Florida men’s basketball coach Todd Golden met with reporters ahead of the Gators’ upcoming Thanksgiving week multi-team event, the Rady’s Children Invitational.
Golden tackled the elephant in the room: Xaivian Lee’s shooting woes. He urged patience as the transfer guard adjusts to a new scheme. Golden also discussed the thought process behind picking an early-season MTE and the preparation, travel logistics and challenges that come with playing during a holiday.
It’s also the start of a tough stretch on Florida’s schedule, with Duke and UConn looming after this two-game event. Golden outlined how the staff plans to maintain rhythm while keeping players fresh over the next few weeks.
Here’s everything Golden said ahead of Thursday’s matchup with TCU.
On preparation for the long trip
We’re in a really good spot right now. After Friday, being able to take a couple of days. We came in Saturday morning early, got some work in. I wanted to give the guys a pretty good weekend off going into this tournament. I think we’re good, and in a good spot. We had a good first day of practice (back)
On the upcoming tough stretch of games
I’d add George Washington in Sunrise after (Duke and UConn). I know they lost yesterday, but they’re playing really, really well. So, that’s five good ones. We’ve, to an extent, broken it down a little bit. We’re kind of through that first part of our schedule. And now, with this MTE and then two really, really challenging non-conference games leading into another one that is going to be a really underrated opportunity for us playing George Washington.
Just a real stretch. Kind of an opportunity to mentally prepare for conference play, where you’re going to see really good opponents back to back to back.Right now, our main focus is trying to find a way to win this event, going out in San Diego. That starts with competing really well against a good TCU club on Thursday.
On intentionally diversifying MTE locations
Kind of happened a little bit. We had been thinking about doing Maui in with the Players Era coming into existence. (Maui) is kind of not the same opportunity, unfortunately, that it once was.
We like the idea of going out west. Initially, when we signed up for this event, Kansas was in it. They’re no longer in it. So, that’s a negative. But TCU, Wisconsin, Providence — good field. Both of these games will be quad two or better, and it just so happened that this opportunity was San Diego this year.
On choosing events based on field vs. venue
Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t a lot of—generally speaking, you want a good field, and that’s kind of the main thing we’re looking for at first. And then location, if it’s close, that helps. But this is not that scenario.
We are signed to play in the Players Era for the next couple of years after this. So we’ll be consistently out in Vegas, and that obviously has a financial component to it as well.
On Jamie Dixon and TCU’s defense
Coach Dixon is part of the same crew that Randy Bennett and Kyle Smith were coming up, West Coast guys. I feel like I know him and his program pretty well, and they’re physical. They compete really, really hard. That’s one thing that a TCU team is going to do. They are good defensively. They’re really active. They do a good job in their ball screen coverages, being physical.
For us, a big part of it is just holding on the ball. Our team has struggled a little bit with turnovers at times. This game is going to be similar to some of our conference opponents. They like to put two on the ball. They like to trap in the post. They’re trying to put you in scenarios where you kick the ball around. So, this is going to be a big-time ball control scout for us. And trying to put them in scenarios where we have four-on-threes and three-on-twos on the backside and then play. Definitely mindful of how good their defense.
On having big men who can pass
Just like we did on Friday night against the zone, we want to put it in their hands and allow them to make the right reads in advantage–disadvantage situations. And the way TCU is guarding up to this point, I feel like there’s going to be some similar situations where they’re going to put two on our ball handlers in ball screens, and then we have to make the right read out of that.
Without getting too ahead of ourselves, we have to get out of the trap first. And that’s going to be harder than normal going into this game. Their bigs are long, strong, active. Good defenders.
On SEC comparisons for TCU
I would say probably guard ball screen, similar to what Mississippi State did last year when we played them. And they guard the post like Texas A&M did. So there’s some good film we can watch from league play last year. And fortunately, we do have some experience coaching against it. I’m hopeful we can put our guys in position to be comfortable because the trap — they’re tricky traps for sure.
