With the 2022-2023 men’s basketball season closing in on Nov. 7 against Stony Brook, the Gators opened up the team for the first time to fans at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Tuesday for an intramural Orange and Blue game.
Here are three takeaways from the scrimmage.
Will Richard might be the strongest offensive piece on the roster
Sophomore guard Will Richard, who missed a majority of preseason practices due to a knee injury, is a combo guard that can easily be a threat on the offensive end from anywhere on the court. Tuesday’s scrimmage, undoubtedly, showed that in front of the public.
From what I was able to count on my own scorecard, Richard finished the 15-minute scrimmage with 11 points off of 4/6 shooting from the floor. The only missed shots from the Belmont transfer came from shot attempts 22 feet away from the basket.
In addition to his offensive performance, he also was everywhere on defense using his physicality to his advantage on the floor. Deflecting passes and contributing to steals to put the Gators into transition for a quick basket on the move. His ability to provide athleticism and the grit to play hard anywhere on the court has gotten the attention of head coach Todd Golden.
“A lot of the stuff he does, you can’t really teach,” Golden said. “You just gotta figure out the best way to use him
Kyle Lofton’s involvement
One of the six new faces on the roster this season is graduate student Kyle Lofton, a transfer from St. Bonaventure University that comes with four years of collegiate experience and a resume that can back his accolades.
Lofton, who nationally averages the most minutes per game throughout his four-year tenure at St. Bonaventure with 38.1, has produced 1,613 points and 604 assists in his college basketball career. That career total compared to the Florida record books would be ninth in overall points and first in assists, passing former guard Chris Chiozza assist total by 33.
The six-foot-three guard ran the offense every time down the court as the point guard. Directing plays to his teammates in real time, all while facilitating scoring opportunities for his team. In other words, Lofton made the offense run like a well-oiled machine.
Potential starting lineup
The orange team in the scrimmage consisted of Colin Castleton, Kowacie Reeves, Kyle Lofton, Alex Fudge and Riley Kugel. That lineup in itself could be a potential starting five.
At the moment, Golden confirmed that Castleton and Lofton have secured a starting roster spot for the Nov. 7 season opener against the Stony Brook Seawolves, however, nobody else.
The strength of Florida’s depth has given Golden a unique situation of available talent off the bench that gives confidence to his staff. The question for Golden now is how does he put these pieces together, to really make the puzzle fit properly into his system.
“It’s just a challenge for me and the staff to really drill down on an eight-man rotation at this point,” Golden said. “To be honest, we can’t. We wouldn’t try.”
From what I have seen from the preseason practices and the scrimmages, a few players do have leverage.
Kowacie Reeves has been making strides on the defensive end, getting more confident in his defense and improving in the area of defensive rebounding. However, his offensive presence was undeniable last season as he got more starting time near the end of the year. Finishing his freshman year, Reeves averaged 37.9% in field goal percentage and contributed to big moments behind the arc.
The return of the Macon, Georgia, native also has its benefits with having experience with players from the previous season.
Besides Reeves, Fudge, a transfer from Louisiana State University, has been poised to be a potential starter at power forward. His seven-foot wingspan was barely utilized at LSU in his freshman year with the Tigers. The four-star prospect out of Jacksonville, Florida, has an ultra-athletic body that compliments a high screening offense. The duo of Fudge and Castleton will be a threat in the conference as teams will need to answer to Castleton’s power and Fudge’s mobility at six-foot-nine.
For the spot on the wing, it’s a toss-up between Richard and Kugel.
Despite Richard having an impressive scrimmage, Kugel has been running with the first team in a few practices this preseason and has the frame that could be great for a guy at the three. The only issue would be the lack of experience Kugel has on the college level being a freshman.
So, depending on if time in practice really would persuade Golden’s mind, I believe Richard would fit well as the starting wing as his playmaking ability is too good to be left out of the starting roster. However, don’t count out Kugel in a potential future lineup.
PREDICTION
PG- Kyle Lofton
SG- Will Richard
SF- Kowacie Reeves
PF- Alex Fudge
C – Colin Castleton
So, is Will Richard a G or F as you you call him both in your article? Please be consistent.
At least you are consistent typing “you” two times in a row during a sentence.
nice catch, in school, I couldn’t spell “engineer” and now I are one.
Kudos! GC identified a new editor in grant1 without so much as a search.