Quick Florida State Preview
I'm impatient and wanted to learn a little more about our Saturday opponent, so here is a quick snapshot. If anyone else has any good information, feel free to share it.
Overall Record - 23-11 (9-9)
Common Opponents
North Carolina
Michigan 71 @ North Carolina 86
North Carolina 80 @ Florida State 81
Rutgers
Rutgers 47 @ Michigan 62
Florida State 78 @ Rutgers 73
Starting Five per MPG (name links to ESPN profile)
6'1" 195 lbs. Soph
8.1 PPG. 36% 3PT. 23.2 MIN
6'5" 215 lbs. Soph
7.9 PPG. 4.9 REB. 25.5 MIN
6'6" 215 lbs. Junior
12.9 PPG. 5.5 REB. 29.0 MIN
6'6" 195 lbs. Senior
12.7 PPG. 38% 3PT. 27.7 MIN
6'8" 218 lbs. Senior
12.7 PPG. 38% 3PT. 29.2 MIN
Supporting Cast (lots of them)
6'9" 235 lbs. Freshman
7.3 PPG. 4.7 RPG. 14.8 MIN
6'5" 205 lbs. Freshman
7.2 PPG. 35% 3PT and 38% FG. 19.1 MIN
7'4" (!!!) 233 lbs (???). Junior
6.7 PPG. 64% FG. 4.3 REB. 16.4 MIN
6'4" 200 lbs. Junior
6.5 PPG. 38% 3PT. 12.8 MIN
7'0" 240 lbs. Freshman
2.4 PPG. 2.6 RPG. 10.8 MIN
Conclusion
Very big and athletic team. Very deep team. No one player carries the load, and as you can see the scoring is pretty evenly distributed. They have a few guys who can shoot from outside, but no one does it particularly well. Zavier should have a field day with whoever they put at PG to spell CJ Walker.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
I hope whatever shooting drills lead up to last night, happen today.
GO BLUE
PS: Charles Barkley, please, PLEASE pick fsu to win Saturday.
MAAR!
This will not be a easy game....
I am sure people will be worried about FSU like they were worried about aTm. I still can't believe a large portion of this board wanted to face UNC over aTm. I think FSU is a better matchup for Michgan than Gonzaga even if Tillie would have been limited.
They play a lot of guys, but you can only put five on the court at a time.
Michigan will be a better team than whatever five they put on the court at any given time.
One of the most underrated aspect of this Michigan team is its depth. Yeah they have a lot of guys, but so does Michigan. They can be put in for a spell to keep our starters fresh and still hold their own.
Yep... Hell, even Ibi Watson is getting real playing time, now! Just two months ago he was the sexy pick for the firm handshake if Mo decides to come back. Beilein develops everyone, and plays them when they earn the trust. What a credit to his coaching that Watson is seeing the court - even in limited fashion!
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
They were cycling Teske and Duncan and Watson and Simmons and Poole pretty regularly with the starters without much dropoff last night. I kept watching shots fall and then BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.
Here come another 3 fresh killers off the bench. Michigan runs just as deep as anybody.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
I don't think people wanted unc more, I think people were just saying don't overlook a&m just because we preffered them to unc.
The one thing about fsu that gives me some nerves is that their starting lineup is built to switch screens pretty well. But play like we did last night and it won't matter because they aren't good enough offensively to keep up with us if we hit our threes.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
look really big, not just tall but wide, and they do pressure the ball pretty well and play good helpside defense. Last night, Z got free in the lane for a couple of layups because TAM's bigs were asleep. That doesn't look to be the case with FSU. Of course, based on the way Michigan played last night, I expect them to win this game, but this looks like it will be considerably more of a "grinder" than last night was. Florida State looks formidable.
That could mean they rely a lot on transition, or it could mean they just take a lot of early clock shots. But if it means the former, they gon' die.
Michigan doesn't let teams run and rarely allow good looks early in the shot clock. FSU is above average Oreb, but M is above average Dreb. Both mediocre on the other side (FSU Dreb and M Oreb).
