To start off with, my score prediction was way off! Let's just say that the Gators won't be able to score that amount of points against most of the teams that they play. The Gators were absolutely on fire from the perimeter, hitting 20 of 40 three point attempts. Kenny Boynton was 6 of 11, Erving Walker was 3 of 6, Mike Rosario and Brad Beal were both 4 of 7, and Erik Murphy was 3 of 4. These are astounding numbers and I would be delighted if we could shoot like this every game, but unfortunately, that's will not be the case. Before I recap the game, the big story going into the game was Billy Donovan Jr. coming to play again his dad. He finished with 13 points, leading Catholic in scoring. Coach Donovan's wife, Christine, said before the game, "I want three things: That the Gators win, my son plays well, and nobody gets hurt." All three of those things happened. Hopefully Billy Jr. can earn more minutes than he did last year and become an important player on a good Catholic team.
The Gators began the onslaught with Erik draining a three-pointer. Will Yeguete and Casey Prather were the first substitutes off the bench, not Mike Rosario like I had predicted. The full-court press seemed to be working very well and the Gators forced 23 turnovers before the final buzzer sounded. The Gators have the weapons to make the press almost unbearable with their quick guards and they are certainly conditioned extremely well, one of Coach Donovan's requirements. The outlets off of rebounds were shaky, but the guards pushing the ball was a big key to so many fast break dunks. It was interesting to see how the Gator guards would adjust to not having Scottie Wilbekin available, who was out after breaking a finger in practice. Casey Prather stepped up and gave the starting guards some good rest time as he played 20, very productive minutes. He had 4 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. If we could get anywhere close to that every game, we'll be much better off. He has the ability to change the course of a game with his defense and he will be one of the most important guys off the bench this season. We scored 70 points in the first half and made 14 threes! We were up 70-29 and it was almost like a scrimmage, basket after basket.
A couple of concerns: Patric Young will have to stay out of foul trouble this season. He's our main post presence and without him, we lose his toughness and outstanding defensive intensity. Erik will have to be very physical in the post this year, both defensively and offensively. He only had two rebounds against Catholic and that needs to double or even triple. He did, however, score 17 points and he can easily be a matchup problem because he can step out and shoot the three ball (3 of 4 from deep). Casey Prather (same for Scottie Wilbekin), though more of a defensive-minded player, needs to work on his shooting. He will have to be able to hit perimeter shots when they're available and be able to attack the basket, which he did against Catholic with a thundering baseline dunk. Brad Beal also fouled out, but I wouldn't worry about this; he was probably a little nervous in his first game, but he did have 20 points, and that's something that he will never disappoint in: scoring the ball. One area of concern with him was that he only had 1 rebound; with the Gators playing three guards, he has to be able to grab 2 or 3 rebounds per game to make up for their lack of size.
A couple of positives that I noticed: Kenny's stroke has improved tremendously (6 of 11 from behind the arc) and I could easily see him leading the team in scoring because he has worked on putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. He picked up a double-double as he also had 10 assists; he has made so much progress since his freshman year handling the ball. Also, Erik has always been very crafty around the basket and that will serve him well this season as he will be getting 20-25 minutes per game. Other notes: Walter Pitchford will have to fight for minutes as the Gators have enough bodies, but an extra frontcourt player would be a bonus. He can be a good inside-and-out player for us because he is more of a perimeter-oriented forward. Cody Larson did not score, but pulled down 3 rebounds. He will get some minutes and his defense and toughness will keep him on the floor.
We had six double-figure scorers, which was encouraging: Boynton had 21, Beal had 20, Rosario had 18, Murphy had 17, Walker had 15, and Young had 10. We had 31 assists, 10 of those by Kenny. We will definitely get production from our guards, but it's the frontcourt that will determine our record. Coach Donovan said after the game, "Offensively, we have to have a post presence." We'll get production night in and night out from Patric, but it's Erik, Will, and Cody that need to continue to crash the boards and provide some offense. One final note, according to Kevin Brockway, the Gators beat writer, the Gators added two walk-ons to the roster: Lex Edwards from Orlando and Jacob Kurtz from Oviedo. We did lose Kyle McClanahan after last season because he decided to focus on his studies. Hopefully these two walk-ons will learn Coach D's system quickly in time for Friday's game. Look for a preview of the Jackson State game on Thursday and GO GATORS!
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