was: #71, (NOW): #89 R.P.I. Florida State vs. was: #82, (NOW): #78 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s hoops must be butter.

The Hokies are on a whole entire and whopping three, that’s (3) game, roll! Peaking at the right time is a Mike Young paradigm. Going back to making Wofford Terrier post-season runs in seven of his final nice seasons down in  Spartanburg, South Carolina. Florida State however many want a word of three with all of this post-season running business. The Seminoles enter the All Championship Conference fray in 9th place and at: 16 up against 15 down and .5oo in intra-league play at an even-steven 1o vs. 1o. Nonetheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, reads on… to finds… out!

Florida State Head Coach: James Leonard Hamilton: age=75, 632–481 (.568) overall, 432–271 (.615) at Florida State.
$2,250,000.oo

Baller Hamilton played college basketball at the University of Tennessee at Martin; where he had the tag of an outburst scorer (55 max’, their all-time single-game mark).

After this Leo’ went into coaching and won the 1978 NCAA Championship under old-school Coach Joe B. Hall at Kentucky. He is a two-time A.c.c. Coach of the Year (2oo9, 2o12) and he is also the first coach to be named coach of the year in both the Big East (Miami Hurricane, 1995, 1999), and the A.c.c. His teams have qualified for seven NCAA tournaments and eight N.I.T.’s. He was the old-school U.P.I. National Coach of the Year in 1995 for da U; and he has won two conference championships (1 B.E., 1 A.c.c.).

Coach Leo’ is the Winningest Coach in Florida State History (27o wins) and the 8th all-time Winningest Coach in A.c.c. History (27o wins). He also coached one season for the Washington Bullets, though was un-retained by #45 M.J. himself. Leo -a Master’s degree holder his ownself- is an ace coach in the FSU.edu and former classrooms as more than 94%t of his players have earned their degrees. Bravo Leo! And the Coach Hamilton coaching tree has already sired eight other D-1 men’s head coaches. Very Pat Riley ‘esque; as Coach Hamilton’s teams have enjoyed a stinging defensive rep’ for many years.

Hamilton’s induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame marks the fifth Hall of Fame he will be a member of during his illustrious career. He is also a member of the Austin Peay State University, the University of Tennessee at Martin, and the University of Miami Athletic Hall of Fame.  Hamilton received the 2015 Alumnus of Distinction award from Gaston (N.C.) College at its 50^th Anniversary Gala on May 16, 2015.

Leo.edu earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Tennessee-Martin in 1971 and received his Master’s Degree in Physical and Health Education from Austin Peay State in 1973.

As to me… this is an underrated all-’round roundball coach here, men.
Prolly fair to say F.s.u.’s very own hooping f.Beamer.

Now the All Coaching Conference antediluvian elder statesmen, too.                                                          

Daddy Leo’ is married to Claudette Hamilton. Claudette is a volunteer tutor, and they have two children: Lenny, a musician; and a daughter Allison.

F.s.u. at a glance:

• was: 27th most in spg!! (pickpockets 1o1). NOW: 15th most!!! (#HarderTougher here, ⇑)
• IS: 29th best in Turnover Margin!! (rut-row, as Eye omitted this one last time).
• was: 41st most FTA’s/game! NOW: 5oth most! (nearly a lateral move, ⇔)
• was: 67th most in bench ppg O. NOW: 23rd most!! (Deep team to be sure, ⇑)
• was: 71st most in swats. NOW: 87th most. (nearly neutral, just a slight slip, ⇔)
• was: 272nd best in Effective FG percentage O. NOW: 247th best. (a mite better, ⇑)
• was: 331st most fouls/game ‘whistled’ against!!! (Physical team). NOW: 342 most against! (LOL… total hackers or CHOP-suey!!!)
• NOT much that was outlying beyond those… very C— to C to C+++ everywhere Eye looked. Closer to C+++ itself overall, however.
• ONE Injury listed. ‘HELP’ @Coach God.

Returning Starters=zero, as in (o). As in: nadda, none, nil! w0w.