WIN THE GAME
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
Fortunately my opinion has no mystical impact on the outcome of the game, so I can say that I have a lot of confidence going into it.
They are actually smaller than I thought, especially the starting five.
They are two enormous guys, and a bunch of regular size guys.
Their starting SG vs. Gonzaga was 6'6", kinda big for a college team where I typically see 6'4" or so. They're kind of normal sized for an NBA team, but against Michigan they're going to have height advantages everywhere. No, I don't think it's going to matter.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
Leonard Hamilton teams are usually built pretty similar to that A&M team. Long, athletic, bouncy players, not so great at shooting, sometimes a little raw. Everything I read or heard about A&M, as a matter of fact, reminded me of everything I usually see out of FSU.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
didn't think they looked small at all. And it looked to me that the play "bigger" than they are. I have been watching portions of the game this morning and all I see is hulking FSU players pushing Gonzaga around.
Only watched the first half of FSU-Zags last night, but the Zags seemed to have more of a plan last night whereas FSU is just going to throw tons of athleticism and size at us. FSU will likely have an advantage in the post (sound familiar?) but they also don't take a ton of 3s (almost 2 less per game than us) at a lower percentage (albeit not substantially). They are deep and going to want to run on us. Bunny Colvin seems like a good coach though.
Think we’ll have more speed to deal with and it’ll be a closer game but hard to see us losing without a lot of zebra support for FSU. Bunny about to see the downfall of Hamsterdam.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
I'm an M&A specialist, but my passion is bird law.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
for a lot of us, I'll bet--comes first--but the comparison is apt. I have a soft spot for Leonard, living in Tallahassee as I do, but I think his team is going to get eviscerated. At least I hope so. Dunno if we can beat Villanova, but there's no doubt we could get to the title game.
They can use all that depth to be aggressive and foul us and hope we miss at the line.
They can do that for the whole second half if they want, instead of the last two minutes.
I hope our shootaround includes lots of free throw shooting.
FSU looks like they're built to stop a conventional roster. Having monster shot-blockers is of limited value out on the perimeter, and no one likes to foul a shot behind the arc. Even shooting 67% that's basically a free two-pointer every time.
Of course anything can happen, but this is a BAD matchup for FSU. Their bigs will have their day like Texas A&M's, but everyone's been doing that to Michigan. They are not built to stop Beilein's offense at all, and they don't have much time to prepare for it.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
Their depth allows them to run an aggressive trapping press the entire game which we didn't exactly handle great last night.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:39 AM ^
I'm not as concerned about that.
The A&M press was very aggressive (sometimes four guys under the basket) because they had no choice at that point in the game but to try it.
it did work a few times, but all the rest of the times we broke it we had very easy baskets lined up that we did not take because we were running off clock.
FSU can't press like that, they'll fall behind quickly.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^
only that, but you could tell last night that our players were kind of confused about how they wanted to handle the press. They were caught between aggressively breaking it and wanting to take time off the clock. The only way that TAM could have made any form of come back in that game is by drastically increasing the number of possessions and Michigan was trying to fight against that just as much as they were trying to fight the press. My guess is that Michigan would look a lot different against that kind of trapping press if they faced it from the jump.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
Michigan faced the press in the second half with a 20+ lead, when using all of the shot clock was a priority.
I'm a bit concerned about facing a press, but putting Michigan in a position where it can score quickly at will in transition seems to be... not optimal for FSU.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
they are going to press us from the tip, they better be really, really disciplined with their traps and recover quickly when we break it. Pressing a Beilein team with several competent ball-handlers and finishers is a good way to get yourself humiliated.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
I doubt it. If you allow 30FTs to a team that makes 2/3rds of them, it's no different than if you gave 20FTs to a team that makes all of them. Teams generally don't like to foul outside the arc (final minutes excepted), and Beilein plays five-out.
Mo getting in foul trouble is a concern, but Mo getting in foul trouble is always a concern.
Typical bull in a china shop team. Make them play a disciplined game and they won't be able to hang.
One of my exes thought the saying was "a bowl in a china shop".