Florida head basketball coach Todd Golden met with the media on Friday afternoon to discuss the Gators’ Saturday matchup vs Ole Miss.
Here’s everything Golden had to say:
Q. On not letting the emotions of senior night impact play:
“Easier said than done, you know. I think it will be emotional in a good way, but it’s part of what comes with senior night. All three of our perimeter players have all impacted our program in a huge way, in different ways, and have all been very responsible for the success we’ve had this year, you know. So they deserve it. I’m excited for them that we get to celebrate them, and everything we got to make sure we get a win tomorrow night. It’s going to be a really big challenge, and we just want to make sure we send them out the right way.”
Q. On what stands out about Ole Miss:
“They do a great job taking care of the basketball. They’re really solid that way, and they’re hard to guard. They’re a little undersized, but they play a lot of shooters. You know their front court guys, Malik Dia, Brakefield, you know, these guys can shoot, and they stretch you out a little bit, make it challenging, especially the way we play with big guys, they’re gonna have to guard on the perimeter a little bit. You know their guard play’s really good. Pedulla has had a great year. Murray is a talent, a guy that can make shots. Murrell is a very, very good player. So they’re deep, they got, Dre Davis is having a good year, they have weapons, they have multiple guys that can hurt you. So again, it’s always the case, we got to defend, we got to rebound. We do those things, we’re going to give ourselves, you know, a good chance. And offensively, they do a lot of switching. They’re going to try to take you out of your early game and make us beat them one-on one. And we got to find ways to take advantage of their size and their switching.”
Q. On the different styles of SEC teams, how that can help in March:
“It’s a big part of this league, because you have teams that play contrasting styles, for sure. You know, a lot of teams, like Tennessee doesn’t switch a lot, South Carolina is that way also, and then you have teams like Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and A&M that switch a ton off the ball, so your game plan, and on the ball, for that matter, but your game plan has to be a little different, and you got to be able to be a little malleable offensively to take advantage of different things. I think we’ve done a really good job all year that way, not allowing different defenses to slow us down. And, you know, it’s obviously our game plan is gonna be a lot different tomorrow night than it was Wednesday against Alabama. And knock on wood, our guys have done a really good job all year being able to adjust game to game, but this is gonna be another challenge that way also.”
Q. On how encouraging the rebounding was on Wednesday:
“I was incredibly pleased with our effort that way. I thought we played really, really hard on Wednesday night. Not always perfect, I thought we were a little casual with the basketball in the first half, but overall, our competitive nature was fantastic. I thought we did a great job of meeting the moment that way. We won a lot of 50/50, balls. We did a great job on the glass. We executed the little / winning things that you have to do to go on the road and be an elite team like Alabama. So that was another step in the right direction and got to make sure we finish the regular season the right way tomorrow night, and it’s not going to be easy. This is another really good team, another Quad 1 opportunity for us at home.”
Q. On the chemistry, selflessness of the team at the end of the season:
“I really believe it’s why we are who we are. We have great talent, and we’re deep. I think our talent’s better than people thought it was at the beginning of the season. But I do believe our secret sauce is our team talent. The way our guys play together, our willingness to put each other in front of ourselves, and, you know, it’s gonna be a different guy every night for us and we don’t have any selfishness that way. Will is a great example. Zero points against LSU, 30 against Georgia, 25 against A&M. Walt can give you 20 in a half, can get you six assists in a half. Condo goes from being injured to getting 27. We have different guys and again, on every night, when it is a different guy, we don’t have anybody pouting or complaining about touches, or when am I going to get my looks? They’re just all about the team and making sure we do everything we can to win.”
Q. On how important it is for the seniors to be those guys:
“Incredibly. It starts with your best players; the best players on your team being unselfish. And I think Walt, Will and Alijah being our senior leaders have really set the tone that way, and it started last summer. The all came back on under the right terms. They all came back wanting to raise the profile of our program. When your leaders behave that way, it simply raises the bar for everybody else and it doesn’t allow anyone else to do it. They deserve all the credit for the unselfishness of our team. Our staff did a good job of evaluating guys and bringing in the right pieces, but at the end of the day our message is important but our guys going out and executing it is everything. They’ve done the work that way.”