Florida State Strengths:

• Your (now) Alpha-baller would be: One double-deuce, or #22, 6′5″, 195 lb., Darin Green Jr. is a springy tho’ stringy looking S/G prospect. That said, he is prospecting better -if not contending outright- of late. A second-place 11.7 ppg is not the worst second season of A.c.c. work. The colorful Green Jr. also finds you: 3.1 rpg with 1.o apg and 1.7 spg. This is a kinda rangy kid on: 37.5% long. And yet then you see the relatively mere 41.7% from the floor and you have to wonder, ‘why’? Or, ‘how’… as in how did his FT percentage plummet by nearly 27% since we faced him last?!? (Now: a modest 68.2%). Well, ’cause he never met a 3-pointer he did not like or would not take. Seriously… 883 trinary attempts behind the arc is a mind-numbing number for nearly anyone. That’s code fo’ mo’ than 240%+ more 3-bombs than any other Seminole. wow. He has slimmed his game/frame down a bit since being ex-of-U.Cent.FLA. Quicker kid for it. He was the 3-point and the Slam Dunk Florida Panhandle H.S. champion alike. So, there are some hops and some shots installed here. His daddy balled at g.Dub (George Washington). And this Green painted a pretty tight scholastic offensive picture; very streaky scorer, just never won anything fo’ it. Oddly enuff… though still yet, he is the thinnest fringe overseas candidate for some instant-O just add P.T. team. Lindy’s did call him the most consistent Seminole. Maybe… that or he is lowercase on remaining career headroom. Take thy pick…
  (UPDATE: modest declining; not off a cliff tho’ not up or level either, ⇓)
  (UPDATE2: …that said, been on a 3-pointer en fuego tear from 22′2″ of late)
• Cam Corhen is a: 6′1o″, 225 lb., Forward by way of Allen, Texas. (Dallas, nice satellite/suburb). Where his elite/special school (which had its own National Hoops Conference) did peak with a #1 national ranking prior to: Sunrise Christian winning the inaugural championship NIBC. Whatever that means. Tho’ good ring-get on him. The book here says that Cameron Murphy Corhen is a stretch-4 or a small-ball 5. Take thy match-up pick. Which Eye finds strange, as he seems to have only 1o-15′ worth of the traditional Four range.  As he is said to have a 3-level skill set and a few perimeter moves. That all being said… my preview mags all had this Cam’ pegged as being a: ‘year away.’ So, the 2o23-2o24: 8.5 ppg with 3.4 rpg on a now sizzling ~65% from the floor may have just arrived a year early. His old man (Richard) balled college ball as a UGA Bulldog (4.6 ppg career). And ESPN did have him rated 83rd best in all the land two years back. So, this is another one to ask back on… tho’ this is no bad initial start to be sure.
  (UPDATE: only scratched in six games thus far due to a… turf-toe in hoops, St. Servatius help).
  (UPDATE2: as said, nearly cannot miss on O, up a whopping +12% overall! XL ⇑ for it).

  

