FL ST WAS 25-10 LAST YEAR THIS YEAR THEY ARE 14-2 RANKED 18TH BY AP AND 19TH BY ESPN.
THE NOLES LOST THEIR BEST PLAYER FROM LAST YEAR..GUARD TONEY DOUGLAS WHO LED THE ACC IN SCORING WITH 21.5 PTS PER GAME AND WAS THE ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
UPFRONT THE NOLES ARE LED BY SOLOMON ALABI A 7’1” SOPH CENTER WHO HAS A GREAT TOUCH AROUND THE BASKET AND IS FL. STATES NUMBER ONE REBOUNDER AND SHOT BLOCKER AND CHRIS SINGLETON IS A VERY ATHLETIC 6’9” SOPH FORWARD. THEY ALSO HAVE A 6’11” FRONT COURT MAN DEIVIDAS DULKYS
IN THE BACK COURT DERWIN KITCHEN HAS BEEN RUNNING THE OFFENSE.THE 6’4” JR GUARD IS MORE OF A COMBO GUARD AS OPPOSED TO A TRUE POINT GUARD. ALSO IN THE BACK COURT THE NOLES HAVE 6’5” FRESHMAN MICHAEL SNEAR, WHO WAS CALIFORNIA’S THE NUMBER ONE H.S PLAYER LAST YEAR.
FL ST IS A GREAT DEFENSIVE TEAM WITH A GREAT DEAL OF LENGTH AND GOOD DEPTH. THEY HAVE HELD THEIR OPPONENTS TO A SHADE LESS THAN 34% SHOOTING WHILE HITTING ABOOUT 48% OF THEIR SHOTS. THEY HAVE OUTREBOUNDED THEIR OPPOSITION BY JUST ABOUT 8 BOARDS A GAME.
HOWEVER FL ST AVERAGES 17.6 TURNOVERS A GAME WHILE GETTING ABOUT 16 ASSISTS A GAME..NOT A GOOD ASSIST TURNOVER RATIO.
SO HOW DO YOU BEAT FL ST. GOTTA TRY PRESSING THEM. I’D LIKE TO SEE DINO AND MILBOURNE CONVERGE ON THE RECiPIENT OF THE IN BOUND PASS AND TRY TO FORCE ERRANT PASSES THAT WE CAN STEP IN THE PASSING LANES AND STEAL AND GET SOME EASY BASKETS. YOU GOTTA PRESS HARD AND PRESS VERY AGGRESSIVELY TO RATTLE THE NOLES BACK COURT. THE NOLES ALSO HAVE TROUBLE AT THE FREE THROW LINE SHOOTING ONLY 64% BUT WE CAN’T GIVE A LOT OF FOULS BECAUSE OF OUR LACK OF DEPTH PARTICULARLY UPFRONT.
PLAYING THEM MAN TO MAN WILL BE HARD BECAUSE OF THEIR SIZE SO PERHAPS A MATCH UP ZONE AND FORCE THEM TO, YES, SHOOT THE 3. FL ST HAS SHOT 36%..BEYOND THE ARC…BUT IT MIGHT BE WORTH THE TRY TO PLAY ZONE A BIT RATHER THAN GO MAN TO MAN AND LET THEM DUMP IN TO THEIR LARGE AIR CRAFT CARRIERS IN THE PAINT. AND WITH A MATCH UP ZONE MAYBE THEY CAN BOX OUT A LITTLE BETTER AND GRAB SOME BOARDS. DON’T FORGET TEAMS DO AT TIMES DIE BY THE 3.
ON OFFENSE. CAN’T TAKE WILD PULL UP 3 POINTERS. I THINK THEY HAVE TO PASS IN THE POST AND QUICKLY PASS IT OUT. MAKE THE BALL ACT LIKE A YO YO. GET FL ST TO MOVE THEIR FEET AND TRY TO CREATE SOME SEPARATION. YOU PASS THE BALL CRISPLY INSIDE TO OUT AND HIT AN OPEN MAN WHO CAN CATCH AND SHOOT IN ONE RHYTHMATIC MOTION AND MAKE A FEW 3’S. AND WHEN YOU KICK IN AND IF THE GUARDS AND WEAK SIDE FORWARDS NOT CONVERGE TAKE IT TO THE BASKET HARD. FORGET ABOUT THE PUMP FAKES. GO STRONG, AND YES, YOU WILL GET SOME SHOTS BLOCKED BUT YOU HOPE TO CREATE CONTACT, DRAW SOME FOULS AND GO TO THE LINE. LAST TIME I CHECKED YOU CAN’T BLOCK FREE THROWS.
THIS IS A GAME THE TERPS HAVE TO COME OUT OF THE LOCKER ROOM WITH FIRE IN THEIR EYES, PLAY HARD AND PLAY FOCUSED FROM THE OPENING TAP. CAN’T LET DOWN AGAINST THE NOLES. THEY ARE A VERY VERY GOOD TEAM.
Blog from Freddy from Boca
freddy from boca
correction..xavier gibson is the 6’11” f/c and delkys is a 6’5″ guard. alabi is also the teams leading scored hitting 72% of his shots. they also have an 11 year old ballboy who is 6’4″. this is a big team
· 11/12/2019
bob
i read this before the game and the scouting report was pretty accurate. good job
bob
· 11/12/2019