Boogie Fland: "We still haven't played our best basketball"

Alex Condon dunks in two of his 25 points against Bama (Photo courtesy of UAA Communications)

The play that defined Florida’s 100-77 blowout win over 23^rd-ranked Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC) came in the final 23 seconds of the first half. It was still a competitive game at the time – 19^th-ranked Florida (16-6, 7-2 SEC) held a 44-36 lead – when Labaron Philon Jr., the SEC’s leading scorer, got the ball on the left wing beyond the 3-point line. Due to a defensive switch, Philon sized up Rueben Chinyelu, figuring either to blow by on the dribble or a stepback three.

What Philon didn’t count on was Chinyelu was every bit as quick. When he tried to drive, Chinyelu cut him off and played him so tightly that he couldn’t launch a shot. Frustrated, he passed off to Latrell Wrightsell, another lithe, very quick guard. Chinyelu switched to Wrightsell, guarding him tightly as he dribbled across the paint. Sensing the shot clock about to expire, Wrightsell tried to cross over and draw a foul. He rolled snake eyes.

First off, Chinyelu went straight up, no contact. Second, Wrightsell shuffled his feet. Traveling violation with 6.9 seconds remaining in the half. The O-Dome crowd of 10,627 nearly blew the roof off the building.

“That was crazy,” Tommy Haugh said. “That was the best play of the game in my opinion. He was out there locking him up."

Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush of Chinyelu’s stop that turned this game into a feeding frenzy. The Gators went into the halftime locker ahead 46-36. Four-and-a-half minutes into the second half, it was 58-36.

During that stretch, all 12 of the Gators points came on free throws, dunks or layups. Defensively, the Gators blocked three of the four shots Alabama managed to squeeze off. The Gators forced four turnovers that were converted into six points. There was still 15:30 left to play, yet this game was all but over. The closest Alabama could get to the Gators was 16 with 3:24 to go when the score was 87-71.

This is the BDA (battle damage assessment) for the game:

Alabama was helpless against Florida’s starting front line of Alex Condon, Haugh and Chinyelu, who combined for 61 points, 29 rebounds, 10 assists, five blocked shots and four steals. Condon had 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocked shots and two steals. Haugh had 21 points, five rebounds, one assist, one blocked shot and a steal. Chinyelu had 14 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal.

The bigs weren’t the only ones who imposed their will on Alabama. Boogie Fland scored 15 points with eight assists and eight steals. He turned the ball over only once. Xaivian Lee played without turning the ball over, scored six to go with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Coming off the bench Urban Klavzar scored 11 to go with four rebounds and four assists.

This was complete domination against a quality team, yet Fland insists the Gators still have more in the tank.

“We still haven't played our best basketball,” Fland said. “That is the crazy part. We're scoring 100 and not playing our best basketball yet. So that is crazy. We still have more to grow, more room for improvement."

As pleased as he was with Florida’s effort, particularly on the defensive end and taking care of the basketball, Todd Golden agreed the Gators haven’t hit their peak yet.

“Until we start shooting the ball better in a game like this, I think that's accurate because I think we got some good looks and we shot 23 percent from the three,” Golden said. “Like, if we would have gone, 6-for-13 in this game, yeah, maybe that's probably what we got. But I think we're going to look back on this tape and feel like we missed some opportunities to score in transition and we didn't make some open threes. So I agree with that statement.”

This was the second straight game in which the Gators have not only ratcheted up the defensive intensity, but made themselves so difficult to defend by sharing the basketball. Against South Carolina, the Gators held the Gamecocks to 48 points on the defensive end while racking up 28 assists. Against Alabama, the Gators held Alabama to 15 points below their season average and they had an assist on 24 of 40 made shots. Among Florida’s 24 made shots were 11 dunks.

Oats sounded like a shell-shocked coach in his post game remarks.

“We had a lot of turnovers in our backcourt,” Oats said. “So, it’s hard to win a game when you’re -16 in the turnovers, -6 on the O-boards. Talk about trying to win a possession game; they destroyed us in a possession game. I mean, they scored 100 points and only made three threes. You don’t take many threes when you’re getting dunks and layups off turnovers. So, 25-0 on points off turnovers; not sure I’ve ever been associated with a game like that.”

The strength of Alabama is the backcourt. Oats’ philosophy is 3-pointers and layups. When Philon, Aden Holloway and Wrightsell are neutralized the Bama offense slows way down. Up front, the Crimson Tide has no counter for Florida’s size and versatility on the inside.

Philon, Aden Holloway and Wrightsell combined to score 44 points, but they also turned the ball over 10 times. Up front Aden Sherrell and Charles Bediako were embarrassingly ineffective. Before fouling out, Bediako had six points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Sherrell scored 13 but he only had five rebounds.

“Everybody’s afraid of Florida’s frontcourt, and rightfully so,” Oats said. “I mean, they’re tough, they’re good, they’re skilled. Chinyelu is one of my favorite players in the league, and he ends up with 14 and 17, which is a ridiculous number, 17 rebounds. But the guards really kind of controlled this game here.”

