In their first action of the season, the Gators showed flashes of the type of fast, pressure defense they’ll need to be successful with a guard-heavy roster.
Florida notched 16 steals and forced 23 turnovers, pressing Catholic University for the majority of the night.
“We’re getting better at it,” senior guard Erving Walker said. “We’ve been putting a lot of time and effort into it. … That’s going to be one of our main calling cards, being that we’re not a big, grind-it-out team. We want to get transition points and get out and run.”
Florida’s defense led to easy baskets in transition, allowing UF to score 50 points off turnovers and 20 on fast-break opportunities.
The press started off shaky, as the Gators allowed the Cardinals to advance the ball and create good shot opportunities in the early going.
But it didn’t take long to tighten things up; Florida gave up just four points and had four steals in a nearly six-minute stretch that started with 9:02 remaining in the first half.
“We’re still getting better,” UF coach Billy Donovan said.
“I don’t know if we totally understood the reads and what we’re doing. … They’ve got to make reads. When to rotate up, when to rotate back, when to trap, when to fake trap.”
And the Gators know the tests only get tougher from here.
Forcing turnovers against a Catholic team Donovan acknowledged was greatly outmatched from a physical and athletic standpoint is one thing. Doing the same against the likes of Ohio State, which UF faces in just 11 days, is another.
“We felt great about the press,” junior guard Kenny Boynton said. “But, then again, we can’t be too happy, this being an exhibition game.”
The Buckeyes dominated the Gators’ press last season, turning the ball over only eight times en route to a 93-75 win.
Florida consistently tried to force Ohio State out of its comfort zone, but then-freshman point guard Aaron Craft, who returns this season, handled it with ease.
“When we played Ohio State we pressed nonstop and gave up so much easy stuff pressing,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to eliminate that.”
The Gators recorded just one steal and let the Buckeyes shoot 62.9 percent for the game.
Florida’s challenge will be equally steep this year, as Ohio State brings back most of its key players and a No. 3 national ranking.
“We can’t be too excited with this one,” Boynton said. “We have Ohio State coming up, and that will be our big test.”
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org.
