Buckle up, the thrill ride is just beginning for Golden's Gators
It was just a step back three that began with a couple of dribbles and a jab step to separate from 6-7, 240-pound Devin McGlockton, who was expecting Xaivian Lee to try to drive the lane. It was perfect execution by Lee, who took a step back and let fly from 22 feet a 3-point shot that touched only net as gravity did its thing. Florida 95, Vanderbilt 94. Forty-five seconds remaining, so it wasn’t exactly a buzzer beater, but it was pure clutch, a shot taken with total confidence.
Vandy wouldn’t score again thanks to the kind of defensive intensity you get from hungry teams that refuse to lose. AK Okereke got the ball in the lane where he discovered Florida’s big blue wall with 19.1 seconds left. Met with Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Tommy Haugh, Okereke had the ball poked off his leg. Three Vandy players scrambled but couldn’t get the save as the ball rolled out of bounds. The clock showed 18.1 seconds left.
Lee was fouled on the inbound pass. He made the first of his two free throws making it 96-94. Still enough time – 18.1 seconds – for a Vandy three to win. Too much time. Remember the Duke game?
Tyler Nickel rebounded Lee’s miss, flipped it forward to Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt’s version of Mr. Clutch this season. No three available when he crossed midcourt on the dribble, so he took it straight to the rack, figuring a layup and perhaps a foul for an And-1. No such luck. In his way was Rueben Chinyelu so the shot went high off the glass. Way too high to go in, rebounded by Alex Condon who was fouled immediately.
Condon at the line, 6.1 seconds left, a 96-94 Florida lead. Remember what happened at Duke? How about the end of the Missouri game? Vandy fans screaming with lungs ready to burst “Air ball! Air ball!” as they had been doing every time Condon touched the ball after he let loose with a couple of air balls from 3-point range earlier in the game. Unfazed, Condon drained both shots. Four-point Florida lead (98-94).
Vandy needed a miracle but the Red Sea never parted and the bottled water they sell at Memorial Gym didn’t turn to wine. Tyker Nickel’s desperation heave drew iron and Chinyelu grabbed the rebound. No time left. Florida wins.
Shades of March and April last year. Remember Walter Clayton Jr. and that barrage of threes that ended seasons for UConn, Texas Tech and Auburn? Remember Houston’s last four possessions in the national championship game, especially the last one when perfect defensive execution by Will Richard, Alijah Martin, Condon and Haugh forced a last second three by Emanuel Sharp, who couldn’t get a shot off because Clayton came flying through the air like the greatest American hero?
The Vandy win was like that. No championship was on the line, but this game had a championship feel to it and it was a statement game for the Gators. Arizona, TCU, Duke, UConn and Missouri have a Florida notch on their belts, but those games were more about what Florida did to lose than what they did to win. The Gators missed shots. They made bad decisions. They didn’t defend with intensity at white knuckles time. They turned the ball over.
The Missouri game was like the switch that flipped on the Florida lights. The Kentucky game last year was like that for the Gators. They came back from Kentucky a team determined to play up to its vast potential and they wound up winning a national championship.
Since Missouri, we have seen what the rest of the season should be like for the Gators. That shot Xaivian Lee made with 45 seconds left against Vandy? That would have clanged off the iron in the past. He hasn’t shown the propensity to nail threes consistently here at Florida, but he has it in him. He did that with regularity for three years at Princeton.
Boogie Fland, who so flawlessly broke Vandy’s backcourt pressure, is in the process of becoming the point guard everyone expected when he transferred in from Arkansas. It’s not an accident the Gators have scored more than 90 points in the last four games, all of them wins. Fland and Lee have found the chemistry that wasn’t there earlier in the year. They know where each other are at all times on the court, but better yet, they know where their teammates are. Against Vandy, six assists, one turnover and the turnover was when a pass in traffic skipped off Fland’s hands. It was almost unavoidable. These two guys play with the level of confidence you find in championship back courts.
Haugh is probably the best player in the league. Vandy coach Mark Byington admitted that and UConn coach Danny Hurley called him a lottery pick. Chinyelu has gone beast mode. He scores, he rebounds. He defends. He’s scary. Condon quietly puts up solid numbers and makes great decisions with the basketball at the top of the key. Off the bench Micah Handlogten, Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown have become the three pieces Todd Golden needs in the 8-man rotation it takes to win championships.
There are still 13 SEC games remaining, plus there is the SEC Tournament before the madness of March begins. Way too much time before a championship banner can be hung from the O-Dome rafters, but at last we are seeing what happens when the Gators get it all together.
Perhaps we need to look back on those five losses as stepping stones. Every coach will tell you how much he hates to lose, but losses can be productive and in Golden the Gators have a coach who has proven he can turn a loss into lessons that bring about future wins.
So buckle up boys and girls. The thrill ride is just beginning and the Gators have what it takes to lay waste to everyone who gets in their way the next two-and-a-half months.
WORST TO FIRST: THE 16 SEC TEAMS
16. South Carolina (10-8, 1-4 SEC): He’s sandwiched two losing seasons around a 26-8 record in 2024. It is going to be a struggle to get to 15 or 16 wins, which he’s going to need to save his job.
15. Mississippi State (10-8, 2-3 SEC): The Bulldogs can win home games but they are road kill. If Josh Hubbard can’t make shots, they’re toast.
14. Oklahoma (11-7, 1-4 SEC): The Sooners don’t rebound particularly well and they’re one of the worst defensive teams in the SEC, particularly vulnerable to teams with strong inside games. Russian center Kirill Elatontsev is going to have to play well for the Sooners to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.
