Florida's 7-Foot-9 Center Makes Impact In Limited Minutes Against Slovenia

I think they may have used it a bit wrong, he burned as in used his redshirt season last year. We know he didn't see any time

 

So his team won by 19, but in the 5 minutes he was in the game, they were +15. That's impressive

 

On Monday, Rioux played in his team's 82-63 win over Slovenia. The 19-year-old played just five minutes, grabbing three rebounds while scoring two points.
He went a perfect 2-for-2 from the line. More importantly, Rioux has an eye-popping plus-15 in-the-box score, with Canada dominating with the Florida Gators product on the court.

Team Canada and Rioux will play Germany again on Tuesday. Both teams hold a perfect 2-0 record.

 

It also says he’s trying to “carve out a role for the 24-25 season when it should be 25-26. Must not be much editing going on there.

 

I watched Canada's game against Germany this morning. You can find it on YouTube. I'm not sure we will ever get much out of Olivier. They only played him in a couple 2 and 3 minute stretches. He has no explosiveness. Lost the opening tip by a mile. Guys blow right by him on D or shoot over him since he can't close out fast enough. It didn't help that he would post up down low with good position but nobody would pass him the ball. I saw that when he played at IMG also. He scored on one lob and a put back but that was it. Given our style of play, he will likely only see garbage time minutes this year, at best. He takes so long to get up to speed. Like when you were a kid on a 21 speed bike and accidentally started in 7th gear. Like hell trying to get going but fine once you got up to speed. That's what he looks like running up and down the court.

 

Yeah, his skill is in the style of play he can play in. All I can see from him is a "gotcha" defense - 2-3 zone - as a change of pace. Otherwise, he isn't built for running and lateral quickness defending in man coverage. Methinks we would play Haugh at the 5 in man before we play Oly in a close game where injuries/fouls are an issue. But we shall see.

 

I too don't think he will play meaningful minutes for all the reasons stated earlier. I think he truly loves being a Gator, otherwise he could have chosen to attend a smaller school where he would see more playing time. The guy is plain nice and doesn't seem to turn down a picture with a fan or an autograph. I do hope he gets a few minutes of garbage time.

 

Rumble, big man, rumble ...

 

Anyone thinking he’ll be a star is likely mistaken. But if we get in serious injury or foul trouble, I’ll take him and his rebounding ability.

 

We have 5 bigs ahead of Ollie, so it's unlikely he'll see meaningful minutes season. That said, let's just give him the time and the chance to develop at his own pace, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him get on the court in some blowout games.
Coach Hartman will make Ollie a better player, and the strength and conditioning staff will help him grow athletically and coordination-wise into his height. Remember, Ollie has just recently stopped growing.