BTO’s Florida Postgame Report

#1
bleedingTNorange

bleedingTNorange

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#1
1. This one sucked, but I don’t know that it’s a total shock, at least not to me. I said a few times analytics saw this as one of the tougher remaining games, add in desperate team at their house and defense that has good guard play and a 5 man that’s better than anything we have, not a great recipe. That’s no excuse and you should find a way to win, but not a total shock that this happened, the fashion in which it happened is what probably sucks most.

2. As for fashion….when we lose it seems to be because we can’t score the ball, which just from an optics standpoint seems to make it even more frustrating/miserable. We have a very contagious shooting team and it seems like when we are cold every single person is cold, that’s not a great trait to have. We really need to find someone that can give that consistent basket, or trip to the line, best chances seem to be Nkamhoua or Phillips, the latter of which has got to get more touched imo.

3. Shortened rotation…once again when things got tough Barnes went with a shorter bench, playing 8 guys essentially all game, and in all honesty I’m not sure Plavsic should’ve saw what he did. I’m not saying bench him forever, but Castleton’s eyes widened when he saw Plav and went to work, he’s just too quick for Plav, same for Aidoo, but a bit too tall and strong for Nkamhoua, that’s not a great matchup for us realistically. Keep that in mind, not many teams have competent posts 6’10”+, but those that do will likely cause us some issues, especially if they’ve also got length at guard position like Florida did. Quickly on Nkamhoua, I liked what I saw, wasn’t perfect by any means but seemingly more locked in than many games and 11 & 9 was nice to see from him.

4. You can’t shoot 28% from the field and expect to win, it might happen every now and again but that’s a pathetic number, thank our defense for that even being a game because it shouldn’t have been. Vescovi, James and Key combine to go 4-26, that just can’t happen, honestly I’m not sure how it does happen, I really don’t have an explanation…it truly feels we are such a contagious team, either JJJ is hitting 15’ turnaround J’s while Vescovi is drilling. 30 footers and Key is coming off screens at 40mpg and hitting 3’s…or none of them can hit a wide open shot on the same night, I don’t get it and likely never will, but it sucks.

5. Little overview, this definitely shrinks the margin for error quite a bit, 1 seed is an uphill climb now, same for SEC championship…I said 8-2 was the goal, obviously that now moves to 8-1, that’s not going to be easy by any means. This is a Q1 game so it’s not a bad loss in a nutshell, but more than anything it’s just not a good look, leaves a bad taste and doesn’t make you feel very optimistic. If you go 8-1 then this loss means nothing at all, it won’t hurt you and you’re still a 1 seed, if you learn from it and use those lessons in March then great, but drop another couple games and lose an early one in March in similar fashion and this after taste just gets stronger.
 
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#2
#2
Tough game. Just…sucks. I’m not “out” on this team by any means, but this team did lose some of my trust tonight. We’re just far too consistently inconsistent on the offensive end. I’m struggling to “buy” us as a real contender because of this.

I’ve been a fairly big believer in this team, but it just feels like too many warning signs appear right when we’re starting to feel confident.

I just don’t know who to trust on this team to put the ball through the hoop. And, Aidoo has regressed big time since the start of SEC play, which is a troubling development.

I know the mantra is “defense wins championships” but our offense just ain’t it. Been a theme with Barnes for way, way too long.

Bounce back Saturday. Need it badly. Time to reset and we’ll just see where the chips fall. SEC Regular Season Title is toast now though. Probably the 1-seed, too.
 
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#5
#5
Agree 100% on 4.

Don’t think Phillips needs more touches as the officials have started calling him differently from the early season. He’s expecting to shoot free throws when he launches himself into a wad of players in the paint. The officials were obliging him in the OOC games but that’s becoming a no call in conference games it appears. Phillips is very talented so hopefully he will adjust
 
#8
#8
Disappointing but not shocking. Barnes has 4-5 of these a year in the reg season and otherwise is elite. Just gotta hope and pray we don’t have one of these eggs in the tournament. Barnes doesn’t run and play with any pace and get easy baskets. While it helps defensively because we are typically set, offensively we have to work for everything and hit shots because we get no cheap baskets Bad shooting nights it’s going to be ugly for us. When we shoot well we look like a well oiled machine. Just the way it is.
 
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#9
#9
bleedingTNorange said:
1. This one sucked, but I don’t know that it’s a total shock, at least not to me. I said a few times analytics saw this as one of the tougher remaining games, add in desperate team at their house and defense that has good guard play and a 5 man that’s better than anything we have, not a great recipe. That’s no excuse and you should find a way to win, but not a total shock that this happened, the fashion in which it happened is what probably sucks most.

