Todd Golden wants Gators to keep foot on the gas in NIT Tip-Off

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Following a pair of 89-68 wins at home over FAMU and FSU, the Gators will be on the road this week for the NIT Season Tip-Off. Florida will face Pitt on Wednesday night.

Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m., and then UF will play Baylor or Oregon State on Friday. Here is everything Golden said about the win over FSU, building on momentum, the Pitt matchup and more.

Todd Golden Q&A

On momentum from the FSU win:

Golden: “Obviously, a great game for us, definitely feeling good about it, but we’re onto the next at the same time. We’re coming up in the next couple days against a really good team that has blasted every team they’ve played. I feel like we’re going to have a tough matchup Wednesday in Brooklyn. We’ll try to use that, for sure, as momentum, a little proof in concept that what we’re doing is working, but with that being said we’re going to have to have two really good days of practice before we go into Brooklyn on Wednesday.”

On Pitt’s offense:

Golden: “They have a freshman point guard that is playing really well and kind of been the head of their snake so far, just playing at a high, high level. And then Blake Hinson, a fifth-year guy that has bounced around a lot and kind of found a home at Pitt. He played really well last year and is doing so again this year. They’re just a team that’s played really well so far and protected their home floor at a high level. All their numbers are really good on both sides of the ball. They’ve rebounded well, defended well, shot it well and they’ll be a challenge for us. We’ll have to prepare and see if we can try to stop those guys and keep them out of transition, make them operate in the half, you know, the normal stuff. But, yeah, it’ll definitely be a challenge with their personnel.”

On Pitt being a good rebounding test for the Gators:

Golden: “Yeah, they have good size and really good rebounding numbers so far. We’ve been able to [rebound] so far. I think Denver posted something today that for the last three games we’ve had more than 20 offensive rebounds and that’s the first time that’s happened here in a long, long time. Obviously, a great change in the right direction for this program from where we were last year. But Pitt will bring more challenges that way. They have a lot of size and a lot of length in the front court.”

On freshman forward Thomas Haugh:

Golden: “I thought he played a great game. He was really ready to go. Ten rebounds. I thought he did a great job cleaning things up for us in the first half. I have a lot of confidence in all four of our front court players. They’ve been really good for us all year. Obviously, we’re starting Micah and Tyrese, but we believe Condo and Tommy provide a lot for us as well. We don’t feel like we’re losing a lot when we go to our bench. When Tommy goes out and plays like that, you can see why we feel that way.”

On Aleks Szymczyk’s recovery:

Golden: “Definitely. Probably a couple weeks out, but he’s heading in the right direction, for sure.”

On Alex Condon’s technical foul against FSU:

Golden: “It’s a very analytical situation. Technicals lead to two points and scoring’s hard, man, so you don’t want to give it up for free. A couple things, obviously, I love the passion that he plays with. He brings great energy and he’s a very confident young man. Love having him with us. There is a fine line. Obviously, we had a lot of momentum at that moment but that ended up being his third foul and gave them two free points. There’s a time and a place for everything so it’s a delicate balance. So, yes, I loved the defensive play he made. It was a ridiculous play. I loved the energy afterwards but in a game that’s more tightly contested, we can’t give up those points. So kinda drawing that line in the sand to be able to play with that energy, that enthusiasm, but also having the mental toughness to not take it out of what we’re trying to do which is taking us out of transition on one end and giving up two points on the others.”

On having four capable shot-blockers:

Golden: “It’s an advantage, right? It’s why we went out and added the guys we did. I feel like they fit the way we want to play a lot better and they’re doing it, also. Like Tommy, Condo, those guys as freshmen are playing big minutes in big games for us and then, obviously, Tyrese and Micah, guys that have done it to an extent before, are doing it really well. The depth in the frontcourt is definitely one of the strengths of our team.”

On the backcourt rotation:

Golden: “I think it worked out really well for everybody. I think it worked out really well for the team. Had a great game. I felt bad for [Denzel Abderdeen] and [Julian Rishwain] because they’ve been playing really well but we were just going so well and guys were comfortable and were really playing well off each other so I wanted to continue to allow them to gain that comfort together and the backcourt was fantastic so there really wasn’t an opportunity to get other guys minutes as we were building our lead in the first half and then kind of holding onto that thing down the stretch. Those guys have to stay ready. Will (Richard walks through door) isn’t going to play well every game. But they need to be ready. The four guys who played on Friday night did a great job.”

On Thanksgiving in New York as a team:

Golden: “I enjoy it. It’s a great event as it is, having an opportunity to play Pitt and then either Baylor or Oregon State in Barclays, an NBA arena in a big-time city. Should be really fun to be there in New York and Brooklyn and have some time to spend with our families. Obviously, the players who are fortunate enough to have family there will be around and spend time with them but, at the end of the day, I think this trip will definitely be decided based on how many wins we get as opposed to the meal on Thursday or the tree in Time Square or whatever.”

On who’s in charge of the meal:

Golden: “Coach Mike Robuck, our director of basketball operations, is taking the lead to make sure we have what we need on that day.”

