Clark: Hamilton eyeing changes on defense after FSU loss at Clemson
There's no need for Florida State basketball fans to panic after Tuesday night's 77-67 loss at Clemson. The 18th-ranked Seminoles didn't play well offensively, and the Tigers are one of the better defensive teams in the country.
It also was FSU's first road game of the season, and that is always tricky (see last year's season-opening dud at Pittsburgh). So, no, don't panic. Don't start expecting the worst for a season that started with such promise.
That doesn't mean, however, that we can't focus on what has been wrong with the Seminoles these past few games.
Head coach Leonard Hamilton certainly has some strong opinions. And a major one is this: His defense isn't good enough. Not this season. Not with this team. And he might on the verge of making a pretty drastic change to his scheme.
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After a 4-0 start, FSU has now lost two of its last three games. The final straw appears to be what happened on Tuesday night, when Clemson shot 33 free throws overall and scored 48 points in the second half against the Seminoles.
The 33 free throws were -- by far -- a season high for the Tigers, who were one of the worst teams in the nation at getting to the line before the game.
Some of that was a bad whistle for FSU. There were some ticky-tack calls to be sure, especially the fourth foul on Scottie Barnes, which completely altered the game. But let's forget that for now: Because this wasn't all about the stripes.
FSU just continues to have a hard time keeping opposing guards out of the paint. And those guards continue to exploit that with either layups, free throw attempts or kickouts for wide open 3-pointers.
So, Hamilton wants to change that.
"The biggest adjustment we might have to make is we might not have to switch 1 through 5 like we have in the past," he said. "We might have to go back to a more conventional defense."
Just in case you are more of a casual basketball fan (hey, thanks for reading this anyway!), what this means is that anytime a center or forward comes out and sets a screen for a guard at the top of the key, Florida State switches defenders. The FSU guard doesn't try to fight through the screen; he basically stays with the screener, and now the FSU "big" (whoever that is at the time) switches out on the guard.
They've essentially switched who they're guarding -- even though one defender might be 10 inches or a foot taller than the guy with the ball.
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