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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 6, 2016

Mike White

Gainesville, Florida

MIKE WHITE: How's everybody doing. It's been a while. Good to see you guys. Before we get started, talking about basketball, of course, we certainly all the Gators are hoping and praying that anyone in the path of the Hurricane as many people as possible, obviously, stay safe. So our thoughts will continue to go out to everyone throughout the state. Scary time.

But I know we're here to talk about basketball as well. So any questions, I guess, we'll just go right to it.

Q. Your second season at Louisiana Tech you had a nine-game winning improvement over your first season. Anything you can draw from that in terms of the familiarity of being here a year and how you hope that could carry over to year two of your tenure now?
MIKE WHITE: If you could promise we'd win 30 this year, I'd take it right now, Kevin. I guess there are some similarities in that it's your second year, not only in a new community and you're adjusted, personally of course, with your family and so on and so forth, but most importantly for the program you have a better sense as to who you have, who you're working with, what their strengths and weaknesses are, what your team's strengths and weaknesses are.

And that second year it's a good point you bring up. I hadn't thought about it much, but we returned a bunch that second year. This year we return a bunch. So there are obvious similarities there. Probably some differences, too, in terms of the level and the schedule, and the non-conference schedule specific to our predicament and all those type things. But probably a bunch of similarities.

Q. I know you got started on Monday night. Anything that stood out particularly in the first week that you've seen?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I was really pleased. It was as good of a first practice as I've been a part of as an assistant or a head coach. Day two and day three were pretty good. Day one was really good. So obviously when you go for a long time for the first time and you go bone on bone at that length for the first time, fatigue's going to set in, not only physically, but mentally. I think our guys were pretty beat up the last couple days, but fought through it.

No injuries to this point, so a lot of positives. Very competitive, very balanced practices probably had the best two or three players in terms of production each day were probably a little bit different during the three, so that could be good, could be not so good. Making free throws at a higher rate right now. Lights aren't on bright yet, but that's a positive. Attitude has been good. So, yeah, pleased to this point for sure.

Q. With guys returning like Hill, Chiozza, you're bringing in Stone, and you add Canyon Barry as a scorer, do you want to keep up the tempo like you did last season and still play fast basketball?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, we'd like to play in a perfect world in a similar style to the way we finished last year. We picked the tempo back up. Again, I've been open about this. I kind of regret not having played that way more consistently throughout the year last year. I think it helps us play to our strengths. I think it's advantageous to us to play pretty fast yet there is that fine line between playing fast and taking crazy shots. So we've got to be cognizant of what's a good shot for which guy, where on the court and when on the shot clock, things like that.

But defensively and offensively we do want to play pressure basketball. We do want to promote tempo. We've practiced like that the last three days. That doesn't happen overnight. Preston Greene is as good as anyone in the country with off-season conditioning, yet game-shape to play the way we want to play won't take place, real game shape, probably for another month or so.

Q. You have a handful of players that are new, including freshmen and transfers. Have any returning players stepped up and really tried to help those new guys assimilate more than any others?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, when we talk about leadership as a staff, we don't have one guy that just really sticks out. A guy who just controls the locker room or whose voice is heard over everyone else's, and you could perceive that as a negative. But we like to optimistically see it as a positive.

We have four or five guys that will voice their opinions at different times, and not necessarily all older guys either. I think the best teams, if you have 13 scholarship guys what you really want is 13 leaders. That's a little bit unrealistic, but the best teams have a few leaders. They even have a bunch. So we'll continue to promote that.

I guess the guys that stick out to this point through practices, through three practices, Johnny Egbunu, I think he's stepped up his leadership. He's been more vocal. He's been even keel. He's made really good decisions. He's been pretty mentally tough through -- he's carried a lot of weight, and we've done a lot of running in these last three days and he's been right there with the guards in terms of his physical effort. He's not wearing down. So he's leading a bunch by example.

Kasey's trying to help some of these younger guys. Chris Chiozza's always a steady influence by example. You know what you're going to get from Chris day-in and day-out. I'd put Justin Leon in that category as well. He plays as hard as anyone on our roster consistently. He's always a great example in that regard.

Vocally I'd put Canyon Barry, even though he's a newcomer, Canyon is as vocal as we have. He'll probably become a little more vocal here a couple months from now as he's more familiar with what he's dealing with and what we're trying to teach, what we're trying to carry over. As he gains confidence, probably throughout the season.

