Three Takeaways from Gators Hoops Summer Practice
With the new regime taking full reign of Florida Gators hoops back in March, the end of spring and summer has been dedicated to developing the roster for regular season play starting in November.
On Thursday, media was granted an inside look at the staff’s operation as that individual and team development continued.
In the first open workout session for Florida basketball in quite some time, AllGators got a gauge of the new direction the program is under.
As a result, here are three takeaways from the media-accessible basketball practice period.
High Intensity
The two best words to describe the open media practice session: high intensity.
Florida pushed it from start to finish.
With Golden’s assertion that the Gators would be an up-tempo but controlled squad under his rule, intrigue rose from Florida fans as an entertaining style of basketball was said to be on the horizon.
However, that type of fast-paced style isn’t incorporated without proper preparation. Practice must be grueling to some degree to ensure elite-level stamina and composure in the scheme.
That came on the court Thursday as Golden’s group operated, not through the traditional medium of conditioning, but the intensity at which they completed each rep.
The hour-long session provided constant action, frequent movement and little break in between for significant rest. Florida teetered on the line of game-level reps despite the instruction that came along with it.
Quickly transitioning from drill to drill with an emphasis on constant motion with or without the ball — ranging from fundamental dribbling and defending to elbow jumpers to offensive set drills — the desire for an energetic outing was evident.
While it doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme given the commonality of keeping a fast pace during practices at the collegiate level, the Gators lived up to the billing of a team focused on getting in front of defenses in transition with consistency this upcoming year.
An added positive came post-practice.
Despite the rapid fire affair, the group looked to be in good shape after the fact, with many staying behind to get extra shooting reps as the coaching staff dispersed.
Kevin Hovde is firmly in control of the offense
As mentioned above, the Florida offense is going to incorporate an interesting mix of transition three-pointers, rim-running twos and fast break buckets all around.
However, while they’re playing fast, that doesn’t eliminate the half court offense being implemented by Golden and his staff.
Set to operate a Princeton-s dense attack utilizing a plethora of both on-ball and off-ball screens to create open shots, the Gators showcased their goal of frequent ball and body movement on Thursday.
The majority of offensive instruction came from assistant coach Kevin Hovde, who was hired to be the man the offensive unit.
While it may have been a widespread understanding that the man hired to scheme and implement offensive sets into the game plan would be in charge during practice sessions, the full reign he was given without much micromanaging from Golden was telling of the trust between the two.
When he was hired, Golden praised Hovde by calling him “one of the best offensive minds we have in the college game.”
He let’s him have substantial control as a result.
Hovde spent seven seasons alongside Golden at San Francisco — including the first two of Golden’s head coaching run there as associate head coach before leaving for an assistant role at Richmond last year.
The chemistry and understanding of what each wants is a luxury for Florida’s roster as they develop this season.
Kowacie Reeves Jr. is still en route to stardom
The Gators have an NBA-caliber player or two on their roster for this upcoming season.
Reeves is arguably the most explosive with the highest upside of the bunch.
As play began to wind down a season ago for the Gators, then true freshman Kowacie Reeves Jr. proved to be the largest for future optimism. Despite a brief debacle hinting at his entry in the transfer portal following Golden’s arrival, Reeves returns to Florida for his second season.
Looking to build off a fantastic finish to his first year in orange and blue, including a three-game stretch of 14 or more points, Reeves has high expectations resting on his shoulders.
If Thursday’s practice session was any indication for his handling of that pressure, he is well on his way to the status of expected stardom.
He continued to show a strong shooting stroke that became more consistent as the season rolled on last season, culminating in a 21-point second half performance against Texas A&M to keep the Gators briefly alive against the Aggies in the SEC Tournament.
His development as an all-around player continues, but his comfort ability to attack the rim flashed as it did as he became a bigger part of the game plan in Mike White’s final days.
With Reeves performing at an elite level, Florida’s ceiling rises for Golden’s first season exponentially.
The practice session helped show that it’s possible as he is only getting better.
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