• One number double number-one-ski, (A.K.A., #11), 6′11″, 2o4 lb., Sophomore, by way of: Mallorca, Spain would be Mr. Baba Miller. Who partially got himself in here fo’ his interesting 1st/Christian name. Baba gets you: 7.6 ppg and 4.9 rpg formerly off the Tally pine now part-time starting… on 46.4% overall. 32.2% from downtown. Baba also got himself in here as last year he is not in any of my ’23 pre-season wraps. So, the best I could limited 411 find… this Spaniard (‘si’) has Spanish National team Euro experience built-in. He was a G or backcourter guy early on in High School. Then… he had a whopping nine-inch growth spurt beginning at age 14 and found his way to a pterodactyl-esque 7-2 wingspan that found him moved to the frontcourt. Tho’ some ball-handling and backcourt fluidity do remain onboard. As this is a Swiss Army Knife kid who has the ability to be a tremendous player on both inside and outside and on offense and defense…a rangy and fluid wing player who can stretch the floor with his shooting and is an excellent rim protector. Learned to ball on the: Mediterranean Island of Mallorca; and he has a carrot frosted twist-top to cap all of dat. Has improved or grown his game since we saw him last. At least showing an offensive pulse of sorts. Fringe overseaer at the moment…
  (UPDATE: nearly linear or flat as a board, his thingys only moved by tenths give/take, ⇔)
• r-Junior, 6′11″, 2o4 lb., Jamir Watkins: F1; is your Alpha or big chief at least in terms of (much) offensive wampum. Or at least some offensive wampum, or at least mo’ wampum than anyone else. Leading the way at: 14 ppg with another leading 5.7 rpg, another leading 2.7 apg, and a virtually leading 1.7 spg! Did Eye mention his: ‘leadership’ let? That, and do recall that Leo’s biggest O’s are medium O’s at best/at, most. The 80’s fun-n-gun Denver McNuggets just ain’t, never has been, and won’t ever be, either. So, this kinda pacing is (actually) setting a fair-to-middling FLA.State pace. And it is a highly balanced stat sheet that is a Holiday and on-court stocking stuffer of at least laterally expanse itself. Good player here folks; who some say could/would be doing a good deal mo’ somewhere else.  42.6% overall with 79.4% from the charity stripe and 3o% from behind the arc are normative if not reasonable itself. Now mix in a silver medal for team swats (.7 bpg) and nearly 40% mo’ FTA’s than anyone else and you gain a mo’ well-rounder idea of just how much this roundballer is doing here. Watty is at least a 110v domestic baller, who could buss for mo’ like 22o in a mo’ arc-type sparky offensive system. Smooth, fluid, easy-looking guy upon breaking tape. ex-of V.c.u. Has won 2 Sunshine Slam titles, so you know Mister Jamir is a riser/finisher. His full name is: Jamir Kamal Watkins. He says his name comes from my mom and from the Bible. Jamir means handsome prince and Kamal means perfection. Lindy’s says he is a lengthy Wing, with a lot of defensive desire. Never a bad thing match-up-wise. Does have a strange handsy/smothering-looking set-up on his shot that is a little cockeyed… tho’ same as the best Qb1 Coach ever taught me: “Does it get there”? Reminds a scosche of Adrian Dantley on FTA’s for it. A versatile baller to be sure, tho’ has a history of knee-cutting(s), (right-A.c.l.; St.Nikon help). Late Hokie turndown recruit recall. Had good Trenton (Jersey) numbers in H.S. and showed a few signs of being an outburst guy here-n-there. Rivals 190th guy overall. Projects as an Association 2nd-rounder; seems mo’ parts overseas to me. However, 73 career games in 4.33 years is a concern here. He is said to be a skillful double-double baller when he is rolling healthier. Good player; good overall… does Watkins have anything (left) north of that, though?
  (UPDATE: now leading in scoring, tho’ nearly everything else hath gone down, ⇓ here)
• Primo Spears: is your 6′3″, 185 lb., lead-G or hybrid/’tweener of sorts. Not a Pt.Guard and not a pure S/G either. Slots somewhere combo’ in between, tho’ seems to want to be mo’ parts scoring-G to me. He’s a third-year baller on his likewise triune matching third team in three years; (ex-Georgetown / ex-Duquesne too) and we all know which color flag I feel about that. His real name reads: Amir Angelo Spears IV. Goes by the callsign of: lil’ Primo hence the gloss’ has stuck. Said to be an explosive and dynamic scorer who brings another dimension of scoring to the Seminoles’ rotation. Granted. 1o.6 points with 1.9 rebounds and 2.2 dimes. He has suffered from blow-torch offensive output truly heat-checking days at all his tour stops. Can pop-clean for mid to high-3os on occasion. Was a Big East Honor Roll caliber guy, so g.Town.edu loves there. Primo was pretty; well, primo’ as a Gridder. He was a two-sport standout in both basketball and football; and where was an All-State Second-Team selection as a Wr1 and Db1 during his one season as a football player. That’s not ½-bad for any 1o-game career, is it? So, clearly, there is some elite cross-training bandwidth in play here. Does, however, have a history of elbow dents; three, that’s (3) surgeries worth of the same. Ouch^3 and St.Julia trifecta help(sss). His nickname comes from the word premier which was bestowed on his father as he developed a legendary career as one of the top high school players in the inner-city shirts/skins playground runs of Hartford, Conn. So, there is no pressure there. Primo is said to be a T&F star as a pure end-to-end speedster goes who just needs to slow his turnovers (1.9 tpg) down a scosche. Instinctive player— like a Wideout who just knows where the soft spot(s) are in (football) zones. The ~17/game last year up a Georgetown is instinctive indeed. The 35.8% floor paired with 28.6% long in Tally are ineffective indeed. p.Spears be better than this… health and systematic fit permitting of course. As his 75th On3 national ranking would seem to, agry.
  (UPDATE: although his numbers can still improve; he has moved all percentages upwards and that is mo’ efficacious to be sure, ⇑ for this kid).

