In Wednesday’s ACC Action, Florida State beat Cal, 63-61 and Miami downed Stanford, 79-70.
We had it backwards in Wednesday’s ACC Roundup – the Cali schools made an East Coast swing, not vice-versa.
If you
haven’t noticed, FSU is improved. They’re still not winning much but they’ve been competitive and they have won two of their last three and lost to Wake Forest by just one.
The ‘Noles built up an 18 point first-half lead and basically held on for dear life as Cal threatened in the second. But give FSU this: Cal is not a bad team. They might not be great but they’re definitely not awful.
Cal’s last basket came with 3:45 and other than a pair of fouls shots, Florida State didn’t let them score the rest of the way.
Earlier this year, this team couldn’t have done that. They’ve got some real weaknesses but this team has also shown some heart and improvement and for that, rookie coach Luke Loucks deserves a lot of respect.
Neither team shot well but that happens. All things considered, good win for Florida State.
Things have gotten a bit more difficult for Miami lately but the ’Canes overcame Stanford.
Obviously Ebuka Okorie has emerged as a major challenge for defenses and Miami naturally focused on the freshman sensation. He started 1-5 and while he finished with 19 points, he only shot 8-21. And Miami came after him with several defenders, including Shelton Henderson, who is much taller and much stronger.
He’s a really good player but Stanford is without Chisom Okpara, arguably their second-best player, for the rest of the season and as gifted as he is, Okorie can’t carry the Cardinal by himself.
Meanwhile, Louisville fans are showing that they have very short memories. After the disastrous Kenny Payne era, Card fans were ecstatic last season with the job that Pat Kelsey did. It was beyond brilliant. It was one of the great coaching jobs in recent memory, not least of all because that team was broken and the fans were disillusioned.
Now?
Well, Louisville is 14-6, still ranked…and fans are unhappy. How quickly they forget. Even if Kelsey has a disappointing season – we’d argue injuries have played a key role – he saved that program. Love him or hate him, he deserves more respect than that.
Look at it this way: in his two year run, Payne was a master of disaster with a 12-52 record.
Payne’s record, to date, is 41-14. With a minimum of 13 games left, assuming an NCAA invite, Kelsey can roughly invert Payne’s two-year record.
When King Charles II got the British throne back after the Restoration at a certain point, his brother urged him to be more aggressive with his enemies. Charles responded “do go about your travels brother. I have already been on mine.”
That would be great advice for the cranky Cardinal fans. Kelsey restored your honor. Maybe let him work through whatever issues he’s having with this team before you end up with another disaster.
No games until Saturday, when Duke goes to Virginia Tech and SMU visits Louisville, among others.
- Wiggins Leads Seminoles Over Call In ACC Play, 63-61
- Florida State builds big first-half lead, holds off Cal 63-61
- FSU dominates first half, hangs on for narrow win over Cal
- Florida State Builds Massive Lead, Holds Off Cal in Upset
- 3 Takeaways as FSU Basketball Survives Slugfest Against Cal
- Miami rallies in second half to stun Stanford
- Malik Reneau leads Miami’s rally past Stanford
- UM wears down Okorie, rallies to beat Stanford 79-70 in a late-night thriller
- Miami Overcomes Free Throw Shooting Woes Defeating Stanford in Late Night Clash
