Mike White’s Team
By FRANZ BEARD
GatorBait Senior Columnist
The debut is out of the way and up next is Florida State on Sunday. The Gator
basketball team, at times, looked worthy of their Top Ten ranking on Tuesday when
they polished off North Florida, 74-59, in the season opener at Exactech Area.
There were stretches like that 18-0 run over 6:43 in the first half and that 10-3 run
to start the second half when the Florida looked every bit the 6th-ranked team in the
country.
There was also that 14-minute stretch to end the game when the Gators looked like
a team that plays five freshmen and three sophomores. The Gators that outscored
the North Florida Ospreys 28-3 on those two tears that totaled a little over 10
minutes were dialed in defensively, sprinted the floor in transition and shared the
ball nicely. If Mike White can get the Gators to play 40 minutes like that, he's got a
team that can easily challenge for the Southeastern Conference championship and
make a very deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
There is no question this is the most talented roster top to bottom that White has
had as he enters his fifth year as Florida's head coach. He has a team with more
size, quickness, shooters like Noah Locke (14 points Tuesday night) and freshman
Tre Mann (11), an elite point guard in sophomore Andrew Nembhard (only two
points, but four assists and zero turnovers) and a big man that might be the best in
the entire country in graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear Jr. The trick for White will
be to create a cohesive group that plays defense with the intensity he demands and
spreads the ball around at the offensive end so unselfishly that big scoring nights
can come from any one of several options
Tuesday night it was Blackshear that had the O-Dome crowd buzzing as he put
together a double-double in his first game as a Gator. Blackshear scored 20 points
on 8-11 shooting (1-1 from the three-point line) from the field and 3-3 from the foul
line. He grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out three assists and added a couple of
steals.
For all the things he did well scoring and rebounding the basketball, however, what
Blackshear brought to the Gators was a presence that has been lacking. He's a guy
who can go out and get a double-double just about any night but he's also the one
guy all of Florida's youngsters know can deal with any circumstance. Consider
Blackshear Florida's bail out guy. If the shot clock is ticking down to its final
seconds, he can get his shot whether inside or outside. When teammates struggle
with pressure, they know if they get the ball anywhere close, Blackshear's strong
hands are ball security. When the ball comes off the rim, he gets good position and
if he gets his hands on it, he owns the rebound
“He gives you the opportunity offensively to play a variety of ways,” White said. “He
scores on the interior, he draws fouls, he can shoot it and probably his most
underrated aspect is how well he passes the ball. He’s extremely unselfish as well.
North Florida coach Matt Driscoll, who cut his college basketball coaching teeth
working as an assistant for Larry Shyatt at Wyoming and Clemson, sees
Blackshear as Florida's missing link and not only for the way he will play at both
ends of the court but how he will impact all those young kids.
“What he brings to this team is something that you guys needed badly with such
young people,” Driscoll said. “He’s given it to you instantly and because of that, he’s
going to allow you guys to be in that upper-echelon, be top in the country and
compete like that because he’s got that understanding. He’s endured, he’s got
strength, and he’s got character. When you have those three things you can do
really really special things for your team. That’s what Kerry does for you guys.”
Blackshear will need to be the glue early on for the Gators. When they put it all
together, they'll look sensational but the kids will have their share of moments when
their high level of ability is betrayed by their youth. That's when Blackshear's
maturity will pay of in a big way.
Florida's first big test will come Sunday when Florida State comes to town. The
Seminoles are always physical and tough, a difficult assignment for a team that
White knows might take awhile to really find itself.
“The five freshmen who played, that was their first game so we've got a ways to
go,” White said. “None of us expect to be a great team in November, we just don’t.
We’re striving to be. If we are … wow. That means we’re really good. But we’re not
really good. I hope we can be, I don’t know that we will be. I like to optimistically
think we could be very good by February, hopefully earlier than that.”