1. Robert McCray V scored 29 points and added 4 assists and 3 steals. In the post-game, Coach Loucks described his game as “okay.” In the first half he struggled with UF’s physicality, but when he complained to the staff the coaches told him this was what basketball is like versus grown men. Be tougher. In the 2nd half, he was. He scored 21 after the break. In the final seconds FSU drew up an inbounds play to get him a shot from the corner for the tie, but it missed. This was after making 1 of 2 FTs
which also would have tied the game. Regardless, he clearly has emerged as the team leader, and when his okay game is enough to get to the final seconds vs the defending national champs at their place, then this team – picked last in the ACC – seems to be in a good place.
2. When the NCAA starts talking about freedom of movement, we know we’re in trouble. This plays out the same way every few years – in the early games no one knows what a foul is, they just know there are a lot of them. Against UF there were a combined 44 fouls and 57 FTs. Come Christmas, once the players have adjusted, suddenly the whistles stop blowing so frequently and the game resumes being exactly what it’s always been. What the NCAA’s committee of old, entitled, white men don’t understand is the the freedom of movement problem isn’t a player problem, it’s a ref problem. Unlike the professional levels (where they, you know, actually train their refs) incidental contact away from the basket that has no impact on the play is almost never a foul. But college refs obsess on these calls. They wake each morning dreaming of whistling a hand check off the ball 50-feet from the play. Then, later in the game, they can’t call all of the real contact around the rim or every game would involve a hundred free throws. If they just stopped wasting our time with pointless whistles, the game would resemble the professional game, which is their stated goal.
3. FSU committed 10 turnovers. There was a particularly painful one at the end of the first half when – rather than holding for the last shot – Martin Somerville tried to hit the home run and turned it over for a UF score at the buzzer. So instead of the potential to go into the break up 7 or 8, the lead was just 3. Turns out that mattered. The good news is that after decades of careless turnovers under Coach Hamilton, this team has only turned it over on just 14% of their possessions. Ironically, the four years Coach Loucks played PG for Ham are four of the six most turnover prone teams he ever coached, and Somerville’s pass is just the sort of thing it’s not difficult to imagine a young Loucks attempting as a player.
4. Thomas Hough was the best player on the floor, and he’ll be that in almost every game UF plays. Not only is he their best player, but he plays every possession like it’s the most important one of the season – because it is. But Rueben Chinyelu – all 265 pounds of him – may have been their most important player. After FSU gummed up UF’s offense by daring their guards to shoot, Coach Golden went to one of his favorite weapons in the 2nd half. He gets the matchup he wants, spreads the floor, and let’s the ballbandler decide which direction to drive. On the drive, Chinyelu ducks down and seals the low man from being able to step up and take away the layup/dunk. He’s so big and strong that he was clearing lanes big enough for me to get to the rim, and his bulk wore FSU down. The downside is his terrible FT shooting, so UF wasn’t able to play him in the final minutes and FSU was able to get stops on drives that suddenly weren’t wide open.
5. Florida State lost 78-76 in a 81 possession game. Only two teams (Houston and Tennessee) held the Gators to that inefficient a game last season. I don’t expect that the ‘Noles are suddenly an elite defensive team, but at least they’re trending in a positive direction. For the offense – UF showed the country how to defend this team. FSU would get the matchups they wanted (a guard against a big), but UF’s bigs are skilled enough that they could defend without help defense, so FSU continually drove into the paint but without a help defender there was no shooter to kick to. Fortunately for FSU, there are maybe 10 teams in the nation who have the bigs to defend this way. That’s the great separator in the modern game. The teams who can afford NBA caliber bigs can win National Titles, and everyone else can watch.
