Florida will still be Florida. Meaning, the Gators will press, run and shoot without a second thought in the Preseason NIT. But the question remains: For how many minutes at time, and for how long?

The Gators are simply too thin in numbers to sustain Billy Donovan's uptempo style for long stretches. Within the past two weeks, three Gators have gone down with injuries and are out Tuesday night's opener against Louisiana Tech (ESPN2, 7 ET), while a fourth is no longer a Gator after James White decided to transfer.

	“	We've got to play our style, but we can't play it for 40 minutes. ... Right now, it's difficult to play the way we want to play based on personnel issues. ”
		— Billy Donovan, Florida head coach

"We've got to play our style, but we can't play it for 40 minutes," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Foul trouble and fatigue would become a factor. Right now, it's difficult to play the way we want to play based on personnel issues."

Those issues are a direct result of injuries. Senior guard Brett Nelson was thought to have had a stress fracture, but now it's been downgraded to a deep bone bruise and he's doing some light running this week. Donovan said he could be on the court for the two games in New York next week if Florida beats LaTech in the opening round and then either Boise State or Eastern Illinois in round two Thursday.

Danish freshman Christian Drejer is out with a high ankle sprain and won't be available until mid-December. And, then, a few days ago, the Gators found out reserve forward Bonell Colas tore a tendon in his groin and is out for the rest of the month. That means Donovan will start two freshmen -- guards Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh -- two seniors in guard Justin Hamilton and forward Matt Bonner, and sophomore forward David Lee.

That leaves Donovan with only three reserves -- all freshmen -- in guard Rashid Al-Kaleem, forward Mario Boggan and redshirt freshman forward Adrian Moss. Bottom line: Only three of the eight players expected to play have ever competed in Division I basketball, just two for more than one season.

"We're a young team and we've got to approach it like that," Donovan said. "We've got to get better as a team and as individuals in these first few weeks."

Donovan said the Gators might press in spurts, five minutes here, 10 or 12 minutes later in the game. They'll play some zone and man.

"Our mentality offensively still has to be to run and push the ball and get the easy stuff in transition," Donovan said. "Justin Hamilton and Matt Bonner will have to play extended minutes with at least one of them on the court at all times. But we'll need the freshmen down the stretch."

The depth early is in the frontcourt until Nelson and Drejer get back. And that means Lee needs to be more assertive. Donovan said Lee was caught in between as an inside-out scorer last season. He did not shooting the ball well enough to stay out on the perimeter, but wasn't physical enough to remain inside. Meanwhile, Boggan broke through the 300-pound barrier this week (see: under three bills), meaning he's in better shape to log more minutes.

And any decision to redshirt Al-Kaleem was shelved, not just with the injuries, rather his 4-of-6 three-point shooting in an exhibition against EA Sports last week.

Getting to New York with a hobbled team is still within reach, and leaving Madison Square Garden 3-1 would be quite a feat considering Kansas and Xavier or Stanford will likely be in town. Getting through non-conference games at West Virginia, at Florida State and against South Florida, before getting completely healthy, would be another step toward the development of a potential Final Four team.

Here's a look at the Preseason NIT field:

New York Favorites
Kansas: This is the Jayhawks' tourney to lose. Kansas is a consensus top-three team and has the best starting five in the country. Kansas has been simply unbeatable in New York City under Roy Williams. And, outside of the Ball State loss when Aaron Miles cramped up in Maui last year, the Jayhawks are usually punishing in November. The only question early will be who can come off the bench for a team that relies almost exclusively on its starting five? If someone like Bryant Nash can provide some quality minutes, it will go along way toward helping the five -- Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and Miles -- not get as fatigued later in the season.

Florida: OK, so the Gators aren't at full strength. The question, however, is will guard Brett Nelson be able to play at some point during the Preseason NIT? He's not likely to hit the court during the first two rounds. The play of the freshmen class has been a surprise, especially guards Walsh, Roberson and Al-Kaleem. If Florida can get to the title game against Kansas without Drejer and a less than 100-percent Nelson, or even without him, then that will be quite a coup for Billy Donovan.

