Everything Todd Golden said before Florida starts SEC play

Todd Golden previewed SEC play and Florida’s first conference matchup ahead of Saturday’s contest with Missouri.

Golden spent time talking about his team’s struggles at the 3-point line and the improvement of Xaivian Lee, two topics that have been hammered to death during his media availabilities. His answers largely remained the same: Florida is going to have to shoot better to win big games, but the rebounding provides a cushion, and Lee is on the upswing.

He also addressed Alex Condon’s play, both in regard to 3-point shooting and as the central piece of the offense. Micah Handlogten’s foul-line trouble was also touched on. Finally, Golden wrapped things up by giving his perspective on the recent college basketball drama regarding drafted players joining teams midseason.

Here’s everything he sad:

Table of Contents

Todd Golden’s opening Statement

“We are (ready for SEC play),” Golden said. “Excited, man. We had a good Christmas break. Came back, obviously good to get a game under our belt with Dartmouth and have close to a week to prepare for Missouri. I think it’s going to be a really big challenge. There are some question marks still for them, in regards to who will be available. We expect to see some guys come back that haven’t played for a while. That changes the preparation a little bit, but we’re excited to get on the road and get this thing started.”

On SEC play

“It’s a very good league, man. A lot of really good teams. It’s going to be hard to win on the road, and I think it’s as important as ever to take care of your home floor. Maybe not as many top-level teams as we had last year, but still a lot of really, really good teams at the top. Just really deep. Any road wins you can get in the league are going to be valuable this year.”

On scouting Missouri, versatile defense

“They are that way. Obviously, Dennis (Gates) comes from that Florida State family, in terms of the disruptive defense and the baseline out-of-bounds defense and just trying to take you out of your comfort zone. We’ve seen it enough now to where I feel like we have a decent understanding of what they’re trying to do, but executing and taking care of the ball against are a different story.

“I think we’re well-prepared. I expect to see some wrinkles from them tomorrow night that we haven’t seen, but it’s going to be a challenge. It’s definitely a take-care-of-the-ball scout tomorrow night.”

On Xaivian Lee’s growth from November to December

“I think he’s come a long way, just getting comfortable and being consistent. I think he scored over 15 in six of our last seven games, something like that. He’s been very efficient from the field, taking care of the ball, making plays really, really well and just showing he’s the player we knew he was capable of (being) when we got him. I’m really happy for him, and I’m happy for us because it’s given us a big lift in terms of our play. Now he’s got to do it in SEC play, starting tomorrow night.”

On battle-tested nature of team compared to last year

“About a 180 flip, right? We just didn’t play a very challenging non-conference schedule last year. Not necessarily by our choice, but some of the teams that we matched up with weren’t as good as expected. Our strength of schedule wasn’t great going into SEC play, whereas this year, I think our strength of schedule is third or fourth best among high-major teams going into conference play.

“Seven or eight of our games against top-100 opponents, three against top-10 teams. We’ve played some really good clubs, and didn’t necessarily take it easy on ourselves. So I do think we’re ready. We’re more ready for this road matchup than we were last year going into Kentucky.”

On capability of winning without shooting better

“I mean, I think we need, on some nights at least, we’re going to have to shoot it a little bit better. But I do think our floor is pretty high. I think if we rebound well and — the same things that we’ve talked about a lot over the last month and a half — and we take care of the ball, which has been an issue. We’ve been a little better that way. And if we can defend physically without fouling. I think if we’re good in both those areas, I think we can be pretty good.

“But in this league, you go on the road, and you’re going to win on the road, you’re going to have to have a night where you make eight or nine, 10 threes that gives you a little bit of a lift in some other areas. So, that’s kind of where that’s at. I do think we’re capable of shooting the ball better. So we’ll see how it starts tomorrow night.”

On having worst 3-point percentage in Power Four

“Well, I mean, in a way, it’s why a 3-point shot, even when we’re not shooting a crazy high percentage, is actually a decent possession. If the other guys on the floor know that shot’s going up, we have a pretty good chance of getting it back if we don’t make it. So that’s why we just take care of the ball so much and not giving up possessions. Because our margin of error is a little thinner with the 3-point shooting percentage this year.

“We can’t give up possessions that way, but, yeah, we’re built that way. We’re big, we’re athletic. Putting pressure on the glass on both ends of the floor has raised our floor collectively, and if we can shoot a little bit better, I think we can be pretty dang good.”

On Lee in the open court

“I think he’s really good with the ball. And I think we’ve started putting him in some better spots offensively where he’s playing more downhill and playing in more space, which I think is important. But yeah, just his ball control, his quickness, his handle, and his ability to pass are all really good talent that he has.”

On playing through Alex Condon

“I think he’s playing better. I think he’s taking better care of the ball. We’ve been playing through him a lot, and there are some games where he doesn’t value the basketball enough, and it’s led to some turnovers and bad possessions. I think he’s done a great job, over the past however long that time frame is, of understanding kind of his expectations with us playing through him more and making kind of more sound and simple decisions at times. And I think he’s competing really well.

