Forward/center Marreese Speights has no assists and 12 turnovers in two exhibitions and two regular-season games. Speights averages 13 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing, good for second on the team in both categories, but coach Billy Donovan said he wants to see more production from his 6-foot-10 sophomore in other areas.
"From where he was a year ago to where he is now, he's made some drastic strides," Donovan said. "For me as a coach to allow him to be complacent and to think just scoring is OK, we can't do that. What's going to happen is we're going to play against teams that are going to guard us differently. Maybe there's a team we're going to play against that says, 'We're not going to let Marreese Speights take one shot. We're going to double team him.'
"If he's a non-factor on the offensive end of the floor, what else is he doing to contribute? It's not always about the points with our guys. It's the other things that impact winning."
Speights and the 2-0 Gators return to the court at 7 p.m. Wednesday to take on North Carolina Central (0-2) at the O'Connell Center. Freshman guard Nick Calathes leads the team at 18 points per game.
The 6-foot-6 Calathes had 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds in Florida's 93-65 win over Tennessee Tech on Sunday. Speights scored 14 of his team-high 16 in the first half. Donovan said he's been pleased with Florida's freshmen so far.
"We only have nine guys and the freshmen are in a situation where they're getting an opportunity to go out there and play and the one thing that's been encouraging to me with them so far, they've handled everything well," Donovan said. "They've remained focused. They've competed. They've tried to play hard. Sometimes you can get a group of freshmen, you're looking at them and they have that glazed look on their face where they're not quite sure what's supposed to happen. It's all too overwhelming for them.
"I haven't gotten that feeling from these guys yet. They seem to have a good understanding of what we're trying to do and an internal confidence about competing."
Four of Florida's five freshmen average double digits in scoring. Calathes and Speights are first and second on the team. Forward Adam Allen averages 11 points per game and has connected on a team-high five 3-pointers. Forward Chandler Parsons, guard Jai Lucas and junior guard Walter Hodge all average 10.5 points. Freshman Alex Tyus averages six points and 2.5 rebounds in 19 minutes per game.
Sophomores Dan Werner and Jonathan Mitchell have struggled from the floor although Werner is an efficient passer, he leads the team with 14 rebounds, and he hustles on both ends. Werner is 3 of 7 from the field and Calathes is 12-for-28 which means both players are shooting 42.9 percent. Donovan said Mitchell still needs to figure out his niche and how he can contribute.
"Most of these kids coming out of high school are all big scorers," Donovan said. "(Mitchell) can be a great, great defensive stopper for us. He's 6-7. He's a mismatch guy. He can play a perimeter guy. He can play a post guy. I wouldn't say Jonathan was always a great rebounder but he can get in there and mix it up a little bit.
"The shooting part is going to come and go. He and Dan have not shot well but the one thing about Dan is he's playing a little more physical, he's playing a little more aggressive…It's probably something (Mitchell) hasn't done in his career. Trying to figure out how to go about (finding his role) has been somewhat difficult but he and I talked about it and he's a great kid and he wants to win and he wants to play and he wants to contribute but some of the things we're asking him to do have probably been a little bit new for him."
No game is a pushover, especially for this young Florida team, but North Carolina Central has struggled in its first two contests. It lost to Duke, 121-56, in the opener and Rutgers beat the Eagles, 73-48. Florida hosts Rutgers Saturday night. Rivals.com rates all 340 Division I basketball teams. It has North Carolina Central last.
"The biggest thing that's been a positive when you're inheriting a team that's all new sometimes you don't know what to expect," Donovan said. "I had a pretty good pulse on the last two years just being around them a little bit, but before games leading into preparation (this season) it's hard to get a feel for them right now. There's a lot of room for improvement from all these guys. I don't think that's me being critical of them. It's me being much more realistic of what we're doing right now is not good enough."