Florida State basketball preview!

#2o1 R.P.I. Florida State #83 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball… is what?

The Hokies are on a roll then they are getting rolled then they are at least on ½ a needs reheating croissant or so. Hard to know which way these not-WWI doughboys will go. Tho we do know that getting the dub-a-u @Louisville really did lifeline our 2o23 post-season chances mo’ than a scosche. That and getting the next one -the last regular season one- @home on Senior Nite 2o23 would prolly qualify us for being defending-Atlantic Conference Champion to some measure of marching on into some level of post-season tourney or another. That’s the good news. The news-news is that 9 up against 21 down Florida State now comes to town. The tied -with us/VeeTee- for 11th place in the A.c.c. Seminoles. Who are .368 in-intraleague ball (7-12 A.c.c.). F.s.u. is not beyond our depth in the warming New River Valley. Tho’ this old ball coach’s typical stall-ball is not what our: our best D is our best O, O&M offenders ordered. Nevertheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, read on… to find, out.

Florida State Head Coach: James Leonard Hamilton: age=74, 626–473 (.57o) overall, 426–263 (.618) 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).

Who does coach Leo’ look like to you?
The Predator Gatling Gun guy; a, little?

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 Fames’.  Hamilton received the 2015 Alumnus of Distinction award from Gaston (N.C.) College at its 50th 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.

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

Florida State at a glance:

  • 1o8th in free-throwing.
  • 319th most in bench ppg!! (i.e., fatigue could work on dem, late!)
  • 326th best in Scoring D allowed!!
  • 329th best in Rebounding Margin!!! (Really D-boarding suspect! 317th.)
  • 335th best in 3-point percentage D!!!
  • Several injuries listed (Coach God bless(es))
Readers observe: …to be in the much-vaunted A.c.c., F.s.u. only fields 8 National Rankings better than 200th best outta 351 menz hoops teams in 2o23! That’s not very good; and frankly, that’s not even very average. This is not a good hoops squad— never mind not a good A.c.c. club itself.

Returning Starters=one*, that’s (1)!

Florida State Strengths:

