Todd Golden: Gator Expectations Should Run Deep in NCAA Tournament
The No. 12 Florida men’s basketball’s winning streak is at an impressive six straight SEC games, but coach Todd Golden wants more.
The league-leading Gators (20-6, 11-2 SEC) have won 11 of their last 12 games, marking their longest run of the season. Coming off Tuesday’s win against South Carolina, Golden and the Gators search for another Saturday at Ole Miss (11-15, 3-10). WRUF (98.1-FM/850-AM, 103.7-FM) coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. and the tipoff is at noon on ESPN.
“We are trying to continue to build this program to where the expectation is deep runs in March,” Golden told Voice of the Gators, Sean Kelley, on “Gator Talk.” “We are definitely not satisfied.”
Golden joined the show on Thursday night for the last time this spring, appearing earlier this season on Jan. 8 and Jan. 22. This time, he addressed expectations, improvements and the mindset behind Florida men’s basketball.
Coming off a national championship, the Gators have an expectation to repeat greatness this season. With the fifth toughest schedule in the country, this has not been an easy task.
“We were able to deal with a lot of our issues early on, whereas last year’s group, it took until conference play to where we were really challenged,” Golden said.
Florida opened the season with road losses to big opponents in Arizona, TCU, Duke and UConn. These games revealed areas of improvement that the Gators needed to address if they want to make it far this season. Dealing with these issues early in the season prepared the Gators for success later on.
During their streak, the Gators are out-shooting opponents 50.3%-35.9%. In 3-pointers, Urban Klavzar is hitting nearly 47% of his shots.
Earlier this season, shooting was a big issue. The solution for Florida has been simple.
“Just time,” Golden said. “It takes a little bit to get comfortable playing together.”
With pressure building throughout the season, the team learned valuable lessons playing together. Golden said the Gators understand what it means to play as a team and how to highlight each other’s strengths. With this understanding, the Gators are trending in the right direction and gaining recognition for their success.
Xaivian Lee was named Monday the SEC Player of the Week,the fourth Gator to reach that honor this season. Florida’s biggest strength is the versatility and physicality of each individual player on the roster.
“You really don’t know who it’s going to be on a given night,” Golden said. “If you are trying to take away one certain guy, other guys are able to step up and take on that responsibility.”
The regular season is coming to a close with five games left. Florida’s next two are on the road, starting Saturday.
The Rebels are coming off a loss against Texas A&M. This won’t be an easy matchup against senior guard transfers AJ Storr and Ilias Kamardine and senior forward Malik Dia.
However, the Rebels have shown flaws in their roster, which Golden pointed out.
“They brought in a lot of new guys,” he said. “I think it’s been hard for them to get everybody on the same page.”
Golden plans to take hold of the competition by remaining present throughout the rest of the season. Florida will need to focus on the now.
“All the great feeling about where we are and what’s in front of us might not be there if we don’t take care of business on Saturday,” Golden said. “It’s all about finding a way to beat Ole Miss, then we worry about the rest after that.”
Category: Basketball, College Basketball, Feature Sports News, Gators Men's Basketball
