Making us proud

[Flacusian]

This team demonstrated a level of play and guts today that was remarkable and is deserving of some credit. Think for a moment how only a short time ago they were looking hopelessly disheveled and many had observed some element of "quit" when we were getting hammered in some games that although we may not have expected to win, we were shocked to see that we couldn't even compete.

It's been a rocky season and with the unrealistic expectations held by many being completely dismissed, there are signs now that the team is finally putting the pieces together and demonstrating that they are in fact capable of playing at a high level with the better teams.

Today's win was a result of the collective efforts of everyone who set foot on the floor. Gillon had an outstanding game and his icy resolve hitting his FT's in the closing minutes gives us hope that in close games we have a guy we can rely on to make those crucial FT.s with the game on the line. White was outstanding in all areas of play and he stuffed the stat sheet and has shown that he is everything we had hoped for when we got him and perhaps more. Lydon is simply... a pedigree winner who,even when not scoring is impacting the game in a big way. He is the heartbeat of this team. Battle is showing himself to be a great penetrator and is getting the feel for the college game. Roberson may be scary at the free throw line but we all know that when he is on he is a game changer for us.

Beating the #6 team in the Nation is a significant achievement for this group and today's play was something that as Orangefans we can all be really proud of. I know I am. I feel re-infused with enthusiasm for the remainder of the season and I'm feeling courageous enough to start to entertain the thought that perhaps this team... like last years... may show us their best at the end of the season when it counts the most...
and regardless of what anyone says there is still ample opportunity for this team to carve out a path to the tournament...

LETS GO ORANGE!!!!!

 

[longislandcuse]

They've officially sucked me back in.

Back to being a nervous wreck before Wednesday Night's game.

 

[bballbeadle]

Their victory in the last game - winning a close one - set them up for being able to win this one. Success begets success. They are starting to believe in themselves, and so are we!

Or maybe we are caught up in the wave today of lower ACC teams beating upper ones. The world turned upside down! We won, we won, we won! (Hamilton)

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Pretty good, considering we are playing without 1 and 2 on the Center depth chart.

 

[Coach Orange]

This team demonstrated a level of play and guts today that was remarkable and is deserving of some credit. Think for a moment how only a short time ago they were looking hopelessly disheveled and many had observed some element of "quit" when we were getting hammered in some games that although we may not have expected to win, we were shocked to see that we couldn't even compete.

It's been a rocky season and with the unrealistic expectations held by many being completely dismissed, there are signs now that the team is finally putting the pieces together and demonstrating that they are in fact capable of playing at a high level with the better teams.

Today's win was a result of the collective efforts of everyone who set foot on the floor. Gillon had an outstanding game and his icy resolve hitting his FT's in the closing minutes gives us hope that in close games we have a guy we can rely on to make those crucial FT.s with the game on the line. White was outstanding in all areas of play and he stuffed the stat sheet and has shown that he is everything we had hoped for when we got him and perhaps more. Lydon is simply... a pedigree winner who,even when not scoring is impacting the game in a big way. He is the heartbeat of this team. Battle is showing himself to be a great penetrator and is getting the feel for the college game. Roberson may be scary at the free throw line but we all know that when he is on he is a game changer for us.

Beating the #6 team in the Nation is a significant achievement for this group and today's play was something that as Orangefans we can all be really proud of. I know I am. I feel re-infused with enthusiasm for the remainder of the season and I'm feeling courageous enough to start to entertain the thought that perhaps this team... like last years... may show us their best at the end of the season when it counts the most...
and regardless of what anyone says there is still ample opportunity for this team to carve out a path to the tournament...

LETS GO ORANGE!!!!!

It was a solid win, and we needed it. I'm delighted to see some incremental improvements occurring as the season progresses. I'm hoping to see this learning show up on the road. This season continues to show that teams lose on the road if they don't execute fundamentals consistently. Athleticism only gets a team so far.

That said, if this Florida St. squad is the N0. 6 team in the country, then the college basketball product is in really bad shape. I know they recently went 5-1 against ranked opponents, but taking a closer look at whom they beat and where matters. Every win was at home except the 2-point win at Virginia, and Duke and Virginia Tech were two of those teams. Neither is really a world-beater at the moment. After all, Virginia Tech's best win is against Duke at home.

As important, if not more so, is that Florida St. showed today they don't have the guards to win at the highest level.

Still, the team got a good win that it needed. Moreover, it's exhibiting some growth. SU fans should smile, if only until the next game.

 

[AZOrange]

Pretty good, considering we are playing without 1 and 2 on the Center depth chart.

Oh come on...

 

[Jack Hall]

It was a solid win, and we needed it. I'm delighted to see some incremental improvements occurring as the season progresses. I'm hoping to see this learning show up on the road. This season continues to show that teams lose on the road if they don't execute fundamentals consistently. Athleticism only gets a team so far.

That said, if this Florida St. squad is the N0. 6 team in the country, then the college basketball product is in really bad shape. I know they recently went 5-1 against ranked opponents, but taking a closer look at whom they beat and where matters. Every win was at home except the 2-point win at Virginia, and Duke and Virginia Tech were two of those teams. Neither is really a world-beater at the moment. After all, Virginia Tech's best win is against Duke at home.

As important, if not more so, is that Florida St. showed today they don't have the guards to win at the highest level.

Still, the team got a good win that it needed. Moreover, it's exhibiting some growth. SU fans should smile, if only until the next game.