On how long it takes to settle into a rotation:

Golden: “It’s going to be different every year. Those four bigs are playing. Those guys are going to be out there and I don’t anticipate that changing any time soon. Like I said, Julian and Zel, our program feels like they can help us win, like they can do what we need them to. At the same time, those four perimeters who played on Friday night are fantastic players and guys that, obviously, if they continue to play with that synergy and that unselfishness, it’s going to be hard to really make a big dent into those minutes. Does that mean that they can’t get in there? No. But those guys have the pole position to maintain that opportunity if they continue to play as well as they do defensively as well as they did sharing the ball and obviously playing a really good game where we won by a lot. It’s a tricky thing to balance on good teams and hopefully this is an issue, in a good way, that we’re having for the next couple weeks until we get to conference play.”

On Zyon Pullin’s defensive impact:

Golden: “He’s fantastic on the ball. He’s strong, he’s physical, really smart, really competitive. It was an issue going into that game. Our perimeter defense was, I would say, solid, not great. Then you put ZP out there and he’s a great on-ball defender. I think Riley, when he’s really locked in, is a fantastic defender that way. Will was awesome in that game on Friday against Darin Green Jr. not allowing him to get open looks and then I thought Walter had his best game on the ball. All four of those guys make each other’s lives easier and, obviously, that makes them better.”

On building on the big win over FSU:

Golden: “I think the biggest key is just fighting human nature. I think there was a little bit of good stress going into that game on Friday. I think everybody thought — in our program, I should say — that we have a good team and a good club, but we hadn’t done it in a public setting as of yet. And so we had some of some of that nervous energy going in that game and obviously we performed; we played really, really well. I think human nature, the reaction is to kind of just relax a little bit and be like, ‘OK, we are good.’ Hell no! If we do that, you see what happens across college basketball every night. You see teams that lose games that they don’t expect to lose, whether it’s bad luck or just taking the foot off the gas. And that’s something that we’re just gonna do everything we can to not allow to happen. But I would say that’s the biggest fear is getting comfortable or complacent. I can’t imagine us getting that way”

On maintaining a sense of urgency:

Golden: “Well, it’s not a concern for me. I’m scared about being good all the time. So I’m gonna keep doing what I need to do. For our program, it’s the same. To be honest, when we practice here at 2 o’clock today, practice as if we lost to Florida State, not as if we beat Florida State. If we do that and maintain the level. We’ve been competing at a high level outside of games the last couple weeks. Thought we had really good practice right before Florida State. So the proof of concept’s there. I think our guys understand that. I don’t anticipate it being an issue with this group. I think they’ve got a really good understanding of how hard you have to work to be good.”

On the team’s chemistry being further along than expected:

Golden: “I’d say so. Friday was a good example of that. We had to play our first three games without our full team, and then Zyon came back and it was pretty seamless – his return. We kind of looked like we had in practice when we played. That was encouraging. Again, you have to work on it every day. It’s not something that you get really good and OK, I just don’t have to worry about it the rest of the year. As soon as you do that, shit hits the fan. It just doesn’t as we as you expect it to. It’s something that we’re mindful of and something we think about every day and continue to work on.”

On areas the Gators need to improve:

Golden: “I think they’re three areas that we can really improve on, which is encouraging considering that we played really well. Our ball screen defense has not been good enough. And that’s more on me. I think I’ve gone a bad job of kind of repping it out and giving guys a great understanding of what my expectations are that way. Secondly, we’re turning the ball over a little too much. We’re playing aggressively, which is really good, some high-risk, high-reward plays that if you connect they lead to kind of automatic 2s, which are really good, as well. But too many live-ball turnovers last couple of games and our turnover rate is a little high. So that’s an area we’ve identified. And then the other thing is defensive rebounding has slipped these last couple of games. We’re getting a lot back offensively. I think we’re No. 1 in America with our offensive rebounding rate right now, which I’m really happy and proud about. But we can’t let our defensive rebounding slip in the meantime. Those three areas are areas we definitely can continue to get better at, which will make us better.”

On whether he’s concerned with free throws:

Golden: “Definitely concerns me, but we’ll continue to work on it. Free-throw shooting is a little different than those others because you rep it all you want, but you have to go out there and make shots in the game. It’s not something you can make or miss depending on what coverage you’re in or if you’re hitting somebody on a block out. We did better early. I thought that gave us some good momentum but down the stretch not yet. But yeah, definitely a concern for this team.”

On improving shooting from the foul line:

Golden: “You can rep, do different things. Obviously talk about it a lot, make sure it’s in the front of our minds. But again, part of it is our big guys get fouled a lot. Big guys are generally worst free-throw shooters than guys. It’s kind of as simple as that, sometimes. But we also have guys. Tommy Haugh has not shot it well from the line. I think he’s a good free-throw shooter. I think it’s a little nerves, it’s getting kind of his legs under him. I think he’ll be better as the year goes on. But it’s more of a mindful concern right now, not something I’m freaking out about as we move on.”

On when he realized UF’s frontcourt could be a strength:

Golden: “I think our backcourt is really strong also. I think both of them to an extent. I think our depth all around is really the strength of our team. But I knew we were going to have a really good frontcourt when Condo and Haugh got here because we knew Tyrese and Micah were good. We knew they were going to be able to play certain roles. But when Alex and Tommy got here, we were like, all right we feel like these guys are a lot farther along than most freshmen, they’ll be able to help us. That’s when we knew we were going to have some really good depth and we were going to be able to play a certain style. Really the same goes for our perimeter. Getting Riley back with Will was huge. Then when we got Walt and ZP, Zel back, Julian, we’re like all right, Kajus, we have seven guys we feel like can play, so it’s only going to be four or five on a given night. So I think the depth both of the front and the backcourt is definitely a strength of our group.”