5 Good Questions: Florida State

This week I've had the pleasure of chatting with the basketball expert from Florida State blog Scalp 'Em, Bill. He did an excellent job answering my questions, which follow below. He also posted my pre-game report, so make sure to head over to Scalp 'Em for that or anything else FSU related.

1. Wednesday’s loss to Duke must have been tough to swallow considering how close the ‘Noles kept the game until very late. Any thoughts on this loss? How will this loss affect FSU for Sunday’s game?

Bill: It was certainly another tough close loss. FSU had its chances after battling back from 17 points down but could not close the deal. With Jason Rich picking up two early fouls, that really threw the game plan off and the team experienced some loss of focus mostly on the defensive end in that first half. It was a much different story in the second. But that is why Duke is Duke. They have experienced this many times and know how to win games at the end. But the one thing about Florida State under Leonard Hamilton is that he has always gotten this team prepared for the next game. With the exception of one game a few years ago coincidently against Wake Forest where the team just fell apart after having several close losses in a row, FSU has picked itself up and has come back out in the next game to give its next opponent a tough battle. I expect that to be the case on Sunday.

2. When I look at FSU’s statistics I see several pretty good players but no one stands out as a superstar. Interestingly enough, four of the five players who average double digits are guards. If you had to pick one (or if you must, two) players who are the team’s “stars” who would they be and why?

Bill: And that’s how Hamilton wants it. He wants that scoring by committee concept. This season is the first season he has really gotten that. With the graduation of Al Thornton it was necessary to have this many players in double figures. Last season we tended to stand around and watch Al take over a game. But to name a star, Jason Rich is the first one I think of. He is a player that is determined to take the ball to the rim and is very hard to stop for any team. The weird thing about Jason is I have never seen a guy work so hard to get to the rim, put the shot up, and then see it trickle or roll off the rim as many times as I have seen Jason’s shots. It’s just bizarre how many times that happens. He would have a much better scoring average by probably four points a game if some of those went down. But the other thing about Jason is because of the short handed front court he has been forced to play power forward on defense. He has taken on that role quite well defending players taller and bigger than he is and done an admirable job of it.

3. The ‘Noles have played three pretty close games in conference so far but have only managed one win. What is the missing key to winning these close games rather than losing them?

Bill: As with just about any game on any team that loses a close game it’s a play here or there at the end that costs you the win. With Clemson it was two miracle shots, one in regulation and one in the first overtime, that prevented the win for FSU. When it got to the second overtime the Seminoles had zilch left in the tank. Toney Douglas played 49 minutes in that game. Jason played 48. They were dogged tired at that point. Against Duke, Kyle Singlar’s three pointer to take the lead back at 57-55 and then later Greg Paulus’ steal and layup giving the Blue Devils a 60-55 lead with 2:29 left really took the wind out of the sails for FSU. But if you ask Hamilton he will tell you the game was lost in the first half when we did not execute certain defensive principles specifically worked on in practice for the Duke game. Getting down by that large of a margin once again expended so much energy getting back into the game that the ‘Noles ran out of gas again helped along by that short bench. But then there was the Georgia Tech game where I feel Hamilton coached one of his better games because he had just learned less than 48 hours earlier that Solomon Alabi was done for the season and Julian Vaughn was out indefinitely. Here again Rich came through at the end recognizing what the defense was giving and put pressure on the defense pulling up and hitting that game winning jumper. So we know they are capable of winning the tight game.

4. Looking again at Sunday’s game where do you see FSU matching up well against Wake? Anything you expect to struggle with?

Bill: Here is where teams have had to deal with FSU. I mentioned Jason at the four spot and what he has had to contend with on defense. The opposite holds true for the opponents. They have had to deal with Jason. A power forward has found it very difficult to contain the guy. And with the four guard lineup that Wake is sure to see I’m not sure the Deacons have enough people with that much foot speed to contain the athletic guards FSU has all the time. At some point they are going to break down the defense. If Isaiah Swann can have one of those games from three point territory that will make guarding against the dribble penetration ability of Rich and Douglas more problematic. Now what worries FSU is Ish Smith. As was the case last year, Hamilton put a lot of focus on stopping Smith. That will be no different this year and with more experience Smith becomes more of a problem. That is helped along with some good young athletic players who can finish plays like Jeff Teague. It did not go unnoticed by the staff that Wake Forest took a ranked Vanderbilt team to the end of the game losing by just three points. Another issue for FSU is that it has not played with the same intensity on the road that it plays with when at home. In addition guarding the perimeter against the three has been a problem for the Seminoles.

5. Put your name on it: What will Sunday’s final score be? What will FSU’s ACC record be this season? Will there be any kind of postseason appearance?

Bill: Hey, I’m a FSU fan!! Of course I’m going to pick the Seminoles. :-) A final score? I would expect a some high score something in the high 70’s or low 80’s. And I would expect it to be only a few points difference, maybe no more than five points. As for a final record and postseason, it is my firm belief that this team has the ability to win every game from here on out. That obviously will not happen. But the potential to win over every remaining opponent is there. It all depends on what FSU shows up. One flaw has been not playing a forty minute game. But when it does the team is tough to beat. For this team to reach the NCAA I think it has to win a minimum of ten games in the conference. With the ACC being somewhat topsy turvy after Duke, UNC, and probably Clemson, it’s anybody’s guess who follows those three. So it’s not out of the question at this point to get those wins. And even then it may not be a guarantee because the team lacks a real good resume in its out of conference schedule. The wins over Minnesota and Florida look good. But opportunities were lost against Butler, Providence, and now what looks to be a surprising Cleveland State team as well as a disappointing loss to USF. FSU fans have seen it before where a 9-7 record still was not good enough in the eyes of the selection committee. The NIT is certainly a realistic possibility for this team should they not reach the NCAA.

Bill obviously did an excellent job with this, so big big thanks to him! Now let's go get a win!