I’m not really seeing what the recent hype about FSU is about. This Miami FSU game is so crusty
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I think they are a tough matchup-long, athletic, and well coached. They are taking it to Miami. Will be an interesting match up for us.
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Depends how you define well coached. I think Leonard is pretty mediocre on a game to game basis. His game plan against us first game last year was perplexing
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I tend to think people sell Hamilton a little short and unfairly write him off as just an assembler of athletes (Not referring to your comment Norfolk_Hoo - just something I see across different boards). His teams have played us very well, and that’s not just because they’re big.
Since Tony took over, we are only 0.500 against FSU and they have the second best winning percentage against us, only below Duke. During that period, we’ve made it to the ACC tourney final three times and won it twice and FSU has made it twice and won it once (and knocked us out in our title winning year). Over that same stretch, we made it the tourney 7 times, with 2 second round finishes, one sweet sixteen, one elite eight, and one title. Hamilton’s teams made it to the tourney 6 times, with 2 second round finishes, 2 sweet sixteens, and one elite eight (and last year’s team looked very dangerous before being screwed by COVID). In his whole time at FSU, he has a winning conference record of 0.543.
Anyway, there are probably much better ways to analyze his stats (and hopefully I didn’t reference any incorrect stats), I just think it’s unfair the way some people talk about him. Yes, he recruits great athletes and that contributes to their success, but he plays them to their strengths and puts them in positions to succeed, develops a bench unit as well as anyone, and has achieved a lot at a football school with not much previous significant basketball history.
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I think what’s been remarkable about Leonard Hamilton recently is he gets a lot of short term 1 or 2 year players. And they’ve still been consistently near the top of the league. Little drop off. Bennett has talked about the pitfalls of getting those players. You have to keep getting them, because you constantly need players to contribute immediately. It’s one thing for Duke where they get them in volume and often the variety that they know ahead of time they’re 1 and done and can plan ahead in recruiting. Not many of FSU’s have been that way.
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I think Hamilton has really done a good job. The players keep evolving but it looks like the same team every year. Long and athletic and they get the job done for the most part.
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It is amazing how they always look the same. Love Hamilton but I think he is just too chill to take them to the next level. Would love to meet the man
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Idk about Hamilton, but FSU terrifies me. Everyone is 6’5” plus lol
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And just to say, I’m not saying he’s an elite coach, but I think he’s had a really good career and what he’s done with FSU in recent years is pretty impressive. Just feel like people are too quick to dismiss his teams as nothing more than height and length. Also if I can age a quarter as well as he has, I will count myself insanely lucky.
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Their ball pressure defense scares me when they take away the 3. Hauser and Murphy are wonky drivers and the San Francisco game still triggers me with the one billion missed lay ups. However their ball pressure defense is what kept us in the games last year as they pressured us even though we struggled with the 3, allowing our guards to drive and operate.
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Saw VT winning by 15 and went to see who was doing well in the box score only to see they’re shooting 38% and 26% from three and only took eight free throws so far. Man Notre Dame sucks.
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MIke Brey’s a good guy but man it seems like he’s just stealing money at this point. No reason for this team to be that bad.
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What happened? Did he check out? Wasn’t that long ago he made back to back elite eights.
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Checked out I think. And love the guy
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Brey brought in that good recruiting class in 2018 and then added basically nothing after that. Even without any reinforcements, the guys from that 2018 class are still there and should be better than this as upperclassmen, but they just aren’t. Does kind of seem like Brey has checked out recruiting and coaching. I do like him though, so would be kind of sad to see him go.
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This Louisville Clemson game is brutal.
Relevant for Saturday: It looks like Bede was the prime beneficiary of VT needing to replace Radford’s minutes, as he went from 14 minutes against Syracuse to 32 minutes against ND. Cone played a little more too. I think our starting lineup matchups well defensively against Bede-Cone/Cattoor-Alleyne-Mutts-Aluma.
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My biggest concern with VT is whether their physicality will cause problems for us on the boards and defending the interior. Not having Radford helps, but Mutts and Aluma are well muscled, aggressive player.
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Alums and Mutta go 6”9 and 6’7. Neither is overly physical but they both play hard. We’ve seen plenty of comparable guys in the front court. Jay and Sam will be fine.