The Florida State Seminoles know they can't take any ACC game for granted. Not even a home date against one of the worst teams in the conference.
Because that team, Georgia Tech, has already proven it is capable of pulling off an upset -- knocking off Syracuse in the Carrier Dome a few weeks ago -- and it is playing a Florida State team that still isn't nearly 100 percent health-wise. Even after having five days off after winning at Miami on Sunday night
Trent Forrest is still dealing with turf toe. Terance Mann is still coping with an injured heel. And Phil Cofer is still battling an injured foot.
Those are the three most experienced players on the team. And, with the exception of the meteoric-rising Mfiondu Kabengele, the three best players on the team as well.
Having almost a full week off certainly can't hurt the banged-up Seminoles, who are 15-5 overall and 3-4 in conference heading into Saturday's noon home game against the Yellow Jackets (11-10, 3-5).
"That's just part of being an athlete," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said of the injuries. "You just have to find a way to play through it. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. Most teams go through it, so we don't want to over-dramatize it or use it as an excuse.
"That's who we are and where we are. Hopefully, our depth will help us. It has helped us."
Forrest is probably the most injured of the trio. He hasn't missed a game, but he's noticeably slower and less explosive than he was earlier in the season. On Friday, he also was still wearing a Band-Aid on his face from where he got cut on a foul late in the win over Miami. (He joked that he looked like the rapper Nelly.)
Though he's keeping a positive mindset, Forrest acknowledged it has been frustrating dealing with the injury and figuring out how to best make an impact for the Seminoles.
"That's kind of the toughest part about it," Forrest said. "Depending on which way my body feels, which way I can affect the game so my team has the best chance to win. ... One day I can feel good, and the next day I turn around and I'm in a lot of pain. So it fluctuates from day to day."
He said he's never thought about sitting out a game to try to heal.
"Nobody has really told me to do that and I haven't even thought about taking a game off," he said. "What I have is going to be here regardless, so it's just playing through pain honestly."
One of the best medicines for a hobbled point guard is hot shooting from the perimeter. After a horrid stretch to start ACC play, the Seminoles caught fire in their last two wins -- they were 10 of 22 from 3-point range against Clemson and then 12 of 20 at Miami.
Sophomore M.J. Walker is 7 of 8 during that stretch, including a career-best 6-of-7 performance against the Hurricanes on Sunday night.
Hamilton was asked on Friday how encouraging it was to see Walker play like that.
"You can't get too philosophical because a guy has one great game shooting the ball very well," Hamilton said. "M.J. is a very good basketball player, and I think he cares about his teammates. He's only a sophomore. He's doing so many other things well for us. He's defending, giving us great energy, he's a great teammate, he's playing unselfish. We just have to find a way for him to be relaxed. ...
"And I think you're going to find we'll continue to get better and better as we move through the remainder of the season."
The Seminoles have won two in a row heading into the matchup with the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech is one of the worst offensive teams in the country, ranking 301st in the nation in scoring. But the Yellow Jackets use a mixture of man-to-man and zone defenses -- with some wrinkles thrown in -- to have one of the best defenses in the ACC.
They currently rank 11th in the country in field-goal percentage defense. They held Duke to its second worst offensive output of the season and held North Carolina to its fifth worst.
The Jackets still lost both games by double-digits, but they weren't easy games for the two perennial powers.
The Seminoles know if they don't play well, the Yellow Jackets are capable of beating them. Just like they did Syracuse.
"This is a very, very important game for us," Hamilton said. "And everything we've done this week (preparation-wise) is a reflection of how important this game is."
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