Advertisement
basketball Edit

Florida Basketball 2017-18 Season Ending Superlatives

Mike White
Mike White (Inside the Gators)

The end of Florida’s 2017-2018 campaign may have been disappointing, but the season had plenty of memorable moments. The awards below cover all the highlights and low lights from the Florida Gators this season.

MVP

In my mind, there’s no question that Chris Chiozza was undoubtedly the MVP and most important component of the 2017-2018 Florida Gators. No other Gator was as talented on the offensive side of the floor as they were on the defensive end quite like Chiozza. Florida’s senior floor general ranked 5th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.41 to 1), 19th in assists per game (6.1 APG) and 45th in steals per game (1.9 SPG). We can look to Florida’s Round of 32 loss to Texas Tech for further proof that Chiozza was far and away the single most important player on the Gators this season.

Chiozza picked up his 4th foul of the game with 13 minutes left in the contest. He was subbed out of the game until the 7:53 mark of the second half. During that span, Florida gave up a 14-2 run and found themselves down 58-50, their largest deficit of the game. The Gators simply didn’t have another point guard on their roster who could handle the load that Chiozza carried all season long. The senior averaged 32 minutes per game and played 34 minutes per game in 9 of Florida’s final 13 games. It would’ve more than likely been 10 out of their final 13 games had he not gotten into foul trouble so early in the Round of 32. Chiozza recorded at least 4 rebounds and 6 assists in 12 games this past season. That’s pretty darn good for a 6-foot, 175 point guard who’s more likely 5’10” and 160 pounds soaking wet.

Chiozza will end his career at the University of Florida as the Gators’ all-time assist leader, dishing 571 dimes during the course of his four-year career in Gainesville. He’ll also finish 4th on Florida’s all-time steals list (191), 10th on Florida’s all-time games played list (139 games) and 53rd on Florida’s all-time scoring list, joining the 1,000-point club this past season (1,025). Gator fans will remember Chiozza for his grit, toughness, likability, acrobatics and leadership for a long time to come.

Others Receiving Votes: Jalen Hudson, Egor Koulechov

Advertisement

Most Improved Player

I was going to include Defensive Player of the Year on here, but the answer would’ve clearly been Chiozza, so we’ll move on to Most Improved Player. Like MVP, I think the winner of this award is way ahead of the pack. Keith Stone improved his scoring from a season ago by 5.2 points per game (8.8 PPG), his rebounding by 2.1 rebounds per game (4.3 RPG), his three-point percentage by 9.8 percent (42.4%), his field-goal percentage by 1.5 points (43.8%) and played nearly double his minutes per game from a season ago this year (12.1 MPG to 24 MPG).

Stone played exponentially more confident than last season and competed with an extremely high motor, something Mike White and the Florida coaching staff focused on big time this off-season. Stone scored in double-digits 12 times this year and recorded three separate 20+ point games. Coincidentally, Florida was 0-3 this season in games that Stone scored 20 or more points. He also recorded 2 or more blocks 8 times this season and totaled 5 swats in Florida’s final two games of the season.

During Stone’s redshirt year, I was asked by an NBA scout how Stone had looked that season. I told him that Stone was redshirting and hadn’t played a single game that year. The scout was surprised, saying that Stone had the best NBA body on the team and was the Gators’ most likely NBA prospect, at the time, besides Dorian Finney-Smith. The redshirt sophomore has added 12 pounds since his first year in Gainesville and has leaned out a ton, losing a lot of his freshman year baby fat. When Keith Stone plays at his best, he looks like a bonafide NBA prospect. Stone may be Florida’s X-Factor next season in making a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Others Receiving Votes: Jalen Hudson, Dontay Bassett

Best Freshman

This award came down to Michael Okauru and Deaundrae Ballard since Chase Johnson missed virtually all of the 2017-2018 season and Isaiah Stokes didn’t play in a single game. After much consideration, Florida’s top freshman this season was Michael Okauru.

Okauru was one of three Gators to shoot over 40% from beyond the arc this season and was efficient from the field, shooting 46.5%. The freshman only averaged 11.1 minutes per game, but played 13 minutes or more in 8 of Florida’s final 11 games. He played 17 minutes and 16 minutes respectively in the Gators’ NCAA Tournament tilts vs. St. Bonaventure and Texas Tech. Okauru scored in double-digits three times this season, posting a memorable 15 points vs. Stanford on 6-of-7 shooting in the PK80 Tournament.

While there’s still some left to be desired with Okauru’s ballhandling and decision-making, the freshman’s athleticism, three-point prowess, on-ball defense and ability to get to the rim are above average. Despite being Florida’s lowest ranked recruit in the Class of 2018, per Rivals’ national recruiting ranks, Okauru was able to make the biggest impact. Andrew Nembhard may beat him out for the starting point guard position next season, but I would be shocked if Okauru doesn’t receive 20 minutes or more per game next year.