  • Roster confusion… 2 Cams and 2 Greens is pay-attention fun jus’ like dat.
  • F.s.u. just used their once every 5-year tour travel voucher. As they went N.A.F.T.A. up to the Great White North, ‘eh’. On a Summer 2o22 Canadian Exhibition Tour 1o1.
  • *  (All-A.c.c. 3rd-string per: Lindy’s). r-Junior, Caleb Mills, is your bronze (medal) ‘nole this season after having been the ceti or C-side Cougar two years back. As this H-town (Houston) transfer baller has come up a bit down in Tallahassee. The team lead at: 13.2 ppg with 3.1 rpg and 3.5 apg, and the likewise team lead at a: handsy or picky 1.4 spg says so. That’s not epic, tho’ that is a pretty reasonable all-’round roundball swagg. All-American Athletic Conference second team and A.A.C. (preseason) Player of the Year two seasons back showcases the potential here. So, there is that… after that, things have underwhelmed a bit here. The book here says that Mr. Mills comes to town with good length and is the fastest player on the court. Real speedster in T&F terms. Listed as a Pt.Guard outta high school; seems mo’ parts fearless slasher on breaking tape to me. Rivals no.199 ranked baller in scholastic terms. Has grown 2″ since H.S. and found 5 lbs. to now go 6′5″, 180 lbs. Real string-bean lowest B.M.I. build. Like, spindly Jenny Craig poster-child thin. Listed as a lowercase **** recruit, had a lotta southern schools (including a few S.E.C.’s) after him. Has a really tight handle on his jab-step foreshadowing crossover. Twinkletoes typea footworks. Hard guy to check once he feels his flow and catches his sexxy. More of a lead-One and not a pure Qb1 at the helm. Good player— 83,6% free-throwing hints at this; every bit as much tho’ the 28.3% long has declined and taken the now 4o.3% down a notch or so along with it. This One needs to be less me-1st. Runs about 2:1 good nites to chilly nites, tho’ the recent truly heating-up trend is on-trend indeed. Does have a history of dings/dents to boot; Coach God bless on dat. This is a good/solid P5 D-1 guy who is a very fringe overseas guy or the guy nobody wants to check at your local Y.M.C.A. ’cause this likable kid is ceiling if not roofing on headroom itself. Would that we all could (say that), too.
  • 6′7″, 2oo lb., Matthew Cleveland, is a Shooting-G or Two by way of the ATL, Ga. Matty antes you: a 1st-best: 14.7 ppg with a real improved and team pacing 7.7 rpg on a somewhat better 1.8 apg. That said, Mat’ appears to have had the rug pulled out from under him and hit the proverbial rookie or nugget year wall of late last year. As he has only logged shooting metrics all over the place. 20% up to nearly 60%. Not just a yo-yo a truly volatile shooter that you might wanna crowd/deny and disrupt any rhythm early on. VERY inconsistent baller, prolly not your alpha pick to paint your house in the off-season for it. ***** or penta-star recruit and the crown jewel of F.s.u.’s 6th-ranked national recruiting class last year. The whispers say: ‘elite transition’ player who thrives in the open court. F.S.U. Academic Dean’s List shows you he can thrive off-court as well. .edu proppers on dats. Consensus National Top-22 baller, Rivals #14 baller overall. Rarified 3-level scorer (closer, mid-range, deep). As Mr. Cleveland is a very explosive athlete with outstanding body control. A sophomoric Jack the Ripper or slasher who specializes in making tough shots; a versatile guy who can even chip in and backcourt rebound a bit as well. 48% from the floor just did not make any sense next to: 50% from the charity stripe and a near abysmal 16% from long last year. This year and 45.4% overall makes way mo’ overall sense married to an okay 69.3% free-throwing and 37.o% long-bowing. That’s quite a come-ups on marksmanship and it shows Mister C-town is not working adverse. All my preseason mags say Cleveland is experiencing (unexpected) lake-effect snow for that. As does his pretty competitive AA Pace H.S. Peachtree state championship bling. Did come from and remained at a smaller or lowercase high school program, so at least he has a sense of loyalty. Won back-to-back Ga. State Titles in fact; seemed to raise his scholastic post-season game as well. Had a buncha Big-10 and P.A.C.-10 offers. Good player; and this kid is prolly a Pro’, only calculus is… domesticated or exported?
  • One double-deuce, or #22, 6′1o″, 21o lb., rookie or nugget voting year Darin Green Jr. is a springy tho’ stringy looking P/F or Four prospect. That said, he is prospecting better -if not contending outright- of late. A second-place 13.6 ppg is not the worst debut year A.c.c. work. The colorful Green Jr. also finds you: 3.o rpg with 1.9 apg and 1.o spg. This is on a team-leading and A.c.c. Top-5 FT-shooting of a handsome 9o.5% paired with a kinda rangy 36.9% long. And yet then you see the relatively mere 38.9% from the floor and you have to wonder, ‘why’? Well, ’cause he never met a 3-pointer he did not like or would not take. Seriously… 233 trinary attempts behind the arc is a mind-numbing number for nearly anyone, never mind someone who is closer to 7′ in verticality. That’s code fo’ mo’ than 240%+ more 3-bombs than any other Seminole. wow. He did bomb in H.S. (for three seasons); tho’ not like this. He was the 84th-ranked ESPN.com recruit. So, there is that. And he is coming off of off-season knee surgery (St.Culbreth bless); so, there is that for this shooty Four too. The tag reads: strong lower-body and had handles to change speeds. Tough cover as a semi-Shooting-G trapped in a P/F body. #1 ranked (Nor.) Carolina baller 4-years ago too. Where he led: Asheville Christian to a AAA or Trip-A state championship and that always counts. Said to be the cook of the F.s.u. team per his rather acclaimed Chef Dad (Dee Green), (no joke). This much range hitched to this much height is a tough cover and you gotta wonder where Darin is cookin’ in 2-3 more years for it too. (BIG long-azz ‘dreds do score Predator XL hirsute points to boot). Looks a bit older than he is, prolly does not kegger party hurt.
  • 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. That all being said… my preview mags all had this Cam’ pegged as being a: ‘year away’. So, the 2o23 8.3 ppg with 3.3 rpg on a nice ~54% 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 last year. So, this is another one to ask back on… tho’ this is no bad initial start to be sure.

    Dos-deuce
  • Cam’Ron Fletcher is a: 10.8 ppg netter and a rather sprite-looking 7.5 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 47% floor and 36.2% 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 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: now OUT, St.Nikon help!).

