Condon, Chinyelu talk Florida basketball win over Dartmouth

1 week ago 2

Forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu addressed Florida's win over Dartmouth Monday night after the game and took accountability for a lackluster second half.

They agreed that the 40-minute effort needs to be player-led and seemed confident that the team is headed in the right direction. Chinyelu shrugged off yet another double-double and dominant win, saying the team needs to do things the "right way." Part of that was deviating from the scout in the second half and allowing too many open 3-pointers.

Condon said that the team is excited for SEC play, especially after a string of games against mid and low-major opponents.

Here's everything they said:

On emphasis on 3-point defense

Condon: "Yeah, we emphasized it a lot. I think it was Tauren's (Green) scout. He said, 'run them off the 3-point line. We want to make these guys finish inside.' I think in the first half we did a good job, but the second half we just got complacent. We were up 32 at some point. I think it was 16 minutes left, and we slowly let them creep back into the game. So, if we want to be a great team, we've got to do it for all 40 minutes. Coach talks about it all the time. We've got to do that."

Chinyelu: "I just think we kind of let off, let them feed on what they know. That's their strong suit, and that's something that we need to, you know, brush up and stick more to the scout and make sure that we catch up to their strong suit and make them do something different than they're always used to."

On players leading a 40-minute effort

Condon: "Yeah. Something we emphasize with — me, Tommy (Haugh) and Rue — just got to be accountable. We've been here before and won a national championship here. So, if we want to hold them to that championship standard, we've got to be vocal and talk early every time because that's important to us and we really care about the program.

So, what happened tonight, sure, it's a 20-point win, but, yeah, we got to do it for all 40."

On raising the bar with SEC play coming up

Condon: "It's something we're looking forward to. I think we have played four in a row now. It's been that mid-major, low-major teams. So, we're really hungry for some competition. I said it before, I think that we did a great job being pros in our break that we just had and had a really good week of practice too. So we're looking forward to it."

On averaging a double-double

Chinyelu: "I feel, you know, just showcasing what I've been working on, just getting better, just doing anything that I could do to get my team up there, and the most important thing is, like, put the team first. So, I happened to get a double-double. Yeah, that's good. That's beautiful. But, it's always about the team, you know, getting the win. And, I just think that we all are preparing mentally and just knowing that any day we step on the court, it's business. S

"So as the leaders on the team, we just have to make sure that we step up every day and let them know that this is business. Setting the tone and letting them know that we are here for business and we have to take care of business any day we step on the court. Just getting better each day and, you know, putting in the work. I think we are doing that. And, the guys are emulating from that, and they're doing that because all of them have great work ethics. So, they just put into that and feeding off of that.

"We just need to keep doing that every day, coming out and taking care of business. Make sure that what happened today doesn't happen again. Get it right and, you know, we'll be all right."

On expectations of the team

Chinyelu: "Winning is beautiful. But just making sure that you're doing it the right way and making sure you stick to that. Whether we won by 20 or 20 something, you know, it doesn't matter if you don't stick to the scout and do the right thing because this is not about them, it's about us. How can we execute? How can we, you know, stick to scout? Because that's the most important thing. Because once you get all those dots connected together, like every other thing, we are aligned. So just knowing that it's a beautiful game.

"We won, yeah, but like we win and do it by the right way, making sure that we know we listen to the scout and go out there and continue. Even when like we're up 32, it doesn't matter. It's about the next play. You know, getting it done and executing. I think everybody can concur with me, and I know we all are getting it right on there. The boys are all focused and ready for the next."

On dominating the rebound battle

Condon: "I feel like every time we get a shot on the rim, it's a good thing for us because we've got three guys crashing. You know, 6-9, 6-11, 7-foot, every time, getting to the glass. So every time we get a shot, it's a good thing for us. Coach says that all the time. Taking care of the ball is really important for this team. The more shots we get on the rim, the better off, because we're going to crash the glass every time, right?"

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators big men Condon, Chinyelu post-game quotes vs. Dartmouth

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