Kevin Hovde explains Florida's offensive approach, shot selection

With college basketball inching closer, Florida is ironing out kinks ahead of the 2022-23 season. As the preseason rolls on, the Gators continue to work with assistant coach Kevin Hovde, a longtime assistant with head coach Todd Golden.

Golden’s first roster is very impressive, bringing in multiple high-profile prospects from the high school ranks and transfer portal. Unlike recent UF basketball teams, the Gators have no shortage of players who can score, especially at guard. Obviously, preseason first-team All-SEC selection Colin Castleton will be patrolling the block, but Will Richard and Kyle Lofton are new names to know for Florida fans.

Everything starts with recruiting

Hovde, who came over from a brief stint at Richmond, says it all starts with recruiting the best possible players to Florida. At the end of the day, talent wins out. Once the Golden staff arrived in Gainesville, they set out to land the best players they could, grabbing Riley Kugel and Denzel Aberdeen from Dr. Phillips High School. Kugel and Aberdeen were four-stars and top-150 players.

“Really good, both of them. That’s what has been really impressive,” Hovde said of the true freshmen. “For us, we’re going to always try to recruit the best possible talent. We’re not necessarily trying to recruit to a specific offense or specific schemes. But then I think one of our strengths is adapting what we do to our talent.”

Gators working on getting the best shot they can

The new Florida coaching staff focuses on up-tempo play, high-percentage shots and, most of all, ball movement.

“We’re always going to have great ball movement and be an unselfish team,” Hovde said.

Analytics help decide what the Gators want to do and what shots to take. UF aims to get to the rim, causing opposing teams to foul; and if they don’t, the defense will crash, allowing others to be open behind the arc.

“You’re trying to get as many rim twos as possible,” Hovde said. “Obviously a lot of those result in free throws as well, which makes them really important. Catch-and-shoot threes would be the next one. All those are good shots for us.”

Hovde continued to explain his philosophy, keeping the ball moving so everyone can get a touch and possibly make a play.

“Most of the time when we go over a new offense,” Hovde said, “the possession will end in either a lay-up or a catch-and-shoot three.”

Hovde added he doesn’t have to drive that point home to the players, all of whom know what the coaches expect through practice reps and installation.

Florida working to take the right shots

To put it in layman’s terms, an easy-to-follow rule is to never take a shot that your teammates wouldn’t expect. The Gators want to have a presence on the offensive boards, and that all starts with good shot selection.

“Generally, a good rule when you’re playing would be a shot the other guys on the floor know is coming,” Hovde explained when asked what a good shot is.

As the Gators get used to the new offensive scheme, Hovde feels the team is coming along nicely.

“I think really over the last couple of weeks I feel like we’ve made a really big jump,” he said. “We’re going to try to adapt our schemes and our offense to our talent.”

The Gators are under two weeks away from their first scrimmage on Nov. 1, where the fans will get to watch the Florida offense on display before the season opener Nov. 7 against Stony Brook.