Florida held its second intra-squad scrimmage of the preseason Friday, and it was one open for viewing for the media. I was on hand as well, so here are a couple of tidbits from what I saw:
--Devin Robinson is still as lanky and lean as he was a year ago, but the junior forward looked good moving up and down the court coming back from offseason foot surgery. He was sharp as well on three-point shots, showing a nice stroke en route to 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting (and a perfect 4-of-4 on 3’s). Robinson knocked down two of those corner threes in the opening two minutes.
--Kasey Hill performed well as a distributor, finishing with 13 points and a scrimmage-best eight assists. Often, Hill kicked out to his teammates for corner 3’s, as the Gators finished with scrimmage with 14 threes on 25 attempts. Chris Chiozza also shot the ball well from downtown, with 17 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Freshman point guard Eric Hester didn’t play in Friday’s scrimmage.
--It wasn’t the greatest outing for sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen or redshirt junior center John Egbunu. Allen finished just 1-of-8 shooting for two points and didn’t get open for as many opportunities as one would have expected from arguably the most talented offensive weapon on the team. Egbunu, who looks a lot leaner than he did a year ago, also struggled to get many good looks at the rim, finishing with 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting. He finished with only four rebounds.
--Hill’s shooting form has noticeably changed. Now, Hill aligns his knee to his shoulder when releasing the ball – something he said during media day that he’s worked on this offseason.
--Free throw shooting continues to be an issue for Florida, which went just 15-of-24 (62.5%) at the foul line. Hill went 1-of-2, while Egbunu went 0-of-2. The coaching staff is tinkering with Egbunu’s shooting form on foul shots, with Mike White notably instructing Egbunu to shoot with a higher release.
--Freshman forward Dontay Bassett, who will miss 4-6 months with a stress fracture in his foot and redshirt, watched to the side and wasn’t in uniform.
--Redshirt freshman forward Keith Stone was definitely a standout Friday. He finished with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive glass. Stone can shoot, drive to the rim and shows hustle when it comes to crashing the boards. He’s bulked up considerably and looks much more muscular than he did a year ago. Stone also had a steal in the game for a fastbreak dunk.
--Virginia Tech transfer guard Jalen Hudson, who won’t play this season, can definitely score in bunches and is somebody Florida could have used in the backcourt in 2016-17. Hudson finished with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
--A big emphasis during the scrimmage was playing with a higher tempo and pressing – the latter something White implemented this past week. When the game got at a frantic pace – Florida players often got a little turnover prone and made a couple bad passes. Overall, the Gators combined for 20 turnovers Friday.
--White felt that Florida wasn’t as crisp offensively as the team was in its first scrimmage but that the Gators performed better defensively this go-around. The Gators went 50% shooting Friday. White felt the help-side defense was better and that the positioning was improved. He was also impressed with the transition defense.
--Notably, the offense struggled to conjure up much and looked stagnant during the end of the scrimmage, when UF went to halfcourt. The Gators’ offense looked better in transition Friday.
--Although he’s ineligible to play in 2016-17 anyway, freshman forward Gorjok Gak definitely looks a year away from competing. He definitely needs to get into the weight room and add some bulk to his lanky frame to help out in the post against stronger bigs. Maybe the worst stretch of Gak’s afternoon was an airballed FT followed by a layup by Hill on a play where Gak didn’t hustle hard enough on the other end of the floor.
--Devin Robinson is still as lanky and lean as he was a year ago, but the junior forward looked good moving up and down the court coming back from offseason foot surgery. He was sharp as well on three-point shots, showing a nice stroke en route to 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting (and a perfect 4-of-4 on 3’s). Robinson knocked down two of those corner threes in the opening two minutes.
--Kasey Hill performed well as a distributor, finishing with 13 points and a scrimmage-best eight assists. Often, Hill kicked out to his teammates for corner 3’s, as the Gators finished with scrimmage with 14 threes on 25 attempts. Chris Chiozza also shot the ball well from downtown, with 17 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Freshman point guard Eric Hester didn’t play in Friday’s scrimmage.
--It wasn’t the greatest outing for sophomore guard KeVaughn Allen or redshirt junior center John Egbunu. Allen finished just 1-of-8 shooting for two points and didn’t get open for as many opportunities as one would have expected from arguably the most talented offensive weapon on the team. Egbunu, who looks a lot leaner than he did a year ago, also struggled to get many good looks at the rim, finishing with 4 points on 2-of-5 shooting. He finished with only four rebounds.
--Hill’s shooting form has noticeably changed. Now, Hill aligns his knee to his shoulder when releasing the ball – something he said during media day that he’s worked on this offseason.
--Free throw shooting continues to be an issue for Florida, which went just 15-of-24 (62.5%) at the foul line. Hill went 1-of-2, while Egbunu went 0-of-2. The coaching staff is tinkering with Egbunu’s shooting form on foul shots, with Mike White notably instructing Egbunu to shoot with a higher release.
--Freshman forward Dontay Bassett, who will miss 4-6 months with a stress fracture in his foot and redshirt, watched to the side and wasn’t in uniform.
--Redshirt freshman forward Keith Stone was definitely a standout Friday. He finished with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive glass. Stone can shoot, drive to the rim and shows hustle when it comes to crashing the boards. He’s bulked up considerably and looks much more muscular than he did a year ago. Stone also had a steal in the game for a fastbreak dunk.
--Virginia Tech transfer guard Jalen Hudson, who won’t play this season, can definitely score in bunches and is somebody Florida could have used in the backcourt in 2016-17. Hudson finished with 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
--A big emphasis during the scrimmage was playing with a higher tempo and pressing – the latter something White implemented this past week. When the game got at a frantic pace – Florida players often got a little turnover prone and made a couple bad passes. Overall, the Gators combined for 20 turnovers Friday.
--White felt that Florida wasn’t as crisp offensively as the team was in its first scrimmage but that the Gators performed better defensively this go-around. The Gators went 50% shooting Friday. White felt the help-side defense was better and that the positioning was improved. He was also impressed with the transition defense.
--Notably, the offense struggled to conjure up much and looked stagnant during the end of the scrimmage, when UF went to halfcourt. The Gators’ offense looked better in transition Friday.
--Although he’s ineligible to play in 2016-17 anyway, freshman forward Gorjok Gak definitely looks a year away from competing. He definitely needs to get into the weight room and add some bulk to his lanky frame to help out in the post against stronger bigs. Maybe the worst stretch of Gak’s afternoon was an airballed FT followed by a layup by Hill on a play where Gak didn’t hustle hard enough on the other end of the floor.