The Gators have reached the midway point of the Southeastern Conference schedule. A week ago after the disappointing loss to Auburn, fans and pundits alike were questioning if the Gators had it in them to play up to their potential. The way they have ratcheted up the intensity on both ends of the court in the last two games, certainly has turned heads.

Although he doesn’t think the Gators have hit their ceiling yet, Golden thinks the Alabama game was the closest the Gators have come to a truly complete game all season.

“I think we played really well against Tennessee here also, but today was more of what it looks like for us,” Golden said. “We shot the ball well, if I remember correctly, in that game. Today, we only made three threes. Only took 13 of them. It was an Arizona-like box score. When I say that, Arizona doesn't shoot a lot of threes, but they score a lot of points. Again, focusing on taking care of the basketball, winning the rebounding battle and defending. We had eight kills in this game, which is three stops in a row against Alabama. That's really, really hard to do. That was huge accomplishment for us. And 13 for 28 from two, held them under 50 percent from the two-point range, which, again, is fantastic.”

Game notes: On his final day as the world’s tallest teenager, Olivier Rioux scored points 99 and 100 for the Gators when he rebounded his own miss and stuck it back in. As of today, Rioux is a 20-year-old … Fland’s eight steals tied the program record held by Clifford Lett … Golden has won 22 games against top 25 opponents, second only to Billy Donovan (64). Of course, Donovan was Florida’s coach for 19 years and Golden is in year four.

SEC This Week

Tuesday

Ole Miss (11-10, 3-6 SEC) at Tennessee (15-6, 6-3 SEC)

South Carolina (11-11, 3-6 SEC) at Texas (13-9, 4-5 SEC)

Wednesday

Texas A&M (17-4, 7-1 SEC) at No. 23 Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC)

Oklahoma (11-11, 1-8 SEC) at Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC)

Saturday

No. 19 FLORIDA (16-6, 7-2 SEC) at Texas A&M (17-4, 7-1 SEC)

No. 15 Arkansas (16-6, 6-3 SEC) at Mississippi State (11-11, 3-6 SEC)

Oklahoma (11-11, 1-8 SEC) at No. 18 Vanderbilt (19-3, 6-3 SEC)

No. 23 Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC) at Auburn (14-8, 5-4 SEC)

Tennessee (15-6, 5-3 SEC) at Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC)

Georgia (16-6, 4-5 SEC) at LSU (14-8, 2-7 SEC)

Missouri (15-7, 5-4 SEC) at South Carolina (11-11, 2-7 SEC)

Ole Miss (11-10, 2-7 SEC) at Texas (13-9, ,4-5 SEC)

WORST TO FIRST IN THE SEC

16. Oklahoma (11-11, 1-8 SEC): The natives are restless. The buyout for Porter Moser is only $5.1 million.

15. South Carolina (11-11, 2-7 SEC): Lamont Paris is headed for a third losing season in four years. He’s on the hot seat.

14. LSU (14-8, 2-7 SEC): Can the Tigers break even the rest of the way? That might get them to the NIT.

13. Mississippi State (11-11, 3-6 SEC): The Bulldogs don’t play again until Saturday against Arkansas.

12. Ole Miss (11-10, 3-6 SEC): The NIT would be an accomplishment for Chris Beard.

11. Missouri (15-7, 5-4 SEC): The Tigers don’t play until Saturday against South Carolina. They need to start stringing some wins together.

10. Texas (13-9, 4-5 SEC): The next four games are very winnable and will go a long way toward determining if Texas makes the NCAA tournament.

9. Georgia (16-6, 4-5 SEC): The Bulldogs have lost three in a row and are starting to look like an NIT team.

8. Auburn (14-8, 5-4 SEC): Tennessee broke Auburn’s 5-game winning streak. The Tigers have all week to get ready for Alabama on Saturday.

7. Alabama (14-7, 4-4 SEC): Bama needs a bounce back win over the Aggies this week. They go to Auburn Saturday.

6. Tennessee (15-6, 6-3 SEC): The Vols have won three in a row and are starting to look like a legitimate contender.

5. Kentucky (15-7, 6-3 SEC): The Wildcats had an interesting week, getting their doors blown off by Vandy then winning on the road at Arkansas. It’s going to be that kind of a season for UK.

4. Arkansas (16-6, 6-3 SEC): The Razorbacks look unbeatable one night and then they lay an egg like they did against Kentucky.

3. Vanderbilt (19-3, 6-3 SEC): The Commodores don’t have a weekday game and don’t have a game until Saturday at home against Oklahoma. They need Duke Miles to get healthy in a hurry.

2. Texas A&M (17-4, 7-1 SEC): The Aggies won at Georgia. Can they win in Tuscaloosa?

1. FLORIDA (16-6, 7-2 SEC): The Gators are the best team in the SEC. Any questions?