Time: 9:00pm
TV: ACC Network
Announcers: Tim Brando, Mike Gminski
Officials: Jamie Luckie, Ray Natili, Michael Stephens
Wow they are tall, FSU is the 2nd tallest team in the nation. Once again Hamilton has himself another highly efficient defensive team, that is the second best in the nation at 2fg defense and 17th in shot blocking. There is one area where everyone on this team struggles…turnovers, they have an inability to hold onto the ball.
Probable Starters:
#1 Devon Bookert (6-3 185 SO) Guard – Behind Miller, Bookert is FSU’s biggest three point threat.
#32 Montay Brandon (6-7 216 SO) Guard – Nothing screams special about Brandon, he does his job and produces even if it’s not above average. A solid player any team needs.
#10 Okaro White (6-8 204 SR) Forward – White, IMHO, is the biggest threat facing the Pack not named Miller. White does everything well, too many to list.
#14 Robert Gilchrist (6-9 220 SR) Forward – Gilchrist doesn’t do a whole lot and he’s not that good at what he does, so he’s up for the latest “unknown player has career day against the Pack.”
#15 Boris Bojanovsky (7-3 235 SO) Center – Ahhh the battle of 7 foot foreigners. Boris shoots the ball well around the rim (.635) and is a quality shot blocker.
Bench:
#30 Ian Miller (6-3 198 SR) Guard – Miller is the Seminoles leading scorer and leads the team in possessions, all without starting a single game this year. While his average ORtg of 106.1 doesn’t scream ALL ACC he’s their heart and soul. No telling where he’s going to score from since he’s taken just as many shots inside the arc as outside.
#25 Aaron Thomas (6-5 195 SO) Guard – Thomas comes off the bench but he plays a lot of minutes, 70% of them to be precise. Expect to hear his name a lot because while he may not shoot a lot from behind the arc, he’s effective there, but he’s very active around the basket and gets to the FT line a lot and shoots them both very well.
#50 Michael Ojo (7-1 292 SO) Center – He’s not much of a scorer and has a sub-90 ORtg but he’s a strong rebounder and shot blocker.
#5 Jarquez Smith (6-9 225 FR) Forward – Uhhhhhh…He’s the only freshman that plays. That’s about all I got.
Series Notes:
– NC State leads the series 28-22.
– Current Streak: FSU = 1
– Last 5 Games: FSU has won 4 out of the last 5 meetings.
– Last game in Raleigh: Feb. 19, 2013 – NCSU won 84-66
– Last Meeting: March 9, 2013, Tallahassee – FSU won 71-67: Florida State’s Devon Bookert scored a career-high 18 points and Michael Snaer added 17 as Florida State fought back from an eight-point deficit in the second half to defeat North Carolina State 71-67 on March 9, 2013 at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee in the regular-season finale for both teams. A pair of free throws by Bookert gave the Seminoles their first lead of the second half at 57-55. He then added a jumper with 2:01 left to snap a tie at 62 with 2:01 left and three free throws in the final 1:23 of the see-saw contest featuring nine lead changes and nine ties. Snaer broke away and caught a length-of-the court pass from Okaro White for an uncontested dunk that gave Florida State a 67-63 lead with 32 seconds left after both teams suffered turnovers in previous possessions with the lead on the line. Richard Howell’s 3-point play with 21 seconds left got the ‘Pack to within 67-66. He scored off a missed 3 by Wood and was fouled on the put back.
Who Has The Advantage?
It’s never a good sign when everything that equates to actually putting the ball into the basket the other team is better at defending then you scoring. Lots of facepalms tonight. Remember when I’ve talked about Shot Blockers make the worst Rebounders?
Once again defensive rebounding will be key. I do wonder one thing, do you really have an advantage when you suck less than the other team?
Predictor:
KenPom likes FSU by 4. It’s going to be tough for the Pack to get a decent shot around the basket and if we can’t hit jumpers it’s going to be a long night. I say the Noles by double digits.
