Adams: Back not Donovan's only trouble

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - It's a good thing Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan didn't have to cut down the nets Wednesday. Standing up was tough enough.

Not since former Alabama football coach Mike Shula made his opening speech has a coach looked so uncomfortable in front of the SEC media.

Talking isn't a problem for Donovan. Walking is.

He suffered a lower-back injury while jogging Sunday. The next day, he could barely get out of bed. His wife had to help dress him.

Donovan was accompanied to SEC basketball media days by senior guard Walter Hodge and team trainer Dave Werner. What does that tell you?

"He's not Billy the Kid anymore," Hodge said with a smile.

After back-to-back NCAA championships, Donovan still can pass for 35 - until he tries to move. Then he's 42 going on 85.

He had to lie face down for the flight to Birmingham. And he wouldn't have made it without Werner, who has alternated ice and heat therapy with stretching in between.

The trainer hopes to have Donovan in coaching shape by the season opener. Anyone who watched the coach get out of his chair would call that a long shot.

You could say the same for the Gators, who just last year were being compared to college basketball's greatest teams. Now, they're being compared to the mid-section of the SEC.

All the Gators lost from their last national championship was everything - five starters and their top backup. Three of those starters - Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer - were among the first nine players taken in the NBA draft this summer.

Horford, Noah and Brewer were household names in college basketball households the last two years. Now, freshman guards Jai Lucas and Nick Calathes from Florida's much-ballyhooed recruiting class are probably as well known as the team's veterans.

Hodge, Florida's first guard off the bench last season, was asked about adjusting to the absence of post players Horford and Noah.

"We've got more space," he said. Or at least, that's what we thought he said.

"You mean, more shots?" a sportswriter asked.

"We've got Marreese Speights (pronounced 'spates')," Hodge said again.

Speights, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound sophomore, should give the Gators an inside presence. Jonathan Mitchell (6-7, 242) also will be expected to contribute inside. But Florida clearly looks stronger on the perimeter with Hodge, who can play the point or shooting guard, and the freshmen.

"We've got lots of shooters," Hodge said. "I don't even worry about offense."

Defense and rebounding are a different matter. So is experience.

"We're in the infancy stage with these guys," Donovan said. "We're unable to complete a two-hour practice. Because when they get physically tired, you see them break down. They've got to develop a physical and mental toughness.

"The best thing would be for them to play an SEC team on the road - to let them see how hard and physical it is."

Right now, this team isn't ready for the road. And neither is its coach, who must adjust to more than a less-experienced team.

The team trainer shakes his head at the thought of a man with a deteriorating lower-back condition continuing Donovan's exercise regimen.

"He works out harder than the players," Werner said. "He doesn't jog on a treadmill. He sprints."

Donovan could build another championship team, but his sprinting days might be over.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.