I admit, most of the game they didnt look like a top ten team but their wins over UVa, ND , Louis, Duke are as good a set of wins as anyone in the top ten...imo. Just a ton of parity in college ball now. Villanova, UK (twice), UNC, UCla (twice) all lost this week and are all very very good teams. Its not just Fla St...

 

[GooseMutt]

Pretty good, considering we are playing without 1 and 2 on the Center depth chart.

That team was huge and Tyler L got 6 blocks playing center. We might have to rework that chart

 

[SoBeCuse]

XRM played some pretty bad perimeter D, IMO. They are not as good as some previous FSU defenses that we have also beaten. Big factor is assumption of rational of coaching. Hamilton is not a good coach against zone, IMO. He clearly didn't have them ready to play yesterday. Actually, we weren't ready either but woke up sooner.

I do think they are extremely talented. I really like Bacon, Isaac of course, and XRM offensively is tough. If they reboot from this mini-slump then they will completely overwhelm some teams in the Tourney with some size, length, and skill from those three guys especially. This was a HUGE win for us.

 

[Coach Orange]

I admit, most of the game they didnt look like a top ten team but their wins over UVa, ND , Louis, Duke are as good a set of wins as anyone in the top ten...imo. Just a ton of parity in college ball now. Villanova, UK (twice), UNC, UCla (twice) all lost this week and are all very very good teams. Its not just Fla St...

I agree, but I think that's my point. A win over No. 6 now just isn't what it once was.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

XRM played some pretty bad perimeter D, IMO. They are not as good as some previous FSU defenses that we have also beaten. Big factor is assumption of rational of coaching. Hamilton is not a good coach against zone, IMO. He clearly didn't have them ready to play yesterday. Actually, we weren't ready either but woke up sooner.

I do think they are extremely talented. I really like Bacon, Isaac of course, and XRM offensively is tough. If they reboot from this mini-slump then they will completely overwhelm some teams in the Tourney with some size, length, and skill from those three guys especially. This was a HUGE win for us.

JB pretty much spelled out for Leonard what his rotation should have been against us. He said in the presser that they couldn't stop the smaller lineup, but Leonard insisted on going bigger, and none of those boys could finish. They are a good team, and can be great, if they can overcome their coaching.

 

[SoBeCuse]

JB pretty much spelled out for Leonard what his rotation should have been against us. He said in the presser that they couldn't stop the smaller lineup, but Leonard insisted on going bigger, and none of those boys could finish. They are a good team, and can be great, if they can overcome their coaching.

Yup, and throw in how they played Gillon. Hamilton, lol. They have no business losing to us if he coached them right.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

I agree, but I think that's my point. A win over No. 6 now just isn't what it once was.

Kansas might be the best team in the country, but they got rolled by WVU last week, and were like 0 for 8 in 3s in the first half last night against UK. Kentucky can't shoot a lick so Kansas zoned them and had no trouble coming back against them in Rupp. If those are 2 of the top 5 teams in the country, Gonzaga being another, there is a fine line between the top 10 teams and all others. Any given day...

 

[Coach Orange]

Kansas might be the best team in the country, but they got rolled by WVU last week, and were like 0 for 8 in 3s in the first half last night against UK. Kentucky can't shoot a lick so Kansas zoned them and had no trouble coming back against them in Rupp. If those are 2 of the top 5 teams in the country, Gonzaga being another, there is a fine line between the top 10 teams and all others. Any given day...

Agreed. Again, outside of the top couple of teams in the country, the rest is really a crapshoot. Kansas impressed me last night. To go on the road, out of conference, in midseason to Rupp and walk out with a win is no easy feat.

WVU is no slouch, either, and Kansas seems to struggle playing there.

 

[orangecuse]

I agree, but I think that's my point. A win over No. 6 now just isn't what it once was.

Nope, it isn't. As Bilas has eluded to in the past, these college games today certainly are competitive, but they're nowhere near the high quality level of play as yesteryear. That's really not debatable. You can thank the NBA and the one and done rule for that.

 

[Coach Orange]

Nope, it isn't. As Bilas has eluded to in the past, these college games today certainly are competitive, but they're nowhere near the high quality level of play as yesteryear. That's really not debatable. You can thank the NBA and the one and done rule for that.

Agreed. AAU ball is partly to blame, too. Many kids don't come in as fundamentally prepared because they focus more on these all-star-game tournaments rather than skill development.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Agreed. Again, outside of the top couple of teams in the country, the rest is really a crapshoot. Kansas impressed me last night. To go on the road, out of conference, in midseason to Rupp and walk out with a win is no easy feat.

WVU is no slouch, either, and Kansas seems to struggle playing there.

Yup. One really has to be mentally tough to play WVU. They will get in your shirt 94 feet from the basket. They have some more offense this year than in years past. I watched that Kansas-WVU game. Kansas was not ready to play much like FSU yesterday. Not sure why since they have good guards to deal with WVU.

Arizona is a legit contender. I watch all those games being a SC grad. They haven't lost since Dec 2 or 3. They have a Finnish freshman 7'0 C who plays like a Porzingis. He's averaging 17/8. Trier and Simmons are the real deal. They recently swept the LA teams with no problem. You junkies should watch some of the big guys in that conference. Markkanen, TJ Leaf, and Chimeize Metu are all awesome C/PFs.

 

[MSOrange]

Yup, and throw in how they played Gillon. Hamilton, lol. They have no business losing to us if he coached them right.

I never rule us out against Hamilton coached team regardless of how the matchup looks. I don't exactly consider him a real man of genius on the sidelines. I'd put Mike Brey in the same category but probably to a bit lesser extent.