Everything Todd Golden said about Arkansas, losing Colin Castleton

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Todd Golden and the Florida Gators (14-12/7-6 SEC) will be looking for their second win in a row Saturday at Arkansas after snapping a three-game losing streak against Ole Miss this week.

UF will be without two-time All-SEC big man Colin Castleton, who suffered a broken hand vs. the Rebels and leads the team in scoring (16.0), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (78) and free throws made (113).

Florida had several players step up in his absence Wednesday with five Gators finishing in double figures, led by Myreon Jones with season highs in points scored (15 points) and 3-pointers made (five).

Here is everything Florida coach Todd Golden said Friday on the matchup with the Razorbacks (17-9/6-7 SEC), the injury to Castleton, his role moving forward and adjusting without him in the lineup.

On adjustments without Colin Castleton:

Todd Golden: “Obviously, we’re going to be a little different. Colin was a huge part of our team on both sides of the ball. It’s harder changing a whole lot at this time of the year, but we’re going to have to do things a little differently, trying to capitalize on the personnel that are going to be playing more. Obviously, it’s a difficult thing to have to overcome this point in the season, but at the same time it’s an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up; guys who haven’t had the same opportunity earlier in the year. We’re going to see what they’ve got.”

On using a 5-man rotation at his spot: 

Golden: “Obviously, a lot of minutes to fill, so we’re going to need everyone, I expect, from Jason all the way down to ‘Shimmy’ will get more opportunities. We’ll see who plays well early on.”

On when CJ Felder will make his return: 

Golden: “He’s getting back in shape. Been back with us a couple weeks now, so I feel he’s finally getting to the point where he can play and get out there and be in good enough shape to help us, as well for him to be able to carry on and play well. So, he’ll be thrown back into the fire here.” 

On balancing throwing guys in the fire vs. needing bodies in the front court:

Golden: Not sure. Not sure how to balance it. I think it’s going to be a work in progress and a little trial by fire for all of us and for all these guys. There’s no perfect answer. Hopefully, some guys take advantage of this opportunity.” 

On Aleks Szymczyk’s progress: 

Golden: “He’s definitely gotten a lot better since he got on campus. We thought this would be kind of a development year for him and he’s really taken pride in that. He’s a guy who I’m excited to see what he can do. A very talented player from an offensive perspective; a guy who can make some shots, keep us in our offense and, obviously, being at Bud Walton for the first time and getting extended minutes will be an interesting situation for him, but you can’t always write the script for that type of thing. We’ll see what he’s got.”

On not letting Colin’s loss affect the team’s confidence: 

Golden: “Again, it’s one of those things, it’ll be a little bit of a hit for us. We’re 26 games into the season and we’ve been pretty consistent with our style of play and how we’ve gone about it. But you can’t control that variable we’re dealing with, so we’re not going to spend a lot of time thinking about it. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. Again, opportunity is the word I’ll continue to use for guys who maybe haven’t played a lot. We’ve got five games down the stretch here for maybe people who haven’t played a lot to get a chance to step up and see what they’re capable of.” 

On whether or not Florida has to change the way it operates offensively:

Golden: “I mean, yeah, we’ll play out of ball screens. Jason’s a capable player in terms of getting catches in the low block and making moves around the rim. I think he can keep us in our stuff on the perimeter as well. We’ll tweak some things and we’ll have to adjust some things in order for our guys to be successful but we’re not going to reinvent the wheel in 48 hours and go out there and try to win games. Our base is very solid. Obviously, losing Colin we’re going to have to adjust a little bit. But we’re not just going to change everything at the drop of the hat and try to execute that.”

On Kyle Lofton’s play in league:

Golden: “He’s been really good all league, really since Auburn in terms of handling the ball and taking care of it. He’s had a handful of double-digit scoring games, his assist-to-turnover ratio is great, fantastic defender, great leader. We feel like we win that position more often than not with him in the game and now it’s just going to be more of a shouldering the load down the stretch. We’re going to need him to score a little more and continue to be more aggressive offensively but it’s comforting to have him and MJ back there, two fifth-year seniors, who will help us get through this time without Colin.”

On the value of Jitoboh’s experience from 2021-22 filling in for Castleton:

Golden: “I think it’s super valuable and he played really well, too, which was really important. I think Jason is really capable. He went from really not playing any consistent minutes to playing 15 minutes straight the other night and to his credit, he was in good condition and we didn’t feel like we had to take him out of the game at all. I think that’s a huge credit to him for getting ready and staying ready. Last year when he had this opportunity, he stepped up and we expect him to do the same this year.”

