The Florida Gators basketball team opened the season with a 76-69 win over Army in what was a hard-fought game.
Mike White and the Gators basketball team struggled during training camp to hold normal practices and that led the Gators to start slow against Army.
Following the game, White spoke with the media, and here’s a quick notebook on what he had to say about the Gators win.
· White says down the stretch they got some stops and they didn’t settle for average to below-average stops.
· Down the stretch, White says they played to win instead of playing not to lose. White also says they played with some confidence.
· White says he expected Army to be as disciplined as a team they will face all year and they were even better than what the Gators saw on film.
· White says they’re committed to playing press but he says they found out tonight that they aren’t ready to do it for 40 minutes.
· The Gators wasn’t very effective, to say the least, according to White.
· Coming into the game, White says they knew shot fakes were coming but they jumped at everything on Wednesday.
· White says the Gators didn’t play very disciplined against a very disciplined team.
· Poor passing, bobbling of the basketball and lack of spacing are concerns for Mike White after game one.
· White says they can’t foul teams in the backcourt if they’re going to press teams.
· Florida’s guards attacked defensively and got to the foul line late in the game and those are things White says are positives down the stretch.
· White says Omar Payne did a good job of protecting the rim down the stretch.
· White says the team was so excited to get back on the court and evaluate where they are as a team.