the year for Florida to this point.

It marks the question: Can UF build off that victory to produce more favorable outcomes against equally matched and superior teams moving forward?

All Gators attempts to answer that questions by providing three takeaways from the first week of the new year as it pertains to the rest of the season.

Florida's defense will keep the Gators in games

The area of the Gators' operation directly controlled by head coach Todd Golden is excelling at this stage in the season.

Despite some early kinks in the defensive unit that created concern for Florida's ability to stop opposing offenses as it got into tougher competition, the Gators' defense has produced at the top of the NCAA through 15 games.

Ranked No. 34 in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Kenpom.com, the Gators have allowed 93.3 points per 100 possessions (just under 13 points more than Tennessee — who is ranked first — with 80.5).

They've showcased the ability to limit opponents in half-court sets all year long and continue to strengthen in transition — a notable early-season struggle — as they reduced the number of players crashing down for offensive rebounds to get back on defense.

Playing with active hands as well as a mixture of on-ball pressure and rim protecting, Florida's defensive prowess is subtly keeping them within striking distance of teams in each of the last five contests. The consistency in that area bodes well for the future.

While the effort is team-wide, the inside help from Colin Castleton, the team's first scoring option, is monumental. His defensive presence is his most significant contribution to the team in his fifth collegiate season. He's accounted for 45 blocks in 15 games (three per game), including four against the Aggies and seven against the Bulldogs this week.

The Gators, as a whole, have found ways to eliminate possessions from their opponents all season long with fast-acting defensive efforts in the backcourt as well. Trey Bonham and Kyle Lofton have each flashed signs of excellence when working against opposing ball handlers this season, poking away dribbles and obstructing passing lanes at a high rate.

The Gators are forcing 13 turnovers per game to aid some of their scoring woes with buckets in transition. The 64 points allowed per game (72 against power six opponents) mark allows them to contend with any squad they face, even on one of their many off nights shooting the basketball.

They've allowed just two teams to score over 80 points all season, both in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, and discombobulated No. 6 UConn to give away the ball 15 times.

The moral victories will only go so far. However, at least they have a defined identity to lean on moving forward.

The defense is doing its part. The offense will be the true determinant of success.

Offensive success is determined by no singular player, but rather a collection of players

It can be easy to group offensive success with one individual's performance in the modern basketball era.

For Florida, having Castleton perform at a high level usually produces solid returns for the unit on the stat sheet and the scoreboard. That's a major reason he sports one of the highest usage rates of any player in the NCAA during his time on the court.

However, we learned this week that for Florida's offensive attack to be genuinely efficient and sustainable, it must be multi-dimensional.

Against Texas A&M, Florida struggled to combat the Aggies' tempo early in the contest and glimpses of those detrimental lapses appeared throughout. As a result, the Gators turned the ball over 20 times, with Castelton and Bonham accounting for 13 combined.

While the largest worry was Florida's continued inefficiency in putting the ball in the bucket away from the rim, a subsection to the overarching issue was the Gators' half-court offense.

Given the skill set of the Gators' big man inside, a large chunk of Florida's offensive scheme is to operate through Castleton. Whether he set up near the top of the key/elbow in pick and roll or received an entry pass in the low post, the Aggies were swarming the DeLand, Fla., native. It limited his ability to utilize the rare mix of power and footwork on the interior.

Simultaneously, the lack of off-ball movement plagued Florida.

It relied heavily on his ability to pass out of the double teams, but Texas A&M's defensive rotations made it difficult for the Gators to find the spot-up shooters they hoped to in those situations. Instead, the Aggies created lanes for back door cuts to bode in Florida's favor — as seen by a slash by Jones for an easy bucket off a dish from Castleton — but the Gators failed to take advantage.

He was forced to make multiple attempts at cross-court heaves toward teammates, but A&M intercepted the overhead pass attempts to take them in the other direction.

The decision to limit movement toward Castleton or the basket resulted in the Gators producing just 44 shot attempts to the Aggies' 61. It was the deciding factor in the loss due to the relative outplaying of Texas A&M in most areas following a slow start.

The outing was a microcosm of the year as a whole.

The Gators learned that lesson as they welcomed Georgia into Gainesville. The offense — albeit taking a minute to get into a rhythm — saw more variety.

It still worked through Castelton at times but saw success through involving more players in the attempts to score.

Getting the likes of off-ball pieces Will Richard and Kowacie Reeves Jr. involved, with an aggressive attack from the guards, Lofton and Jones, the Gators produced one of their better showings of the year. 

All five pieces — Castleton included — scored in double digits to will the Gators to an 82-point performance (their highest mark since Ohio in mid-December) on 49.2% from the floor. That came even as Bonham, the leading scorer against Texas A&M and the only viable option against the Aggies, failed to get on the board.

It proved that the Gators' scoring woes aren't a result of one player not getting involved or producing at a high level. Instead, it lacks consistency in sharing the basketball, creating open looks and taking advantage of those shots when they're available.

They found the fix on Saturday. Can it continue?

Florida basketball isn't as bad as its record indicates. But, it has to win the games it's supposed to and some it's not

The Gators, sitting at 8-7 (1-2 SEC), are entering a crucial point to the year with the momentum they built from a big victory over Georgia.

The win lives m up to their billing as a team whose record failed to illustrate the competence of Florida this season due to the drastic variance in opponents.

However, when March arrives, and the madness ensues, efficiency metrics — ranking top 100 in both offensive (90th) and defensive (34th) efficiency margins halfway through the season — aren't going to get the Gators into postseason contention.

Their record and résumé of wins will. 

To this point, Florida has endured a gauntlet of an out-of-conference schedule with numerous top-50 opponents at home, on the road and at neutral sites. The case for an at-large bid is lacking.

In the first and second taste of home SEC action, a week that should have consisted of two kickstarting victories, the Gators split a crucial opportunity to slide into the upper-middle tier of the SEC with one win and one loss. They added their first non-Quad I loss of the year by falling to Texas A&M.

In the coming weeks, beating the likes of TAMU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and others shouldn't be the main focus if this Gators team looks to meet Golden's expectation of fielding an NCAA Tournament team in year one. Those games should be won. It's the expectation.

The focus will be on beating the borderline SEC contenders. With a trip to Baton Rouge to take on LSU and No. 20 Missouri heading to Gainesville on the slate in the second week of January, Florida is set to begin serious competition in arguably the deepest conference in college basketball this season.

There are meetings with a bevy of top-25 squads on the horizon. Potential national championship contenders stand in their way in the coming weeks.

For Florida to make their mark, it will have to steal a few games from the upper echelons of the SEC while maintaining the high-level performance against the teams it outmatches.

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