Justin Leon is one of two seniors in the UF starting lineup -- and that doesn't include fifth-year senior Canyon Barry, who ranks fourth on the team in minutes. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gifted Youth Meets Worldly Experience
Saturday, February 4, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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The Gators have one of the most veteran-laden teams in the nation. The Wildcats, with their spectacular freshmen, don't need experience.
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — There has been a coming-of-age about the Florida basketball team over the last couple weeks, if that's even possible. It may not seem like a long time, but Coach Mike White has seen growth in the Gators
"I was really pleased with our maturity last night," White said Friday.
It was a reference to UF's approach to Thursday night's date with Missouri, a team that came to the Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center without a win in Southeastern Conference play, on a 12-game losing streak and without a victory on the road in 30 games dating to the 2014-15 season. The Gators were expected to manhandle the Tigers.
And did.
What impressed White about the 93-56 wipeout, though, was his players' business-like approach and intensity level from the jump, despite a date with juggernaut Kentucky lurking just two days later. The Gators did not mess around. They shot 45.5 percent from the floor, defended at a 30-percent level and positively obliterated the Tigers on the glass 56-32.
"You got a big game looming with all the campus buzzing … [and] we handled it really well," White said. "There are more steps to be taken, of course, with this program and building a culture, but we are pleased with where they started and where we maintained it."
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's UF-UK 'Pregame Stuff' preview here]
Now comes that "looming" big one, as the No. 24 Gators (17-5, 7-2) brace for a Saturday night call from No. 8 Kentucky (18-4, 8-1) at the sold-out O'Dome. White is anxious to watch how his players handle such a stage.
And, frankly, so are the players.
"[We] just want to see how our team will respond after a win like that," senior point guard Kasey Hill said. "See how focused we are, how competitive we are."
They will need to be at their best on both counts, what with the Wildcats' latest army of future NBA lottery picks in the house. When Kentucky comes to town — any town — the home team always plays hard. Most of the time, that doesn't matter.
But Florida is a good team that can be a very good one when its players defend to their capabilities. After spinning its wheels for a few weeks (even taking some steps backward), the Gators believe they are back on the right track to be the elite defensive team White is looking to build here. Their willingness to do so, to embrace the challenge put to them by their coach, may be rooted in something that Kentucky coach John Calipari's teams may never understand.
Experience.
Senior point guard Kasey Hill's will play his 124th career game Saturday. That's more than 100 more than members of Kentucky's latest fab freshman class have played.
In UK's nine-man rotation, the Wildcats play just three upperclassmen — senior forward Derek Willis, plus senior guards Mychal Mulder and Dominque Hawkins, all backups — who account for 17.4 of the Wildcats SEC-leading 91.3 points per game. They start four freshmen and a sophomore, all of them likely headed for the NBA this summer.
In UF's mainly 10-man rotation, the Gators start two seniors, one fourth-year junior, plus another junior, with their first player off the bench, fifth-year senior Canyon Barry, the Gators' second-leading scorer and third on the team in minutes per game. Hill, for example, will be playing his 124th game Saturday. That's more than 100 more than any member of UK's fab freshman class.
* Total career games from Florida's rotation: 678, including 342 starts.
* Total career games from Kentucky's rotation: 417, including 131 starts.
Yes, there's something to be said for experience, as long as those veterans perform commensurate to their years. But there's something to be said for unbridled talent, too. A lot to be said, actually. Take the UK backcourt of De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, two lottery-picks-in-waiting. How they fare and whether they can dictate pace and play likely will determine if Saturday is a big night for the home team. At their best they're lethal, but Fox and Monk have barely 20 college games under their belt and this will be just their sixth road game.
Still, ask just about any coach and they will take the big-time talent over the grizzled vet every time. Kentucky has managed just fine during Calipari's reign without a whole lot of his prized recruits making it to graduation day. Or even their sophomore year.
Meanwhile, the Gators have gotten to their present-day point through a process that in some cases — be it with Hill (the only UF player ever to defeat a UK team) or junior Chris Chiozza (triple-double vs. Missouri) or fourth-year junior John Egbunu (transfer from South Florida) or senior forward Justin Leon (via the junior college route) — started years ago.
They're still growing. Still developing.
"We have to come out with the same mindset this game that we brought the last three games," Egbunu said. "We have to play together as a team and it starts on defense, with getting stops and getting out in transition and everybody doing their jobs."
White believes his team is ready for this.
"[Confidence level] is pretty high, as high as it has been, for sure," White said. "But our guys understand what they will be up against in the Wildcats. There is a lot of respect there from our guys. We will see where our confidence is at tip [Saturday], then five minutes, 10 minutes in. I think that's really important. To get off to a good start."
