Catching up
I’m back in action after a week-and-a-half sabbatical otherwise known as the beginning of the semester. I’ve had one eye on my textbooks and my other on basketball, don’t you worry.
Boy, has anything changed since you last heard from me? Just a little bit.
We’ll start with the most recent development that has left everyone’s head spinning. That’s the resurgence of Florida State, left for dead after a blowout loss against Clemson to open ACC play. The ‘Noles have won four straight, including a pair of wins against conference front-runners North Carolina and Duke.
The 33-point demolition against North Carolina was the real eye-opener. With ESPN’s College GameDay in town, the Seminoles jumped the Heels early and often. Delvydas Dulkys stole most of the headlines with his 8-for-10 performance from three-point land, but Carolina played as poorly as it could have in nearly every facet of the game anyway. Kendall Marshall committed an unprecedented seven turnovers. The Heels were 9-of-20 from the foul line, and 4-of-21 from beyond the arc.
The Tar Heels responded in their next game at Virginia Tech with a 82-68 win. The Hokies actually held a five-point lead at halftime, but it was more a product of their abnormally precise outside shooting than a lackadaisical effort by the Tar Heels. In the second half, though, Harrison Barnes led a furious charge, scoring 21 of his game-high 27 points. Roy Williams called his team’s defense in the second half the best he’s seen all year. I’ll have much more on the Heels later in the week.
Back to Florida State, where the Seminoles didn’t simply stop with their upset of Carolina. In a game perfectly set up to be a letdown, the Seminoles won convincingly against visiting Maryland, 84-70. With two confidence-building wins in their back pocket, Florida State traversed its way from Tallahassee to Durham for a late afternoon matchup with fourth-ranked Duke. Despite trailing by as many as eight points in the second half, the Seminoles never quit.
Michael Snaer’s buzzer-beating three-pointer as time expired was the game-winner, ending Duke’s 45-game home winning streak and validating the Seminoles’ performance over the past week.
The Seminoles’ recent turnaround is eerily similar to last season. That’s when the Seminoles suffered consecutive losses to Auburn and Virginia Tech. Following the game in Blacksburg, a sulking Chris Singleton sat in the locker room, refusing to even lift his head as he answered questions from the media. Most of those questions centered around the fear that the Seimnoles’ season was slipping away from them, and it certainly seemed that way. All Florida State did was return home to face No. 1 Duke, where they shocked the Blue Devils 66-61, spurring a late-season run that ended in the Sweet 16.
Two weeks ago, the Seminoles were under heavy criticism as the season was yet again in serious danger of slipping away from them. Some feared Leonard Hamilton’s job hung in the balance. The defense was suffocating, as expected, but there was no offense to speak of. In its last three games, Florida State is averaging 83.3 points.
Now, the likelihood of the Seminoles continuing to generate points at such a rate is relatively low. But as anyone who’s ever played basketball competitively will tell you, the ability to make shots consistently is as much a mental task as it is a physical one. Bursting with confidence, the Seminoles seemed primed for a run through the last six weeks of the season that should result in another trip to the dance.
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Virginia was supposed to have the third-place spot in the conference locked down. Now, thanks to the aforementioned Florida State spurt and the Cavaliers’ disheartening loss at home to Virginia Tech, nothing is certain anymore. The Hokies were in a absolute must-win situation after losing four straight games to open ACC play. It was the Cavaliers’ first game without starting center Assane Sene, who is expected to miss six weeks with a fractured ankle.
In an incredibly ugly game that Wahoo fans — and Hokie fans, for that matter — have become accustomed to watching this season, Tech held on for a not-so-scintillating 47-45 win. Dorenzo Hudson buried the game-sealing three in the final minute in his second straight game coming off the bench. Hudson has seemingly embraced the role with back-to-back productive games, which followed an extensive stretch of games where he was borderline worthless to Seth Greenberg. Hudson’s scored 28 points in his last two games and brings an energy off the bench that Greenberg has been searching for since the Hokies lost J.T. Thompson to a torn ACL in the preseason.
For Virginia, the loss was not crippling, but concerning. The Cavaliers are getting thinner by the week, it seems, and the loss of Sene will have a sizable impact on this team. He wasn’t a dominating scorer, rebounder, or shot blocker, but he is a high-effort player that works well with frontcourt mate and All-American hopeful Mike Scott. The Cavaliers’ style doesn’t typically lend itself to blowout wins or losses. They will play the best teams close thanks to their signature “packline” defense, but they will always have a hard time pulling away from lesser opponents because they quite simply can’t score a lot of points. Mike Scott attempted just two shots in the second half on Sunday, which is a textbook recipe for a loss.
If Florida State can continue to ride the wave of momentum it’s generated over the last week, they are a serious threat to Virginia for the third spot in the league. The Cavaliers are still in fine shape for an NCAA Tournament berth — for now. A mid-season swoon could put the ‘Hoos in a much more compelling position to win games down the stretch to remain on the good side of the bubble.
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Some quick thoughts around the rest of the league…
If Quinn Cook could stay healthy, Duke might be able to make a decent run in March. Just as Cook was coming into his own as the Blue Devils’ starting point guard, a knee bruise curtailed his production, and eventually his playing time. He played just one minute in the Florida State loss Saturday, and it’s unsure when he’ll be 100% again. Mike Krzyzewski hoped it would be this week, but he said so with little conviction. Duke needs a true point guard to set up shooters like Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins — not to mention to keep Austin Rivers out of a decision-making role as much as possible. Cook was that guy, but durability has been a persistent issue there. Duke is a prime candidate to be upset in March if Cook isn’t healthy and playing consistently.
Miami is off to a 1-3 start in ACC play that is a bit deceiving. The Hurricanes were narrowly clipped on the road at Virginia before falling to UNC in Chapel Hill. Their next three games are at Georgia Tech, Boston College then home against Maryland. Piecing together a three-game win streak is certainly possible, and a likely necessity for Miami to keep its at-large hopes alive for the dance. For the second straight year, I really like the pieces Miami has in place. I’m not ready to bail on this team just yet, but tonight’s game at Georgia Tech is a must-win for old Jimmy Larranaga.
Check back tomorrow for a new set of power rankings, which will include UNC, Duke, Florida State and Virginia in some order at the top, and the rest will be decided by throwing names in a hat and pulling at random.
No, but really.
