Everything Todd Golden said about Gators facing No. 3 Alabama

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the first time in program history, the Gators will face three AP top-5 opponents in a four-game span with Wednesday’s matchup at No. 3 Alabama.

The stretch started with a 64-50 loss at No. 5 Kansas State, followed by Florida’s 67-54 upset over No. 2 Tennessee 67-54 last week and now the Crimson Tide.

The Gators (13-10, 6-4 SEC) are looking for their first top-3 road win in program history, going 0-16 in such games entering Wednesday’s contest.

Prior to traveling to Tuscaloosa, Florida coach Todd Golden met the media to preview the matchup with Alabama (20-3/10-0 SEC) and recap the loss at Kentucky.

On his takeaways from the Kentucky game:

Todd Golden: “I think our defense let us down a little bit in that game, to be honest. I have a high standard of what I expect out of our team defensively because we’ve been really consistent with that. I thought our transition was poor at times. I thought we did a bad job on some switches to prevent some penetration. At the same time, you have to tip your hat a little bit because they made some tough mid-range shots. Cason Wallace was one who stands out. He played a really nice game and beat the scout a little bit. Offensively, we could have made a couple more, but we did a good job of protecting the ball and I thought we did a good job of fighting with our offense. To have a chance to tie with 15 seconds to go, it was OK. Obviously, I would have loved to have had a better possession on that last opportunity, but at the same time, a bang-bang play, a split decision, we’ll go from there. Overall, really for the last week, plus-8 over 80 minutes between home against Tennessee and at Rupp Arena, I think our program is going in the right direction.”

On Castleton’s play the last couple games:

Golden: “He’s playing like one of if not the best players in the league. He’s doing everything we need him to do and more. He’s been a great leader here in this stress. Shoot, man, I’m playing him about 38 minutes a game, but it’s just hard to take that guy off the court, with the way he’s playing. And for him to sustain that level of effectiveness with the number of minutes he’s carrying and the defensive coverages he’s expected to execute says a lot about what’s he’s been able to do.”

On the last offensive play at Kentucky:

Golden: “I don’t know if I had timeout that I would have used one. You get a missed free throw. They’re scrambling a little bit. You call timeout there you might give be able to get a little more organized offensively, but then again you give them a chance to scheme against you and maybe put another defense out or go zone or do something that will take you out of what you want to do. And with our team and the way we play and the way we’ve been sharing the ball, I liked the randomness of it. We got Colin the ball screen. They did a good job of getting the ball on the other side of the floor. Colin couldn’t really get the ball up the side of the floor. MJ had Colin maybe a little bit over the top and maybe just settled a little too quick. Then again, he had just made a tough shot to get us back to one possession. You can second guess if you want, but at the same time, to be in the spot, I give a lot of credit to our guys for getting us back in the ballgame like they did.”

On handling a bigger Alabama team:

Golden: “They are a fantastic team, top five nationally, top 20 or 25 offensively, top 5 defensively and they are just really good on both sides of the ball. They shoot a lot of 3s, they limit 3s, I think they have a lot of the same fundamentals that we do in terms of what they want to do offensively and what they want to take away from other teams. But the good thing is the schedule has prepared us for this game over the last couple of weeks. We’ve seen some really, really good teams. We’ve still got to prepare for the challenges that is Alabama and the things that they do really well which is basically everything, you know. They are really talented but again, I don’t anticipate our guys are going to be fearful or scared. I think we’ve been able to build a lot of confidence over this last week and a half playing the way we have and it’s just a great challenge for us.” 

On Castleton’s improvement, new ways he has helped this team:

Golden: “I think his mentality. Not necessarily a spot in his game, more so in his head, his mentality, all throughout the year has gotten better and better with each game. And really, my goodness man, the way he’s played in the league, I think Colin over the last couple of years has been a really good player, I think he’s a great player now. The way he keeps his head in tough moments, I think there’s times he’s getting fouled, he’s not getting whistles. He’s staying the course. He doesn’t take any plays off which is really hard to do when you play 38 minutes a game. We’ve challenged him that way and kind of laid out the expectation of what we needed from him and what we expect from him, being a leader and having that ability to be on the court as much as he has and he hasn’t taking advantage of it in a negative way. He’s given us everything he’s got and what we’re 6-4 in the league, we’re 10 games in. We’ve been in every single game basically until the last possession and a lot of that is because of him and I think he’s been one of if not the most valuable player in our league so far.”

On teaching moments with Kowacie Reeves and questionable shots:

Golden: “It’s a part of coaching and I don’t think it’s a selfishness thing, I think, he’s trying to do everything he can to help this team win and we expect him to score, we expect him to be aggressive offensively but you’ve got to pick your spots and you’ve got to do a really good job especially when you are struggling shooting the ball from the perimeter, like he has, to find different ways to get yourself going. He knows we have confidence in him. He also knows that we need him to play well to be the best we can be, so it’s a fine line and being a shooter, one of the only things I can do when I played, you want your coach to give you the green light because if you don’t then you are not going to make any shots. So, it’s a balance, man and it’s tricky, shooting is a fickle deal, there’s going to be some games where you rip it up, like the Mississippi State, we don’t win the game on the road without him. He had nine big points in the second half that helped us win that game but it’s a lesson for him and it’s a lesson for our team also. He’s not the only one that’s taken some quick shots and some difficult shots over the course of the season and I think we’re a lot better that way then we were earlier in the year, but in my mind it’s an opportunity to grow and understand hey we’re in all these games, if we can find some ways on some of these possessions to be a little more efficient, a little more picky maybe we can be even that much better. So that’s kind of the message and we’re going to need him tomorrow night to win the game in Tuscaloosa for sure.”

