Throughout the offseason, particularly as players arrive on campus for workouts, there are always various tidbits of information I receive from insiders around the team whether it’s staff, players, or media. These are always fascinating anecdotes that heighten excitement for November to roll around with the season starting and help paint a picture of what the team is going to look like.
This is especially true this season with so many moving parts and so many incoming players. Considering we can’t have a great idea of exactly how the team is going to look, any insight from practice is even more interesting.
Here are some of the notes I have been hearing about the team.
Kowacie Reeves Looks Outstanding
Reeves was one of the first players on campus, arriving in Gainesville the first day he was allowed to.
On his first day he didn’t get settled into his new living space, he was in the gym getting a workout in.
That’s been a common theme for Reeves who has said to be living in the gym. If you follow him on Instagram, you will see that at the end of each day he shoots 1000 three-point shots using a shooting machine. As you can imagine, this takes several hours, and this is after he has already went through regular workouts and drills throughout the day. One staff member joked that Kowacie’s heavy use of the shooting machine is going to accelerate the schedule at which it will need servicing.
It’s not just on the court where Reeves has been putting in the work, it’s the weight room as well. Since arriving on campus Reeves has already put on 8 pounds of muscle, something that is noticeable when you see him.
Speaking of his physical measurements, he also measured at 6’7” with a 6’10” wingspan upon arriving at Florida. That’s great size for a wing player, something the Gators haven’t had for a number of years, despite that being the trend of where modern basketball has gone. Reeves’ length will allow the Gators to compete with other long wing players in the SEC, something that will be huge for them.
Something said about Reeves’ offensive game is that he is actually having an easier time scoring in practice at Florida than he had scoring in high school. Reeves was a scoring machine in high school, meaning he was regularly getting double and triple teamed. Already he’s seeing that playing alongside great players at Florida means he’ll have more space to operate, so look for him to thrive with the open shots he gets in college.
Brandon McKissic Is A Leader
UMKC transfer Brandon McKissic has been another player known for spending long hours at the practice facility well after scheduled workouts have finished. It’s said that the young players love being around the veteran McKissic who has a calm and supportive demeanor about him.
His leadership has largely been on the defensive side, something that makes sense after he was an All-Summit League defender. Of course we know that Mike White loves defense, particular guards that can pressure the ball, so McKissic fits right into that DNA.
McKissic is someone who probably projects better as an off-ball shooter at the SEC level but he can handle it a bit and it sounds like right now he’ll be the guy who takes backup point guard minutes behind Tyree Appleby. Another player vying for that role is Niels Lane, someone who I’m told came to camp in great shape and looked to be playing with improved confidence, especially on the offensive end.
Colin Castleton Is Shooting A Lot Of Perimeter Jumpers
Castleton has always said he could shoot the ball, and coming off of NBA workouts where he was stroking it from three it’s safe to say we’ll see some of those attempts this season.
Even though he has always told people he could shoot it, he has hardly attempted any threes in college and is yet to hit one in his career. In multiple NBA Draft workouts he hit over 50% of his threes however, so the potential is there. I have heard some mixed things regarding exactly how his stroke has looked in workouts, but even if he is a mediocre, say, 33% three-point shooter that would be enough to scramble defenses that are also concerned with his ability to score on the inside.
Florida hasn’t really had a stretch five in the Mike White era (Kerry Blackshear was a below-average three-point shooter on low volume) so it will be interesting to see exactly how much Castleton will be used in that role. Considering he’ll probably need to shoot it from the outside to be an NBA player, he’ll probably be motivated to work hard on those shots.
Myreon Jones Is Dominant
Of all the incoming players Florida landed, Myreon Jones had the most proven production at the highest level scoring 15 points per game at Penn State.
So far in workouts, I’m told Jones has been outstanding.
Jones’ best skill is his ability to shoot threes, but he wasn’t known as someone who particularly excelled in other areas of offense. Not that he was bad at handling the ball or finishing inside, but he was known as a shooter first, second, and third.
However, I am hearing great things about his all around offensive game. Apparently his ball handling is at a high level, his ability to get by players one on one is better than expected, and he is scoring in a number of ways besides just perimeter shooting.
This is extremely exciting for Florida. With Tre Mann heading to the NBA there is a deficit of shot creation and the Gators need more legitimate scorers to step up. Everyone knew Jones would provide excellent floor spacing with his ability to catch and shoot but if he can do a bunch more than that you’re looking at someone who could replicate the 15 points per game he had at Penn State and end up on an All-SEC team.
The Offense Looks To Be Adapting
I’ve got to say…of everything I have heard from the offseason workouts and practices, this is probably what excites me most.
Florida has started each of the last three years trying to play dribble drive offense, something that has ended up, predictably, I’ll add, not working. Because of that, Florida has had to make midseason adjustments which not only made for some rough offensive games as they put in a new system but stunted their defensive side of the ball since practice time was allotted to learning the new offense.
I say “predictably” when it comes to the offense not working because the dribble drive, which requires multiple players capable of creating offense one on one, did not fit the games of Andrew Nembard, Noah Locke, and Scottie Lewis (among others) who were at key playmaking positions of this offense.
So, after multiple seasons of starting in an offense that was likely destined to not work, I was pretty interested to see what Florida would start this upcoming season in. While the dribble drive hasn’t worked in the past, Florida’s new crop of players actually would fit the offense better than past iterations of the Gators. However, it’s still an offense that hasn’t exactly inspired confidence.
I am hearing that Florida’s offense is being changed this year. To what exactly, I’m not sure. However, the one thing I am hearing is that Florida is using more off-ball screens. This is something that I have been calling for the Gators to do for years, first for KeVaughn Allen, then for Noah Locke, and now for Myreon Jones. Off-ball screens haven’t been a part of Florida’s offense at all, and it’s something that I think kept them from getting the most out of Allen and Locke.
Myreon Jones scored 15 points a game at Penn State, but they ran him off a ton of screens. So, while Florida probably thought they were getting a 15 point per game player, if they didn’t use him like Penn State did then it might be incorrect to assume they’ll simply get 15 points from him again. Considering Florida hadn’t used screens in the Mike White era, I was worried that Jones would go underutilized.
In what was absolute music to my ears, I am hearing that Florida has put in a number of plays that have shooters like Jones and Kowacie Reeves running off screens, actions designed to give them space to either catch and fire or attack.
This is so exciting on a number of levels. First, it shows some recognition that Jones needs to be utilized that way to be effective, which I love to see. It also signals that for the first time, the Gators are going to go into a season with at least somewhat of a fresh gameplan offensively. Will it still be dribble drive but with some set plays for off ball screens in the arsenal? Perhaps. We’ll have to wait and see, but boy was I happy to hear there was some off ball screening happening.
That’s all for now, but there will surely be more insights at Gator Country as the offseason continues.
Awesome update. Much appreciated