Q. When you reflect back on your first year here, not like you're a rookie coach or anything, but is there anything you learned or want to improve on going into year two here?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, that's a tough one there. I guess I'd be lying if I say I didn't learn every day. I don't mean to speak in generalities. I'd love to come up with a good example or two for you to answer your question specifically. As a staff we're priding ourselves in learning on a daily basis, on a yearly basis. We're always open to suggestions. We're always challenging each other. I want my staff to always challenge me.

It's funny, they pride themselves on being no-men instead of having three yes-men. We're always having conversations and asking ourselves question, why do we do this? Could we do this better, so on and so forth.

What did I learn the most in the last year here at Florida? I'll give you five or six things that pop into my head. One, that this is a wonderful place to live. That this is a great job. I've learned I have really, really good guys, really good guys. Probably that we just had some inconsistencies last year offensively, otherwise I thought we could have gotten over the hump. The obvious that we've got to shoot it better from the foul line from the three.

I've learned that our brand is pretty strong. Recruiting has picked up. We've been received a little bit easier from our recruiting base and hopefully that pays off in the future. But those are the first things that pop in my head.

Q. You mentioned shooting and free throws. Do you have one of those areas that you think you'll make the biggest stride? I know you'll want to see it in all of them.
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, I just don't think we're going to make a huge jump in either area. I can't sit here and tell you we're going to go from one of the last place three-point shooting teams in our league, if not last, 13th or 14th, somewhere in there. I know we were 14th at the foul line, and I don't think we're going to jump to first. But I think we can make a pretty good jump in both areas. I'd be surprised if we weren't a little closer toward the middle of the pack.

I think this team has good experience. We've got really good depth. In my opinion, we've got really good length. And those would be three of the biggest strengths that stick out with this team, so I think we can be really good defensively and that will be the challenge to this team just like it was last year. Just like it was last year, but I think we can be better this year defensively. I think we can shoot it better.

And going back to the original question, I don't think we were a selfish team last year, but I also don't think we were unbelievably unselfish. And this team, we go from somewhat experienced to very experienced. I think we'll be as experienced as any team in the SEC, and the challenge there with guys on their way out, with juniors who are very, very talented who may have options with three seniors, can we -- can winning be at the forefront of their minds on a consistent basis more than anything else? Can our locker room be really, really healthy? Can we be really cohesive, pulling for each other on a consistent basis, have healthy rivalry and competition throughout practice, but be very, very close? Those factors are big for us. If we can do so, we have a chance to be really good.

Q. It's been said that Kasey Hill has been putting in a lot of work in the off-season. Can you speak about how much he looks different and how much he has improved?
MIKE WHITE: Sure. I think that he's very similar to what he was last year other than the fact that he's shooting the basketball better. Same routines in terms of ball handling, same amount of film watching, same amount of time spent in the weight room working on speed, quickness and strength. All of those things. He's very similar.

Seniors usually play a little bit more seasoned. Sometimes as we just talked about, sometimes seniors, especially second half of the season, sometimes seniors, it's a negative that you're a senior and you start worrying about what's going to happen next year and guys start freaking out a little bit. But for the most part you'd expect your seniors to play with a little bit more poise and to be able to utilize that experience that they have in a positive way. Expect that from Kasey. He has really spent a lot of time in the gym. He's kind of reinvented his shot. We haven't had a chance to see it a lot in the first three practices, because I don't think he's hunting jump shots, which is a positive.

But we'd like to think the work he's put in will pay off in terms of his percentage going up a little bit to try to help this team, to try to help himself, and he's shooting it well from the foul line in practice as well with our pressure free-throw shooting drills.

Q. It got better towards the second half and later in the season, but John Egbunu struggled with foul trouble early in the game. Has that been a focus in the off-season for you guys?
MIKE WHITE: Not as much. I like our depth in the front court. Kevarrius Hayes has made a big jump. Schuyler Rimmer is a senior that's pushing those guys on a daily basis. We're really deep at the big four position, if you will. So I don't want to take away John's aggressiveness, but as you know, sometimes your practice emphasis changes when you start having those experiences in games.

I certainly hope going into the season we don't have big foul trouble for John early. But going the other way, I want him to be more aggressive on the perimeter with ball screen coverage and things like that. In looking back toward last year, one of the things that we probably could have done a little bit better was we might have overemphasized it a little bit with John. We backed John off. We had him catching ball screens very low and sometimes it backfired and the guards got ahead of steam and they were able to pick up speed and momentum toward the rim. And sometimes, again, that backfired with John's foul trouble.

