Florida coach Billy Donovan enjoys the annual challenge of assembling his lineup and playing rotation, but there is no way his current ordeal is fun.
Days before the Gators’ season opener, forward Casey Prather suffered a concussion — his second this year — and it could be another two weeks before he returns. The morning of the team’s bus ride to Mayport Naval Station for the Georgetown game last week, Donovan suspended starting point guard Scottie Wilbekin indefinitely for an undisclosed disciplinary issue.
To further complicate matters, power forward Erik Murphy has been so sick this week that he could not practice.
And with all those problems, No. 10 Florida is preparing for one of the toughest games on its schedule: a home contest Wednesday night (7 p.m., ESPN2) against No. 22 Wisconsin, which has 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
“We’re going to find out more about who we are and how we have to improve,” Donovan said. “There’s been some things that have kind of thrown some wrinkles in for us right before the season started. This is a game that gives us a chance to see what kind of adjustments we need to make.”
Asked if he has a natural, reliable small forward available, Donovan said, “Right now, no one. That’s the puzzle.”
Even some of the players firmly entrenched in the lineup are trying to find their way. Kenny Boytnon, a shooting guard who led the team in scoring last year, is playing a lot of point guard due to Wilbekin’s absence. Boynton was expected to play some point this year, but now he is by far the best option.
Similarly, Will Yeguete played power forward off the bench for Florida (1-0) the past two seasons, and now the team needs him at small forward. Guard Mike Rosario — who struggled with turnovers, shot selection and defense last year — still is learning to fit his abilities within the team’s system.
Even with his temporary starting lineup in place, Donovan is testing several player combinations. He is working true freshman Braxton Ogbueze at point guard with Boynton back at shooting guard. He can go to three- and four-guard attacks, though that might leave the Gators vulnerable in rebounding and on defense.
“We played a portion of the game against Georgetown big and we started against Alabama State big,” Donovan said of the ongoing tinkering process. “We were able to go a little bit smaller in certain situations in both of those games. There was a period of time in the first half against Georgetown that we were small, and I don’t think it really helped us.”
Wisconsin (1-0) is a bruising team with three starters 6-feet-6 or taller, likely forcing Florida to rely on its bigger lineup. It has been hard to even prepare for the Badgers’ size because the Gators only had eight active scholarship players at practice the past two days.
“It’s gonna be a big challenge for us because we haven’t played a ranked team and they are really big,” Yeguete said. “It’ll be a good battle for us.”
It will be the first real hurdle. The Gators were scheduled to open the season against Georgetown on Friday night, but the game was canceled due to condensation on the court aboard the USS Bataan. UF’s first full game was an 84-35 thrashing of lowly Alabama State on Sunday.
This also will be the best measure so far of the strength of Florida’s freshman class. All four of those players appeared against Georgetown and played at least 18 minutes against Alabama State. Whether they can be productive against a team of Wisconsin’s caliber has yet to be seen.
“I’ve had to deal with some of this stuff before — it’s part of it,” Donovan said. “You play with the hand you’re dealt and get those guys as prepared and ready as they possibly can be.”
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