Florida State Weaknesses:

• This campaign and 6 different big olè P/F’s or Fours provide some near 220v here. Though there are no mo’ true-C’s for this Georgetown yesteryear Five or Pivotal needy set. Gone is over 21′+ from last year’s truly vertical roster.
• Not a metric S ton of returning experience here. Lotta departures and roster churn for whatever reason(s) alike. Gelling/meshing is prolly mo’ parts in ’24 than it has been in ’23.
• Per: zero, as in zilch, as in zip… pre-season honorees. Not one. Not at anything 1st to 3rd string A.c.c.! wowow!
• The team has been dinged/dented a mite to not aid and abet any of ^that^ to boot. So, it is uncertain how much headroom and therefore how much ceiling/roofing F.s.u. has hoopology, left. February=tell…
• Cam’Ron Fletcher: (now: OUT!) Fletcher will miss the rest of the season with an A.c.l. injury. Yikes and St.Nikon help! See: below:

‘noles TiPi: (depth=5+++) (Sometimes everyone plays, all-12). 23rd in pine-scoring!!!

Former 1 (starter) now 2 (backup) Cam’Ron Fletcher is a: 6.6 ppg netter and a rather sprite-looking 5 rpg go-getter. He is also a: 6′7″, 215 lb., third-year Wildcat striker who slides down from S.e.c. Kentucky to A.c.c. F.s.u. this off-season. The vibes here say that Cam’Ron was supposed to be a reserve or 6th-man deluxe or a very mini-me Hondo or j.Havlicek of sorts. So, the starting digits are something of a surprise here. The 39.4% from the floor and the 33.3% when dialing long-distance are marginal to serviceable respectively. This is after 38.8% floor and 29.4% on 3’s over in Lexington. So, mo’ was prolly expected here. He says he: is named after the rapper, Cameron, who has released 12 albums worldwide. Cam’Ron may be best known for sparking a fashion phenomenon with his pink wardrobe and matching Range Rover. Well… okay. So, there is that too. Other than that, we see that the 1.3 spg helps a bit as this is not the worst defender out there to be sure. Rivals no.37 ranked kid outta H.S. This Cam’ is Said to be a very athletic player who can make plays on both ends of the court…a versatile scorer who is known as a tough 3 and D player. Can rise/leap and finish a bit too. Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 4 Player of the Year in 2o2o after back-to-back Show Me State titles. Was a T&F runner and footballer so he has athletics, plural. Fam’ has played at several NAIA schools so this Cam’Ron is the top Fletcher kick here. ‘nother interesting guy to check back on come 2o25 or so. Tho’ that many rebounds and some scoring from an S/F could encode for medium export things.
(UPDATE: See below: was OUT, St.Nikon help!).
(UPDATE2: now BACK, tho’ benched).
(UPDATE3: still, dingy; though).
(UPDATE4: waaaaaaay down, like 4o% of his own personal ’24 indices. Harsh, prolly still ding-donged ⇓, as there is nothing here that indicates full medicine to me)
(UPDATE5: now listed as plum: “OUT” …Fletcher will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury; ouch).