So we're trying to get him higher and more aggressive, but he's got to be aggressive and very sound and very intelligent.

Q. What impact and role do you expect from Canyon.
MIKE WHITE: Canyon came here to have a chance to play in an NCAA Tournament, to play with high-level players. Canyon wants to win, and I expect him to maintain that mentality more than anything else, whether that means he scores 21 a night or scores 4. That goes for everyone on our team.

He's very capable of scoring the ball, but I think he's underrated in other areas. He's a great communicator. He's always talking. He's a quick thinker. He's a very good passer. He's probably our best post passer right now in evaluating three practices. Kind of sees things before he catches the ball, he's always checking the defense, very good vision. I think he's going to be a good scouting report guy.

He's very experienced. Probably similar to Devin Robinson, along those lines. Devin's a bright scouting report guy. Back to Canyon, big and strong he gives us more depth. I can't tell you with some of these guys, we have healthy competition. I don't know whether Canyon's going to play 20 minutes a game or 35 minutes a game, and a lot of that will just depend on Canyon and his production and how well we play when he's out on the floor and how well other guys are playing. We've got, again, better depth, more experienced. He provides a lot of that. He's a very good player. We're very glad he's here. I know he's going to be a very good addition to this team.

Q. Are there any of the guys copying his free-throw shooting form?
MIKE WHITE: No, he's tried a little bit. He tried to recruit John Egbunu early on. John gave it about four or five reps and threw it away. But he's knocking them in in practice. Canyon is arguably our best free-throw shooter right now, so it's fascinating to watch.

Q. Obviously you have a number of options on this roster who could play at the four. I guess take us into what you're expecting from the contributors at that spot?
MIKE WHITE: Yeah, sure. First off, we can play big. Right now Kevarrius Hayes and Dontay Bassett are getting reps at the 4. Gorjok Gak is even getting a few reps at the four. We're trying to simplify it, especially for those freshmen, for those new guys. Let's just learn this position as much as possible.

But with healthy competition, you want them to fight for a couple different spots to a certain extent. Keith Stone right now is getting more reps at the 4 than any other position, and Justin Leon and Devin Robinson are both, because they're a little older, they both have a pretty good understanding of the four and the three, so they're both fighting for those spots.

Canyon Barry is understanding the two and the three and so on and so forth. So I would say for the most part the guys battling the most would be Kevarrius Hayes, key Stone, Devin Robinson, and Justin Leon. We lose a really good player in Dorian Finney-Smith who was a glue guy for us. Great experience, of course, was pretty good at a lot of things. Very bright. Talked about a scouting report guy earlier with Canyon Barry. He'll have to be forced because Dorian Finney-Smith was probably with Devin, our best scouting report guy last year, defensively could pass, dribble, shoot it, the whole deal.

I don't know that we have one guy that's going to take those minutes. But I do feel good about that four spot right now and the way Keith Stone has had three really good practices, Justin Leon has had three really good practices. Devin Robinson is shooting the ball than he has since I've been here for sure. We've got to get him back in game shape and it's going to take time. He's just now been released. But I like collectively what we could be at the four in a couple of months.

Q. Devin Robinson obviously a guy who almost made the leap to the NBA last year. What was it like getting him back? Kind of starting all over with that injury.
MIKE WHITE: Well, it was definitely positive, of course. We had the conversation with Devin, if you want to come back, obviously we'd love to have you back and continue to help you with your development and give you the platform here to continue to improve and continue to be a Gator, and be a productive, successful Gator. He's come back with a great attitude.

Duke Werner, he's the best, and he's been very meticulous and thorough with Devin. I think there was some talk a month ago, should we get him into the routine now and why would we do that? Let's just take our time. I think that Kevin and Duke have been really smart and patient. He's taken advantage of a guy who can't run and jump around and play live and play versus contact. He's taken advantage of kind of tweaking his stroke a little bit. He's done a lot of form shooting. He's done a lot of chair shooting.

He's just gotten a ton of reps just working on his stroke simply. He's really shooting the ball well. He's shooting as well as anyone on our team right now. He also probably added a couple pounds up top. So we're excited. We're excited about Devin right now. He's in a good place.

Obviously a lot of us are in a good place. Minutes haven't been divvied out and we haven't lost a game throughout college basketball. But I like where we are right now more than where we were after three days last year.

