Florida’s 25-point win over Quinnipiac on Saturday wrapped a perfect, 6-0, December for the Gators, which marks the first time the Orange and Blue have finished off a month with a perfect record since November 2021.
Things were a bit shaky for Florida through the first few weeks of the season, but the team saw an opportunity to right the ship with a manageable month in front of them.
“I think it was important at that time, right after we lost that Wake (Forest) game, to kind of think of something that we can kind of rally around and find something to take pride in,” Golden said. “We’re definitely a day-to-day program. We don’t want to look too far ahead. But I thought that was a good time for us to be able to ‘Alright, this little six-game block as we get into the new year is something that we can focus on.’ And, you know, the guys did in private, we talked about it quite a bit behind closed doors, it was something that was really important to us.”
Still, Florida had to beat Michigan and Richmond on a neutral court. Those are the kind of games Florida teams of the past five years might slip up in, but not this group. The ball is moving around the court with ease, and the Gators seem to be getting better every time they take the floor.
“You know, our ball-screen defense has improved quite a bit, I think that’s one area that was really improved,” he said. “And then offensively we’re just moving the ball well, you know. We’ve had, over the last two games, 46 assists. Our assist-to-turnover ratio has been really, really good that way…
“It’s a lot of new guys playing together. We only had two guys that really played last year that returned, and everybody that’s in the program has a different role than last year, and everybody that’s new to the program has a different role than they had in their last spot, so it’s going to take a little bit to get to our potential, but I do feel like we’re slowly getting there.”
Golden admitted that practices have gotten a bit more intense over the month, and that’s with some intent. SEC play begins next weekend, and Florida can’t afford to be happy with what it accomplished in December.
Closing out 2023 on a nice note is good for Florida basketball, but starting off 2024 hot will be even more important.
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