Gag order in place but business as usual for Golden and the Gators

Denzel Aberdeen (11) gets ready to whip a crosscourt pass against Grambling (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

There will be a day of reckoning for Todd Golden, a day when all the evidence is laid out for the whole world to see. Then we will know for sure who’s right and who’s wrong in this messy Title IX complaint that has been filed against the third-year University of Florida basketball coach.

Golden has lawyered up and can’t say anything. Scott Stricklin can’t say a word either and since he is the head honcho a not for profit that budgets somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million yearly, you know he’s lawyered up, too. There wouldn’t be such a thing as Title IX if not for lawyers.

So with all parties under a gag order, it was business as usual Monday night at the O-Dome where Golden and the 20th-ranked Gators won their third straight game in blowout fashion. Following Florida’s 86-62 win over Grambling before an announced Veteran’s Day crowd of 7,857, Golden lamented that as much as he would love to sing like the proverbial canary to tell the whole wide world his side of the story, alas, he cannot.

Of course, that didn’t put a halt to questions designed to evoke a blockbuster of an answer that would blow the lid off the cone of silence. No matter how the questions were worded, the answers were basically one and the same.

Translation: I ain’t talking. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

When it came to actual basketball questions, Golden was happy to talk about what was start to finish Florida’s best game of this young season. Five Gators scored double figures: Rueben Chiyelu 14, Walter Clayton Jr. 12, Will Richard 12, Sam Alexis 12 and Alex Condon 10. Three others were a shot away: Alijah Martin 9, Thomas Haugh 9 and Denzel Aberdeen 8. Whether in the half court working against a Grambling zone that gave Ole Miss fits (Ole Miss 66, Grambling 64) a few days ago or out in transition, the ball moved unselfishly.

Nothing personified the unselfish play more than a steal near midcourt by Will Richard with 5:39 left in the game. Richard, a high riser whose dunks are a rather lethal combo of elevation and artistic interpretation, had enough space to get down and get funky, but he saw Rueben Chinyelu trailing the play. Rather than bring the crowd to its feet with a hammer down dunk, Richard tapped the ball over to his teammate. Chinyelu nearly ripped the rim off the backboard with a rather impressive power slam.

Golden was ever so happy to talk about how that one play speaks to the unselfishness of his team.

“This team is super unselfish and they play for each other,” Golden said. I think a great example of that was Will Richard’s play in transition when he got the steal run out and had the opportunity to go dunk it ... saw Rueben coming out of the back of his vision, dropped it off to him for a big dunk which was a really, really unselfish play that kind of speaks to our team.”

Will Richard dumps off a pass (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

Down at the defensive end, the Gators rarely let Grambling get off a clean shot. Whereas the Gators had their problems getting closeouts to contest 3-pointers in wins over South Florida and Jacksonville, Grambling could only get open looks 12 times and two of those were desperation heaves as the shot clock ticked down to zero.

“I thought we guarded the 3-point line the best we have all year, even including our scrimmages,” Golden said. We gave up 12 attempts. Obviously, they made only two. We did a really good job of defending without fouling as well.”

Rebounding was a sore source of contention for Golden in the first two games, but that changed against Grambling as the Gators outrebounded the Tigers, 45-24. The Gators did a terrific job of limiting Grambling to one shot. Down at their end of the floor, the Gators grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.

In addition to the 45 points they scored on 16-21 shooting overall and 12-16 from the foul line, Florida’s 4-man rotation of big guys grabbed 24 rebounds, blocked five shots and came away with six steals.

“I think our guys do a really good job,” Golden said. “Our frontcourt has really a good feel so when they’re able to draw defenders and they feel a little bit of a double team or a little help at the rim, they’re able to play off two and be balanced and drop it off to their fellow big or throw it out to a perimeter guy for a shot.”

Chinyelu is 6-10, 255 while Condon is 6-11, 230, Alexis is 6-9, 240 and Haugh is 6-9, 210. Golden describes Chinyelu as the team’s bruiser but added that Condo, Alexis and Haugh “have really good feel and understanding.”   

The big guys are a nice complement to a 4-man front court rotation of Clayton, Richard, Martin and Aberdeen. Clayton scored 12 but took only nine shots including a 3-7 game from the 3-point line. Richard had five rebounds and five steals. Martin had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Aberdeen had an astonishing first half throw down dunk.