On providing players with individual cutups in film review:

Golden: “Yeah, we spend a lot of time on player-development that way and watching film and doing those things. It’s important to us, and so it’s being talked about it, and we watch it.”

On whether four players playing 32 minutes is a concern fatigue-wise: 

Golden: “I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. We got to be mindful of it. 32 doesn’t worry me. When we get to 36, 38, for certain guys, that worries me a little bit. We’ve definitely drilled down on our rotations, our line-ups. I feel like we’re in a really good spot that way, and the one that bums me out is Alex Fudge, because I feel bad for the situation that he was in. His first half against Mississippi State, it was probably as good as he played all year, and it’s a head injury and he’s out. And obviously he’s trying to fight back. But I expect him to play really well again. He was really coming on. And then Trey, we need him to get going a little bit. I feel like there’s been moments when he’s been on his heels a little bit, and when he’s at his best he’s playing like he was when he checked into the Tennessee game, just flying around, letting it fly. He’s going to take some quick shots, but that’s alright, we need his scoring, he hit a big three in that game that helped us separate. But the starting group is doing very well. Our bench has been very good for the most part all-league. Lately, we need them to pick it back up to be the team we’re capable of, but it’s a long season, man. There’s ups and downs and got to stay the course, and I’m confident in all those guys coming off to really be able to help us down the stretch here.”

On if Fudge will take a little while to get back the fearless aspect of his play: 

Golden: “Yeah, I think so. I really do, and you miss practice. You miss practice, he missed a game and a half basically. He came back for Kansas State, he was definitely healthy, but he didn’t practice really before that, so it was kind of, I threw him in the fire, probably a little too quick that way. But yeah, I think it’s just the reps being in practice every day, understanding what we want and having that comfort of being able to do that every day. You miss that, it’s going to take some time getting back and getting comfortable, but he’s doing everything he can to get it. Like, I gave these guys Sunday off. Obviously, it had been a long week, both mentally and physically, but he was in here on his own for a couple hours. Which, to me, as a coach, all you can do is give credit to the young man for that, for doing everything he can to get himself back going. So, when guys approach it like that, I feel very confident that he’ll get back there.”

On defending Alabama’s Jahvon Quinerly:

Golden: “Yeah, really good point guard, you know, really good playmaker. Plays out of the pick and roll a lot. I would say the past, inconsistent shooter but he’s shooting the ball really well in conference play, so we’re mindful of that. And between him and Sears and Brantley, they have multiple guys that can play out of the pick and roll, which makes them so difficult to guard. But he’s an experienced player, I think he’s a fourth year or fifth-year player now, and he’s one of the many reasons they’re as good as they are.”

On if Brandon Miller is as good of a player as UF will see this season:

Golden: “He’s definitely as good of a talent. He’s scoring the ball, I think he’s leading scorer in the SEC or close, and he’s only going to be in Tuscaloosa for about another month and it’ll be nice to see him once and wish him best of luck. I think that he has overachieved in terms of expectation. I’m not sure exactly what he’s rated. I know he was very highly touted recruit, but he’s just, I mean, if he’s not the best freshman he’s one of the best in the country. And I think he’s played at a level that’s allowed them to be a top-five team in the country.”

On the ability to guard without fouling and how to teach that:

Golden: “It’s a big part of our philosophy, you know, defensively, being mindful of that. You know, getting to the foul line’s the easiest way to score, so you want to limit that as much as you can. And I think we try to do different things to prevent teams from getting downhill on us or we’re, you know, in rotations at the rim, you know. And Colin’s a luxury. He does an incredible job of protecting the paint, protecting the rim, defending without fouling as well. So, a little bit of it’s our personnel. A little of it is our defensive gameplan or mindset, and then our guys being able to go out and execute it.”

On his philosophy of communicating with officials:

Golden: “I think I’m great at it. I haven’t had a technical yet this year. … Honestly, I’ve been really pleased with the way the officials in the league have communicated with me so far. You know, coming in as a younger guy that hasn’t really spent a lot of time out this way, you worry against guys like Rick Barnes and Jon Calipari. What kind of whistle are you gonna get and how are you going to be treated? And to be honest, I feel like we got a very fair whistle. I feel like all the officials have been very transparent, willing to communicate, and you know, there’s times where I probably get a little emotional. And I feel like they’ve been OK with that, you know, because I try to keep it pretty respectful, you know for the most part. So, in terms of a working relationship and how it’s gone, I’m really happy with it so far.”

On what’s it going to take to get in the tourney: 

Golden: “I’ll give you a very broad answer to that. We’ve gotta win the games we’re supposed to win down the stretch in conference play. And, you know, winning the ones that we’re not maybe expected to win will obviously give us a lot more room to play with. But, being where we are, that Tennessee win as you guys know was humongous for us. And that’s a win that travels all year. Very few people in America have a better win in the country, against the No. 2 team. So now we have a couple quad one wins. That Missouri win’s gonna travel, you know; they’re a good team. We have no bad losses. I mean, we don’t even have anything even close to a bad loss. We haven’t even lost to a team outside the top 50 all year, so we’ll get credit for our strength of schedule as good as it is. The committee’s shown time after time that they don’t respect teams that challenge themselves and don’t really hold it against you for losing against good teams. And so I think we’re in really good shape that way, and so now it’s just all about cobbling wins together and making sure we’re getting to a respectable level that way. And so, the message to the guys yesterday was, ‘Hey it’s February [6]. We control our own destiny.’ There are very few teams across America that can say that, and so yeah, I think if we win the games we’re supposed to win and maybe clip one in the conference tournament, I think we’ll be in good shape.”