Gator Basketball ***Official Offseason Thread BBALL*** Top 50 Overall Guard Alex Lloyd Commits

[Silverback Gator]

I like Golden, believe he has the potential. Are we a few top level players from being much better, or do any of you avid followers see that we might not be well coached and trained on a few key aspects to be a complete team?

 

[lagator]

ETN to Kugel: “Come on up bra, the party scene is lit up here. I’d come get you myself in my brand new Escalade, complements of KSmartie, but ima have to hold off on that for a little bit.”

 

[Durty South Swamp]

Good.

 

[FireFoley]

 

[maheo30]

For those who haven't seen Brown, here are a few highlights. Golden began recruiting him in 2022. He has had his eye on him for a while. The kid can shoot.

 

[GatorJ]

I like Golden, believe he has the potential. Are we a few top level players from being much better, or do any of you avid followers see that we might not be well coached and trained on a few key aspects to be a complete team?

A combination of both. A player or two away. But we need a Shyatt like coach to bring in defensive principles.

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

For those who haven't seen Brown, here are a few highlights. Golden began recruiting him in 2022. He has had his eye on him for a while. The kid can shoot.

His release point looks a bit low

 

[Bernardo de la Paz]

Florida in the mix for UT-Chattanooga transfer forward

Todd Golden did a masterful job rebuilding the basketball team through the transfer portal last year, and he’s out looking for talent again.

gatorswire.usatoday.com

 

[gatorev12]

No real surprise Kugel is leaving--whatever was going on with him, hope he puts it behind him and succeeds elsewhere. Attitude was a real drain on the bench and not a good look for anyone.

One thing I'll say for Golden is that he has a blueprint for how to win and has shown he can be competitive in the conference again. Florida played exciting basketball and returns many core players, so it wouldn't surprise me for us to be ranked in the preseason right out the gate--especially if we nab a few high-profile xfers.

 

[Double Gator Dad]

No real surprise Kugel is leaving--whatever was going on with him, hope he puts it behind him and succeeds elsewhere. Attitude was a real drain on the bench and not a good look for anyone.

One thing I'll say for Golden is that he has a blueprint for how to win and has shown he can be competitive in the conference again. Florida played exciting basketball and returns many core players, so it wouldn't surprise me for us to be ranked in the preseason right out the gate--especially if we nab a few high-profile xfers.

I have also been impressed with the way Golden handled Kugel. Many coaches would have coddled him and allowed him to “play his way out of the slump” when in reality they lacked the confidence to bench a potential star player.
Nothing gets a coach credibility with the team faster than benching a star.

 

[Silverback Gator]

No real surprise Kugel is leaving--whatever was going on with him, hope he puts it behind him and succeeds elsewhere. Attitude was a real drain on the bench and not a good look for anyone.

One thing I'll say for Golden is that he has a blueprint for how to win and has shown he can be competitive in the conference again. Florida played exciting basketball and returns many core players, so it wouldn't surprise me for us to be ranked in the preseason right out the gate--especially if we nab a few high-profile xfers.

What about new recruits/signees. November? Should we expect to land a decent class, maybe an excellent class, or are xfers the way to go to get experienced ready-to-plays?

 

[gatorev12]

I have also been impressed with the way Golden handled Kugel. Many coaches would have coddled him and allowed him to “play his way out of the slump” when in reality they lacked the confidence to bench a potential star player.
Nothing gets a coach credibility with the team faster than benching a star.

Agreed.

I think the other thing to note is that Golden has shown the ability to develop the players he has brought in (from both the xfer portal and via recruiting).

There's no question that Clayton and Samuel got better as players after transferring here. There's also no question that Golden will develop freshman or sophomores and bring them into the mix (Condon was a key backup and got much better over the course of the season, so did many of our other players). He rotated frequently over the course of the season so even guys like Haugh and Aberdeen weren't overawed by the occasion when we needed to give them minutes (which paid off on the back-half of the season).

All while playing exciting, up-tempo basketball. Still room for improvement (defense in particular), but showing you can make players better is definitely going to help bring in more talent.

 

[gatorev12]

What about new recruits/signees. November? Should we expect to land a decent class, maybe an excellent class, or are xfers the way to go to get experienced ready-to-plays?

I think it'll be a blend of both.

My post above got more into it, but Golden's done a great job of taking a new recruit and making them better and has **also** done that with xfers. Even in the NIL era, that matters.

I think we grab an experienced interior guy to replace Samuel; but probably see what the Orlando PG does next year as far as a Pullin replacement.

 

[Silverback Gator]

^^^^^^
Would be great to have a feared big man that can take over games.

 

[Born2beagator]

Don't we have a 7+ footer from IMG?

 

[Silverback Gator]

Don't we have a 7+ footer from IMG?

Is that the incredibly tall guy whose film was posted from HS games he plays? Ridiculously tall but seemed somewhat slow and immobile. The player I'm thinking of was so tall he could still be successful.

 

[maheo30]

Don't we have a 7+ footer from IMG?

Olivier Rioux (7'7; 290 lbs). He isn't even getting a scholarship. He is a preferred walk-on Golden Boy is taking a shot on. I don't expect to see much of him next season.

 

[gatorev12]

^^^^^^
Would be great to have a feared big man that can take over games.

Samuel was quietly giving us that down the stretch of this season: we would work it inside and even if teams double-teamed him, he'd be able to score. Multiple games where other teams just had no answer and he'd quietly score 12-17 pts (mostly in the second half while we were protecting a lead).

That'll be a key area to "get right" in the offseason; though I do think Condon will continue to improve and can take a bigger leap to add some of that to his game. He has the strength and a nice scoring touch, but wasn't the best putting the ball on the floor and would get caught frequently when he did.

Don't think Haugh can fill in the gap--he hustles, but he doesn't have the muscle to bang down low...if he can work on his midrange game and learn to finish off the dribble, that's where I think he can help offensively.

There's a few guys we're rumored to be talking with (the UT Chattanooga dude) that would be more of a Samuel replacement.

 

[MertzJay26]

Heck of a final 4 choices. Hope he goes somewhere and balls!

 

[MertzJay26]