13. LSU (13-5, 1-4 SEC): Until Dedan Thomas Jr. returns from an undisclosed leg injury that has caused him to miss all five SEC games, the Tigers are going to struggle. They have shooters but they don’t have anyone like Thomas who can get them the ball. LSU fired a football coach who was winning but couldn’t get the Tigers into the playoff. Matt McMahon might finish with a decent record but if the Tigers don’t make the NCAA he could be a goner.
12. Ole Miss (11-7, 2-3 SEC): The Rebels don’t shoot the ball very well, they’re one of the worst rebounding teams in the SEC and they’re erratic defensively, yet they’re very dangerous because there are nights when they do put it all together. If Malik Dia gets in foul trouble or has a bad night the Rebels are in trouble.
11. Auburn (11-7, 2-3 SEC): The Tigers are an enigma, capable of taking Houston to the wire and blowing out Arkansas but equally capable of getting their doors blown off by Michigan and losing winnable games like Georgia and Missouri. If Keyshawn Hall is having a bad day at the office then Auburn is going down in flames.
10. Texas (11-7, 2-3 SEC): Other than FAU transfer Matas Vokietaitis, the Longhorns don’t have any inside presence so they have to win track meets. That has had mixed results, a loss to Mississippi State at home and a win at Alabama. The Longhorns will likely make the NCAA Tournament, but as a 7-through-10 seed.
9. Missouri (13-5, 3-2 SEC): The Tigers beat Florida to open the SEC season, but since then they’ve flamed out against Ole Miss and LSU. They have scorers like Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone but they are inconsistent offensively if they’re not draining threes. Defense and rebounding are spotty. Mizzou is capable of beating nearly every team in the SEC but also capable of losing to everyone.
8. Texas A&M (14-4, 4-1 SEC): Sooner or later the weak schedule is going to catch up with the Aggies. New coach Bucky McMillan’s shoot till you happy approach wears down lesser teams, but the Aggies don’t rebound well and they’re vulnerable to anyone that takes the 3-point game out of the equation. If Rashaun Agee gets cooking they’re very tough to beat, especially at home.
7. Arkansas (13-5, 3-2 SEC): When both Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas are making shots, the Razorbacks are tough for anyone to handle, but they are a weak rebounding team that can get its doors blown off by teams that pound it inside. Razorbacks have to win track meets that are open floor games.
6. Tennessee (12-6, 2-3 SEC): Oh how they miss Zakai Ziegler. Ja’Kobi Gillespie can light it up, but he’s not the defensive presence nor is he the leader that Ziegler was. Rebounding is suspect. Felix Okpara can block shots, but he’s no better offensively as a senior than he was when he was a freshman. Freshman Nate Ament is one dimensional. Scoring yes. Rebounding and defense no.
5. Georgia (15-3, 3-2 SEC): This is easily Mike White’s best team. They are capable of scoring in bunches and Somto Cyril is the SEC’s top shot blocker, but if Jeremiah Wilkinson and Blue Cain aren’t hitting threes, they’re vulnerable.
4. Kentucky (12-6, 3-2 SEC): The Wildcats have shown signs of life with dramatic comeback wins in their last two but the season ending injury to point guard Jaland Lowe will bite them in a big way. Denzel Aberdeen has led the last two comebacks and he’s critical to Kentucky becoming a real factor in the SEC race.
3. Alabama (13-5, 3-2 SEC): They’re effective if they can make threes and get the game going at track meet pace, but they’re a poor rebounding team and they don’t defend the inside well. Labaron Philon Jr. is the Tide’s best player, but he doesn’t get a lot of help. If Aiden Sherrill gets into foul trouble they’re in deepest and darkest.
2. Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2 SEC: They don’t have the size or inside power, but they have the shooters, they play the passing lanes well and they have three dynamic players in Tyler Tanner, Duke Miles and Tyler Nickel.
1.FLORIDA (13-5, 4-1 SEC): Now that the guards are playing well together and Todd Golden has found the seventh and eighth men for his rotation (Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown), the Gators are capable of making it all the way to the Final Four. Nobody has four bigs better than Rueben Chinyelu, Tommy Haugh, Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten.
Tuesday’s games
LSU (13-5, 1-4 SEC) at No. 19 FLORIDA (13-5, 4-1 SEC)
No. 10 Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-2 SEC) at No. 17 Arkansas (13-5, 3-2 SEC)
No. 21 Georgia (15-3, 3-2 SEC) at Missouri (13-5, 3-2 SEC)
Auburn (11-7, 2-3 SEC) at Ole Miss (11-7, 3-2 SEC)
Oklahoma (11-7, 1-4 SEC) at South Carolina (10-8, 1-4 SEC)
Wednesday’s games
Texas (11-7, 2-3 SEC) at Kentucky (12-6, 3-2 SEC)
Mississippi State (10-8, 2-3 SEC)
Outstanding article Franz! Great win for the Gators! Our guards are now playing as a team with our bigs. The team is fun to watch!
Great analysis! Gators are starting to put it together for both halves!
There is a link between Curt Cignetti and Todd Golden, both coaches adeptly using the transfer portal to find overlooked talent, hungry and teachable kids who don’t put individual stardom above teammanship. We’ve only had one former 5* on a Todd Golden Florida roster, and Boogie Fland has proven to be a player who enables teammates to produce their best results. Todd turns previously obscure players and overlooked, under-valued recruits into champions. We’re witnessing this year’s team developing along the lines of last year’s NCAA title winners.