Todd Golden previews Florida vs. Richmond in Orange Bowl Classic

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Following a 77-57 win over Merrimack on Tuesday, the Gators (5-3) are back in action Saturday in another neutral site matchup. Florida takes on Richmond (5-4) at 4 p.m. at the Orange Bowl Classic.

Before the short trip to Sunrise, Fla., UF coach Todd Golden met with the media to preview the matchup, provide an injury update on starting center Micah Handlogten and more. Here is everything Golden had to say:

Todd Golden Q&A

On what he sees from Richmond: 

Golden: “Really, really good offensive team. Obviously, very systematic and running a lot of the stuff we ran last year. So far, I think, they’ve been top-five in America in terms of their turnover rate. They’re a very effective field goal team. They don’t crash the glass very aggressively and haven’t been getting fouled a lot, so they’ve got to make some shots, but they do a good job of getting good shots every time down. Defensively, they’re not the most athletic team we’ll face, but I feel they do a very good job playing positional defense. Similar to Wake Forest, the way they guarded us inside-out. I think we’ve got to be prepared for that, as well.”

On Florida’s slow start vs Merrimack:

Golden: “The main negative was we didn’t take care of the ball. A lot of that was unforced. A lot of that was just us not taking care of it and not valuing the basketball. We didn’t do a good job of getting on the glass, either, which was something we knew was going to be really important for that game. Defensively, I think they made some shots. I think we had some breakdowns in the game. It wasn’t anything too terrible, and once we got settled on that end, for the last 30 minutes of the game, we didn’t a really good job of guarding them. Really, the tale of two halves. We had nine turnovers and two offensive rebounds in the first half. Second half we had four turnovers and 22 offensive rebounds, and that was a big part of our game plan. So we knew how they played defensively in their zone that it was going to be tricky for us and take us a while to get comfortable and I feel like maybe a little longer than it should have to get there. Once we did, I thought we did a really good job of exploiting it, obviously, scoring 47 points in the second half.” 

On the passing abilities of Florida’s freshmen forwards: 

Golden: “Absolutely. It was a big reason we wanted them to be here. Really talented athletes, really good skill and really high basketball IQ, which was an area last year that we were really below the bar, with guys having just a really good fundamental understanding. This year, everybody we brought in we really tried to target guys who had good feel and good understanding, regardless whether they were in the backcourt or frontcourt. I think both of those guys have a feel for the game.”

On if he’s surprised by the forwards’ impressive ball skills: 

Golden: “No. It’s what we wanted. Now, am I surprised at the level they’re able to do it? At times. But, again, that’s what we were recruiting and evaluating, and that’s what we saw. So, I’m not really surprised in terms of how well they’re able to play the game.” 

On the concerns of facing Richmond:

Golden: “More the way they play offensively. They have a very unique style in terms of playing out of a lot of Princeton actions that we ran last year. And they do a really good job of playing together. Very low turnover rate. They do a really good job of getting a shot almost every time down the court. Their effective field-goal percentage is good; they shoot it well from both the 2 and the 3. So, we have to be mindful of that. Neal Quinn, their center, has done a great job this year. He’s taken a jump. He’s averaging about 14.5 a game. Really physical. Doing a great job putting in tough shots around the basket. And then their guard, Jordan King, has been fantastic filling it up this year. He had an off night last night (at Northern Iowa), shooting 0-for-5 from 3, but going into that game he was 25 of 50 from 3 and making almost every shot he was putting up. He’s a threat. A guy we’re really mindful of. We have to do a really good job of kind of containing his opportunities and his attempts. And Quinn is obviously a tricky cover for us because we don’t like to double the post a lot. But he’s a guy that if you don’t show another body or dig down on he can really dribble and get to his spots. He can be effective that way if we let him get too comfortable.”

On being hopeful that Micah Handlogten can contribute:

Golden: “Absolutely, Micah’s going to be a big part of this game on Saturday, you know, and as we said, he got through it without any injury. Had a great workout yesterday, and, you know, his ability to guard Quinn in the low post will be a big part of, you know, how we’re able to defend them.”

On Thomas Haugh taking on a starting role with Handlogten out: 

Golden: “More of just a function of the situations that we’re in, personnel-wise, you know, with Micah being out, and, you know, in the Wake Forest game I just wanted us to stay bigger, because they played a 6-10 four-man, so Tommy got the nod, and then similarly in this last game ZP and Micah didn’t really practice going into this last game, so we wanted to bring them off the bench to kind of make it a little easier for them, and Tommy’s a guy that we feel good about being out there being able to do what you’ve asked him to do, and he’s going to defend hard, he’s going to play within himself offensively. I think the free throw thing will come around for him. He’s a good, skilled player, and I think that’s just a little bit of the nerves for being out there for the first time a lot. But, again, just a guy that’s accountable and able to execute what we want him to do.”

On Haugh taking an extra year in high school rather than reclassify:

Golden: “Yeah, I mean there’s been a lot of times where we’ve laughed in the office about wishing we had him last year, you know, just having him come early and be a sophomore now. But it obviously helped him a lot, you know, as his body continues to get bigger and stronger, just a little older, a little tougher, and he’s had a pretty seamless transition, you know, where most freshmen struggle, he’s been able to be pretty dang good.” 

On if Haugh is a little tougher than Golden thought:

Golden: “No, we knew he was really, really tough, really physical, and can mix it up with anybody. And that, again, that’s one of those things that I think a lot of people, you know, they’re not evaluating that necessarily. But with him, we knew he was a guy being at the time 6-7, 6-8, weighing 200 pounds, 205, would be able to bang with some fours. And, you know, early on in the year, when Jarvis was a part of the program and Shimmy was healthy, we were playing Tommy at the three a little bit, you know, so that talks about his ability to play different spots. But I am pleased with how physical he’s been able to be in the frontcourt.”

On if seeing Haugh’s high-energy style of play in recruiting: 

Golden: “Yeah, he just competes really well every time he’s on the court, whether he was at Perkiomen or playing on the Under Armour circuit with WeR1, his AAU team, he’s always just been really physical and run to the fight, you know, when given the opportunity.”

On Alex Condon and Haugh not caring about personal accolades:

Golden: “No. Because they’re really good guys, you know, they’re here for the right reasons. They’re passionate about being here and wanting to get this program back to where it belongs to be. And, you know, again, we brought in guys that hard similar mentalities that way, you know, guys that wanted to be part of a team that played in the Tournament and continued to raise the level of this program, and, you know, both of those guys are extremely talented, but also their make-up is part of what makes them so special.”

On Kevin Hovde’s role in evaluating and recruiting the freshmen:

Golden: “Terrible. No, he’s, Hovde has a great understanding of the game of basketball. You guys are gonna get to visit with him in a second, but I think, you know, he, along with the other guys on our staff from my direction, like, the rankings don’t mean anything. Obviously, it gives us a good pool to evaluate from, but at the end of the day it’s not an exact science, right. The No. 1 guy isn’t necessarily going to be the No. 1 guy, the No. 15 guy, you know, there’s a lot of moving parts there, and we want to do a good job of evaluating and being on the right side of those, and I think with Tommy and Condo I think it’s proven that we were, with both of those guys being ranked where they were when we recruited them, and I think Isaiah Brown is going to be another really good example of that when he gets to campus next fall.”