HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Virginia Tech (9-4) At Florida State (7-6) 4PM ACCN

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Virginia Tech (9-4) At Florida State (7-6) 4PM ACCN

First one of 2024 🎇🆚 Florida State🕓 4PM ET📺 ACCN📍 Tallahassee, Fla.#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/pT82i9MlBT— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 6, 2024

Virginia Tech (9-4)
At Florida State (7-6)
January 6th, 2023
Donald L. Tucker Center
p.m. ET
ACCN
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ESPN+/ACCNX
Play-by-Play: Jay Alter
Analyst: Josh Pastner

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Hokies -1.5
Over/Under: -144.5

Bring on the Noles 😤#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/rVVhLZIZgc— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 6, 2024

Who controls the paint?
The Hokies head south to Florida State. The Hokies had no answer for Wake Forest inside, dropping a 86-63 dud to end the year. FSU's last game was an 82-71 win over Georgia Tech.

The Florida State Seminoles squad comes in 7-6. This will be the 61st meeting between the Hokies and Florida State. The Hokies are 24-36 but have won the last two with the win in Tallahassee in 2022 ending a thirteen-game losing streak on the road.

The Seminoles have been coached by Leonard Hamilton since 2002. Florida State is his fourth head coaching job including a one year stint as the Washington Wizards head coach. He also spent time as an assistant at Austin Peay and Kentucky from 1971-1986. The Seminoles come in 7-6 with only one Notable win over Colorado in OT. Their understandable losses were to Georgia, Florida and UNC. They also lost to SMU, USF, and Lipscomb which were quite ugly with USF and SMU both winning by double digits.

FSU lost two of their three top scorers to the transfer portal. Florida State returnees Darin Green Jr and Baba Miller are major contributors. The Seminoles also got three transfers in guards Josh Nickleberry from LaSalle and Primo Spears from Georgetown (winning the name to school name squad first team award), and forward Jamir Watkins from VCU. Watkins is a starter with Spears playing starter minutes off the bench and Nickleberry getting about 13 mpg. Four-star forward Taylor Bowen was their only freshman commit and has played in almost every game.

Spears missed the Seminoles first eight games waiting on his NCAA transfer waiver to be approved by the NCAA and was freed up by the recent court decision that allowed all transfers to play immediately.
The Seminoles Darin Green Jr is the only one playing more than 30 mpg. They have four players averaging more than 22 mpg but have seven more that regularly average at least 10 mpg. The starting five are Green, Watkins, Miller, Warley, and either De'Ante Green or Cameron Corhen. Spears and Cam'Ron Fletcher are the two primary subs off the bench.

Hamilton has the Noles playing a loose man-to-man defense focused on collapsing to the lane. His teams focus on preventing open shots, limiting dribble penetration and disrupting interior passes. They are very focused on positioning to get defensive rebounds and clogging the paint to prevent second chance opportunities. So far opponents have shot 33% from outside on 23 shots per game. They tend to lose perimeter coverage off screens and crossing runs along the baseline allowing open corner looks.

Offensively, the Seminoles prefer to get to the hoop or find an interior pass to a big. They average 23 threes attempted per game, shooting just over 33%. That average though is deceiving as they shot an extraordinary amount from outside in their first few games. Expect more in the 15-18 range of perimeter attempts. Dribble penetration by Green and Spears drives their offense. This isn't the forest of bigs that Florida State has typically had in years past but there will be one or two 6'10+ players on the floor at all times.

Seminoles Backcourt
Darin Green
22 SR G 6-4 180
12.8 Pts, 2.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Jalen Warley
1 JR G 6-6 200
6.8 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.4 Ast

Chandler Jackson
0 SO G 6-5 215
5.3 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Primo Spears
23 JR G 6-3 185
12.0 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.2 Ast

Josh Nickelberry
20 SR G 6-4 205
4.1 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 0.5 Ast

Seminoles Frontcourt
Jamir Watkins
2 JR F 6-7 210
13.0 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 2.9 Ast

Baba Miller
11 SO F 6-11 204
7.5 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 1.3 Ast

De'Ante Green
5 SO F 6-10 210
6.8 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.7 Ast

Cameron Corhen
3 SO F 6-10 225
8.9 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Cam'Ron Fletcher
21 SR F 6-6 215
6.7 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 1.0 Ast

Taylor Bol Bowen
10 FR F 6-10 195
2.9 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast

What to expect from Florida State?
The Seminoles will alternate a three guard/two forward set versus two guard/three forward sets. Watkins is the swing forward so with him on the floor its typically a two guard/three forward set. They are led in scoring by the combo of Watkins and Green.

