The Daily Nole

Tournament Results Will Ultimately Define FSU

wlpearce.com/FSU athletics

Lost amongst the hectic news of National Signing Day was the impressive Florida State victory over the Miami Hurricanes in men’s basketball. The Seminoles had dropped two straight games against unranked teams Georgia Tech and Syracuse, and many were beginning to wonder if head coach Leonard Hamilton would have to make changes to the lineup soon.

If the Seminoles had lost (or even been blown out) at Miami, those calls would have only grown louder.

A blowout did indeed happen on Wednesday. But it was Florida State blowing out Miami.

The Seminoles once again prevailed in Miami (familiar phrase) by a dominating score of 75-57. It was one of the worst defensive performances of the year for a Miami team that ranked top 30 in Kenpom’s adjusted defensive efficiency, and therefore one of the more impressive offensive performances from FSU. All that after one of the worst performances of the past five years at Georgia Tech.

Stranger things have happened, but one would assume that the team will not bottom out anymore after what it just experienced in the past couple of weeks. FSU followed that victory up with another on Sunday as the Seminoles beat Clemson to notch their largest margin of victory ever in ACC play, 109-61.

Yet, some of the focus on the end of the regular season is causing more drastic conclusion than it might warrant. Good teams lose. Even great teams lose. The ACC is a tough conference to compete in. Road games are always tougher, and sometimes you just get caught on a bad night.

Does anyone genuinely believe that if the teams played again, FSU would lose to Georgia Tech in the same manner that they did a few games back? Probably not. The point is, fans should not be putting all that much stock into any recent struggles or successes with FSU basketball. The Seminoles got through an absolute gauntlet of opponents earlier this January, and they set themselves up fairly nicely for a tournament run.

Make no mistake about it however: Florida State’s performance in the upcoming NCAA Tournament will define how fans see this team’s legacy.

Jeff Goodman over at ESPN recently updated his hot seat board for college basketball coaches. Hamilton was (deservedly) taken off the board, after leading his team to one of the best records in the ACC. It’s an astounding accomplishment, and it’s a testament to his ability when it comes to helping a multifaceted team blend together.

So it only makes sense that this squad should be more than capable of making a legitimate tournament run.

Here’s a hypothetical: say Florida State finishes strong, has a decent showing in the ACC Tournament, and grabs a 3-seed in Orlando. The Seminoles get their bracket match-up and are in perfect position to make it far. Then, they lose in the round of 64.

That would quite obviously alter how fans viewed this season’s team and its accomplishments. And it would be a mark against Hamilton, who would have had the most NBA talent yet on any of his Florida State teams, only to squander an opportunity.

That of course, doesn’t mean that is likely to happen. Hypotheticals are still just that – hypotheticals. But the larger point is for fans to ask themselves: how far should this team be able to go? Before the season started, making the NCAA Tournament was established as a necessary condition to consider it a “success”.

After 24 games and a 20-4 record, making the tournament is now the bare minimum. Florida State has displayed the ability to beat top teams throughout the season. It would only make sense to expect the Seminoles to do so in the postseason.

Ideally, Sweet 16 would be the goal for FSU at this point. The Seminoles are a good team, but the college basketball blue bloods still maintain a draw of talent that cannot be replicated over two good recruiting classes. They would likely get paired by then with a very evenly-matched team. A loss at that point is understandable and might even be expected.

But the 5-1 record against ranked ACC teams has now set the bar for what Florida State needs to do in the tournament. Hamilton and his team have repeatedly emphasized their method of looking at teams in isolation, never reaching too far ahead or dwelling on past games.

This mentality has served them well so far. It needs to serve them well come March — where all good teams look to prove themselves on the court.

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