Louisville hits the road to Tallahassee, Florida to face Florida State at 1:00 PM EST. Both teams, Louisville at 0-8 and FSU at 1-9, have had unprecedented starts to the season. However, they have taken different paths to achieve such a forgettable. Let’s take a look at how the Seminoles have gotten here.
Leonard Hamilton has had an unexpected slow start due to injuries and an eligibility issue. Recently, Cam’Ron Fletcher most recently was reported to miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury during Tuesday’s loss to Virginia. The Kentucky transfer was someone who averaged over ten points a game and over seven rebounds a game. However, Fletcher was not alone due to Jaylan Gainey missing this season due to injuring his knee before the season started. The Brown transfer was another big man who was expected to start.
The Seminoles misfortune continued before the season started due to the NCAA suspending Baba Miller due to receiving money for travel expenses for a camp in 2020 in which he traveled from Spain to Texas before any NCAA schools were recruiting him. The family paid it back as soon as they discovered it may be considered an NCAA violation. But this did not seem to matter. As ridiculous as this is during the NIL era, it seems to be part of the reason for the Seminoles struggles early on this season. While Florida State is struggling due to players missing, it is not the sole reason why they only have one win this season.
Florida State’s struggles may not be as large as Louisville’s, but the struggles are still worrisome. The Seminoles currently score .812 points per possession, which is ranked 335th in the nation and second worst in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Fans do not get to gloat much due to Louisville being behind and scoring .744 points per possession, which is ranked 358th in the nation and worst in the ACC. This may help keep the game close if Louisville goes into a long scoring drought.
Leonard Hamilton’s players are known to be long, athletic, and tough to matchup defensively. While Hamilton has recently shaped up the defense, it still ranks 254th in the defense allowing .893 points per possession. His team has not shown their traditional strength defensively until their game against the Cavaliers this past Saturday where they limited the Cavaliers to only 62 points.
This is the second fewest points scored by the Cavaliers in a matchup this season, which arguably could be the fewest if Reece Beekman was not hurt against their matchup against James Madison this past Tuesday. Virginia has been efficient offensively and has scored 1.014 points per possession, which ranks 15th in the nation. Don’t be surprised for the Seminoles to look better defensively than their 1-9 record may indicate.
The player that most will associate from Florida State is Caleb Mills due to his impressive play last year. The guard is averaging more than 11 points a game this year but may not be the biggest threat offensively. Darin Green Jr. is a transfer guard from Central Florida that may take more of the spot light this year. The transfer guard is averaging over 13 points a game this year.
Hamilton has brought different pieces to this team that haven’t meshed well together, but Green Jr. is a piece that has helped the offense. Green Jr. is making more than two three-point shots a game and shooting over 43 percent from behind the arc this year. This offense is not running efficiently, but Darin Green Jr. is a working part.
Looking at both team’s records and the matchup looks like it will close, but it does not show the bigger picture. Florida State seems to have hit their bottom and trending up while Louisville is still in free fall. Florida State does a good job forcing turnovers defensively and expect the Seminoles to run in transition for most of the game unless the Cardinals can take care of the ball better. The prediction for the final score is 74-55 Florida State.