MATT: The Gators completed a full-on walk of shame last night, arriving back in Gainesville with their scaly tails tucked neatly between their legs following a 20-point shellacking in Lexington, Ky.
On the surface, there wasn’t much positive to draw from the incredibly embarrassing loss that saw star point guard Erving Walker go scoreless for the first time since 2008. But don’t fret about Big Blue Nation’s dominance of Gator Nation. Don’t worry about seeing freshman phenom Brad Beal on the wrong end of SportsCenter Top 10 dunk. And definitely don’t frown about Florida’s cold shooting — even Jordan’s Bulls had an off night every now and again.
Brighter days are ahead, and Kentucky has to come to the O’Dome on March 4 to close out the regular season. Plus, there’s one more thing that’s certain to pique your Florida basketball interest going forward: This year’s team is miles ahead of the one that advanced to the Elite Eight a season ago.
GREG: Tuesday’s loss may not be cause for concern, but don’t be so quick to say this year’s team is better than last.
The 2010-11 Gators will ultimately be remembered as an Elite Eight loser, but on two separate occasions they were one bucket away from advancing to an extremely winnable Final Four.
Last year’s team blended talent and experience, and it showed in the results. The senior leadership of Vernon Macklin, Alex Tyus and especially Chandler Parsons made that team mentally tough, and by the end of the year they were prepared to handle anything.
UF’s 2010-11 team finished 9-2 in true road games, showing none of the discomfort and unsteadiness that has this year’s group 2-5 in those situations.
MATT: While several of your points are salient, they’re also contradictory.
Saying Parsons, Macklin and Tyus were prepared to handle anything is a bit of a stretch when you consider they couldn’t close out an overmatched Butler team. Florida advanced to the Elite Eight last season, but that achievement alone can’t be used as the sole barometer of success.
Last year’s Gators were smoked early on by Ohio State at home. This year’s team fared much better against a Buckeyes squad that’s arguably improved over a year ago, and that game was on the road. UF also lost games against UCF and Jacksonville in 2010-11.
Jacksonville for crying out loud!
The talent suiting up in those fancy new jerseys is clearly superior, and the only area in which the Gators are currently lacking is development of a killer instinct. But the terrible losses and the inability to put away an inferior foe when it mattered most tell me that this year’s team has a much higher ceiling.
GREG: Last year’s team came together as the season went on, and the group that played in March was hardly the same team that fell to Jacksonville and UCF.
If the 2011-12 group comes together in the same way it’ll have a shot at outpacing last year’s team, but it’s not there yet.
UF lost Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus in the low post and added only Walter Pitchford. Is that really an improvement?
Florida also lost the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in Parsons and replaced him with Brad Beal.
For all his talent, Beal is a worse rebounder shooting a lower percentage with none of the point guard skills that have Parsons playing 24 minutes per night as an NBA rookie.
How are the Gators better off?
MATT: You made my point for me, Greg. Thanks buddy.
This year’s Gators still have plenty of room for improvement, you’re right on that. And while Florida lost Tyus and Macklin, it gained a full-time role from sophomore Patric Young, who has been an absolute force when healthy and properly conditioned.
Beal doesn’t do all the things Parsons did from the three spot, but neither did Parsons 20-some games into his first season as a Gator. Beal is further along than any freshman in the country not wearing blue and white, and he’s only getting better.
This incarnation of Florida also hasn’t had the systemic failures that caused losses to Atlantic Sun and Conference USA opponents last year, and it ranks third in the country in offensive efficiency — 11 spots higher than last year’s team.
Last night’s loss against Kentucky will only serve as a launching pad for improvement, and with this team’s ability to shoot the ball from range, a run to the Final Four is still completely in play.
GREG: Sure, this year’s team has the potential to ride hot shooting all the way to New Orleans, but it could just as easily go cold from outside and be knocked out on the tournament’s opening weekend.
The Gators have taken 44.1 percent of their shots this season from three, ranking sixth in the nation and more than 12 percentage points higher than last year’s team.
No Final Four team in the last nine years — since Kenpom.com started tracking these things — has taken more than 42.1 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. On top of that, 23 of the last 36 Final Four teams were at 33 percent or lower.
That’s why this year’s team is built to impress and last year’s team is built to win.
Contact Matt Watts at mwatts@alligator.org and Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org. Vote for the winner online at alligatorSports.org.