On Micah’s health status
He’s good. He’s really close. My hope is he practices tomorrow. And if he does that, then he should be all engines go for Thursday.
On Providence and Wisconsin
To be completely transparent, that’s the job of some of our coaches. I’m fully focused on TCU and treat it like a tournament where it’s quick prep, and they’re going to have a similar quick prep on us. I don’t want to spend any time prior to Thursday preparing for anybody else. If we don’t beat TCU, then I’m going to be really disappointed, and we’ll have to figure out Friday anyway.
Wisconsin is a very good team. They’re elite offensively from what I’ve seen. Providence did a really good job retooling. They have the Estonian kid who’s been shooting the lights out and Kim (English) always has pretty tough teams.
Wisconsin is really skilled. Wisconsin has a chance to be a top 20/30 team all year. Providence has shown the capacity to have a good club. Both are good opportunities for us.
On goals for early-season tournaments
Wins. Trophies.
We are playing really well in some areas. We’re defending really well. We’re rebounding very well. Our team has been very coachable. I was really pleased with our effort on Friday night. It’s easy to look at a Merrimack club that’s a little down talent-wise from where they normally are and say you expect that.
We played really well with a lot of purpose. We were up 28-4 or 32-4 or whatever it is. Our guys are executing. Now we have to make a few more shots, take care of the ball a little better and defend without fouling. Those are the three areas we’re looking at improving over the next month.
On Xaivian Lee’s shooting
It’s a unique situation. I am focusing on the things that don’t require talent — defending within our scheme, rebounding responsibilities, keeping us in our offense and making the right play.
Xaivian is a career 37% three-point shooter. He’s not shooting it well right now. That’s obvious. Do I have confidence he’ll get comfortable? Yeah, I do.
In the other areas of the game, he’s doing a really nice job, especially considering how much he’s struggling shooting the ball. We’ll give him a little more time to get comfortable, hopefully make some shots. He shot well all summer and in the fall. It’s mental right now. He’s got to loosen up and get the ball through the net a couple of times.
What I’ve been pleased with is that he’s not letting it affect other areas of his game. That can easily happen for a less mature player. We’ll see how it shakes out, but overall I’m pleased with his effort. Obviously, we all want him to make a couple more shots.Him shooting was on the lower level of concerns when we were evaluating him coming in. Some areas we thought he might be deficient, he’s doing a good job. It’s all part of the puzzle. As guys change teams, there will be more cases where guys have a harder time adjusting. It’s a different role, different level. Give him a little grace and see what it looks like in a couple of weeks.
On preseason concerns, development so far
The two areas we need to be better: we need to shot-make better — we’re missing some good looks — and we’re having a few too many careless turnovers. But every other aspect — executing, playing unselfishly, rebounding, drawing fouls — the glaring areas we need to get better are shooting and turnovers.
The shot-making is the obvious one.
On adjusting processes during a shooting slump
I’m sure he’s doing some different things. It’s not like he wasn’t shooting any before. Guys are very routine-oriented. It’s a little too early to make drastic, sweeping changes. As long as we continue to get him open looks and he’s taking the right shots, I think it will work out. We’re evaluating everything every day, so my answer might be different next Monday.
On Thanksgiving logistics
A lot of our families are coming out. A good amount of our guys will have some family members there. We’ll have a Thanksgiving meal for direct family and our players. It’s part of being in basketball, man. The holidays are unique and tricky.
We’ve kind of gotten it where Christmas is standard; we get a day or two. Thanksgiving is always a wildcard. You’re generally out of town when you’re at a good program playing MTEs. We’re fortunate to have our families with us. We all enjoy being together anyway. That’s a big plus.
On Golden’s Thanksgiving plate
I’m pretty standard. Turkey, gravy. I’m a big cranberry sauce fan — maybe create a little turkey sandwich with cranberry on one of the rolls. Dessert? Maybe a little pumpkin pie.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Everything Todd Golden said ahead of TCU matchup on Thanksgiving
Reporting by David Rosenberg, Gators Wire / Gators Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