Josh Nickelberry: is a 6′5″, 2o6 lb., backup Two or Swing of sorts. 4.3 1.8 rpg on the best scorer’s table subbin’-in shooting that F.s.u. bullpen gots. ~35% from three-point-land is acceptable enuff. 2 years a Louisville and another 2 at LaSalle. Tho’… at least he gots one, degree. His fam’ has mad-game. Check it… his momma-bear played volleyball and is an Army veteran His poppa-bear played football at Northern Illinois Where his father is only ranked fourth in school history for assisted tackles (190), sixth in total tackles (419), and eighth in solo tackles (229); team Captain too. That’s sporting D.N.A., all. Joshua wants to play a… game. As he was dunking on the reg’ by (only) the 8th, grade! Prof’ Falken and I dig it da most. Did net you 12 points & drop you 4 in 1o 3’s last year while Exploring. Prolly can do mo’… would help the State bench a good deal if/when Nickelberry gets back to dropping two nickelbacks too.

Third-year, Jalen Warley is a: 6′7″, 2o5 lb., off-G by way of: Mt. Airy, Pa. Coach Ham’ himself crowed that this kinda hybrid 2-G-distributor had really improved his shooting this ’23 summer. This ’24 winter and we see that Warley is hitting it for: 3.1 ppg with 1.2 rpg on his distributive .3 apg with some D at .2 spg. This per his weakened netting: now down to an iffy 36.7% overall tho’ a now suspect 28.6% from 3-point-land. Jalen did get a Keystone State state bling and he was something of a triple-double threat scholastically. His dad was a St.Joe’s standout and his grandpaw was an A.b.a. near star way back when. Several she-cousins ran the collegiate ball as well. So, the hooping D.n.a. seems at least C.B.A. willing here. He was MaxPreps #1 Pa. H.S. baller and he was 247Sports 41st baller overall. May have disappointed a mite last year— tho’ did I mention the stunning 17% betterment in shooting itself this campaign, yet? Yet another ‘Nole to keep a future tense eye on as this was a pretty well-chip prospect who is at least on the rise >>> run ascent. Or, at least he was… as he has slumped a bit of late… maybe he is due to self-correct? As he did find 1-inch and a handful of pounds and there is always, dat.
(UPDATE: again, way down here… like ghouled and exsanguinated down at that, ⇓⇓)

After that… there are a combination(s) of, dings, rotations, line-up alignments and realignments, and mo’ dings. All resulting in ’bout 14 guys overall who have logged spot minutes or better thus far this campaign. Looks like the f.State bench goes at least a handful… maybe closer to two handfuls if/when it ever gets back in full, service. HTH’s.

UPDATE: (6′5″, play-right-away, 225 lb., Qb3): Super-Sophomore: Chandler Jackson’s 14 points led four players who scored in double figures for F.s.u on Wed. nite. Jackson, who dealt with multiple injuries (thumb among ’em, St.Julia bless) last season and a suspension over the summer, has given the Seminoles added firepower on the offensive end. JAX is said to be a hard-nosed, defensive, hawkish, toughie of a Pt.G2 for Leo. Just his {sic: Leo’s} kinda guy too. This is a streaky guy both on-n-off-court alike. Runs hawt/cold on each… for better or for worse. No.45th kid in the Nation per USA Today. That and JAX was only named Mr. Basketball in the state of Tennessee in 2o22 as a senior and a finalist for the Mr. Basketball Award in the state of Tennessee in 2o21 as a junior. Ranked #2 in Tennessee H.S. hoops accordingly. State champion ’22; with a high basketball I.Q. And this is a slasher who has a spot-up game to boot. His old man: (David), played four seasons at Western Illinois where he was a four-year starter…where he led the Leathernecks in scoring in three consecutive seasons. Then enjoyed a 13-year professional career in France, Italy, and Poland. A neat Talent here… if/when he puts it all together, Chandler is indeed legit. Overseas legit… maybe mo’? Now hitting for a nicer-looking 5.1 ppg with 1.3 rpg and 1.1 apg. The: 45.1% floor with 77.3 free and 29.o% three are all on-trend).
(UPDATE: only bencher to better himself, only, one. ⇑ here).

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of 'noles who could scalp (tix) @Tech=7 to 8.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…is not to be too taken with this Regular Season .5oo or 1-1 split.

Not either way, either.

As neither team by mo’ than three shots head-to-head.