2. As for fashion….when we lose it seems to be because we can’t score the ball, which just from an optics standpoint seems to make it even more frustrating/miserable. We have a very contagious shooting team and it seems like when we are cold every single person is cold, that’s not a great trait to have. We really need to find someone that can give that consistent basket, or trip to the line, best chances seem to be Nkamhoua or Phillips, the latter of which has got to get more touched imo.

3. Shortened rotation…once again when things got tough Barnes went with a shorter bench, playing 8 guys essentially all game, and in all honesty I’m not sure Plavsic should’ve saw what he did. I’m not saying bench him forever, but Castleton’s eyes widened when he saw Plav and went to work, he’s just too quick for Plav, same for Aidoo, but a bit too tall and strong for Nkamhoua, that’s not a great matchup for us realistically. Keep that in mind, not many teams have competent posts 6’10”+, but those that do will likely cause us some issues, especially if they’ve also got length at guard position like Florida did. Quickly on Nkamhoua, I liked what I saw, wasn’t perfect by any means but seemingly more locked in than many games and 11 & 9 was nice to see from him.

4. You can’t shoot 28% from the field and expect to win, it might happen every now and again but that’s a pathetic number, thank our defense for that even being a game because it shouldn’t have been. Vescovi, James and Key combine to go 4-26, that just can’t happen, honestly I’m not sure how it does happen, I really don’t have an explanation…it truly feels we are such a contagious team, either JJJ is hitting 15’ turnaround J’s while Vescovi is drilling. 30 footers and Key is coming off screens at 40mpg and hitting 3’s…or none of them can hit a wide open shot on the same night, I don’t get it and likely never will, but it sucks.

5. Little overview, this definitely shrinks the margin for error quite a bit, 1 seed is an uphill climb now, same for SEC championship…I said 8-2 was the goal, obviously that now moves to 8-1, that’s not going to be easy by any means. This is a Q1 game so it’s not a bad loss in a nutshell, but more than anything it’s just not a good look, leaves a bad taste and doesn’t make you feel very optimistic. If you go 8-1 then this loss means nothing at all, it won’t hurt you and you’re still a 1 seed, if you learn from it and use those lessons in March then great, but drop another couple games and lose an early one in March in similar fashion and this after taste just gets stronger.
Click to expand...
Pretty good evaluation of game for sure. I think Olivier kept Castleton in check tho. Felt like he scored 13-15pts off of Uros and Aidoo in their 20 mins. You’re absolutely right tho that if shots aren’t falling, at some point, JJJ, Phillips, and Olivier HAVE TO ATTACK the basket to score or get fouled! Coach just said the same thing on radio. Team has guys who can but chose not too. Who knows why?
Better shake this off quick because the schedule is brutal moving forward.
 
#11
#11
With James, historically when he hits his first shot his offense usually is fine. When he misses his first shot it usually turns into a stinker from him on that side of the court. He contributes in other ways but I don’t trust him offensively game to game.

From mid-January when he started getting meaningful minutes he has gone for 5, 13, 22, 6, 14 and 4. He was exactly the same way for the first half of last year and then had a nice run the last 16 games of the year. Just who he is. He has reverted back to his norm offensively.

With Vescovi it is a bit different. If a defender is athletic and really works hard through all those picks, he can be taken out of a game. It isn’t easy because his movement is so good, but it can be done. He doesn’t have much to counter with. Key has gone into a shell. I was hoping for more but he hasn’t shown he can handle better competition.
 
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#12
#12
The last 9 games will be interesting. Honestly don’t know what to expect from this team. They easily could go 9-0 or 8-1, and at the same go 5-4 or 4-5. It’s concerning, and hopefully they figure out a different game plan when we the offense is gone south.
 
#15
#15
Has anyone else noticed that we don't like being ranked in the top 4? It's like we lose our edge.
 
#18
#18
We absolutely played like this was the second round of the NCAAT.

We can not beat teams that have a big post player. Don't want Purdue at all till FF.
 
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#19
#19
TNVOLFN said:
Mark it. When we get bounced from the tourney, it’ll be a carbon copy of tonight.
Click to expand...

In basketball, whether in the regular season or the tourney, yea, a bad shooting night = a big fat L. And our shooting tonight was not just
bad but abysmal. Frankly, we should never have nights that are this bad--when everybody on the team is terrible. It's a bit
of a worry....A veteran team like ours should have at least a couple of guys who can pick up the slack. There was nobody tonight---dire
in every way.
 
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#22
#22
It's a head-scratcher how they can all shoot the 3 so badly at the same time as well as miss easy baskets around the rim. The basket just becomes so small on these nights. To make an NCAA run you need consitent scoring, defense will be there.
 
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