Article: Insider Notes From Florida Basketball Workouts

Love it! Embrace the hype!

 

Good stuff. I like hearing that the guards have more attack in them (as we expected), and that there's more depth up front (as we knew). I also like that they be looking at going large, with Handlogten at center and Samuel at power forward, and that Haugh is looking good as an option for a talented, tall small forward (although I doubt very much he'll start).

Sentences like this make me think a little proofreading and editing are in order: The biggest concern with Kublickas is his size, listed at 6’1” and 171 pounds when he got to campus, but his ability to read the game is far behind what you see from most freshmen.
I don't think Eric meant to say, sure, he's little, but he's way behind.

 

Eric corrected “behind” to “beyond”

 

Golden really does have some interesting pieces to play with. Handlogten, Samuel, and Jarvis can all play together in various configurations. What I find even more interesting is how we handle the perimeter rotation. Between Kugel, Clayton, Richard, and Pullin, it's hard to imagine us making any of them come off the pine. I don't even think it's unreasonable to imagine all four starting and playing really limited stints together (couple of 2-4 minute rotations per game). But you can also play any three of those four guys together because their skill sets are so complementary. Lots of options in that top 7 really.

 

CTG has assembled a lot of talent. I am feeling good about this team. More rebounding will transpire, more inside scoring with many options.
The guards are coming in with a lot of press clippings, if they shoot anywhere near what they did at their former schools, we should have fresh legs for forty minutes and hopefully we will be able to grind with any team we go up against. I haven’t felt this optimistic for the UF men’s program in a long time. Depth and many scoring options.
With our early schedule these young players will be tested by some tough teams and I hope they are ready to deliver knock out wins!

 

We will of course miss Colin Castleton but I'm pretty sure we'll have a committee inside that will lessen that loss, and enough talent and depth across the board that we'll be a better team than the last one. How much better remains to be seen, but we were on the cusp of an NCAAT berth before CC went down. I'll be surprised if we don't make it in this time.

 

My biggest question defensively is how we handle ball screens and help. We struggled there with so many new parts early last season, then really got things ironed out heading into conference play. We should be better on the defensive glass, and we surely have the length and physicality in the post to protect the rim well. But communication might be a little challenging, unless these guys are naturally good on that score (especially Samuel, IMO).

Offensively, shooting and offensive rebounding should also be much better. The number of efficient shooters and volume shooters went up appreciably. We also have more length and athleticism at the 1-2, which should help on the offensive glass. Figure we run most of our stuff through Kugel early because of his skill level and experience in the system, then probably more so through Pullin and the post as defenses adapt. Will be interesting to see what we run in the halfcourt. Probably more 5-out and 4-out stuff, less of the high post motion stuff without a passer like CC.

 

If I am not mistaken, it is called "the threat of the bench." Who'da thunk we would have this in the basketball recent present?

 

The bio says Pullin shot nearly 49% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, yet he has looked to change his form a bit. Does that make any sense? I would hate for him or a coach to mess with results like that.

 

Was very low volume shooter from the arc. Shot poorly the previous year. Also knows he needs to improve his range if he wants to play at the next level.

 

37 - 3 this campaign.

 

We should certainly have better rotations and depth. Castleton was obviously an excellent player, but he did get shut down a few times - usually against bigs that could really body him up inside. We were still just TOO reliant on him, and it was obvious the season was over when he went down.

Golden did a nice job fixing that depth issue. Not sure any all-conference players up front, but if we get solid contributions from multiple bigs that’s already more sustainable than totally relying on one guy. Last year having two bigs on the floor was hardly an option.

 

Eric, do you have any insights about Denzel Aberdeen’s play during this offseason?

 

I do. He’s been terrific. If he can just continue to buy into the process (which will take some patience this season) he could be a very good player.