The Perfect Formula for Florida State Basketball to Knock Off the Gators
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This Friday, November 15th, the Florida State Seminoles host the 20th ranked Florida Gators in a state rivalry bout. These two schools are predominantly bigger football rivals, their rivalry still runs deep in basketball, as the two have scheduled a home-and-home series with one another since 1978. Florida has the most wins in the series with 46, however, the Noles have the upper hand within the last decade, winning 7 of the last ten (FSU won 7 straight games, Florida has won the last three meetings). The most memorable game came in December of 2006, when the reigning and eventual national champion Gators lost to the Noles in Tallahassee coming from a stellar outing from Al Thornton.
As of Thursday, the Gators are favored 61.4%, according to ESPN Analytics’ Matchup Predictor. Florida State needs to get back to beating the Gators on the basketball court, and here’sthe perfect formula to follow to spark the upset.
Coach Hamilton LOVES his defense. His coaching style is unique where his main goal is to have his team buy-in to play 30 seconds of defense and forcing opponents to have to find creative ways to beat them. Leonard Hamilton while at Florida State has mentored professionals like “The Minister of Defense” Jonathan Isaac, and NBA All-Star Scottie Barnes. These two NBA alumni garnered a lot of respect for their defense. When Florida State can make it hard for this Gators squad to establish their half-court offense, the points off of turnovers for the Seminoles are one of their biggest strengths. The team is already ranked 21st among all of Division I in steals per game this season with 12. Watkins has become FSU’s captain, being the team’s leading scorer and contributing the most steals. Taylor Bol Bowen, in the start of his sophomore campaign has 6 steals and 6 blocks in 3 games!
During this three-game start to the season, the offense has not looked as effective. The team is shooting 44% from the field, 21% from range, and are only making 2 out of 3 shots (66.7%) from the charity stripe. I would not be too worried about the shot-making ability from the Noles this early in the season, the offense only has room to grow and gel before conference play. I do think however, that the free throw shooting must improve, period. This team has collected a whopping 90 free throw attempts in 3 games and left behind many points to take advantage of during this stretch. The twenty-point victory against former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie and Tarleton State, the dozen-point opening win over Northern Kentucky and the Rice win at the Toyota Center all could have had their coffins nailed sooner than they did.
Lastly, I do think that Florida State must prove they can hang with the giants in college basketball alike. Florida is a competitive program in the SEC and March Madness. This will be their first test of the season to see what they are made of. Coach Ham has shown within the last few seasons that he is willing to spread the minutes around the team and get as many people in, out, and involved as can be. The conditioning and the practices in the off-season should lead to a game like this where the starters and the first few off the bench are working relentlessly. Florida and coach Todd Golden keeps his rotation VERY short, with eight men who normally step on the court for meaningful basketball. FSU fields around twelve to thirteen players on a given night. Florida State must maximize their production from the starting five to take it to the Gators in their house.
Defense, defense, defense! Which will then lead to offensive efficiency from the turnovers that are generated and points produced from playing tough, driving to the paint and getting fouled on the shot. The earlier this game plan can spring into action, the bigger the crowd will become a factor, and confidence to transfer to the Noles. Once Florida State finds their way to a victory, do not be surprised when they roll into conference play undefeated.