This has the makings of a Florida team capable of making a deep run at tournament time in March and yet, it’s still in the early stages of growth. The Gators are still figuring things out and gelling as a unit. Complete games at both ends of the floor like the one against Grambling Monday night are indicative of a team that could be scary good once it has built a real comfort zone in playing together.

The Title IX investigation has been going on since September 27. Obviously, if it were ever a real distraction, Golden and the Gators have had more than enough time to work their way through it. In each of the three games so far, the Gators have played with increasing amounts of focus.

“We have a mature group and we continue to attack it on a day-to-day basis like we always do,” Golden said. “Our guys are focused. We’ve just poured more into our team, more into our staff and made sure that we were prepared for the night. I thought that our guys did a really good job of playing and executing from start to finish.”

Speaking of finish, the last question Golden fielded was if he has a sense on when the Title IX investigation will come to an end.

“I cannot comment on that,” Golden said.

The cone of silence descended.

Associated Press top 25: 1. Kansas 2-0; 2. Alabama 2-0; 3. UConn 2-0; 4. Gonzaga 2-0; 5. Auburn 2-0; 6. Duke 2-0; 7. Iowa State 1-0; 8. Houston 1-1; 9. Arizona 2-0; 10. North Carolina 1-1; 11. Tennessee 2-0; 12. Baylor 1-1; 13. Purdue 2-0; 14. Creighton 2-0; 15. Marquette 2-0; 16. Indiana 2-0; 17. Cincinnati 2-0; 18. Arkansas 1-1; 19. Kentucky 2-0; 20. FLORIDA 2-0; 21. Ohio State 1-0; 22. St. John’s 2-0; 23. Texas A&M 1-1; 24. Rutgers 1-0; 25. Ole Miss 2-0

Coaches top 25: 1. Kansas 2-0; 2. Alabama 2-0; 3. UConn 2-0; 4. Auburn 2-0; 5. Gonzaga 2-0; 6. Duke 2-0; 7. Iowa State 1-0; 8. Arizona 2-0; 9. Tennessee 2-0; 10. Houston 1-1; 11. North Carolina 1-1; 12. Purdue 2-0; 13. Creighton 2-0; 14. Baylor 1-1; 15. Marquette 2-0; 16. Indiana 2-0; 17. Cincinnati 2-0; 18. Kentucky 2-0; 19. FLORIDA 2-0; 20. Illinois 2-0; 21. Arkansas 1-1; 22. Ohio State 1-0; 23. Texas A&M 1-1; 24. Rutgers 1-0; 25. St. John’s 2-0

SEC Basketball

Monday’s scores

No. 20 FLORIDA (3-0) 86, Grambling (1-2) 62

No. 2 Alabama (3-0) 72, McNeese (1-2) 64

No. 23 Texas A&M 97; Lamar (1-1) 71

Missouri (2-1) 84, Eastern Washington (1-2) 77

Oklahoma (2-0) 73, Northwestern State 57

Tuesday’s games

Towson (1-1) at South Carolina (1-1)

North Florida (3-0) at Georgia (2-0)

Southeastern Louisiana (1-1) at Mississippi State (2-0)

Chicago State (0-2) at Texas (1-1)

South Alabama (1-1) at No. 25 Ole Miss (2-0)

No. 6 Duke (2-0) vs. No. 19 Kentucky (2-0) in Atlanta

Wednesday’s games

Montana (2-1) at No. 11 Tennessee (2-0)

Kent State (2-0) at No. 5 Auburn (2-0)

Troy (2-0) at No. 18 Arkansas (1-1)

California (2-0) at Vanderbilt (2-0)

Thursday’s games

Mississippi Valley State (1-1) at Missouri (1-1)

LSU (2-0) at Kansas State (2-0)

Friday’s games

No. 20 FLORIDA (3-0) at Florida State (2-0)

No. 2 Alabama (3-0) at No. 13 Purdue (2-0)

Georgia (2-0) at Georgia Tech (1-1)

Ohio State (2-0) at No. 23 Texas A&M (1-1)

Saturday’s games

Stetson (1-2) at Oklahoma (1-0)

South Carolina (1-1) at No. 16 Indiana (2-0)

Jackson State (0-2) at Vanderbilt (2-0)

Colorado State (2-0) at No. 25 Ole Miss (2-0)

Mississippi Valley State (1-1) at Texas (1-1)

Sunday’s games

Austin Peay (2-0) at No. 12 Tennessee (2-0)

Utah (2-0) at Mississippi State (2-0)