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 12:03 PM ^
Curious...what did the person think the phrase "bowl in a china shop" meant? Like, blending in to a crowd?
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
She thought it was an odd expression.
So not only does FSU have Christ on their team, he's 7'-4".
Christ is going to get nailed to the backboard.
this works....
So no flogging of him when he's at the free throw line?
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
depends on what crew is officiating the game. If they are calling the game tight I think it will get called.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
They have players at 7'4" and 7' that play less minutes.
Their backup pg is 6'4". Overall, they are a pretty big squad. They are the 2nd tallest team in the entire field of the NCAA tournament.
People see 7'4" and 7'0" and freak out. Then you look more closely and see that Koumadje and Kabengele play only 16.4 and 14.8 minutes per game, respectively. So yes, they are tall but it's not like the two 7' guys get 30 minutes of run.
Their Kenpom lineup page is pretty fascinating, though. They have no lineups over the past five games that even approach double digit percentage of use (highest is 7.7% at Forrest-Savoy-Angola-Cofer-Koumadje). For comparison, Michigan's most common lineup of late is Z-MAAR-Matthews-Duncan-Wagner at 22.8%.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
Notes in the programs at the time went something like this:
"Was a good hockey player for his size" -- he is from Sarnia, ONT.
"Needs to improve his ball handling and shooting" -- fairly important skills in BB.
I wanna seee FSU's 7'4" guy chase Mo around on the perimeter. -- advantage Michigan!
Just realized that I misidentified the 6'8" Kabengele as being 7'0". That would be Ike Obiagu who plays a scant 10.8 minutes per game albeit with a crazy high block rate.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
Well, compared to my Rec league team: we go 5'10", 5'10", 6'0", 6'1",6'2" So, really, both of these teams are huge.
Isn't Terrance Mann the writer that Ray Kinsella kidnaps in "Field of Dreams"
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
People will come, Boner.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:16 AM ^
I was devastated to learn that he's not named after the character, but rather his grandmother, who was named Terancia. I was ready to become an FSU basketball fan, non-Elite 8 edition. Alas, it was not to be...
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^
I wonder if that's pronounces "tare-an_SEE_uh," "TARAN-see-uh," or "tare-AN-shuh."
Very balanced team offensively. That's impressive.
I have never seen a team lock down defensively like they do on inbound plays under the basket. From my amateur view, it looked like they adopted a 1-3-1 zone type look against Gonzaga and matched up on all cuts. They promptly forced one five second call, one steal, and one almost steal/5 second call combo in three consecutive possessions. Gonzaga had no answer.
JB will draw up an appropriate countermeasure, but I was impressed by their defensive acumen under this specialty situation.
Gonzaga really missed Killian Tillie last night. Not only is he 6'10" but his shooting slash is 62/48/77. He went from nice role player on last season's runner-up squad to major contributor this season.
Speaking of missed contributors, K-State's victory over UK is that much more impressive considering Dean Wade sat the entire second half with that nagging foot injury. Loved seeing Calipari go down to a 9-seed after whining to anyone who'd listen about the "murderous" path that Kentucky was given.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
Hope Mo stays out of foul trouble so they can keep Christ away from the basket.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
My thoughts exactly. If not, it could make things tougher. But I also wouldn't be completely shocked to see Teske start raining 3s.
March 23rd, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
Christ, what an asshole.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
An extremely athletic and hard nosed team. If I am Hamilton and can't get easy transitions buckets early, I change up the defensive looks as much as possible. When A&M had to go full court press, we were a little rattled before some in game adjustments. So I wont be suprised if FSU extends their pressure early on.
If we shoot well, stay patient, and play D (and Mo dosnt pick up early fouls), we have a great chance in advancing. HOWEVER, we have so far avoided our achilles heel - a close game where free throws decide the outcome. Let's hope we don't see that on Saturday.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
Speaking of Zavier..... he had 5 steals in first half alone... he has been the key to shutting down the opposing point guard, often deflating them. He has been a vital cog to this team.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:28 AM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
I predict that if Ibi Watson and CJ Baird hit threes again, we should squeak out a win.
March 23rd, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
I hope Coach figures out a way to limit Jameis Winston and Warrick Dunn
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
If we beat them we win out. I feel they are the best team besides us that is left.
Our shooting is important but it's our Def that will make or break us in this game.
They ARE the team to beat and with our current Def and how we have been playing I feel we can do it. Yes Villanova is good, I just feel FSU is the better team left in the field out there.
It's going to be a helluva game.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
FSU beat : Xavier and Gonzaga a #1 and a #4
Pretty good to me. They also easily beat Missouri #8 easily.
They just look solid to me and again ..... just my opinion.
They are playing very good ball right now.
March 23rd, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
The final analysis of the NCAA tourney is that guard play wins. We have the best guards. And they are the best on both ends of the floor. Guard play is what drove the amazing performance last night and also what held us back a bit in our first two games. If Simpson and Rahk play to their potential we win easy.
Hoping we wear Maize again!!!!!