Florida men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden shared an optimistic outlook on his team’s progress on Thursday, praising his players’ effort, commitment and development during a very productive training camp.
Entering his third year with the Gators, Golden emphasized the depth of the team’s roster as well as the team’s balanced offensive potential and ability to perform under pressure. With a focus on reaching top-40 defensive status, Golden is confident that Florida will shape into a strong, cohesive group poised for success as they prepare for their season-opening game against South Florida on Nov. 4.
Golden met with the media on Thursday and these are some things to take away from what he said.
Feelings on where the team’s at right now
“We feel good about where we’re at. I think we’ve had a good training camp. Feel like the guys have done a really good job of working collectively towards being ready to go for the beginning of the year. I thought we weren’t necessarily great in our first scrimmage, some positive things, but some things we need to do better.
“I thought we were better this past Saturday, just more complete, a little more physical, better on the glass. Looked more like the group that we want to be over the course of the year. So I think we’re tracking, but until we play the real games, TBD.”
The health of the team
“We’re in pretty good shape. I think as of today, we’ll have everybody lined up and ready to go for next week. Obviously, it’s end of training camp. Guys have bumps and bruises, some some soreness here and there. But overall, big picture we’re in good shape heading into the opener.”
Alijah Martin’s preseason performance vs. Charleston
“He played fantastic, obviously, was very efficient. I thought was impactful, not just scoring the ball, though, in all areas, did a great job defending and getting on the glass. And that’s kind of the benefit of having that perimeter with Walt (Clayton Jr.), Will (Richard), Alijah (Martin), Denzel (Aberdeen).
“These guys are all potent. They can all get you 20 (points) on any given night. Just having the ability to take advantage of a matchup where maybe a weaker defender is guarding one of those guys is going to benefit us all year. They’ve continued to be unselfish and play together.
“Saturday was Alijah’s turn. Monday, it could be Will’s or Walt’s or Denzel’s. We’ll see what it looks like. But I really think that’s going to be kind of the most important part of our success this season is that those guys continue to be unselfish. If they do that, we should be fine.”
Striving to be just as good on defense as on offense
“Just continuing to build off of our offensive success last year and, like we’ve talked about a lot, just making sure we can get in the ballpark defensively of being a really good team. Our goal internally is to be a top-40 defense. I think we were 91 or two or three on KenPom so that’s a big jump. That’s not going to be easy to do.
“But, I do think if we’re able to accomplish that, it will give us a good landing spot for where we want to go. Obviously, the defensive side of the ball being much better but without sacrificing any of the growth we’ve made on the offensive side of the ball.”
Feeling good on the team’s depth
“Yeah, I am. I think our roster’s continued to improve every year. I think depth is something that we have this year, obviously. We gotta stay healthy also. That’s really important. But guys like Kajus (Kublickas) now being a second year player. I feel better about his ability to help us in games.
“Isaiah Brown is a playable freshman. He’s a guy that’s capable. He’s behind some really talented older guys in front of him, but if we had an injury or if we had an issue, I think Isaiah could be more than serviceable out there and our front court’s deep right now with those four guys. So I feel good about that. But you can never have enough, for sure.”
Walter Clayton’s preseason accolades
“He’s been great. I think Walt (Clayton) is a guy that has a lot of confidence regardless. I think whether he was named preseason Naismith or not, he was going to be very confident in his abilities in a good way. So I think he takes it in stride.
“I think he appreciates the recognition, but he understands that at the end of the day, it’s more important to be on that list at the end of the year than it is at the beginning. And it’s gonna be very important that our team has a lot of success for him to continue to be recognized as well as other guys in a program like Will or Elijah.”
Florida basketball season opener
The Gators will face the South Florida Bulls in the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational to open the schedule on Monday, Nov. 4 in Jacksonville. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Gators Sports Network.
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