Others Receiving Votes: Deaundrae Ballard

Best Win

While Florida’s wins vs. Kentucky, both home and away, were impressive, no win was more fun and more memorable than the Gators’ PK80 victory over Gonzaga. UF won that tilt, 111-105, in double overtime as Jalen Hudson went for 35 points, going 8-of-12 from beyond the arc. Two other Gators scored over 20 points during that game in Chiozza (26) and KeVaughn Allen (23). The victory had analysts such as Jay Bilas calling Florida, the “Golden State Warriors” of the NBA, and put the Gators on the map as a national championship favorite. While the hype may have gotten to Florida’s head, causing them to lose their next three games vs. Duke, Florida State and Loyola-Chicago, the tilt had people nationally talking about Florida basketball and what they could achieve.

KenPom.com rated it the 6th most exciting game of the 2017-2018 season. If you want an indication of just how crazy the contest was, take a look below at KenPom’s win probability throughout the game.

Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati (Never Forget Tribute Classic), Kentucky (Away), Kentucky (home), Auburn (home), St. Bonaventure (Round of 64)

Worst Loss

Florida’s 72-69 home, overtime loss to Georgia on Valentine’s Day was the heartbreaker of all heartbreakers. According to ESPN, the Gators had a 95.4% chance to win the game with 25 seconds left when they led 59-53. Florida gave up a 6-0 run to end the second half, sending the game into overtime. The Bulldogs outscored the Gators 8-1 in the final 2 minutes and 7 seconds of overtime, winning 72-69. The loss was the start of a three-game losing streak, followed by defeats to Vanderbilt on the road and Tennessee in Knoxville.

Others Receiving Votes: Ole Miss (Away), Vanderbilt (Away), Georgia (Home), Georgia (Away), South Carolina (Home)

Best Play

Chiozza’s game-winning scoop-and-score vs. Missouri was in my opinion the most memorable moment of the 2017-2018 season. With less than 7 seconds left in the game, Chiozza picked off a pass intended for Kassius Robertson as the Tigers attempted to win the game at the buzzer. The senior went the length of the floor, scoring the game-winning layup with less than half a second remaining on the game clock. The win extended Florida’s win streak at the time to 5 games and was a part of the Gators’ season-high 6-game win streak.

Others Receiving Votes: Jalen Hudson’s putback dunk vs. St. Bonaventure, Kevarrius Hayes’ inbounds alley-oop at Kentucky

Most Promising Recruit

Andrew Nembhard is Florida’s first 5-Star recruit since Devin Robinson in the Class of 2014. That class was part of Billy Donovan’s last recruiting cycle at the University of Florida. Nembhard is a 6’4”, 185 pound point guard with plenty of room to grow. He was born in 2000 and is only 17 years old. Nembhard reclassified to the Class of 2018 after originally being a part of the Class of 2019.

He’s currently the 16th ranked player in the Class of 2018 and the 3rd-best point guard. Nembhard chose Florida over Gonzaga, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Villanova and USC. The Ontario-native is a pass-first point guard with vision comparable to that of Chris Chiozza’s. Nembhard can create opportunities for others on offense and is a turnover-forcing machine of the defensive end of the floor. Later this week, we’ll have a recruiting breakdown of Nembhard, Noah Locke and Keyontae Johnson’s strengths and weaknesses along with NBA player comparisons for each recruit.

Others Receiving Votes: Noah Locke, Keyontae Johnson

Worst Injury

It’s no secret that Florida’s 2017-2018 season was plagued with injuries. The Gators lost John Egbunu (knee), Isaiah Stokes (knee) and Chase Johnson (concussion) for the season, while Gorjok Gak played most of the season with what Mike White called a “bum knee.” Deaundrae Ballard (illness) and Dontay Bassett (concussion) also missed time due to ailments. Florida’s roster missed a total of 75 games due to injury this past season. Every injury this year had an effect on the Gators, but none were more crippling to the team than Egbunu.

Every press conference before he was officially declared out for the season, Mike White was asked when John Egbunu would return. At first, his projected date of return was late January, along with Isaiah Stokes. Then, late January came and he was listed on a weekly-basis as day-to-day. Finally, on March 2, Mike White officially declared Egbunu out for the season. From that moment on, White was asked on a near daily basis what Egbunu could’ve done for the team that season. I’m here to answer it.

Without Egbunu, Florida was left without a real rim deterrent and exceptional low-post defender. While Kevarrius Hayes was a solid shot blocker, a lot of his swats came from leaving the player he was guarding wide open to help on the weakside. On top of this, Hayes, Gak and Bassett all had problems with getting backed down too far under the rim. On the offensive side of the ball, Hayes and Gak both had problems finishing at the rim and catching entry passes from guards and wings. While Egbunu wasn’t the most talented offensive player in the low-post, he had a set of go-to moves and was excellent at finishing at the rim, whether it be on a thunderous dunk or a soft layup.

Florida’s lack of a consistently competitive center gave teams the opportunity to pound the ball inside and attack the Gators’ defense in the interior all season long. Marvin Bagley and Elijah Thomas embarrassed Florida in non-conference play, while Yante Maten and Chris Silva gave the Gators more than they could handle during the SEC season. I’d be willing to say on the record that Florida’s season would’ve gone undoubtedly past the Round of 32 had they had Egbunu for even part of the season. His size would’ve either made a difference vs. Texas Tech or affected Florida’s seeding for the postseason.

Others Receiving Votes: Isaiah Stokes, Chase Johnson

------

Thank you for reading this Inside the Gators article. To discuss it, please visit the Alligator Alley Forum.

Advertisement