Everything Todd Golden said ahead of Georgia matchup

Florida men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden met with the media ahead of his squad’s matchup with Georgia on Tuesday night.

Golden and the Gators took down the Bulldogs on January 7, which sparked a 3-game win streak where the Gators were playing some of their best basketball of the year.

Now, UF will go into Athens without Castleton and with a 2-6 record in the month of February.

Here’s everything Golden said regarding Florida’s 16-point loss on the road at Vanderbilt, a second matchup with Georgia and more.

Golden on how the Gators matchup with Georgia compared to their recent matchups:

“Its a great opportunity for us to get back on track, you know. Obviously played some tough games at Arkansas, Kentucky home. Vandy’s been playing really well at home, you know, shooting the ball well, playing well and feel like Georgia, another team that’s had some really good moments. Beat Kentucky at home two weeks ago, but has struggled a little bit since then. Two teams that are scratching and clawing, trying to get back on track, trying to find wins. So I think you’re gonna see two, I would expect to see two hungry teams, you know, trying to find a way tomorrow night.”

Golden on whether there’s less concern because Georgia doesn’t have Tshiebwe or Robbins:

“Yeah, I mean, both those, Tshiebwe and Robbins, you know, are two elite players. Robbins has been playing like one of the best players in the country over the past month and a half, so obviously a little less of a threat on tomorrow night to score, but Bridges plays really well, too. Hurt us a little bit the first game, does a good job scoring with his back to the basket. Good feel, obviously an older player that’s experienced, and so we’re, we’re very mindful, you know what he’s capable of doing, but just a little different look than we’ve seen the past few days, for sure.”

Golden on how Riley Kugel is answering the call:

“Yeah, he’s doing well. It’s, and to your point, we’ve talked about it a lot, but, you know, with Colin going out, a lot of those possessions being used went away. Riley had done  a really good job in his role being efficient, and now, you know, he’s asked to use even more possessions, which is hard to do, you know, and I thought he did a really good job scoring the ball on Saturday. Put in some tough shots, really tough shots. I thought he drew some fouls that weren’t called, you know, maintained that physicality, and now we’re expecting him to do that while also playing good defense and rebounding for 32 minutes a game. It’s a lot to put on your shoulders, but he’s done a great job answering what we need from him right now. And, you know, I just expect him to continue to get better every game out there.”

Golden on how the Gators plan to slow Terry Roberts:

“You know what, he scored, but he took 22 shots also. Didn’t finish well inside the three, hit some really tough threes in that game, to his credit. You know, we had multiple opportunities where I thought we could pull away in that game, and I think they hit five or six threes in a row in the second half, he hit three or four of them. Those were big-time shots where you gotta tip your cap a little bit. But we know what he’s capable of. You know, we know how effective he’s been at points in the season, and we got to do a really good job of limiting his opportunities, both from behind the three-point line, but also getting to the rim and getting fouled. I think that’s an area where he’s really good, is drawing contact, keeping your defense off-balance, but someone that we got to make sure we do a good job on tomorrow night.”

Golden on how Florida has handled physicality through 30 games:

“Probably not as good as we need to. I know we lack physicality, though. You know, that’s one of our deficiencies, I would say, is our, you know, our size and our strength. And I feel like our guys have fought and competed really hard, you know, for the most part. We’ve had moments where it’s not at the level that it needs to be, but, again, that’s part of growth and that’s part of kind of building the foundation and getting this program back right, but for what we have and how we’re trying to compete, I would say our guys are doing a pretty good job that way.” 

Golden on using competitiveness to motivate his team:

“It’s got to be that way the whole rest of the way. It really does. I mean, if you’re not, if you’re not wired to compete, you’re not going to do well in our program. And, you know, one of the things that we have to do a great job of is being mindful of controlling the things that we can control. We can’t control Colin going out, but we can control our effort and our energy every time we step on the court. So, you know, it might sound a little cliche that way, but it’s real. Like, if you’re not competing, you’re not gonna play in this program. So, you know, it’s always important to show an edge, it’s always important to make sure you keep that chip on your shoulder that way, so it’s going to be something that we talk about the rest of the way, for sure.”

Golden on Georgia’s 3-point shooting ability:

“So the question is, how are we going to defend the three against Georgia? A team that hurt us from three the first game. Georgia hit 10, kept them in the game. You know, we got to do a great job on Abdur-Rahim. He hurt us, I think he had four threes in the first game, and a player with big size and IQ, and had the ability to get a shot off. So we got to do a good job on him. McBride’s hit four threes in their last game, so they have multiple guys that can stretch you out, and, you know, one of our staples, as long as I’ve been a head coach, is doing a really good job of defending the three-point line. We obviously haven’t done a great job of it the last couple weeks, but we got to get back to that. And even with Colin being out, with Jason and Shimmy, I feel like it’s back on the back-line, we got to kind of funnel in there and make teams finish over us.”

Golden on the one thing that stands out about Georgia:

“Yeah, I think their guard play and the way they attack off the perimeter between Terry Roberts and Kario Oquendo. Both of those guys are really good at getting downhill and making plays. And Mike does a good job kind of putting them in different spots, giving them advantage, disadvantage. And we gotta do a really good job in the front line of our defense. Not only stopping balls, they push in transition but also building a wall and not letting them get downhill. And I think, in that Vandy game, Manjon kind of got where he wanted. He kind of dictated, you know, what they were doing and how we had to react to that. We have to do a better job dictating, you know, what the offense does. But it starts with those two guys in terms of their perimeter push.”

Golden on where Colin’s injury situation ranks among challenges he’s faced as a coach?

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s up there. It’s up there for sure. In my second year at San Francisco, we had a 14-day COVID pause in a very similar spot in the year that was really hard to recover from. We didn’t finish very well, and it feels a little like that to be honest. Just having to change your team and try to find different things with only a few weeks to go in the season. And credit to our guys, I feel like we got to a really good spot, you know, where we were really competitive and playing with everybody in the league if not beating everybody. And obviously taking Colin out of that mix changes everything for everybody. So, again, that’s why I go back to the competitive piece. You know, at the end of the day, whether we are, one thing that again, there’s gonna be some talent issues maybe at times, but the competitive piece can’t go away. And that’s something that we gotta stay true to and will continue to be the foundation of the program that we’re building here.”

Golden on whether the Florida staff will pursue a replacement for Castleton in the the transfer portal:

“Yes. I mean, we’re losing three seniors. We have a lot of young guys in our program, so we’ll probably have to fill them in with some older guys in some spots for sure.”

Golden on how Myreon Jones and Kyle Lofton have handled losing fellow fifth-year senior Castleton:

“Yeah, they’ve been great. I’m sure it’s disconcerting, you know. But again, Kyle, I thought had another great effort on Saturday, played really hard. He competes his tail off every game, and you know, MJ’s done a really consistent job for us that way. And you know, again, nobody wanted us to lose that guy at that point in the season. But they’re mature; they’re old. And like I’ve talked to them before, if this is the worst thing that happens to them in their life, they’re going to end up having a pretty good life. So I want to make sure they’re mindful of that and keep everything in perspective.”

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