FSU fan and '94 grad here. I was there during the Charlie Ward/Sam Cassell/Bob Sura/Doug Edwards/Rodney Dobard years. This team will NOT remind you of those teams. We have two very talented freshmen who lead us in scoring. Dwayne Bacon was a McDonald's AA and Malik Beasley was not far behind. We have good size, but are not a physical team. Boris Bojanovsky is 7'3" and 248 lbs. He can block shots, but is weak physically and can be bullied in the paint. Jarquez Smith is a 6'9" 4 who plays center out of necessity. He is very athletic, but also on the finesse side. He comes in to spell Boris after the first couple of minutes or when Boris picks up a quick foul. Jarquez has come on a bit lately, but is not really a guy you have to plan for. Our two most physical bigs missed all or most of the year, so it's been a bit of patchwork in the frontcourt. Senior Montay Brandon starts at the four, but he's really a big guard. He actually started his FSU career at point guard. He's played all over and is a solid rotation guy, but doesn't score and has trouble finishing near the rim. He'll likely play 20 minutes and accumulate almost nothing in the stat sheet. Terrance Mann is another talented freshmen who has been playing more as the season's gone on. He's a big guard, but also plays the four out of necessity at times. He's an energy guy. Our point guard is Xavier Rathan-Mayes. He's a converted two who is capable of putting up big scoring nights, but has been disappointing this year. Last year he made a name for himself by scoring 30 points in five minutes against UNC in a game we lost in OT. He also had a crazy scoring binge in another loss. Expect ESPN commentators to reference this, as he's been living off that since. Senior guard Devon Bookert has been the heart and soul of the team this year. He's not big or a great athlete, but he's a deadly set shooter and can light it up from deep. He's also a good hustle guy and will jump passing lanes for steals. So we've got a couple of NBA caliber athletes (Bacon and Beasley) and some decent role players. Coach Leonard Hamilton is known as a great defensive coach, but defense has been our Achilles Heel this year. When we defend with energy, we can beat anyone. But we've had games where teams can drive on us at will for layups and we're slow to rotate on the perimeter, leaving guys wide open for easy threes. Offensively, we want to run at every opportunity. Bacon and Beasley are deadly in transition. We struggle in the half court, and especially against zone defenses. I think that about covers it. I'm hoping for an upset, but I think you guys will win this one at home and end our season. Here's to a good, clean, exciting game.
Mike
Mike