With the first game of the regular season a mere nine days away, Florida State will play their second (and final) exhibition game today at 4:00pm. And they didn’t have to look far for their opponent. The FAMU Rattlers, led by Florida State legend Charlie Ward, will make the short ride north to lace ‘em up against FSU in the Tucker Center. The Rattlers come into the game off a 100-54 exhibition win over Edward Waters College on Monday.
For first year FSU head coach Luke Loucks, this is a bit of a “pinch
yourself” moment. Loucks grew up in a household filled with Florida State fans and said earlier this year that watching the 1993 FSU football team are some of his earliest memories. It’s fitting, then, that Ward will have his basketball jersey honored before the first game Loucks coaches in Tallahassee. You can read more about that in this well-done article by FSU’s Deputy Public Relations, Chuck Walsh.
With all the familiarity and festivities, this would be a great game to bring the family. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at this link, or outside the arena. If you’re not in Tallahassee but still want to watch, the exhibition will be broadcast on ACCNX.
Preseason Practice Observations
As for the game itself, it’s another important building block for a Florida State team hoping to surprise folks in Loucks’ first season. If the ‘Noles have any dreams of playing in the NCAA Tournament this season, they will likely need a perfect 8-0 home record in the non-conference portion of the schedule. With nearly an entire new roster, this will be the first time most of FSU’s players will play a game of any kind in the Tucker Center, so it’s a great opportunity to get the feel for sight lines, the visual background, etc. Additionally, while it’s just an exhibition, FAMU is the kind of team FSU will be facing frequently in their non-conference schedule. As I detailed in a piece earlier this week, games like this are the type that the Seminoles are going to need to win by 30, so I suspect you’ll see the staff treat this as a dress rehearsal, at least in the first 30 minutes.
Curt and I had an opportunity to observe a full practice a couple days prior to the exhibition against Alabama and we left the practice facility agreeing that if this is the worst team in the ACC, then the league is going to be far better than recent seasons. Here were a few notes and nuggets from that practice:
- Despite much of the practice being spent on situational reps (drilling things like inbounding, trapping, offensive rebounding, and end of game free throws), everything was done with pace. Everything. You hear coaches talk about wanting to “play fast” all the time, but you can’t play fast if you don’t practice fast. It is very clear that this coaching staff is dead serious about playing fast.
- The team played a series of four minute scrimmages. Score was kept and it was played as a real game, but just for four minute stretches. Basically trying to win each media timeout. The pace was frenetic and there were starters on both squads. So it wasn’t “ones vs twos.” What was perhaps most encouraging is that both squads won at least one segment and sometimes there were 10-12 point streaks within a segment. A team like FSU, that is lacking elite top end talent, is going to win games by wearing down opponents with relentless waves of pressure and short flurries of scoring that turn a 4 point game into a 14 point game before an opponent can catch their breath. These segments were preparing the men to do just that.
- Lajae Jones and Martin Somerville both stood out as perimeter shooters. Somerville’s stroke off the catch and shoot reminds me a lot of Devon Bookert. Hopefully he tickles the twine in games as well as Bookert did. Kobe McGee and Robert McCray V also both displayed deep range, with McCray draining one from well beyond NBA range in one of the 4 min scrimmages. However, the latter two (at least in this practice) seemed to run a little more hot and cold than Jones and Somerville. More of the “score in bunches” performance.
- Speaking of scoring in bunches, freshman Cam Miles had a burst during one of the 4 min scrimmages where he flat out took over. With his team trailing something like 10-4, he had a steal and layup, a defensive rebound that he quickly pushed down court to a dunk, and then a deep three off a screen to put his team up 11-10 with less than a minute left. He needs to add muscle so that he can defend against more physical players, and he is still learning to play with control, but his future looks quite bright.
- Alier Maluk drilled three corner threes, each off of penetration and kick out passes. We saw him take a few of these in the Alabama game and it would appear that it will be a legit part of his arsenal this season.
- Offensive rebounding was a focus throughout the practice. They drilled it in groups of 3 or 4 and it was harped on in every single 4 min segment. It was nice to see this payoff in the Alabama game and hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.
- Pressure of the inbounds was another big focus incorporated into a variety of drills and the scrimmage segments. Sometimes it’s three-quarter pressure, sometimes it’s trapping in the corner, sometimes it’s just full court pressure. Loucks himself jumped into the action at one point (along with former Green Viper standout Justin Lindner) to demonstrate exactly where a trap should come and where our defenders were messing up the timing. It was no surprise, then, that one of the loudest praises from the staff all day came when McCray stole an inbounds with less than a minute left in a scrimmage segment and banged in a three to ice a win for his team.
- Practice concluded with a fun (well, fun to watch at least…) free throw drill. Two minutes were on the clock and a player called out at random by the coaches had to step out in front of the entire team and make a pair of free throws. Sink the pair, like Thomas Bassong calmly did, and the team is one step closer to practice being done. But miss either shot and the entire team has 11 seconds to sprint to the other baseline and back. Those 11 seconds come off the clock and from what it sounded like, something very bad happens if the two minutes reach 0.0. Oh and if not everyone makes it in the 11 seconds, you run it immediately again, losing 11 more seconds. The men found out the hard way that the staff was being pretty strict on getting all feet across the line in 11 seconds. Not 11.5. 11. Fortunately, enough free throws were made that we didn’t see the clock strike midnight.
What are we watching for against FAMU?
The only thing staff, players, or fans truly care about today is that everyone finishes the game healthy. Somerville left the Alabama game early with an injury that seemed minor, but hopefully that isn’t lingering. In order to wear down opponents, the Seminoles ability to withstand injuries is razor thin this season.
That aside, there are a few things we’ll be keeping an eye on today:
- How focused does FSU come out early?
- Can the Seminoles defend dribble penetration any better. There’s no Labaron Philon or Aden Holloway to matchup against in this one, so if guys are still blowing by FSU defenders that would be signs of a larger issue.
- Can Maluk play without getting into foul trouble? FSU is not deep in the post, they need Maluk to be able to give 15 minutes.
- Does A.J. Swinton play at all? He was noticeably absent from the Bama game, it would be nice to get some live reps before the season starts.
- Is FSU able to rev things up as fast as Loucks wants against an opponent not trying to run at the same pace?
Join the comments below to share some of what you’re interested in seeing.