Q. You say he's a much better shooter than he has been. Is that from the three-point line? Has he been working on his three-point shot or mid-range game?
MIKE WHITE: When he's in the cast and even when he's out of the cast and he's not able to jump, he wasn't shooting 22-footers. But just getting hundreds of reps, even in the paint, and you're sitting down in the chair or you're even at times he even had his leg propped up on a chair and he's standing on one foot. He's just over and over, when that's all you can do, your focus becomes pretty singular. I'd like to think that's why he's shooting the ball so well right now.

Now he was a good shooter last year, especially in league play, he shot it well from three. He's shooting it really well right now. It's early, and that was a challenge to him. Devin and I met yesterday. When you experience some success, how do you handle that? And will you maintain doing what you did to put yourself in a position to be shooting the ball like you are right now through two-and-a-half-hour practices and exams and wins and losses and those type things. We hope he maintains that focus that's got him shooting the ball the way he's shooting it right now.

Q. The trend last year it seemed like the offense improved as the season went on and the defense dipped a little bit. How do you intend to address defense during practices? What kind of defensive team do you want to see this team become?
MIKE WHITE: I think we can be really good, Kevin. I put it out there. At least our goal as a staff is to be a Top 10 defensive team in the country. I don't think there's any reason we should shoot for being less than that. I think that as we preach to our players, look in the mirror, reevaluate yourself every day. What could you have done better as a staff led by me?

Late in the year I regret not taking a few more days off. I think we got a little beat down late last year, and with our non-conference schedule and all the traveling we're going to do, Duke and I and Preston and those guys, again, they're experts at what they do. They're as familiar with athleticism and the recharging of the body, if you will, and how to keep guys fresh and so on and so forth and healthy. And we've talked at length about that extra factor, in combination with your original question, maybe finding a few times throughout the year to give them two consecutive days off, which I'm not sure we did last year at all.

When you emphasize defense as much as we did last year out of necessity, we had to be really good night-in and night-out with the way we struggled shooting the basketball. I think we got a little bit worn down.

Q. Last year you experienced some of it with the O-Dome being renovated and you had to play some road games with the NIT. How are you going to keep that up this year when there's a lot of road games in Orlando and Lakeland and such as?
MIKE WHITE: Sure, as we just talked about I'm going to try to give our guys a little more rest. I think it will help physically, but I also think it will help mentally. A lot of times we'll be traveling late this fall, and it will be in the crunch time of academics. We'll have to be respectful to our guys' position academically and the way that we want them to finish. We'll be traveling a bunch more than we did this time last year.

So our guys have to get rest. It wears you down. We're going to try to use that as an advantage to help us hopefully stay fresh throughout the year and also optimistically thinking, we hope that it gives us added experience on the road away from home. I know when we get back in the O-Dome, that place will be rocking, and it will be a significant home-court advantage for us.

So we can sit here and complain about having to play on the road. I'm pretty happy we get to play on the road in the fall because that means we're about to move into a beautiful facility. Also, it gives you advantages, opportunities to grow, to become more cohesive as we're traveling and coming together. Road wins are hard to come by away from home. Hopefully these experiences will pay off in conference play and help you become a little better road team.

Q. Because of the losses you've had for this year and because of the new additions, might you have to simplify your offensive system, defensive system or both in order to ease the young guys in and sort of help them?
MIKE WHITE: Yes, great question. We're trying to do that, and we would have done that even if we had the entire team return. Another thing that I felt we could have gotten better at from year one to year two is the simplification of everything. I think that's the goal for every coach.

Once you're playing games, you want your guys to play fast, and you want them to think less and attack more and play with instincts and be able to play at full speed without the paralysis. So that's always a topic of discussion probably in most sports for coaches.

But I felt like when we simplified it specifically offensively late in the year, we were at our best. So we're trying to take that next step to become even similar offensively. Less calls, less calls, more reads, and a little bit more freelance, a little bit more moving, little more cutting, more motion concepts we've added so far. It's a work in progress, but we hope we can be pretty good at it to the point where we're stopping our guys less, especially with our speed in the open floor and giving them as many calls as we gave them last year.

Q. A lot of teams in the SEC this season or over the past couple years that hadn't been good normally are really starting to get better, programs like Alabama. What do you think the current state of the SEC is compared to other conferences around the country?
MIKE WHITE: I think it's a really strong league, a very-well coached league, very talented league, and probably as athletic a league as any league in college basketball. And I think our league is improving through recruiting. I expect our league to continue to increase with regards to its computer numbers. And I expect the at-large bids to increase over the next few years.

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