Florida Gators Have No One to Blame but Themselves (Mostly)

The Florida Gators didn't show up until it was too late against Iowa, officiating aside.

The defending National Champion Florida Gators suffered a stunning upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, 73-72, against 9-seed Iowa. This game was testy throughout, with both players and coaches getting into it. One call in particular had Florida fans, including me, up in arms over a perceived injustice. Now that I’ve had a few days to let the loss settle, however, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Gators, especially head coach Todd Golden, need only look in the mirror if they want to discover the culprit behind one of the most devastating defeats in program history. 

The Call

The Gators found themselves trailing by six about halfway through the first half. Florida center Alex Condon missed a floater, and in the ensuing battle for the rebound got tied up fighting for possession with Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras. Condon attempted to rip the ball away, which sent both players tumbling to the ground. It is at this point that Folgueiras, who was on top of Condon, wound up for a punch, which hit nothing but air. 

Both players were assessed technical fouls. Todd Golden lost his mind over Folgueiras not being ejected and Condon receiving anything at all. He indicated after the game that the refs told him Folgueiras was not ejected because his punch didn’t connect. I probably would have lost my shit as well if that’s the rationale I was given. We’re lenient on players if they suck at fighting? 

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The Ripple Effect

Pointing to this type of thing as the reason a team loss is normally nitpicky. This case is slightly different, however, because of the role Alvaro Folgueiras would go on to play. 

It was Folgueiras who scored 14 points in just 18 minutes, which made him the Hawkeyes’ second-leading scorer. It was Folgueiras who received the bounce pass from Bennett Stirtz, who easily cut through Florida’s full-court press, and hit the game-winning three with just over four seconds in regulation. Assuming Florida would have won the game had one call been made differently in the first half is not as presumptuous as it seems. 

Alas, Folgueiras and Condon were deemed equal participants in that play’s tomfoolery, and Gators lost because of it. 

In part. 

Accountability

Rueben Chinyelu, he of 10.9 PPG and 11.2 RPG, played 19 minutes and attempted one field goal, which he missed. He pulled down one board and committed four fouls, while having his own ejection-worthy play that did not so much as draw a foul. Where were you, big man? 

Todd Golden, was a full-court press really the move with 8.9 seconds to play, up by two? You really want to allow all that space and chaos for Iowa to potentially find an open shooter your defense won’t be able to get to? That’s exactly what happened, and he (Folgueiras) canned the triple to send you home. 

Xaivian Lee, is driving the length of the court just to whip a pass around two defenders while behind the baseline the right move? With less than a second on the clock? The pass wasn’t even good. Even if Thomas Haugh catches it at his hip he might still not have gotten the shot off, and it probably gets blocked anyway, since he has to bring it all the way up to shoot. Awful final possession. 

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Humble Pie

In the end, the biggest culprit for the Gators losing was the Hawkeyes outplaying them. The defending champs had the best rebounding team in the country, at 45.1 boards per game, yet were matched by Iowa, 27-27. A team that relies so heavily on their frontcourt is not built for late game heroics or comebacks. That magic usually comes from shotmakers in the backcourt, which the Gators lost with the departure of Walter Clayton, Will Richard, and Alijah Martin after last season. They were the comeback kids in 24-25 on their way to the title, but a team dominated by their big men generally needs to get ahead and stay ahead, especially when you shoot threes as badly as the Gators have this season (31.2%). This 25-26 team didn’t do that against Iowa, and couldn't find the juice to climb out of the hole this time. 

The fact that Alvaro Folgueiras wasn’t tossed will sting for a long time, as it absolutely affected the outcome of the game. But this shouldn’t have been a game. You allow for things like this to happen by not playing to your strengths and letting teams develop a big early lead through complacency. It bit Todd Golden and the Florida Gators in the ass on Sunday, sadly. 

It sucks a lot. But this program is in good shape for years to come. Go Gators. *sniff*

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