Matt: Despite a loss to Ohio State on Tuesday, it’s clear this Florida basketball team is going to be very good this season.
It’s entirely possible this year’s squad is better than the team that went to the Elite Eight a season ago. But the Gators are being held back by one small problem: Erving Walker.
The diminutive point guard was “manhandled” and “physically beat up” by Buckeyes’ point man Aaron Craft. And those are Billy Donovan’s words, not mine.
Walker’s aggressiveness has long been an issue, and last night it cost the Gators the game. He consistently missed passes to guys on the wing waiting for wide-open looks, instead choosing to drive wildly and force a shot.
That’s been his modus operandi since Day 1, and it will continue to haunt Florida as long as he’s in the lineup.
Greg: I think you’re blowing Erv’s struggles a little bit out of proportion here.
I can’t defend the plays when he drove into the lane without a plan and left his feet without any options, but at the end of the night he only had three turnovers. Flashbacks to last year aside, that’s not a terrible number when compared to his four assists.
And, while his shooting was definitely off, he displayed a high level of basketball intelligence by only attempting six shots, at least four fewer than the other three players who logged 25 minutes or more.
Plus he had Craft, a 2011 Big Ten All-Defensive Team selection, on him the entire game.
He’s a leader, the only senior, and the best blend of scoring talent and point ability on the roster.
Besides, who are your other options?
Matt: Donovan talked Wednesday about one of UF’s most pressing issues coming out of the loss to Ohio State: distributing the ball.
Patric Young, who ended with a double-double on 5-of-10 shooting, had just two attempts in the first half Tuesday because Walker wasn’t looking his way. He also ignored a red-hot Erik Murphy in the early going after Murphy drained three straight threes.
“We’ve got to have a better offensive recognition of what’s going on,” Donovan said.
That’s a direct reflection on Walker, and, yes, there are plenty of other options.
Walker played major roles the last two seasons because the Gators didn’t have any other choice, but that has changed. Brad Beal and Kenny Boynton have the ability to average four dishes per game, and they’re much better scoring options and defenders than Walker.
Walker has shown that he’s not a great point guard, and when there are players on the roster that can bring the same thing from the point, but much more in other areas, then why not play them?
Greg: Walker may not be a true point guard, but he’s much, much closer than Beal or Boynton will ever be. Those two are certainly shoot-first players, as shown by their combined 26 shot attempts, two assists and eight turnovers against Ohio State.
Erv’s height will keep him from ever being an elite defender, but he became a much better distributor as last season went on.
Through the end of December, his assist-to-turnover ratio was exactly 1-to-1, but in games after the New Year, he notched 87 assists to just 49 turnovers, a ratio of 1.8-to-1.
He’s only getting better at this point, and trying to introduce someone different now can only slow the development of chemistry between Florida’s many talented pieces.
Matt: Florida doesn’t have any chemistry developed yet. That’s why it’s time to experiment with different lineups that don’t feature Walker in a prominent role.
Walker, just like Beal and Boynton, is a shoot-first guy. But unlike Walker, they should always be on the floor.
Walker plays merely because he’s “Big Shot Erv,” and he has a reputation and status in the program. But the truth is that even sophomore Scottie Wilbekin is a better option at the point.
UF looked best Tuesday when Wilbekin ran the show. The spin pass he made from the top of the key into Young was the best pass from a Gator since Nick Calathes left, and exactly the type Walker simply cannot make.
Florida has plenty of scoring, but what the team needs is someone who can see the floor and distribute the ball — that’s not Walker.
Greg: Forget experimentation. Florida already knows who its best option at the point is, and that’s Walker.
All the Wilbekin love has gotten way out of hand. He was certainly solid last year, but he offers nothing as a scorer and his 16.4 assist rating — the percentage of teammate baskets he assisted on when he was on the floor — was 3.7 percentage points lower than Walker’s.
The biggest thing, and you said it, Matt, is that he is “Big Shot Erv.”
When the game is on the line, Walker is the guy who beats the press, draws the foul and seals the game. That is, when he’s not draining 30-footers to send the game to overtime, like he did against Georgia last year.
Wilbekin, Beal and Boynton can’t do that. That’s why Walker is UF’s man at the point.
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org and Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