Green and Spears driving to the hoop creates most of the Seminoles offensive opportunities. Their dribble penetration force defenses to adjust to them. The Hokies cant afford to let these two dictate inside adjustments. Getting around screens cleanly or switching off will be crucial to success. Spears is coming off the bench but playing 25 mpg. He is like a change of pace back in football so Hokies need to be aware of him when he checks in.

The Noles have active hands, creating 15 turnovers and 9 steals per contest. They are quick to get guards into transition opportunities. Protecting the ball will be a critical factor to limit easy buckets.

FSU has played several real duds, struggling defensively to keep teams out of the paint. The more success the Hokies have inside the more FSU draws to the lane, leaving shooters open outside. Perimeter could be a rejuvenation game after several games struggling from outside for the Hokies.

The Seminoles have a heavy focus on getting defensive rebounds. That said there is very little difference in the rebounding averages this season. They allow 11.8 offensive rebounds per game and 12 second chance points.

The Hokies

Pulled up to the Tuck 🪣👀#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/Zb3fSkhlUG— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 6, 2024

Can the Hokies put forth a better effort inside than they did against Wake? FSU while not as big inside as years past still has formidable size inside which proved too much for the Hokies to handle at Wake. I really would love to see Kidd and Poteat on the floor together but don't expect to see Young utilize that combination.

Last time at FSU 🏹🏹🔥Hunt and Sean 🤯🔥 47 points🔥 15-18 3FG pic.twitter.com/uGlXSTmSKj— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 2, 2024

The Hokies must get ten threes to fall to keep FSU honest or it will be another long game. FSU is susceptible to dribble penetration and overreacts in terms of collapsing inside. In moving to prevent lane possessions they lose track of perimeter shooters. Their losses to South Florida and Lipscomb saw those teams shoot 52% and 48% from outside respectively. Winthrop also shot 44% from outside in a game that they led FSU for the majority of the game.

The Noles struggle with fouls with five players averaging at least 2.8 per game. The Hokies have a great opportunity to get starters off the floor and get to the line if they can create opportunities for Kidd under the basket. The ability to work guards along the baseline is another area FSU has had a hard time defending and has led to reach in fouls or offside layups.

In Closing
Who dictates pace and space? The more the Hokies can get the Noles to adjust to them in the paint the more likely they come out of Tallahassee with a win. Forcing FSU to score outside of three feet is another major factor in getting a win. Controlling the paint unfortunately isn't a strong suit for the Hokies.

What kind of crowd can we expect? The student section will likely be nearly empty and watching two FSU games over the holidays it was kind of a ghost town crowd.

The Noles struggle against perimeter shooting teams that can pass the ball effectively around the perimeter. They lose though when they are forced to make baskets away from the hoop. In their six losses they only shot above 40% overall in one game. They only manage about 8 second chance points a game as well. They lose when they come away with no points on six out of ten possessions. Not really surprising when you see it like that. Bottom line: Contest shots and pack the lane.

Love seeing JRob still getting after it

Justin Robinson has taken things to another level in his past seven games 📈Catch Robinson and the @illawarrahawks in action in less than five minutes, live on ESPN via Kayo 📺 pic.twitter.com/V3XcnE0eL6— NBL (@NBL) January 5, 2024

Also a little Butts for Mutts

Nothing new here 😮‍💨🙆🏽‍♂️ J-Mutty showing off his bounce in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup! pic.twitter.com/ddwwK1TjqI— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 3, 2024