Forget the rankings, the Gators are the best basketball team in the SEC

Tommy Haugh could be SEC Player of the Year (Photo by Chris Spears)

The best basketball team in the Southeastern Conference already has three losses and will have the perilous assignment of taking on a really good UConn team in Madison Square Garden tomorrow. Should we be worried?

Nope.

The Florida Gators (5-3) may have slipped in the rankings (No. 18 in both polls), but that’s because of the three losses. Closer look shows the Gators have lost the three by a combined 11 points and that includes a 6-point loss to No. 1 Arizona in Las Vegas and a 1-point loss to No. 3 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both of those were winnable games.  

In two of the three losses (Arizona and TCU) the Gators turned the ball over way too many times. In all three losses, the Gators shot the ball poorly from the 3-point line. Critics believe these are problems that will haunt the Gators throughout the season. If you take a look at what happened in the second half of the win over Providence and the loss to Duke, then you realize that when the Gators put it all together they are a force to be reckoned with.

Playing a full game, bell-to-bell of focused, intense basketball. That is what separated last season’s national championship Gators from everybody else. Focused and intense, the Gators were the best team in the country. When this team puts it all together with any measure of consistency they’re going to be as good or better than every other team in the country.

What we saw of Boogie Fland in the second half of the Duke game is the reason he was such a high priority for the Gators in the free agent market of the portal. Yes, he had a crucial turnover at the end of the game, but he’s not exactly one to repeat his mistakes. Next time he’ll split the double team and take it down the middle rather than allow himself to be forced to the wing where the out of bounds line becomes the equivalent of a third defender. Boogie can drive, can make shots and he can get the ball to teammates.

Xaivian Lee has been somewhat of an enigma, but if you watch him handle the ball in traffic and show up first at loose balls on the floor, you know that he has instinctive skills. The shooting has been a real issue, but this is a career 37 percent 3-point shooter. He’s in a slump and maybe one or two good games away from regaining the confidence in his shot. Todd Golden says he makes the shots in practice so it’s probably a matter of when not if he breaks out.

Golden may have found something at Duke that will work very well the rest of the year. He went to full court pressure that wasn’t necessarily designed to turn Duke over, but to slow their offense to a crawl. Once Duke got the ball across midcourt, it took another few seconds to organize the offense, particularly when the Gators dropped into a 2-3 zone. Florida’s three big guys across the back line removed the corners and the quickness of the guards as well as Tommy Haugh made it tough to find open shots from the wing.

Haugh is playing his way into SEC Player of the Year contention even though the SEC portion of the schedule is more than three weeks away. He is the ultimate hybrid, capable of playing on the perimeter, handling matters at the high post or running the baseline. He’s averaging 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

If the Gators can keep Alex Condon (15.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists) and Rueben Chinyelu (10.2 points, 11.2 rebounds) out of foul trouble that front line is going to be formidable. If Condon’s outside shot comes around and Chinyelu continues to be forceful going straight back up after securing an offensive rebound, the Florida offense will take off.

Golden’s first guys off the bench are 7-1 Micah Handlogten on the front line with Urban Klavzar on the perimeter. Handlogten (4.6 points, 6.3 rebounds) needs to get back into a groove, but he’s an extremely good offensive rebounder. Klavzar has become Florida’s lethal weapon 3-point shooter. He can go into a shooter’s coma and whatever he throws up will go in. Isaiah Brown has become the third guy off the bench while CJ Ingram is more of a defensive stopper.

All the ingredients are there for the Gators to become dominant. Once they put two halves of good basketball together, they should start trending to consistency. Forget what the rankings say. This is the best team in the SEC and it will begin proving out very, very soon.  

POLLITIKS

(SEC teams in bold face)

Associated Press top 25: 1. Arizona 8-0; 2. Michigan 8-0; 3. Duke 10-0; 4. Iowa State 9-0; 5. UConn 8-1; 6. Purdue 8-1; 7. Houston 8-1; 8. Gonzaga 9-1; 9. Michigan State 8-1; 10. BYU 7-1; 11. Louisville 8-1; 12. Alabama 7-2; 13. Illinois 7-2; 14. North Carolina 8-1; 15. Vanderbilt 9-0; 16. Texas. Tech 7-2; 17. Arkansas 7-2; 18. FLORIDA 5-3; 19. Kansas 7-3; 20. Tennessee 7-3; 21. Auburn 7-3; 22. St. John’s 5-3; 23. Nebraska 9-0; 24. Virginia 8-1; 25. UCLA 7-2

