FSU Basketball Preview: Noles Finish Ranked Foe Stretch vs. Louisville
Here is a preview for FSU basketball, and their next game of the 2017 season against the Louisville Cardinals.
The FSU basketball team is finally set to finish their stretch of facing six ranked opponents in a row. The Seminoles host the #12 Louisville Cardinals in what should be an intriguing matchup between two top-tier teams.
The Cardinals travel to Tallahassee with a 16-3 record. They’ve won four games in a row, and are coming off of a 92-60 demolition of Clemson. Louisville will present a massive challenge for Florida State. The Seminoles have won at Virginia, and beaten Duke, Florida and Notre Dame. So they’ll be up to the task.
Let’s be a little negative and say FSU does lose to the Cardinals. That would leave them at 4-2 in this awful six-game stretch. If I had told you before it began that the Seminoles would come out of it with a winning record, you would have taken it in a heartbeat. Don’t lie, you know you would have.
But enough with the negativity and the hypotheticals. Let’s get right to it, and preview Louisville and Florida State’s ACC showdown.
Jan 18, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles guard CJ walker (2) and guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes (22) and forward Jonathan Isaac (1) celebrate after a play against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Last Time the ‘Noles Took the Court
On Wednesday night, the Seminoles pulled out what was their most improbable win of the season. Their 83-80 victory over Notre Dame had all the makings of a loss. For starters, the Irish were unconscious from three-point range. They finished the game making an absurd 15 of their 21 attempts, which amounts to a 71 percent clip.
Further, Florida State got almost nothing from two of their most important players. Dwayne Bacon fouled out, shot 5-of-13, and finished with 11 points. Glue guy extraordinaire Terrance Mann played 21 minutes, and his stat-line read zero points, zero rebounds, and two assists. To get that little out of two key guys, while surviving a barrage of three-pointers? That’s probably one of FSU’s most unlikely wins ever, let alone this season.
But, a win is a win, and they all count the same towards the win-loss column. What fight and resiliency showed by the rest of the team, especially the bench (aka the Boom Squad). They combined for 34 points and willed FSU to the W.
Jan 19, 2017; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Mangok Mathiang (12) and forward Jaylen Johnson (10) battle Clemson Tigers center Sidy Djitte (50) for the ball during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Clemson 92-60. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Opponent Preview
The Cardinals, coached by the loveable Rick Pitino, are again one of the best teams in the country. They come in at ninth overall on KenPom, despite being ranked 42nd overall in offensive efficiency. So how do they do it; how are they so good? Well, for starters, they are probably the best defensive team in the country.
KenPom has them at second defensively, behind only South Carolina. Louisville is long, athletic, and have a multitude of different ways of stopping you. This excerpt, from Mark Titus of the Ringer, does a rather morbid job of explaining why they’re so good on defense:
[They play] the best defense in college basketball, which is noteworthy in and of itself. What makes that defense truly scary, though, is the fact that it consists of a handful of different looks, making it damn near impossible to crack its code. The Cardinals length, athleticism, and depth paired with head coach Rick Pitino’s defensive wizardry gives this team the flexibility to shuffle through a variety of approaches — man-to-man, a 2–3 zone, a press that speeds offenses up, a press that slows opponents down, or some combination — on any given night.
Yeah, that doesn’t found to play against. At all. Florida State’s offense will be challenged all game long, and will need huge performances from Jonathan Isaac, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, and Bacon to stand a chance.
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Offensively, the Cardinals aren’t all that impressive. They’ll be without their second leading scorer, point guard Quentin Snider, who’s out for a couple of weeks with a hip pointer. Snider averages 12 points per game, to go with four assists. Louisville will still have the services of Donovan Mitchell, though. Mitchell is a 14 point per game scorer, and averages over two steals per game. He’s not very efficient, as he shoots 39 percent from the field.
Barring a random player getting hot, the Seminoles shouldn’t have a tough time slowing down the Cards offense. They play a slow tempo, but are one of the better rebounding teams in the nation. Their rebound margin is a plus-6.8 per contest, meaning Florida State has to do a good job of not giving them extra possessions.
Jan 10, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports
Point Spread/How to Watch
Because of Louisville’s injury to Snider, who’s probably their most important player, Vegas likes the Seminoles in this matchup. The spread is -2.5 in Florida State’s favor, and has risen since it first opened up (via Odds Shark).
To watch this game, all you have to do is tune in to ESPN at 2 PM. (Finally, a game that doesn’t have to be streamed.) The Seminoles and Cardinals are facing off in what is probably that network’s most important weekend time-slot, so hopefully we can give them a good show. Nothing left to say but Go ‘Noles, Beat the Cards.
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