Coach Billy Donovan walked out of his office in the O'Connell Center and heard a ball bouncing. It was close to 1 a.m. so Donovan went to the court and saw Mike Miller working on his jump shot.
This was early in the 1998-99 season and Miller was a freshman who just finished 3 of 8 from the field and had eight points in 35 minutes of Florida's 82-66 win at Florida State. Before he went home, Miller had to correct the problems with his jumper.
"I was like, 'Mike, you have to go home,'" Donovan said. "(He said) 'I can't sleep. I have to figure this out. I have to do this better.' The biggest thing when you're dealing with guys like that, a lot of it comes down to what is the perseverance to want to figure it out? How important is it to you? How passionate are you about the game?
"That's what I think we'll find out about Dan (Werner). How bad does he want to figure this out? Some of our guys in the past had a relentless passion to figure it out. If you don't have a relentless passion to figure it out it generally doesn't get resolved and you see a lot of up and down."
Miller finished 7 of 11 from the field for a game-high 20 points in a 30-point win over Bethune-Cookman in Florida's next game that season. It's now time for Werner to figure out his jumper. In two exhibition games he's missed 10 of 11 shots. His only bucket came on a 3-pointer in the second half of Florida's 101-65 victory over Lynn on Monday at the O'Connell Center.
The sophomore forward has 11 assists and one turnover in two games but grabbed only one rebound against an undersized Lynn squad. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Werner had four rebounds and seven assists against Flagler.
"From the power forward spot, in looking at the positive, he has 11 assists and one turnover which is absolutely remarkable," Donovan said. "I guarantee you can probably go across the country and not find a power forward in two exhibition games that has 11 assists and one turnover. I don't want him to feel pressure shooting the basketball and feel like he has to make shots because that's not what we need him to do.
"I'm more concerned he played 16 minutes and grabbed one rebound. That's more of an alarming statistic for me rather than the fact he's 1-for-11. He needs to take open shots. One time he got it and looked around and shot it. One time he rushed. The only two shots he took in rhythm was the one he made in the second half and one he missed in the second half where I felt his legs were under him and he was into his shot. He has struggled shooting the basketball. The one thing I admire about a Joakim Noah and an Al Horford or a Mike Miller or a Taurean Green, there was a relentless pursuit to figure it out."
The other sophomore who has to "figure it out" is 6-foot-7 forward Jonathan Mitchell, who went scoreless in the first exhibition win and had five points against Lynn. He banked in a 3-pointer and scored on a breakaway dunk. Mitchell had two rebounds in 13 minutes. Lynn finished with 18 offensive boards.
Florida's third sophomore is playing well. Marreese Speights, a 6-foot-10 forward/center, had 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in 21 minutes Monday night. Speights finished with 22 points and 13 boards in 22 minutes against Flagler. The Gators open regular season play against North Dakota State at 8 p.m. Friday at the O'Connell Center.
"(Mitchell) didn't shoot with a lot of confidence," Donovan said. "He had that run-out dunk. Both Jonathan and Dan have the physical size and look and build to provide more for our team on the hustle plays and the physical plays. That's where I think sometimes I don't look at their shooting. I look at those things. Here's a guy as a freshman who has less physical ability fighting and battling harder than someone who has more physical ability in that area. That's where I want to see those guys provide more for our team."
More Donovan Quotes
On giving up so many offensive rebounds: "Here's a game where we give up 18 offensive rebounds to a team that's drastically undersized but they did it through toughness and physicality. I thought our guys at times were not aggressive and physically tough enough in the frontcourt to go up there and compete which is something we need to get better at."
On why rebounding is an issue: "People questioned David Lee and Matt Bonner when they were here because they weren't great rebounders and that they were soft and our teams were soft. I never agreed with that. If a player is giving you everything he physically has and he's unable to get it done then I don't know if you can call anybody soft.
"For a guy like Chandler Parsons there are just some physical limitations because of youthfulness. There are some physical limitations with Alex Tyus because of youthfulness. I would expect and hope guys like Jonathan Mitchell and Dan Werner could provide more for our team because they have the physical size and girth to be able to go do it. It's a mentality. It's physical condition. It's an attitude you have to have.
"There are certain guys on our team, a year from now, two years from now, as they grow and they fill out, it's going to be a little different. The big thing for our guys is the attempt to give all they can physically give in the frontcourt. We're not an overly dominating team physically and we're not an overly dominating team with our height. We were the last couple years. The reality is we lost four pros off our frontline and it would be unfair to our guys just to expect to replace that. That's just not going to happen."