Coach Billy Donovan said Monday he was not pleased with the readiness and alertness from his team after seven to 10 days of practice. Over the weekend, Donovan started to see some positive signs and he hopes Florida can carry that intensity into practice this week. The Gators open their preseason schedule at 8 p.m. Thursday against Flagler in the O'Connell Center.
"The first week to ten days our guys had no comprehension of just how hard they had to play and how on edge they had to be," Donovan said. "Because there is a lack of experience and because we're basically dealing with eight freshmen, they don't know. We have to get them to the point where they're totally focused and on edge and almost nervous because there's not that experience level that they're going to have.
"They can't be anything but totally intense, alert and ready. I didn't see any of that the first week or 10 days. It was to a certain extent trying to get them to understand that piece that you can't even talk about being a good team or even winning until we get that piece down. Saturday's practice and Sunday's practice I have really seen some strides in terms of their intensity and focus and their readiness has been a lot better. Our execution has gotten better. We're playing better defense."
Florida does not have eight freshmen on its roster but from an experience standpoint the Gators almost do. Sophomores Marreese Speights, Dan Werner and Jonathan Mitchell saw limited action last season. The only returning player to play any significant minutes is junior guard Walter Hodge, who averaged 17.7 minutes and 5.7 points per game as a sophomore. It was good for seventh on the team in both categories.
Speights, a 6-foot-10 forward/center, averaged 5.7 minutes, 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per outing. Werner played about nine minutes and Mitchell two. Neither player averaged two points per game. Five freshmen join the team this season and Rivals.com rated it the nation's top recruiting class.
"Some injuries have kind of set us back in practice a little bit," Donovan said. "Walter Hodge took a fall and hurt his back and was out for a day. Adam (Allen) kind of hurt his shoulder again and he missed another practice. So it seems like every day we're down to eight guys. The fatigue factor sets in early and getting them to push through those things, all that is very, very important. This weekend we definitely made some positive strides… One player is up, one player is down. There's no consistency.
"There was a time when (Joakim) Noah, (Al) Horford, (Corey) Brewer, (Taurean) Green, there was a level of experience they knew where they could maybe rest or maybe take advantage of something. They just knew. These guys don't have that. Unless we're a team that's totally on edge, nervous about not getting back in transition, nervous about giving up an offensive rebound, when we have that sense of urgency on everything. We're doing that because we have to do something to make up for a lack of experience. When I didn't see that the first 10 days I was disappointed but we showed it to them and kept working and working. Hopefully, they're picking it up a little better."
Donovan would not give any hints on a starting lineup for Thursday's exhibition opener. He might not even know which combination works best yet. He said he's looking at two possible scenarios; one with Speights and 6-foot-8 freshman forward Alex Tyus in the frontcourt (a bigger lineup) or if Speights or Tyus get in foul trouble, moving Werner, at 6-foot-7, to the center spot and playing Mitchell and Allen at the forwards. Another consideration is playing three guards with Hodge and freshmen Jai Lucas and Nick Calathes.
There are so many unknowns about this team that nothing is set in stone. The Gators can go big to exploit mismatches or small to run up and down the court. They can interchange players at most positions and don't lose much in terms of experience.
Calathes and freshman Chandler Parsons can play three different positions. Other players can move around as well. Flexibility should not be a problem. Getting the players to understand the level of intensity needed to win ball games in the SEC has been Donovan's focus early on. Donovan said the two biggest differences between high school and college for a guard is getting his shot off quicker and throwing sharper passes because the speed and length of opponents is better.
"It's hard right now combination-wise because sometimes in practice you only have eight guys," Donovan said. "It's hard to throw different combinations out there because sometimes we don't have enough to practice against…There are certain combinations we haven't been able to look at because you take five guys and put them together, we only have three guys (left), so it's tough to do some of those things but guys are going to have to play different spots for us based on foul trouble or matchups.
"There's going to be some growing pains through experience. These guys haven't gotten to the free throw line score tied with a minute to go. They haven't had to in-bound the ball against pressure. They haven't had to take a shot on an important possession. They haven't had to block out. They haven't had those things. The only way I know to off-set that is with an incredible level of readiness, alertness and focus and being on edge. That readiness and focus and being on edge has to be rehearsed every day."