Xavier: This is the Musketeers chance to not only show the country how good they can be in March, but also show up the Preseason NIT organization committee for not giving Xavier a second-round home game (providing Stanford beats Boston University), let alone announce to the nation that the 'X' is a Final Four contender. Xavier will get a national stage in round two and beyond if Xavier can beat Stanford at Maples Pavilion. Xavier has a legit shot, if it gets to New York, to win the tournament with two of the best players, regardless of position, in the country in big guard/small forward Romain Sato and power forward David West.

North Carolina: A year ago, North Carolina lost to Hampton and Davidson at the outset of the season. But the Tar Heels didn't have freshmen class like this one. Point guard Raymond Felton is easily one of the finest end-to-end scorers; guard Rashad McCants can light up the corners with 3s; and Sean May is a rugged leader in the middle. North Carolina is the weakest of the four "favored" teams, but just getting to New York would be a major accomplishment, let alone confidence boost, for this team and for Matt Doherty. Getting to New York would mean the Tar Heels would beat a Big Ten (Penn State) and Big East (Rutgers) team in the first two rounds. They're not the top of their respective conferences, but it's still a better start than last year.

Troublemakers

	Julius Barnes and the Cardinal get BU first, then a likely matchup with X.

Stanford: The Cardinal has two home games, assuming they beat BU, but they're not the favorite to get to New York City. Xavier has the marquee players in Sato and West. But the Cardinal is still a tough out with Josh Childress and Julius Barnes on the perimeter, even though Matt Lotich will replace Chris Hernandez (foot surgery) in the starting lineup. The guard-heavy Cardinal isn't given much of a chance and that's usually when Mike Montgomery surprises critics.

Rutgers: A potential second-round game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill is winnable. The Scarlet Knights have the guard play to compete with the Tar Heels, especially with Jerome Coleman. Both teams are thin inside, meaning this game could be a draw on the perimeter.

Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs, one of two WAC teams in the field because both were in separate leagues when they accepted the invite, could be a tough first-round game for Florida. Louisiana Tech is strong inside and athletic and could cause problems for the depleted Gators.

Boston University: The Terriers are the likely pick to beat out Vermont in the America East and are a sleeper team in this field to get one win -- at Stanford. BU has Matt Turner back after missing last season with a shoulder injury and every other starter returns, too.

Thanks For The Invitation
Holy Cross: Everyone wants to hype the Crusaders' near-upset of Kansas in the NCAA first round last season. But that was on a neutral court. This isn't. Allen Fieldhouse won't be too kind to the Cross.

Boise State: The Broncos are going through a transition under first-year coach Greg Graham and get the benefit of a first-round home game. But playing at Florida in round two, if it happens, will mean they'll leave the tourney 1-1.

Eastern Illinois: Henry Domercant can score and he's talented enough to lead Eastern Illinois to a win at Boise State. But the second-round game likely at Florida -- well, nope.

Columbia: Getting a first-round game at the RAC isn't a certain loss, but it's close for the Ivy League entrant. Columbia is too far down in the Ivy this season to beat a team like Rutgers, especially this early.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions get a rematch with Carolina after beating the Heels in the NCAAs two years ago -- Matt Doherty's first season. Both teams struggled last season, but the Nittany Lions don't have the guard play to keep up with the freshmen like Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants.

St. Peter's: This is called being served up to Xavier for the first round. The Musketeers are too strong, too powerful and too good to lose to St. Peter's in round one.

Wagner: Will be a pest in the Northeast and could win the title. But will struggle to get out of the first round Tuesday night.

UNC-Greensboro: Best bonus the Preseason NIT did for Greensboro is give them a first-round game at home against Wagner. But the likely second round is at Kansas. 'Nuf said.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Watch, a look back at the week and a preview of the week ahead, runs every Monday.