Last week, the new-look Florida basketball team made its public debut in an exhibition game against Embry-Riddle. That provided them with an opportunity to get every player on the roster into the game, work on some areas of weakness and put on a show for their fans in a stress-free setting.
Now it’s time for the real deal. The Gators will open the regular season against Elon on Tuesday at 8 at Exactech Arena.
Obviously, winning is always the No. 1 goal entering a game, but these early-season non-conference games also serve as an opportunity for coach Mike White to try out different combinations, identify strengths and weaknesses, and make the necessary improvements before SEC play rolls around in late December.
White has a checklist of things that he wants to see from his team in their first game in a high-stakes environment where the stats and the score count.
“I would like to see ‘A’ shots, unselfishness, sound decisions, playing off of two feet, making simple plays, not trying to hit home runs,” he said.
“Simple winning plays offensively, take what the defense gives us, as we’re really geeked up, obviously, to start the season. I know emotions will be flying, really, with both teams. Just play the right way offensively. Defensively, Elon is very structured. They run really good stuff offensively, so they’re going to test our discipline. We’ve got to pressure without fouling. We’ve got to take a step from that Embry-Riddle game.
“Got to defend the glass better, of course. Got to finish stops with discipline. They’re a skilled team that’s going to spread us out, and I’d like to see where we’re at defensively against a team that’s going to execute really well early in the season.”
Offensively, the Gators likely won’t be a great shooting team this season, as their roster is mostly based around long and athletic wing players that can drive and slash to create easy buckets, such as Brandon McKissic, Phlandrous Fleming and Tyree Appleby, though that trio can certainly catch fire at times.
They only shot 38 percent from the field against Embry-Riddle, including 32.4 percent from beyond the arc. There will probably be games like that during the regular season where they just can’t seem to find the bottom of the net at a high clip.
However, the hope is that they can make up for those shooting deficiencies with their selflessness and passing prowess. You don’t need to be a great shooter if your teammates can set you up with a wide-open, high-percentage look.
Despite having seven newcomers, at least three of which will likely be in the starting lineup against the Phoenix, White has raved all preseason about how unselfish and connected this team is. They’ve developed a high level of chemistry in their very short amount of time together.
“To this point in practice, there’s been less drama in terms of arguments over what a good shot looks like for this team,” White said. “And the ownership level is pretty high with this team in terms of, sometimes, it may not even be me that has to say it. It might be another older guy on the team, like, ‘Hey, man, that’s not the shot we’re looking for.’ Communication’s a two-way street, and accountability’s a two-way street. Not only have we done a pretty good job in practice of calling each other out but receiving messages as well has been pretty impressive to this point.”
White is cautiously optimistic that their mindset as a team won’t change once the season starts and guys go on hot streaks and cold streaks. It’s easy for them to trust each other now, but what’s going to happen in game 12 of the season when a guy that’s missed his last 13 three-pointers is standing wide-open in the corner?
“These guys want to come here and win,” he said. “Again, we hope that maintains. Everyone’s got individual aspirations, and I want all of these guys to succeed at the highest level possible individually, but, at the same time, we’re trying to help the Gators win as much as possible. We’re trying to win as a team while we’re trying to develop individually. I think that to this point, what guys talked about being important to them, they’ve upheld that with their actions, and we just hope that that continues.”
Center Colin Castleton said that because this team is one of the oldest teams in the country – they have eight juniors and seniors – he doesn’t envision remaining team-oriented becoming a challenge for this group.
“Most teams that are older tend to have more mature guys,” he said. “They’ve been through everything in college. It’s kind of like their last stop, and then they’re more mature on the court. You see things differently, way quicker when you’re older when you go through the years of college basketball. Things don’t take as long to develop. You kind of just know what’s going to happen, and you can just respond quicker.”
Defensively, White has some high-quality pieces to work with. Fleming was a two-time Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Charleston Southern, and McKissic won the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year award last season at Missouri-Kansas City.
Castleton had one of the best shot-blocking seasons in UF history last season, and one of Appleby’s biggest strengths is his ability to get steals and lead fast breaks. The Gators believe that Boston College transfer forward CJ Felder can guard all five positions on the floor.
As could be expected, though, their team defense is still a work in progress. All of these highly skilled defenders are having to learn new defensive concepts, figure out how to communicate with each other and develop that sixth sense to know how their teammates are going to react to certain situations. That stuff only comes with experience playing together.
White is pleased with the commitment that his players have made to the defensive end of the floor and hopes to play a more aggressive and attacking style of defense this season.
“I think we’re pretty bought-in so far, again, in a good spot,” he said. “But I think a lot of teams will learn a lot about themselves over the course of the next week. This is probably the most important week in terms of learning about your team.
“We do have an opportunity, I think, with the makeup of this roster, to extend a little bit more. Definitely, at least in the halfcourt. Tyree showed that the other day, and he’s a guy that, like all of these guys, we’ve got to learn how to pressure with discipline and with poise and to get out there and extend but also keep our fouls down and stay on the floor with shot fakes and know the shot clock defensively and a lot of little things that come with adjusting how you’re pressuring a little bit.”
According to Castleton, this team has the most important ingredient to a dominant defense – want-to.
“I would say just more active,” he said. “Also, just, I think ‘gritty’s’ a good word. I pride myself on the defensive end, and I think a lot of other guys do as well. Like, you look over, and the guy next to you cares about defense just as much as you, it makes you want to play just as hard. I think it’s just a will to play defense. I really don’t know if there’s a certain thing. Defense is something you want to do or you don’t want to do, and I feel like we have a lot of guys that want to play defense.”
Perhaps the area of this team that needs the most improvement and will determine how successful this season is, though, is their rebounding. Giving up second-chance opportunities was one of their biggest weaknesses last season. They only outrebounded a woefully undersized Embry-Riddle team by two in their exhibition.
Outside of Castleton and Jason Jitoboh, they don’t have much size. That means that their bigger perimeter players like Fleming, McKissic, Niels Lane and Kowacie Reeves need to do an outstanding job on the glass.
“You’d like all five guys fighting over rebounds at times and fighting over block-outs,” White said. “You want everyone that’s in a Gator uniform to take pride in the way that we rebound the ball offensively and defensively. That said, I think with last year’s group and definitely this year’s group, I just don’t know that we’re an overpowering rebounding team, so it’s even more important for our guards.
“Definitely something that we’re preaching on a daily basis to Phlan Fleming and Kowacie Reeves and Niels Lane and our bigger wings, but that doesn’t stop there. Myreon Jones and Brandon McKissic and Tyree Appleby, if they’re not in the fight and trying to grab the ball with two hands, at least maybe they’re putting a body on somebody.”
Castleton said the team’s experience and maturity will also help them when it comes to offensive rebounding. It can be challenging for young guards to figure out whether they should go for the offensive rebound or sprint back to the other side of the court to prevent a fast-break opportunity for the other team. Because this group has been there and done that, being aggressive but not careless shouldn’t be much of an issue for them.
“I feel like we just go for balls more, go for loose balls, go for offensive rebounds,” Castleton said. “We’re smarter, so we know which guys need to go, and I think we just all have a will to go get the ball. If somebody misses a shot, just go get it and go back up with it, kick it out or just get an extra possession because you need extra possessions in a basketball game. That’s what helps you win.
“So, I think that’s going to help us a lot, and you’ll definitely see that this year. We’ve got a lot more guys who are willing to crash and go get the offensive rebounds, and I’m putting more effort into it and really priding myself on that.”
Let the road to March Madness begin.