F.s.u. Weaknesses:

  • Although not small or lowercase by any sane measure… F.s.u. did depart right at ~21′ in true-C height and is down to only one legit Five in the low post. i.e., a bit not as Towering Infernos as S.McQueen and Coach Leo’ typically go.
  • A youth movement is underway here in some measure… as Leo’ may be playing next year and beyond already.
  • As said, there is still some measure of height here— tho’ these ‘Noles look like they could eat a weight plate or three. Not a really physically developed set of younglings; at least not yet.
  • VERY dingy/denty team too. As in… F.s.u. was without Chandler Jackson (thumb, St.Julia bless), Jeremiah Bembry (back, St.DeClan help), Naheem McLeod (ankle, St.Philip bless), and De’Ante Green (ACL from high school, St.Nikon here) at varying points during this season. Dang…
    PLUS the pictured update(s) here… wow. Harsh…

nole tipi: (depth=)

6′11″, 2o4 lb., Freshman, 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: 4.2 ppg and 3.3 rpg off the Tally pine on 50% overall. Baba also got himself in here as he is not in any of my 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. 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.

Second-year, Jalen Warley is a: 6′6″, 2oo 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 ’22 summer. This ’23 spring and we see that Warley is hitting it for: 6.9 ppg with 2.9 rpg on his distributive 3.3 apg with some D at 1.2 spg. This per his indeed improved netting: now up to a nifty 49.7% overall and a reasonable 33.3% 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 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.

Additionally, F.s.u. brings: “The Big Duke”, 7′5″, 255 lb Naheem Yamma McLeod true-C attcha off the pine. McLeod is a Philly inner-city baller from: Chipola College prior to F.s.u. Ballard is a Syracuse, N.Y. escapee. Lindy’s said that McLeod is something of a point-C or Sabonis passing/table-setting big-man. McLeod also led Chipola to the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas in 2o21. And was 247’s 24th-ranked Pivot or Center prior to that. His mom is 5-5 and his dad is 7-5 his little sis goes 6-8! WOW. b.Duke crafts you: 4 ppg with 2.7 rpg and 1.2 bpg when subbin’ in at the scorer’s table for you. Plus the bonus +20 lbs. he found since last season to boot. wowow.

R.A.T.T.: ...the 12th ranked A.c.c. team @ the 11th ranked A.c.c. team quantifies, how?

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Illationconclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of 'noles who could scalp tix @Tech=5 to 7 at full roster strength.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is

not to be too taken with where Florida State is or is not at this very moment.

The caveat to me being… where is the salty Coach Leo in terms of next year(s) his ownself?

As it sure looks-n-feels like he is playing 2o24 right now to me.



I say that… as a lotta other 351 D-1 menz hoops teams -with eleventeen mo’ reclassifying upward for next year- would love to have F.s.u.’s recruiting or youngling Talent bulge problems.

i.e., Talent or rankings thereof ain’t the problem(s) here men.

Health -or the lack thereof- has been an issue.
The wondering is… is that the only issue, here?

huh?

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a umpossible astounding +155 point VicTory here. When taken per capita the Fourm Guide yields a mucho mo’ manageable +9.11-point Tech Triumph. Of course, I’ll eat these +155-point words, if/when. Hell, Eye’ll even eat them podcast-style at 154-points. That said… the squirrely part for the Hokiebird was thus… F.s.u. scored a number of Fourm Guide wins head-to-head; six, that’s (6) if you are keeping score @home. Some might have me say that could indeed matter. However, when F.s.u. got roundball round-robin beaten via common opponents F.s.u. got manhandled, panhandled, and totally mangrove swamped! There was mo’ of this as Recency Effect went… so hopefully that is mo’ parts Halo(s). Time=tell…

4 pm kick!

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is up about +5% in shooting percentage margin (mostly from: VT being better on Offense and F.s.u. being technically a bit worse on Defense); with V.Tech up right at +6% in 3-point percentage margin (mostly from: again, virtually the same as above… Vah.Tech wins on 3-point O and F.s.u. L’s on 3-point D; except the D-gap was wider than the O-gap although both do favor the O&M here), and -for a change- V.P.I. is up ~+5 in Windex Wipes in rebounding margin for the duration. (from: F.s.u. being negative. Pretty much all this; is as VeeTee is right at backboarding equilibrium. We are dead average and they are well below the same).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… before Eye enumerate here… this one is a strange one! As in, never seen this one before now… as… VeeTee won in net shooting percentage by a +4% margin, the kicker is I’ve never had to use |Absolute Value| for overall/floor recently metrics ever before! As Both are trading underwater here (i.e., both are declining on O and loosening up on D). The even nuttier thingy is that although VeeTee per se ‘won’, F.s.u. has experienced less of a Δ on O or change itself. Go fig’ on that?!? Then you ask? Well, then the plot went full Monty viscus and thickened even further. As the F’n Gobblers won by a staggering +18% in 3-point percentage margin (As in: F.s.u. cannot make a “3” with a pencil whereas VT is netting 3’s ‘okay’ enuff on O, and yet F.s.u. would rank dead last on 3-point defensing in all of D-1 of recently!), and in rebounding margin… I had to pull out the |Absolute Value| bracketology again! The Hokies ‘won’ here by being +3 caroms corralled/game less sucky; although both suck off the ‘glass. It is just that F.s.u. has nearly no fiber’ in their gathering diet at all.

