The Gators let it loose in last week's Orange & Blue Scrimmage, if only for 15 minutes of live action, but had a good time along the way.
Golden Priorities: Fun, Team, Winning
Monday, November 7, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Kowacie Reeves had his nose in a text book late one night when his cell phone buzzed. The Florida sophomore shooting guard guard looked at the caller ID. Todd Golden wasn't just calling, he was FaceTiming.
"I'd never had a coach FaceTime me before," Reeves said.
So Reeves answered and there was Golden, who got right to the point. He wanted proof — visual proof — that Reeves had, indeed, cut off his trademark bleached spout haircut that a former teammate dubbed last year as, simply, "The Wacie." Yes, it was gone. The two bantered about a couple minutes about the new look (a short crop bleach-blonde "doo," now with bright red hearts sprinkled about), then signed off with a laugh.
Coach Todd Golden and his coaches staff (from left): Carlin Hartman, Korey McCray and Kevin Hovde
Call the moment a microcosm of this new version of Florida basketball. With change comes … well … change. It's inevitable. When Golden was hired to replace Georgia-bound Mike White last March the program was injected with a jolt of youthful enthusiasm and an out-going personality all fueled by confidence. Golden's persona has captured his first UF team, which opens the 2022-23 season Monday night against Stony Brook at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center.
Returning junior guard/forward Niels Lane put it this way: "He acts like one of the players. We all like that."
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
So what does that mean? Fifth-year senior guard Myreon Jones smiles as he sets to break down a teammate during last week's Orange & Blue Scrimmage.
"This year, it's just a really loose environment," Lane said. "Now we're all about the business, don't get me wrong. When we're out here, it's serious and Coach is all about winning. But he's also put a big emphasis on having fun. I mean, if you're not having fun players aren't going to want to come to practice. We're playing basketball, it's fun and we're getting work done."
Over the course of the team's five weeks of preseason practice there has been little wasted time or energy. Sessions have been loud, lively, upbeat and high on hands-on instruction by the entire staff. The result, at least for now, is a squad Golden says is at least 11 players deep, although his vision is of a 10-man rotation during non-league play and likely a nine-man rotation once the Southeastern Conference season commences in late-December.
Those are numbers some players may not want to hear, but the plan has been clearly laid out so there can be no mistaking: Guys that perform the best at practice and in games are going to play the most minutes. The way it should be, right?
"We have some really, really good players who are going to be coming off the bench to start the season. Just talking about our depth we have 11 guys, any of [whom] I would be very comfortable with starting the game Monday. Sounds crazy, but that's just reality," Golden said. "When you have depth, you can get a good feel in however many rotations as to who's playing well, shooting well, playing physically, and taper the rotation from that the rest of the game. There are guys who are going to play starter's minutes one night and 11 or 12 [minutes] the next. It's going to be up and down, at least at the start of the year."
But each individual player can control that through effort and production.
"Obviously, everybody wants to play and is expecting to play," Lane said. "But I think everybody on this team has a good enough relationship with Coach to trust that he is doing what's best for the team. I know for a fact that if you ask Coach what you have to do to play he will tell you. If you're not doing what he asks of you, he's not going to play you. It's that simple."
Last week, the team's Orange & Blue Scrimmage at the O'Dome served as a sneak peek for fans. The live-game action was brief, less than 20 minutes, with Golden telling the officials not to call fouls and telling the players to have some fun with it all. They did.
During pre-game introductions, during the game, into the 3-point shooting and slam-dunk contests there were lots of smiles on lots of faces.
"More guys are just more comfortable this year, I think," senior forward CJ Felder said. "You start to see sides of guys that you didn't see last year; as people and basketball players."
Now it's time to see more of the basketball sides. If that part of the Gators is clicking there will be plenty more smiles to go around.
"I love our team," Golden said. "We talk about putting the team first. When you have a compilation of really good players, that's a challenging thing because you have guys who are used to being the best player on their high school team or wherever they played before. We're only going to be the best team we can be if we can get everybody on the same page. To their credit, they've done a really good job. Now, when you get into games, guys playing less, guys playing more, it's more challenging to balance that."
Then came the real talk; the bottom line for this new coach and his new feel-good culture.
"The only thing we care about — aside from being good people off the court — is winning," Golden added. "As long as we are heading in that direction, I can sleep at night."