---

---

As this one coulda been code for a 7th game in an Associative Property VII game series. A fencing contest or a bald man’s set of split, ends.

As F.s.u. out-shot VeeTee by ~14%; and got, beat. Behind that VeeTee out-shot F.s.u. by ~5% and -wait for it- got… beat!  So, this is one squirrely one to call…

As in… flip a coin; don’t like the hit flip it back best 2 outta 3 or 3 outta 5.

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame was calling for a –4-point VomiT. Now our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a –1-point Tech Tripped out. As in… in the five games Eye had to crunch to update this Roundball round-robin metric here… none (not one) of the digits moved by mo’ than +/- two, that’s (2) shots either way. As each team W or L by nearly the same margin vs. the same foes since we saw F.State last. e-margin that?!? As F.s.u. is one game south .5oo since we got ’em last and we are one game north of .5oo over the same time span. Go fig’ on dat… or, possibly figure on some additional minutes to mitigate this matter here.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee us up a pretty nominal looking +1.point.something-n-change% in shooting percentage margin (not much to say here as not much separated these two here… close to tie on floor-O and closer than that to tied on floor-D, hard to parse, very!); with VeeTee up another not super meaningful looking +2% in 3-point percentage margin (from: the O&M being just a bit better on 3-O and just a bit worse on 3-D, again; not super separated, pretty clustered in point-o’-fact), and (somehow) VeeTee completed a pretty lowly triune sweep via being up a default looking +3 caroms collected in rebounding margin for the year-to-date. (due to: F.s.u. is just impoverished here. Like welded to the floor… as VT won this one in |absolute value| terms to no real credit of their own. As VeeTee has worsened here of late and F.s.u. has been bad here all year… as in: F.s.u. is not real bad off the O-backboard tho’ very bad off the D-backboard, could be some 2nd-chance Techmen points to be gathered if we Hurrying Hokie hustle enuff).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… the Hokies are now up a very canceling effect ~+1% in shooting percentage margin (this from: being up a handful to the good on floor-O and yet down a near handful to the stricter F.s.u. halt-unit in floor-D terms); with the Seminoles up close to ~+4% in 3-point percentage margin terms of late (due to: a rarefied defensive |absolute value| 3-D win. As these two are two tenths from tied in 3-O terms and it is rather that F.s.u. sucks less in 3-D terms mo’ so than anything superlative else), and then the ‘Noles have gone G.Jefferson and Moving On Up and now surmount via a downright useful looking ~+7 misses collected in rebounding margin in the last fortnight of Windex Wipes. Per: being just a pinch better off the o-backboard and yet climbing all over the d-backboard at the other end. (i.e., you had better not 1st-chance O&M miss, much).

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

Hemmingway Hoops: “To have and to have not…”

• vs. no-names? +57 to the sorta good. As F.s.u. did better punching downhill vs. the proverbial little man early on. To only stop two pretty upsetting uppercuts from the same/similar little man with their chin, of late. This is not bad so much as it is a bit uneven in a word. One uppercut could always find its way home inside the annual things happen fast squared circle. If more than two find their way home you might wanna circle the seasonal wagons as raiding parties go. This one is close to that… and at least a little bit bothersome for the same.
• vs. Surnames? (was: –4) ¦ (NOW: –16). As in… here is what I wrote last time… “Which is not so much D-1 P5 strange as it is D-1 P5, bounded. “Aye” F.s.u. does dot 1 sharp-looking ranked upsetting win: (#18 Colorado by +6) and they have played all ranked teams to within a possible 3-shots or less. That’s not the point here… the point here; however, is thus… this is a ‘bounded’ team or a team that -to something of its credit- lacks headroom. {sic: hard} ‘capped. Or rather F.s.u. is playing Mister Scott basketball and: “…give you all she gots”. To their and Coach Leo’s credit. There was not all that much variability in this Surname population to gather here. What with nine, that’s 9 (of: 12) BIG-name games decided by not mo’ than 3-shots either way. This is a pretty tight clustering effect. f.State be who they be… they be an industrious, blue-collar, sweaty-looking C+++ or so and not much mo’.”
  UPDATE: THIS time… the only thingy I can add is that… to me? It looked like F.s.u. was inching closer and closer to proverbially ‘letting go’ {sic: of the rope} to end the year. Tho’… and to their and Leo’s credit, they got back up (mentally) to play an ailing archrival Miami and won by a: “skate 8 and donate” Senior Day to close the ’24 regular season show. Again… there were some vibes/tremors here of a team that was starting to be done. So, we shall see if the Atlantic Coast dorsal-fin they summoned to nick the ‘canes remains; or, not.