Understanding/Readers Note: F.s.u. dropped with an entirely 6×6 perfected correlation matrix of decline itself! Everywhere I looked they declined every single time. VeeTee is in decline as well…
…other than a slight tightening up on 3-D. It is just that F.s.u. cut a mind-boggling
15% on all shooting(s) combined all by their own O & D selves!
Nutz… Bastogné -esque!

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

Record books are meant to be… burnt?
Florida State’s unusually sluggish season could end with a historic thud in Saturday’s regular-season finale @Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.

Mired in their first L’ing campaign since their penalty-adjusted o-13 finish in 2oo6-o7, the Seminoles (9-21, 7-12 Atlantic Coast Conference) are a mere close-out 1 single, solitary L removed from setting the program record for the most defeats in a season! As the 2ooo-o1 team bellied up to finish: 9-21.

…however, all is not (quite) L…
As a surprising 33% F.s.u.’s wins have featured a double-digit comeback, highlighted by a 25-point second-half rally at then-No. 13 Miami on Feb. 25. wow! Nearly shocked here…

“Thanks” @#25!!!
P/F, Justin Mutts is just the second active player in Division I with 1,5oo points, 1,ooo boards, and 4oo assists in his career. Dang!

Nobody is up any% at the charity stripe for the year. 1/1oth from tied.
V.P.I. is a .75 host; whereas F.s.u. is .4 as a guest.
F.s.u. is a possibly useful +6 in R&R.

The Call...

No.218 Net Ranking Florida State @ no.71 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

So, Eye’ll confess it… the Fourm Guild messed with my head a bit here…

…as one could argue that there could be a bit mo’ pure raw Talent on the F.s.u. sidelines give/take.

It is rather that the schedule scan had me wondering just how much mo’ F.s.u. could take before F.s.u. gave up? 641.9-miles Nor-by-Nor-East when their A.c.c. tourney bracketology (and our very own) cannot move up or fall down anymore, which makes you wonder just how much this one means to lackluster them?

It is also Senior Nite over in the somewhat windier/warmer New River Valley and hopefully, our guys wanna take this one for the three seniors: (Basile and Cattoor, and Mutts) and give them a warm-hearted O&M sendoff.

…or at least so we all must myspacebook modern-era hope.

oOo

The VerdicT:

If you ask me -and you did via reading these very, words- if you ask me… Florida State is exactly 1-shot and one single solitary point removed from having gone 42 days without winning itself.

🔩

And… this just in… if my Aunt Kim had nutz-n-a-bolt she’d be my Uncle, Tim.

Is this true?
Yes.

Do we deny that?
No.

It is also true, however, that in those 8 L’s vs. 2 (barely won) wins… F.s.u. was only really in one of those eight games. The other seven times they got dumped by between: a whopping 4o-points down to a somewhat more respectful 4-shots. Meaning they are getting conditioned to getting shook.

1, 2, 🏀 4, 5

The caveat(s) is… these are 2-ships shipping h2o in the nite! It is just that the U.s.s. Duck Pond has a few mo’ pumps keeping her list less (efforting) listless than the U.s.s. Tally.

That… and in all candor?

The Pt.Guard1 in me caught a subtle ‘whiff’ of BeeCee, ‘Cuse, and Clemson on film here.

F.s.u. does not make for a pretty or fashionable offensive game.
Same as those pointy-elbow three did to us just the same.

The closer:

Meaning… you might as well go’on and open up ‘mean’ itself here.
F.s.u. is on the ropes and the referee is watching them and their punch resistance.
Might not take a whole helluva a lot from the jump to trigger a technical stoppage (TKO) Saturday.

So, start=finish in this one.

We start hot and we can give the 2’s and 3’s some P.T’s late.
If we let F.s.u. hang-around that is on us.
And our Sr’s may be pretty tired
come about 7 in the evening
for it to boot.

💯

 

 

(67% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech
=83, Florida State=69

please support the VT F.C.A.!

LETS GO!

Hokies!

 bourbonstreet**