Florida's 'illegal' edge and the Doug Shows problem strike Kentucky again

I don't think the referees cost Kentucky basketball the game against Florida, but I also want to say they definitely didn't help.

Florida has become one of the best teams in the country at "ugly basketball," but a large part of that success comes from something completely illegal: the moving screen. Whether it's a traditional pick or a Dribble Hand-Off (DHO), the Gators are master manipulators of the whistle.

Watch the second play above. Watch Alex Condon go to set the pick off the ball. It looks fine to begin with. But watch as the defender starts to fight through, he sticks out his backside to try and keep the screen going. That's a foul, missed call. He literally falls off balance because he is so outside of his shoulders.

But the Gators actually did get called for a moving screen down low off the ball. That can be called against Florida almost every single possession.

It’s a "displace and space" strategy that clears the path for their guards and creates the chaos needed for their bigs to crash the glass. This is something that Golden has been known for since his arrival.

Florida walks and pushes off more than any team in the country

In addition to the moving screens, the Gators have mastered the art of the "pivot foot lift" and the "clear out" shove. They push in the back on nearly every rebound, banking on the fact that refs won't call it every time because of their reputation for being a good rebounding team.

I don’t blame them. If I could push in the back on every rebound, or travel and get away with it, I’d do it too. This isn't about "sour grapes," I'm sure Florida fans have their own list of grievances. But there are objective, fundamental rules of the game that are being ignored in favor of "game flow."

That can't happen at this level. Today, though, the Gators also had a little help from an infamous ref.

The Doug Shows special

Watching Doug Shows stare directly at a blatant foul and keep his whistle in his pocket has become a recurring nightmare for college sports fans of any team. Today, it was Kentucky's turn to watch it happen in real time.

As Kam Williams and Micah Handlogten were going for a loose ball, Williams was clearly hip checked into the stands by Handlogten. Look at the image, and look at where Doug Shows eyes are.

How did he miss that?

Opposing coaches must use the tape to get the calls

Until opposing coaches start riding the officials relentlessly about these screens, or until a defender finally runs straight through a Gator screen, Florida is going to keep doing it. And they should.

The Gators didn't just out-rebound Kentucky; they out-physicaled them in a way that the modern whistle simply isn't equipped to handle.

Mark Pope’s squad showed they can play elite defense, but they shouldn't have to play 5-on-8 against a team that treats the rulebook like a suggestion.