Jacksonville Scrimmage

Thanks and a shout-out to @jcmiller910 for posting these on the premium side and giving permission to share here in Hallgator's NBN:


Here are some notes from the Jacksonville scrimmage from my sources:

Florida's competitiveness was commendable throughout Saturday's scrimmage. After the contest opened with an 11-0 Jacksonville run, the Gators outscored the Dolphins 67-38 over the final 34 minutes.

— Florida was more physical Saturday, which has been an area of emphasis recently. Florida ranked No. 333 nationally in defensive rebounding a year ago, which was good for 12th in the SEC, a mark head coach Todd Golden said needed to improve if the program wanted to return to NCAA Tournament status. As such, physicality has been brought up before and after nearly every practice session open to media and it sounds like the results of that focus were clear in yesterday's scrimmage. An interesting note about this matchup: While not considered a powerhouse by any stretch of the means, Jacksonville was an elite rebounding team offensively and defensively last season, ranking No. 26 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage and No. 28 in offensive rebounding percentage allowed, a great test for a Florida team that needs to improve on its defensive rebounding marks from a year ago.

A week after turnovers were a clear issue for Florida in a scrimmage against a talented Miami team in Gainesville, one source said it was not nearly as big a problem against Jacksonville on Saturday, which is important. During his media availability on Tuesday, Golden said some of Florida's turnovers against Miami were to be expected as it was their first live action against another team of preseason camp. But in order for the team to write that off as game-one jitters, the problem needed to largely go away in game two, which it did for the most part. Jacksonville ranked fifth in the ASUN in steal percentage last year and generated very few non-steal turnovers.

— Senior forward Colin Castleton was once again a standout performer for the Gators, a designation he also received last week for his play against Miami. Castleton was named a preseason first-team All-SEC member and was also one of 20 college basketball centers named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar watch list, an award that honors the nation's best big man at the end of the season.

COMMENTS
— After spending the vast majority of Florida's preseason either out or limited due to an upper-leg injury just a few days into the team's camp schedule, senior point guard Kyle Lofton returned to action by playing against the Dolphins and one source included him along with Castleton when asked about game standouts. Lofton transferred to Florida from St. Bonaventure over the offseason and has since become one of the Gators' team leaders. Golden has called Lofton an extension of the coaching staff thanks to his maturity and willingness to lead and teach his teammates.

— Eleven Gators played meaningful minutes throughout the contest. Golden has spoken highly of his team's immense depth heading into the season, calling it a strength on multiple occasions. The first-year Florida coach said his ideal rotation would include 10 players in non-conference games and nine once SEC-play begins.