- Marreese Speights
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Marreese Speights Speights in November 2010 No. 16 Philadelphia 76ers Forward/Center Personal information Date of birth August 4, 1987 Place of birth St. Petersburg, Florida High school Hargrave Military Academy Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Listed weight 250 lb (113 kg) Career information College University of Florida NBA Draft 2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16th overall Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers Stats at NBA.com Marreese Akeem Speights (born August 4, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who is a center for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Speights played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a freshman member of the Florida Gators' NCAA national championship team in 2007. The Philadelphia 76ers picked him in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Contents
Early years
Speights was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. He played basketball at Admiral Farragut Academy where they retired his jersey number after just one year.[1] He also played basketball at Hargrave Military Academy.
College career
Speights began his career at Florida in 2006, and averaged approximately four points and two rebounds in only six minutes per game as a freshman for the national champion Gators. He saw few minutes because of other big men Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Chris Richard.
Speights ended the 2007–08 season averaging 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds per game and 1.4 blocks per game. After his sophomore season, he declared himself eligible for the 2008 NBA Draft,[2] held on June 26. Speights confirmed with Florida coach Billy Donovan on June 12, 2008 that he would not be returning to the Gators.[3]
NBA career
Rookie Season
Speights was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 16th pick of the first round in the 2008 NBA Draft. He signed with Philadelphia on July 18, 2008.[4] That same season was his best so far with the 76ers, scoring with a field-goal percentage of .502 from the field, playing 79 games, shooting at a .205% from 3-point range, and shooting .773 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Season
Marreese's second season with the 76ers started off on a high note as he saw a slight increase in playing time and put up good numbers. He scored 15 or more points in 5 of his first 10 games, and was a vital part of the team's frontcourt until he was injured. In the 4th quarter of November 14's game versus the Chicago Bulls, Speights injured his left knee. An MRI revealed a partial tear of the Medial collateral ligament (MCL). He missed 14 games and came back December 16, to play 22 minutes in a losing effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since the injury, his playing time has been limited, mostly because of the increased production from Elton Brand.
Year 3
The 76ers hired Doug Collins as their new head coach for the 2010-11 season. Known for his defensive-minded coaching philosophy, this shift in team focus adversely affected Speights, who is known more for his offensive capabilities. Frequent clashes with the coaching staff led to a career-low 11.5 minutes per contest. He did, however, get one start against the New Orleans Hornets on January 3, 2011 and notched 12 points and six rebounds. For the season, he averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds, both career lows.
NBA career statistics
Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2008–09 Philadelphia 79 2 16.0 .502 .250 .773 3.7 .4 .3 .7 7.7 2009-10 Philadelphia 62 1 16.4 .477 .000 .745 4.1 .6 .5 .6 8.6 2010-11 Philadelphia 64 1 11.5 .495 .250 .753 3.3 .5 .1 .3 5.4 Career 205 4 14.7 .492 .176 .757 3.7 .5 .3 .5 7.2 Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 2008–09 Philadelphia 3 0 9.7 .429 .000 .750 2.0 .0 .0 .0 3.0 2010–11 Philadelphia 2 0 10.5 .167 .000 .000 3.0 .5 .0 .5 2.0 Career 5 0 9.8 .263 .000 .750 2.4 .2 .0 .2 2.6 See also
- Florida Gators
- List of Florida Gators basketball players
References
Philadelphia 76ers current roster Florida Gators Men's Basketball 2006–07 NCAA Champions 2 Corey Brewer (MOP) | 11 Taurean Green | 12 Lee Humphrey | 13 Joakim Noah | 15 Walter Hodge | 21 Dan Werner | 32 Chris Richard | 34 Marreese Speights | 42 Al Horford
Coach Billy Donovan
Assistant coaches: Donnie Jones | Lewis Preston | Larry Shyatt2008 NBA Draft First round Derrick Rose · Michael Beasley · O. J. Mayo · Russell Westbrook · Kevin Love · Danilo Gallinari · Eric Gordon · Joe Alexander · D. J. Augustin · Brook Lopez · Jerryd Bayless · Jason Thompson · Brandon Rush · Anthony Randolph · Robin Lopez · Marreese Speights · Roy Hibbert · JaVale McGee · J. J. Hickson · Alexis Ajinça · Ryan Anderson · Courtney Lee · Kosta Koufos · Serge Ibaka · Nicolas Batum · George Hill · Darrell Arthur · Donté Greene · D. J. White · J. R. Giddens
Second round Nikola Peković · Walter Sharpe · Joey Dorsey · Mario Chalmers · DeAndre Jordan · Ömer Aşık · Luc Mbah a Moute · Kyle Weaver · Sonny Weems · Chris Douglas-Roberts · Nathan Jawai · Sean Singletary · Patrick Ewing, Jr. · Ante Tomić · Goran Dragić · Trent Plaisted · Bill Walker · Malik Hairston · Richard Hendrix · DeVon Hardin · Shan Foster · Darnell Jackson · Tadija Dragićević · Maarty Leunen · Mike Taylor · Sasha Kaun · James Gist · Joe Crawford · Deron Washington · Semih Erden
Categories:- 1987 births
- Living people
- African American basketball players
- Basketball players from Florida
- People from St. Petersburg, Florida
- Florida Gators men's basketball players
- Philadelphia 76ers draft picks
- Philadelphia 76ers players
- Power forwards (basketball)
- Centers (basketball)
- Admiral Farragut Academy alumni
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