Q. On the emphasis on the offense vs Ole Miss’ defense:
“That’s a huge thing, taking care of the ball. They do have a lot of heavy baseline help, a lot of rotations, a lot of cover-downs, which if you play off two and take your time and are strong with the ball, in theory, you should be able to get some kick-out 3s, which we were able to do against A&M and Mississippi State. The other thing, we have to able to elite on the boards, again. They’re a team that struggles rebounding-wise a little bit, probably more a function of just being a little undersized than anything else, because they’re a really tough team and incredibly well coached. But we have to create second-chance opportunities like we’ve done all year. The Alabama game was a really good example of that. I think we had 15 offensive rebounds. We need another game of double-digit offensive rebounds. So taking care of the ball, creating second chances will be huge. Whether they try or not, it’s going to be a little slower at times, we can’t allow that to take us out of our transition game, either. We have to get clean rebounds and we got to run. If we do that we’ll be in good shape and hopefully create enough tempo to where they kind of have no choice to try to keep up with us in the transition game.”
Q. On the passing ability of Florida’s frontcourt:
“Our team is really special that way. Not only their ability to pass, but their ability to take care of the ball. They throw really difficult, scoring passes and don’t really turn it over. It’s a super luxury and I don’t think there’s another team in America that’s like that. That’s one of our biggest strengths is way we play. All five guys touch it and that makes us hard to guard. When you have front court players who can step out and make shots too, you put the defense in some pickles. That showed up on Wednesday with Condo and Tommy hitting some threes. It just opens up the game for us. They’ve been elite all year operating as hubs in our offense and being playmakers in the DHO games, the zoom games, and just making really good reads. Alabama was top-blocking our perimeter early in the game – really all game, but really, really hard early in the game – and we were able to loosen them up a little bit by being able to throw some back-door passes. It’s something that our staff certainly doesn’t take for granted, their ability to pass.
Q. On stressing the big picture of this game relative to NCAA seeding:
“We’re talking a lot about it. Going into this week, those were kind of the two things we were striving to do: get ourselves a double-bye, like we talked about last week, and then do everything we can to get a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think we are now in that position. The Alabama game was huge for us that way. We were competing with them for the 1-seed and Tennessee obviously lost to Ole Miss on Wednesday. That was a big game. I think we’re in the driver’s seat for a 1-seed right now, but losing tomorrow will make it murky again and we want to do everything we can not to allow that to happen. If we win tomorrow, I think we’re in really good shape.”
Q. On Walter Clayton Jr.’s impact on the program:
“The reality is there are a couple things in my opinion that will determine the direction of a program. One is the staff. Two is the players. And the players are probably a little more important or equally as important. We’ve been able to add some program changers, and I’d put Walt right at the top of that list. Getting him to come home, come back and play for the Gators was obviously a huge, huge addition to our program and he’s just been an elite player since he’s been here. Obviously was off the ball last year, did some really good things for us. The growth he’s made this year I think has been exceptional. I’m not sure he’s getting the recognition nationally that he deserves that way. Because we all know how difficult the transition from being a scoring, off-ball guard to being a lead guard is, and he’s done it seamlessly. He’s been an incredibly huge piece of our team becoming a top 3 or 4 team in America right now. So, I’m certainly grateful that he made the decision. I know all the Gators fans and alums are grateful. And the best part about it is, he absolutely loves being here. He loves being a Gator. He loves playing in front of the crowd. He loves going to class and school here. He loves the fact his mom can come up to games. It’s a really special story. I’m really happy for him.”
Q. On message to the team considering the praise has never been higher:
“The message is you are only as good as your last game and if we lose tomorrow night, a lot of the good equity that we’ve built up will be forgotten. I think our team has been pretty good that way where we show up and we bring a workmanlike approach. The benefit for is that we still have a lot to play for. We can’t win the league, but we’ve secured second in the best league in the last 20 years, and now we are playing for NCAA Tournament seeding in this game on Saturday. Obviously, next week we will have a chance to win a championship in the SEC Tournament. This isn’t a situation where this game doesn’t matter. This game matters a lot to everybody, to Ole Miss, too. I have to make sure I’m doing everything I can to make sure the message gets across. I think our guys understand what’s at stake tomorrow night.”
Really fun article to read, thank you!