Coaches top 25: 1. Michigan 8-0; 2. Arizona 8-0; 3. Duke 10-0; 4. Iowa State 9-0; 5. UConn 8-1; 6. Purdue 8-1; 7. Gonzaga 9-1; 8. Houston 8-1; 9. Michigan State; 10. BYU 7-1; 11. Louisville 8-1; 12. Alabama 7-2;13. Illinois 7-2; 14. Vanderbilt 9-0; 15. North Carolina 8-1; 16. Texas Tech 7-2; 17. Arkansas 7-2; 18. FLORIDA 5-3; 19. Kansas 7-3; 20. Tennessee 7-3; 21. St. John’s 5-3; 22. Nebraska 9-0; 23. Iowa 8-1; 24. Auburn 7-3; 25. Virginia 8-1

SEC BASKETBAL

(Associated Press rankings)

No. 12 Alabama (7-2): Alabama launched 57 3-pointers (made 16) against UT-San Antonio and still won 97-55. Labaron Philon Jr. had 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals for Alabama. Saturday: No. 2 Arizona (8-0) in Birmingham

No. 17 Arkansas (7-2): Darius Acuff Jr. had 18 points, five rebounds, eight assists and one steal to lead the Razorbacks past Fresno State, 82-58. Arkansas held the Bulldogs to 4-26 shooting from the 3-point line. Saturday: No. 19 Texas Tech (7-2) in Dallas

No. 21 Auburn (7-3): Auburn suffered a miserable shooting night in losing 97-68 to Arizona. The Tigers shot 21-63 from the field overall and just 6-25 from the 3-point line. Saturday: Chattanooga (4-5)

Georgia (8-1): Georgia’s only loss is by three points to Clemson. The Bulldogs are the top scoring team in the country at 99.9 points per game. California transfer Jeremiah Wilkinson is the Bulldogs’ leader at 17.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Saturday: Cincinnati (6-3) in Atlanta

Kentucky (5-4): The Wildcats were blown out by Gonzaga Friday night (94-59), a game in which Gonzaga hit 57 percent of its shots including 9-18 from the 3-point line while holding UK to 16-60 shooting overall and 7-34 from the 3-point line. Tuesday: North Carolina Central (3-8)

LSU (8-1): The Tigers were an unbeaten scoring machine against the little sisters of the poor. They played a real team Sunday. Texas Tech 82, LSU 58. LSU was 4-24 from the 3-point line. Texas Tech was 13-24. Saturday: SMU (9-1) in New Orleans

Mississippi State (4-5): All-SEC Josh Hubbard sprained an ankle and played only two minutes as the Bulldogs fell to San Francisco 65-62. Saturday: at Utah (7-3)

Missouri (8-2): Missouri lost its second straight game, 80-60, to Kansas. Kansas held Missouri to 34 percent overall and 26 percent from the 3-point line. Thursday: Alabama State 3-6

Oklahoma (6-3): The Sooners dropped an 86-70 decision to Arizona State. Poor shooting (22-63) and bad 3-point defense (ASU hit 13-24) were the chief culprits. Saturday: Oklahoma State (9-0) in Oklahoma City

Ole Miss (5-4): The Rebels lost their fourth straight game to No. 23 St. John’s. Ole Miss hit only 2-16 from the 3-point line and turned the ball over 20 times. Saturday: Southern Miss (5-4)

South Carolina (6-3): The Gamecocks bounced back from their loss to Virginia Tech with an 82-51 thrashing of Stetson. Meechie Johnson led the Gamecocks with 17 points while Grant Polk hit all four of his 3-pointers. Saturday: The Citadel (2-7)

No. 20 Tennessee (7-3): In losing their third straight game, the Vols were outscored 43-28 in the second half by No. 14 Illinois. The Vols outrebounded Illinois 46-31 with 23 offensive rebounds, but they couldn’t put the ball in the basket.

Texas (6-3): Xavier transfer Dailyn Swain leads the Longhorns with 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Monday: Southern University (4-4)

Texas A&M (7-3): SMU ended the Aggies’ 5-game win streak in overtime, 93-80. The Aggies could have won the game in regulation if they could have made some free throws (22-34 for the might).  Sunday: Jacksonville (4-5)

No. 15 Vanderbilt (9-0): The Commodores are third in the nation in scoring at 96.8 points per game. Four Commodores average in double figures led by 6^th-year senior Duke Miles, who is averaging 17.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Saturday: Central Arkansas (4-6)