Thursday, November 22
Paradise Island, Bahamas
7 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Stanford
Center Gorjok Gak (in blue), forward Isaiah Stokes (standing) and forward Chase Johnson (gray sweats, sitting) will not play in the Battle 4 Atlantis this week due to injuries.
Gators Dealing With All Too Familiar Frontcourt Issues
Thursday, November 22, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — The current makeup of the Florida basketball roster, as in the players who are available, was not part of the plan.
But for Mike White and his staff, it's sure starting to feel like the norm.
"The whole preseason we talked about how deep are," White said Wednesday after falling to Oklahoma 65-60 in opening-round play of the Battle 4 Atlantis. "But we're back where we were a year ago, with 10 scholarship guys. We've got to figure it out."
Gorjok Gak, the 6-foot-11 junior center, was supposed to be through his rehab and recovered from the April surgery to repair the damaged knee that limited his minutes last season. Gak, though, is still dealing with pain and not cleared to play.
Last week, after getting some late cameo minutes in wins against Charleston Southern and La Salle, 6-9 forward Chase Johnson, who sat out last season due to concussions, appeared ready to get into the mix after missing preseason practices with a sore neck. Johnson, though, took a shot to head in practice Monday and is back in concussion protocol.
Then came the first practice here Tuesday, when 6-8, 270-pound forward Isaiah Stokes, the most skilled offensive big man on the team, told the trainer and coaches the surgically repaired knee that kept him out all last season was acting up. Couldn't go.
That's 6-11, 6-9 and 6-8 unavailable for the three games in three days.
Florida (2-2) faces Stanford (2-2) in Atlantis loser's bracket play Thursday night at 7:30.
"Next-man-up mentality. That's what we have to stand behind," said third-year sophomore Dontay Bassett, the 6-9 backup forward who came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and grab four rebounds. "No need to hang our heads. We sill have to go out and try to win basketball games."
Last year, the Gators were without Stokes and Johnson while they red-shirted, were limited to what they could get out of Gak (8.9 minutes in 29 games), and without 6-11, 255-pound center John Egbunu, an elite defender and rim protector, the entire season. UF was constantly was overmatched in the paint, but figured out some small-ball solutions along the way to winning 21 games and making the NCAA Tournament.
Against the Sooners, the Gators were out-rebounded 48-34 and shoved around in the paint, and there's no help on that front in sight. The players and the coaches, indeed, will have to figure things out and do so with those 10 healthy (and mostly perimeter-sized) bodies. UF could make things a lot easier on itself by simply executing some routine and fundamental basketball plays, such as gap control and boxing out on defense, plus better spacing and going to the offensive glass on the other end. Hitting free throws (as opposed to going 3-for-11 like the Gators did against OU) would help, as well.
"I'm not going to make any excuses just because we're down a couple players," said forward Keith Stone, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in the OU loss. "I feel like, as team, we should fight through the adversity, whether it's injuries or whatever. We still have enough guys to play with."
But for Mike White and his staff, it's sure starting to feel like the norm.
"The whole preseason we talked about how deep are," White said Wednesday after falling to Oklahoma 65-60 in opening-round play of the Battle 4 Atlantis. "But we're back where we were a year ago, with 10 scholarship guys. We've got to figure it out."
Gorjok Gak, the 6-foot-11 junior center, was supposed to be through his rehab and recovered from the April surgery to repair the damaged knee that limited his minutes last season. Gak, though, is still dealing with pain and not cleared to play.
Last week, after getting some late cameo minutes in wins against Charleston Southern and La Salle, 6-9 forward Chase Johnson, who sat out last season due to concussions, appeared ready to get into the mix after missing preseason practices with a sore neck. Johnson, though, took a shot to head in practice Monday and is back in concussion protocol.
Then came the first practice here Tuesday, when 6-8, 270-pound forward Isaiah Stokes, the most skilled offensive big man on the team, told the trainer and coaches the surgically repaired knee that kept him out all last season was acting up. Couldn't go.
That's 6-11, 6-9 and 6-8 unavailable for the three games in three days.
Florida (2-2) faces Stanford (2-2) in Atlantis loser's bracket play Thursday night at 7:30.
"Next-man-up mentality. That's what we have to stand behind," said third-year sophomore Dontay Bassett, the 6-9 backup forward who came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points and grab four rebounds. "No need to hang our heads. We sill have to go out and try to win basketball games."
Last year, the Gators were without Stokes and Johnson while they red-shirted, were limited to what they could get out of Gak (8.9 minutes in 29 games), and without 6-11, 255-pound center John Egbunu, an elite defender and rim protector, the entire season. UF was constantly was overmatched in the paint, but figured out some small-ball solutions along the way to winning 21 games and making the NCAA Tournament.
Against the Sooners, the Gators were out-rebounded 48-34 and shoved around in the paint, and there's no help on that front in sight. The players and the coaches, indeed, will have to figure things out and do so with those 10 healthy (and mostly perimeter-sized) bodies. UF could make things a lot easier on itself by simply executing some routine and fundamental basketball plays, such as gap control and boxing out on defense, plus better spacing and going to the offensive glass on the other end. Hitting free throws (as opposed to going 3-for-11 like the Gators did against OU) would help, as well.
"I'm not going to make any excuses just because we're down a couple players," said forward Keith Stone, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in the OU loss. "I feel like, as team, we should fight through the adversity, whether it's injuries or whatever. We still have enough guys to play with."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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