On Alex Fudge’s recent play and pressure for him to succeed moving forward:

Golden: “The great thing about Alex is I don’t think he’s going to feel pressure. I think he’s going to be excited about getting extended minutes and more opportunity. I think he’s done a really good job since the Alabama game of getting on the defensive glass. He’s provided good value for us that way and he’s been really valuable for us offensively, which we’ll need. Some of the usage we had with Colin is going to need to be picked up by certain people. It’s about — we’re getting to a good timeframe for [Fudge] getting back from that injury. He’s feeling more comfortable and confident out there and I just expect him to continue to play better as he’s coming back from that injury.”

On the matchup with Arkansas:

Golden: “Really good team. They’ve had some injuries. They’ve had some problems with consistency in their rotations and lineups. I think they started like 1-4 and then rattled off five out of six and then lost two straight with Nick Smith coming back and then only playing four minutes the next game. It’s a challenge when you’re losing guys and adding guys back in to get to that comfort level and so they’re going to be geared up, ready to go back on their home floor after losing two games. I think they[‘re 6-7 in league play right now so this is going to be a really important game for them as well and I expect them to have a really nice environment in their home gym and I know that they’re not going to take us for granted coming in even without Colin. I know they’ll be ready to play.”

On where losing Colin impacts the team the most:

Golden: “He was a good part of our team on both sides of the ball. Senior leader, a guy that we played through offensive,a guy that did a great job protecting us on the backside of our defense, you know, so it’s not necessarily one thing more than just his presence not being there and having to fill 35 minutes, you know, at the five spot. I think that’s going to be really where we need multiple guys, and Jason’s gonna be the main one, but multiple are gonna need to step up and shoulder that load.”

On how losing Colin changes them defensively:

Golden: “Again, we’re not going to change everything, you know, in a short period of time and try to execute. I think the fundamentals of our defense are really good, I think our perimeter is really talented defensively, they do a really good job executing our game plans. And Jason, you know, isn’t the same shot-blocker Colin is, but he does a great job using his body, staying between the player and the basket, challenging shots vertically, and he has really good feel and fundamentals defensively. So, if we can get him to stay out of foul trouble, I think he can be pretty effective protecting the paint for us.”

On how involved Colin will be with the team and at practice:

Golden: “Yeah, I know he really wants to be around. It really hurt his heart to not be able to finish the season with the team. He was back with us yesterday, you know, 12 hours after the injury, asking Duke and asking the doctors if he can travel this weekend with us to be around the team. And, you know, I think it’s gonna really hurt him to not be able to be out there with his teammates, but I know he wants to be around them and help lead and, and act as a motivator and someone that’s going to have their backs down the stretch and finish the season out the right way.”

On whether Castleton will need surgery:

Golden: “Yeah, honestly, I don’t know the exact specifics of that piece. It’s, obviously, a relatively decent timetable for him to be able to come back, whether it’s three, four or five weeks, you know, six weeks, dependent upon how he recovers. So, I think that’s still trying to kind of work through that and figure that out. But, my main thing for him, he’s got to do everything he can to make sure he feels the right way. He doesn’t need to rush back. He’s given a lot to this program. You know, him coming back for a fifth year was really unselfish and something that I was grateful for, being a first-year head coach here in terms of trying to make sure we were competitive in year one. And, I was also really proud and excited of how sincere he was about still wanting to be around even with his injury. I think that speaks about where our program’s at from a culture standpoint and how he’s grown as a leader over the course of the year.”

On how to deal with Arkansas’ tempo:

“We’ll need to keep them out of transition, you know, to give ourselves a great chance to win the game. And I think that was one of the things that they kind of, I don’t want to say figured out, but got to, after struggling at the beginning of the league, they started playing faster, getting easier baskets in transition. So that’s gonna be something that we got to take away from them. I think if we can make them operate in the half court, consistently, where they’re not getting advantaged, disadvantaged situations on us, that’d be good for us. And, we got to challenge them to make perimeter shots. If you can point to one thing where they’re not, you know, fantastic, I think it’s their perimeter shooting. They’re inconsistent that way. And we’ve got to challenge them to make skilled, consistent shots over us on the perimeter. And if they do that, you gotta tip your cap a little bit. We got to keep them out of the paint, though, and keep them away from the rim.”