Bonus:

1. F.s.u. has gone to a lot mo’ Zoning of late; and away from their signature man-to-man looks.
2. F.s.u. had been allowing in the 80’s on defense on the reg’ behind the switch to so many zone(s).
3. The Seminoles are 14th in the A.c.c. in scoring defense, giving up an average of 75.8 points a game. Only last-place Louisville (79.0) gives up more.
4. Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton just won his 192nd career A.c.c. regular-season game, moving into a tie for fourth place in conference history with former Maryland coach Gary Williams (1990-2011). Propper’s!
5. “We have not been a good defensive team all year,” Hamilton said. “We’ve been consistently inconsistent.”
6. {/zing!}

DOUBLE bonus:

• VeeTee has not won a single, single-shot game in 372 days!
  And if this one is close, late…

LAST 10 GAMES: Hokies: 5-5, averaging 76.3 points, 30.9 rebounds, 14.4 assists, 5.3 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.7 points per game.

LAST 10 GAMES: Seminoles: 4-6, averaging 75.0 points, 30.5 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 8.9 steals, and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.2 points.

Nobody is up anything in R&R. Tied here.
VT is a .5oo Swiss; whereas F.s.u. is .667 as a neutral.
V.P.I. is up a useful-looking +9% at the charity stripe for the year.

The Call...

No.95 Net Ranking Florida State vs. no.56 Net Ranking Vah.Tech:

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The VerdicT:

So, the mo’ I updated and crunched these newfangled and temporary on-point numbers… the mo’ numerological or ill-numerological this one became…

…truly.

A Bob & Doug mathematical… Strange, Brew.

The digits:

So, not much moved not much here… less E.L.O., which only really moved on the Vah.Tech side by nearly a +36 odd-spot ‘hike’. As mixing of one’s sporting metaphor goes…

no. 1o3 E.L.O. vs. no. 72 E.L.O.

That being said… F.s.u. did face the tougher  ’24 slate. 20th toughest S.O.S. (strength of schedule) to our none too soft itself 5oth toughest ’24 S.O.S. (strength of schedule).

So, these two competitors *should* both be pretty battle-hardened by now.

–oOo–

The curious caveat being… F.s.u. tallied (pardon the geo’ pun) +200% mo’ Q1 (quadrant one) triumphs than VeeTee did. Everything else less one oddball F.s.u. upset, was pretty dang close as the remaining 3-quads went on a pure intra-quadrant percentage basis. Leaving one to wonder if F.s.u. is capable of being a bit mo’ when they face a bit mo’ just the same?

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… although I am reluctant to publish that VeeTee is the rightful underdog here, I am frightful to publish that VeeTee is (much) the rightful fave.

This is one squirely Hokiebird contest to Bard… though me does think that this one has mo’ to do with F.s.u. then it does with you know who.

The right(er) version of F.s.u. shows up and Miami’s us and we will have our Turkey Trot hands full. The less(er) version of F.s.u. shows up and we play two vs. A.c.c. #1 U.n.c.

i.e., do not bet the Ag.School barn on the Hokiebird here. Not on the nostalgic noles Rebounding edge and with their backward version of a Trifecta triune check-mark downloaded as well. Not even on this 269-mile sojourn Nor-by-Nor-East that some may deign to call a: ‘pseudo-home-game’. (Which should not hurt, granted…)

Presuming we make a post-season tourney; that should lend itself to an easier-to-gauge match-up and motivation(s) due to unfamiliarity itself.

This one is a toss-up to me…

Flip a coin; don’t like it, flip it best 2 outta 3.

 

 

 

 

💯

 

(fiddy% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=7o, Florida State=67

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**