FSU Grounds the Eagles, 100-86

Florida State’s offense took the spotlight in Friday night’s NIT Season Tip-Off game at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center and propelled the Seminoles to a 100-86 victory over the Winthrop Eagles.

The first half became a mixed bag for Florida State. At times, there were positive signs of a developing team; the increased depth was apparent in the post players, with Jarquez Smith, Michael Ojo, and Christ Koumadje all getting major minutes. Florida State’s offense was also very spread out, with no one player dominating possession or importance.

On the flipside, old habits die hard, and the Seminoles began to have defensive lapses in the final 10 minutes. Winthrop continued to hang around with Florida State and set up its offensive plays with success. By the end of the half, FSU was up 53-46 but was noticeably struggling on defense.

Not much seemed to change in the second half. It became clear that the Seminoles had the depth and talent to overwhelm the Eagles. It was just a matter of Florida State closing it out. In some ways it did: the FSU offense continued to score and never took their foot off the pedal. The defense however, was still stuck in cruise control, and for this reason Winthrop was never “out of it”. Finally, in the last five minutes, the reality set in and FSU had no trouble in securing the victory.

Observations

• Jonathan Isaac was rotated out early in the game after his match-up (Xavier Cooks) saw immediate success against the true freshman. Cooks is a good player, and his tactic of forcing Isaac to defend him in the post seemed to be working.
• Dwayne Bacon attacked the rim from the very beginning of the game. Winthrop was having a lot of difficulty keeping him out of the paint, largely because of his strength.
• One talking point coming into the game was the FSU 3-point shooting and when the Seminoles would find their groove. It has yet to occur
• Forced turnovers leading to fast breaks got the Seminoles’ offense flowing again. The Eagles actually had some success at daring FSU to beat them at the rim, but once the guards started to chip in easy points, the strategy stopped working.
• Winthrop’s strategy on defense was to harass the wing players. It wasn’t a bad plan considering the FSU post players were unable to capitalize early on.
• That being said, the Eagles’ 3-point shooting did start to revive by the end of the half, which did help their offensive flow. By the end of the first half, they were hitting 53 percent of their shots.
• The end of the first half just devolved into sloppy play. Both teams tried to get off quick shots that didn’t fall, and both began committing fouls more frequently. Florida State maintained a lead, but the lack of consistent defense kept the Eagles in the game.
• Braian Angola-Rodas had a bit of a statement game Friday. He seemed to effortlessly glide around the court and was surprisingly athletic on the wing. Good money is on him and P.J. Savoy getting serious minutes as the season goes on.
• Officiating was quite strict. The two teams combined for 62 free throws in the game, not all of which were good calls.
• The opportunities in the paint were there for the FSU big men from the start. Only later did players like Koumadje start to take advantage of it, and when they did, Florida State consistently widened its lead.
• Defensive consistency was by far the storyline of the game. When FSU got stops, the offense adequately responded, but it was easy buckets on blown defensive plays that frustrated Coach Leonard Hamilton and kept the Eagles within striking distance.
• Michael Ojo had the first double-double of his career. Winthrop fouled him six different times and had an oddly difficult time stopping him. His rebounding was especially noticeable on Friday night.
• C.J. Walker is an aggressive and exciting player to watch. He seems to have secured the backup point guard position quite nicely.

Notable Numbers

Michael Ojo (FSU): 13 points (2-for-4), 10 rebounds, 1 block

Jonathan Isaac (FSU): 14 points (5-for-11), 5 rebounds, 1 block

Xavier Cooks (Winthrop): 23 points (9-for-16), 5 rebounds, 1 block

Bjorn Broman (Winthrop): 16 points (5-for-10), 5 assists

Quotes

Leonard Hamilton on the center rotation: “We’re going to man the center position by committee. As we go through the year, how we utilize them will be in direct proportion as to who we’re playing against.”

Leonard Hamilton on Michael Ojo: “He’s a different player, physically and mentally. He plays with a lot more confidence…he gives us a unique player because physically you really have to be aggressive to keep him from getting to spots on the floor…”

XRM on Winthrop’s offense: “They did a really good job of moving the basketball…but I think we really did a good job of containing, and I think we played solid defense for the game…if we can play defense like we did in the second half, I think we’re gonna be pretty good.