1/13/2023 basketball Edit

FSU regroups for UVa., Hamilton 'extremely disappointed' in effort at Wake

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Coach Leonard Hamilton said he was “extremely disappointed” when he reviewed the film of Wednesday’s 15-point loss at Wake Forest. Florida State’s 5-12 record is a reflection of who the Seminoles are, with injuries that have decimated their trademark depth, but the team has fought despite its short bench and shortcomings.

“I felt that the effort that we needed defensively in the Wake Forest game, we didn't come with it on that night,” Hamilton said. “In order to play against a pretty good Virginia team we’re going to have to be on our best defensive efforts. They hurt Carolina from the perimeter and they've always been a good execution, driving team. So we got our hands full.”

Hamilton mentioned a few specific instances of aspects he didn’t like from the 90-75 road loss. Wake Forest drilled 14 three-pointers, underscoring FSU’s struggled to defend on the perimeter as opponents are making 36 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

The Seminoles were sluggish to close out and defend the 3-pointer among other breakdowns. He felt some players took possessions off because they felt they would be playing a high number of minutes.

“One of the lowest fundamental games from an evaluation standpoint,” Hamilton said. “It seemed as though we were pacing ourselves to get through the game. The energy that we needed, we just didn’t have against a very good team on the road.”

Hamilton also described FSU’s set play on the first possession, which he called “very easy to execute. But our freshmen got confused and did completely the opposite. The inexperience will cause you to do that.”

The Seminoles (5-12, 3-3 ACC) are in the middle of a tough stretch of ACC play going into Saturday’s game vs. No. 13 Virginia (12-3, 4-2) at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. Before the end of the month, FSU will face three of the ACC’s toughest teams — Clemson, Miami and the Cavaliers — as well as play a road game in Pittsburgh.

FSU is putting young rotations on the court in large part due to injuries to Jaylan Gainey and Cam’Ron Fletcher, both of whom came to Tallahassee via the transfer portal. Hamilton admitted the Seminoles will also need to reach deeper into the portal in future years to keep up with the ACC and other schools.

“That's why the theme in college basketball is get old and stay old,” Hamilton said.

But he also remains confident the Seminoles can set aside a poor outing at Wake and bounce back.

“We believe that we’re good enough to win games in the ACC,” Hamilton said. “Now we got to go out and prove it.”

Reflecting on Baba Miller's debut

Baba Miller had four points and four rebounds against Wake. (Melina Myers)

Freshman forward Baba Miller looked tentative in his FSU debut, with his first 3-point attempt falling short of the net and scoring four points and pulling down four rebounds in 17 minutes on Wednesday. While he was feeling out the flow of the game, he was also not feeling well and battling tonsilitis.

“Without us knowing it, he was coming down with tonsillitis,” Hamilton said. “He wasn’t feeling very good going into the game. He couldn't even practice yesterday (Thursday). Thank goodness we got him some antibiotics on the plane on the return. Those things are just coming to us this particular year. We got to find a way to overcome it.”

Hamilton said he presumes Miller will be able to play on Saturday. FSU is in desperate need of more depth and Miller’s debut after an NCAA-mandated 16-game suspension brings some energy in what has been a difficult season. Hamilton thinks Miller will settle in but also wants to see him be more aggressive.

“He's not an airball jump shooter, but the nerves and the adrenaline flowing in the game the other night, it’s going to take a while,” Hamilton said. “You are going to see him at some point in time during the season run off two or three threes in a row. I thought he tried to let the game come to him. I thought he was trying to fit in. I didn't think he was nearly as aggressive offensively as we probably are going to need him to be in order to give us the input that we need from him. It was obvious that he got expired (from a conditioning standpoint) quickly.”

Baba Miller's debut a welcome lift as FSU seeks second-half resurgence

Turnover troubles

Turnovers have been an issue for FSU in losses, with the Seminoles recording 13 in defeats at Virginia and Duke as well as 17 at Wake Forest. But FSU has also kept the turnover totals low in home wins over Notre Dame (5), Louisville (9) and Georgia Tech (9). There is an obvious disparity in the quality of opponent and perhaps playing away from Tallahassee is a factor. But the lack of efficiency in the halfcourt offense has been a concern throughout the season.

“We’re a team that’s still growing and developing with a bunch of inexperienced guys and, I'm not making excuses, but we’ve had games where we've had a high level of turnovers,” Hamilton said. “We had games where we concentrated a little bit better and had very few turnovers.”