Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The defense forced a missed shot. That's the objective of the drill. But Mike White blew his whistle and pointed to the offending party. 

"Out of position!" the Florida coach scolded, aiming a finger at the player who missed his assignment and allowed an open 3-point attempt. "And look ... his feelings are hurt. Go again!"

It's called (seriously) the "feelings drill," and its purpose is a focus on transition defense. Five defenders line up across the width of the court, even with the free-throw line. Before the ball is put in play, a coach calls out a player's name. That player has to touch the baseline, while everyone else is racing up floor in transition the other way, and recover with his teammates at the other end and commence defending. 

It's basically 5-on-4 1/2. It's fast. It's chaotic. And for freshmen dealing with their first few weeks of college basketball it's another thing, as well. 

"Really hard," UF guard Tre Mann said. 

Really necessary, too. There's a reason the Gators have been near the top of the Southeastern Conference and among the best in the country in defensive efficiency— 2nd in the league last season; 16th nationally — during White's first four seasons. He puts a premium on defense daily, and drills his players' bodies and brains out on that facet of the game. 

If White's fifth Florida team in 2019-20 is going to meet its lofty expectations — the Gators were picked to finish second to Kentucky at SEC Media Days this week, and almost certainly will debut in the Top 10 when the Associated Press preseason poll is released Monday — it must rely heavily on youth. The loss of backup fourth-year junior center Gorjok Gak (out indefinitely with a dislocated shoulder) means UF will have 10 scholarship players available when the season opens Nov. 5 against North Florida. Half of those players will be freshmen, so they better know what they're doing. 

"Defensive accountability," White said. "It's the biggest adjustment for those guys."

The biggest of a bunch. 

Speed of the game is another. So is playing against more size than they're used to. Knowing what is and isn't a foul at this level is quite the awakening for a collegiate rookie, too. Regarding the latter, UF has had three practices with full-time officials in the house to help with that transition. Regarding the overall, the youthful Gators will get their first chances to apply what they've learned against outside competition in the coming day. The first comes a closed-door scrimmage this weekend against South Florida, followed by an Oct. 29 exhibition game against Division II Lynn at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. 

As the team enters this next phase, a first unit has begun to crystalize through the first three weeks of the preseason. Soon, roles will be defined and minutes assigned.

"We're ready to compete," said freshman small forward Scottie Lewis, one of two McDonald's All-Americans (along with Mann) in the rookie class. "We have a bunch of hungry guys. Coach White, this staff and my teammates know there is a bunch of things we have to work on, so trying to implement it all against another team and seeing where we are is going to help us a lot. I think whether if it goes really well or goes really badly it'll be an equally humbling experience. We're trying to get mentally prepared, especially the younger guys, for this season."  Things like the "feelings drill" and "shell" work (halfcourt 5-on-5, without any shots going up) are used to hammer home defensive concepts and fundamentals, with a special emphasis always placed on a variety of elements. No open-corner 3s. No catch-and-shoot 3s. Forcing opponents to drive into the help. 

"In a stance. Stay in the gap. Stay down. Hands off your knees. Make people bounce the ball. Stay in front of them," Lewis said. "The coaches put us in position to expose us and see how we react. I'm working on it, getting better at it. We all are." 

The 5-on-4 1/2 work is among the most taxing of the Florida practice routine, as well as the most necessary, given the speed and athleticism in the SEC. The same five players remain on defense until they make two stops in a row. And a "stop" is only a "stop" if all five players are in the correct position on the floor. 

The team with the fewest stops runs at the end of the sequence. 

"Those drills are really tough, but it helps because it forces you to figure things out," freshman point guard Ques Glover said. "If they score, we have to talk about it. What did we do wrong? What do we have to do differently to stop it the next time? The communication will go a long way to help us. You have to learn to take criticism, both from the coaches and from each other." 

CHARTING THE GATORS
Under Coach Mike White, Florida has rated among the best teams in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency (based on points per 100 possessions)

Year	Adjusted Defense	NCAA Rank	SEC Rank
2016	93.9	14th	2nd
2017	89.5	5th	2nd
2018	95.5	24th	4th
2019	92.2	16th	2nd

Have to learn to play through stuff, too. 

In Tuesday's scrimmage, complete with officials, Lewis made a hard drive to the basket and got raked across the arm while going up for a shot as a defender jumped in front of him. Lewis waited or a foul to be called. It was. An offensive foul. He did not agree and protested. Lewis has had a few of those moments during the preseason. So have all his teammates, but it's all about replicating how life will be on the road at LSU, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

"C'mon now. He came over the back!" 
"They're not calling that!" 

So get used to it. 

"It's different, everything is different," said Lewis, a 10.6 100-meter sprinter at his New Jersey high school who is still catching up with the speed of the college game. "You think fast-paced, fast-paced, but I think what 'speed of the game' really means is the ability to change speeds. You have a point guard like Andrew [Nembhard]. He can speed the game up or slow the game down. You have to be able to keep up with him, And when you're guarding a point guard who is able to do those things you have to be able to speed him or slow him down as well. It's about the energy and effort you put into the defensive end. You have to get acclimated to those things."

But not exclusive to defensive things. 

Lewis, though 6-foot-5, will find a lot more guys meeting and challenging him at the rim on his drives and acrobatic finish attempts. Mann, while a gifted scorer, is still getting used to determining when he's open for a good shot. In high school, Mann would be double- and triple-teamed. He won't be now, so the Florida coaches want him to shoot it when a clear look presents itself. Sounds easy, but for freshmen there's just a lot of thinking (sometimes overthinking) going on.

Glover, at just 5-foot-11, has had some terrific days at practice. He came in with a good idea how to compensate for his height, but now is trying to hone his ability to pass the ball through bigger bodies and longer arms. Omar Payne, the 6-10 center/forward with the 7-6 wingspan and defensive mindset to match, has to stop second-guessing himself and play with more confidence. 

Then there's 6-11 Jason Jitoboh, who already has lost nearly 30 pounds and put himself in position — especially with Gak's situation — to possibly contribute minutes in what the staff figured could be a developmental year. He just needs to keep working and improve on a motor that has never really been challenged. 

It's all part of the process.

And it's getting very close to being unveiled.

"Everybody is embracing it, no one is running away from it," graduate-transfer center Kerry Blackshear Jr. said. "We're going to get there, and once these guys know where they're supposed to be on the floor, I think they'll be great."