“He’s kind of turned into our playmaking hub, but he’s averaging close to four assists or whatever it is, which is really good for a frontcourt player. With a lot of responsibility comes a big ask and making sure we value the ball and defending and rebounding on every possession. He’s done a good job that way.”

On Condon’s 3-point decisions

“The reality is — I think a lot of his looks last year that were clean were when we were playing small, with him at the five and Tommy at the four. So, we were attacking drop coverage, and he’s popping back in the middle of the floor with nobody guarding him. So, those shots show up a little more. Now, with him playing the four, and I think teams respect him more and they’re more mindful of that, so they’re running at him on catches. And he just hasn’t had the same volume of like open catch and shoot looks this year.

“He’s become a better shooter. It hasn’t shown in the games. But just watch him in practice every day, and his consistency — I think it’s one of those things where some games, depending on coverages, it’ll show up. In some games, it won’t. Some teams are switching him in ball screen. So it’s like when the team switches, you’re not going to get a lot of good, wide-open looks right.

“That’s kind of the ask of him, is like he’s got to be very mindful of how the defense is guarding him and just make the simple play. Like when teams are doubling him in the post, just find the open guy. We don’t need to make a guaranteed assist pass. Just get it out, let the other guy make the play and just kind of take with the game gives him. And I think it’s a challenge because people guard him in different ways. It’s not like he sees the same thing every game and he’s just comfortable.

“It’s like, are they going to bring a double this game or are they not? Playing off that. But the 3-point shooting, I think, you know, and we’ve looked at it, is more of a function of playing more of the four than the five this year.

And he’s not forcing it either?

“No, and he shouldn’t. The defense gives him open looks. Let it fly. If not, he’s really capable of putting the ball on the floor and making the right play.

On Micah Handlogten’s confidence at the free-throw line

“Work in progress. Just putting in the time, practice. There’s nothing, special or crazy unique that we can do other than address it and not run from it. A lot of players over their careers have struggled from the foul line, but it could be a big lift for us if we can get even to the 50-60 level, consistently. And I think if he gets more comfortable that way, he’ll be more aggressive offensively. Because I think in the back of his mind at times like, all right, am I going to go to the line or not.

‘So, not running from it. Just making sure he’s working on it, holding him accountable that way, and hopefully just incrementally improves there for the rest of the year.”

How were you (Coach Golden) such a good FT shooter?

“I had good hand-eye coordination as we talked about, and that was just one of my skills, man. If I couldn’t shoot, I wouldn’t have played. So that was something that I had to be.”

On being cognizant of playing Handlogten when in the bonus

“I think in the first half, it’s not something I’m going to be super worried about to start. But definitely the end of games right now.”

On college teams going after G League players

“I’d say it’s an interesting time in regards to the player acquisition part of our business. The rules are ever-changing, and at times not being adhered to or implemented in terms of whether guys are eligible or not. And I think that’s the biggest thing for us. Matt Painter said it, we just want to know what kind of framework is that we’re working between and not get into a season where we have a roster and then other teams are adding pros in the middle of the year.

“We’re just not going to do that, at least right now. If this is a continuing trend over the next 3 to 5 years, maybe the midseason addition is something that we’ll look at. But, I do think a little bit spirit-wise, there’s been guys that have become eligible at semester, like that’s been a thing before, but this is new where they where we’re going, whether it’s here in America or internationally, trying to find pros to add to rosters in the middle of the year. It’s just a little different.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily what the idea behind college sports is, but I don’t have any issues with teams trying to do everything they can to put themselves in a position to be successful. If they’re able to get guys eligible, it’s fair at this point.

Does a scholarship even matter at that point?

“Yeah, I mean there’s ways, whether you have a roster limit. With NIL, I think the distinction between being a walk-on or a scholarship players is not as important as it used to be.

Is it a loophole that needs to be shut down?

“I don’t know exactly where they’re going to draw the line. The issue with that is we have a declaration deadline in college. So, we’ve always operated under the assumption that if somebody stays in the draft past the deadline to come back to college, that they’re just done and they’re moving on. Now, guys are retroactively being able to — guys that have clearly stated past deadline guys have been drafted that nobody within this current landscape would have thought of being eligible — are now playing.

“I don’t necessarily have a problem with guys that have been drafted playing, but they should be allowed to play after we’ve declared these guys as not being eligible up until now. So like, then you open up if you get to this deadline now, you’re entering a little bit like Major League Baseball world, where guys can get drafted out of high school, and then they decide if they want to sign or not, and then they can still go to college, which we’ll see.

“I don’t know, like that might be a different timeline, but I think that would be unique, and that would be kind of an interesting thing where now NBA teams are having to decide, like, all right, am I taking this guy? What’s the likelihood that he actually goes to the NBA or goes back to college? There’s a lot of different things that are going to pop up. And again, we think we’re pretty nimble, and we think we have the ability to adjust pretty well, but we just want to know what the rules are.”

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Pre-game quotes: Todd Golden previews Missouri game, SEC play

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