Gators try three-guard lineup

Florida showed it was willing to experiment with three guards in a starting lineup during Sunday's intra-squad scrimmage.

Whether that's a sign of things to come remains to be seen.

Clearly, the lineup with junior Walter Hodge and McDonald's All-American freshmen guards Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas presented some problems to the bigger frontline of sophomores Jonathan Mitchell, Dan Werner and Marreese Speights.

The three sophomores started the game with walk-on guards Shane Payne and Hudson Fricke.

"It was tough," Werner said. "I think I tried to help them move the ball a bit, but they had two McDonald's All-Americans and a guy who won two national championships. It was difficult but I thought we handled it pretty well."

Werner acknowledged that going into the season with a smaller lineup would be intriguing.

"It all depends on the matchups and stuff," Werner said. "We're very quick with those guys out there. I think we have some advantages."

Florida associate coach Larry Shyatt said that because of depth (nine scholarship players) the coaching staff has been experimenting with a number of different combinations throughout early practices.

"We've had a lot of different combinations, some by design, some not," Shyatt said. "Hopefully that will be a blessing down the road because we may be forced into playing lineups that we're not accustomed too."

Shyatt said the coaching staff had "mixed emotions" after watching tape of the scrimmage Monday morning.

"A little disappointed really in terms of where we were after fatigue kicked in," Shyatt said. "That was probably a little bit disappointing at this point."

ALLEN RECOVERING: Freshman forward Adam Allen, who sat out Sunday's scrimmage with a left shoulder sprain, said he expects to resume full-contact drills Wednesday.

Allen admitted it was tough watching the scrimmage.

"I felt like a bum on the sideline, sitting there watching them play," Allen said. "I wish I could have been out there. But there will be plenty of time. I'll get out on the court."

SPEIGHTS SHOOTING: Shyatt said the coaching staff didn't have a problem with Speights shooting two perimeter jumpers because he had open looks. The 6-foot-10 Speights showed the ability to shoot from outside in high school, once making five 3-pointers at an Adidas summer camp game between his junior and senior year.

"I think we're comfortable when any of our players, all nine of our scholarship players are open," Shyatt said. "I think Coach (Billy) Donovan has made sure if there's a level of unselfishness, then he wants them to feel like when we're open, that's an opportunity we don't want to pass buy, unless time and score is a factor."

WERNER'S TOUCH: It was just a scrimmage, but Werner didn't back off after missing a couple of 3-point attempts early. Werner fired up two more, making both, to finish with eight points.

"It's always good to make shots," Werner said.

Werner, who shot 22.4 percent from 3-point range last season, said he feels more confident after adjusting to shooting in bigger arenas.

"Last year I felt like I got in there and couldn't see where the basket was because everyone was behind you," Werner said. "This year I feel more confident."

ETC.: Donovan sat out Monday's media session with lower back pain. ... Mitchell was pleased with his five-rebound performance Sunday. "One of the things coach harped on me trying to hit the boards a little more, trying to hit the defensive end a little more yesterday to keep some balls alive," Mitchell said.

Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or brockwk@gvillesun.com.