With their regular season opener against Elon less than two weeks away, the preseason is starting to wind down for the new-look Gators basketball team.
Instead of playing against each other every day with no end in sight, they’re now starting to find out how they stack up against other teams. They hosted North Carolina in a “secret scrimmage” in the O’Connell Center on Saturday, and they’ll play Embry-Riddle in an exhibition game on Monday night.
While everyone associated with the program is excited to play somebody that’s not wearing orange and blue, this can be a very stressful time of the year for coaches. Sometimes, a team might have a major flaw, but it doesn’t show up in practice for some reason. That’s changing now. North Carolina exposed several of the Gators’ weaknesses, and several more are likely to pop up over the next few weeks.
Coach Mike White wouldn’t divulge much about how the scrimmage with North Carolina went, but it’s clear that he’s extremely pleased with his team’s passing ability.
“Biggest thing that stuck out, the way that we’re moving it,” White said. “I think it’s the best passing team that I’ve coached here at Florida, and, hopefully, I’m saying the same thing in December and January, February. It’s obviously the oldest team that we’ve had, so I think there’s a certain level of maturity there that was expected, and we’ve gotten to this point. Nothing sticks out as a big deficiency. Not that we’re great at anything right now, but I would say we are a pretty good passing team.”
If that translates into the season, that’s going to be a huge boost to their offense. While Florida led the SEC in field goal percentage and three-point percentage last season, they committed 82 more turnovers than assists. The turnovers seemed to come in bunches, and they led to some long scoring droughts and transition opportunities that cost them some games.
It’s difficult enough to score against the type of athletes that they see on a regular basis in the SEC; it’s even harder when you just give away possessions without making the defense do anything.
White also likes the team chemistry that he’s seen from a group with almost as many newcomers (seven) as returning players (eight).
“I think ultimately that if winning above all else is maintained as the ultimate goal, we have a chance to be good,” he said. “Right now, I like our buy-in. I like our chemistry. Our guys spend a lot of time together off the floor. I do sometimes think that can overrated. I like to be close off the floor; I like to be really, really close on the floor. I like guys that have the ability to call each other out, to hold each accountable, to be real with one another, to give coaching, to take coaching with one another. We’re in a pretty good place with that right now.”
One area that their chemistry shows up in is their shot selection. It’s one thing to have the physical skillset that it takes to be a good passer; it’s another thing to be willing to give up an open three-point shot because an even better shooter is even more open right next to you.
White is pleased with their shot selection so far, and he’s cautiously optimistic that it will carry over into the season.
“I really like our shot selection to this point,” he said. “Again, it’s a little bit easier to play the right way, to play for us, to take our shots for us when you’ve got no exterior noise there, when you’re not playing on TV or you’re not playing in front of fans. Those are all factors; we’re all dealing with it. Everyone in college basketball is dealing with it, the level of selflessness, the level of chemistry.
“I’m sure a lot of the coaches being interviewed today are talking about a lot of the same things are big factors in terms of separating great teams from good teams, good teams from average teams, and it’s something that we preach every day.”
Forward Anthony Duruji believes that they have the maturity to not let individual goals affect how they play as a team.
“One night, somebody can be on, and then, another night, somebody else can be on,” Duruji said of White’s message. “We just have to embrace it and have to be fine with that. We have a lot of versatility on this team. We know it’s a long season. We just have to rely on each other and trust our abilities.
“Obviously, there’s a temptation in playing college basketball where everyone has their dreams and aspirations. But if that creeps in, you already know it can be defeat and derail our path and our success. So, like I said before, we all have to come together as one and in the fold. Each one has something that we can bring. There’s a small amount of sacrifice that we all have to sacrifice, but it’s for the good of the team.”
One thing that White seems a little disappointed about is their defense. They have some gifted defensive players on their roster, included a pair of transfers who won defensive player of the year honors in their conferences in Phlandrous Fleming and Brandon McKissic and a premier shot blocker in Colin Castleton.
Those individual pieces just haven’t quite morphed into a solid defensive unit yet. That’s going to be a point of emphasis for them moving forward, especially given that defense was White’s calling card as a player and something that he coaches extremely hard.
Point guard Tyree Appleby is confident that they’ll get their defensive issues ironed out soon.
“We’re still working out the little tweaks and everything from the defensive end, but I think the chemistry there is really great because everybody wants to play for one another,” he said. “Everybody just wants to win, so, I think collectively, we come together, and we know we can get the stops, and we have the people, the players to get the stops. So, I think we’re going to be just fine.”
It’s still way too early to make any definitive statements about what the 2021-22 Gators will look like, but their coach believes that they have a high ceiling.
“Right now, I just really do like this group,” White said. “If we can avoid injury and if we can stay healthy and improve defensively, this is one of the better offensive teams that I’ve been able to coach, and I think we have a chance to be good.”
The whole world will start to find out for sure in 12 days.
despite his flaws, it sure is refreshing to hear a head coach at a press conference not try to be coy and sound like the smartest person in the room.
thanks for the article ethan!