FSU Comes to Cameron Confident, Dangerous - SCACCHoops.com

FSU Comes to Cameron Confident, Dangerous

by WebMaster

Posted: 1/21/2012 7:19:09 AM


When Duke tips off Saturday afternoon it will be doing so against a Florida State team that is riding a wave of recent success and beginning to fulfill the expectations many had for them at the season's start.

Everyone expected Florida State to be in contention for at least the third spot in the ACC and some even felt it was reasonable for them to challenge the Blue Devils for their seemingly predestined spot as the conference's No. 2 team.

After a 5-0 start, things got a bit shaky when the Seminoles dropped three straight games. Granted those loses were to Harvard, UConn and Michigan State and all are projected NCAA tournament teams, but after that Florida State more or less fell off the radar.

But oddly enough those loses weren't awful. In fact of the Seminoles six loses this season, the worst one is likely to be to Clemson on the road and true road wins are often hard to come by, just ask Duke.

After that initial three game losing streak and a few more stumbling blocks the Seminoles find themselves in the midst of a three game winning streak including the impressive dismantling of North Carolina. That has made for a team brimming with confidence and one that knows it can beat the upper level teams in the conference.

The Noles are led by junior guard Michael Snaer who is averaging 13.5 points per game. But perhaps the biggest reason for Florida States' resurgence is the return of sophomore guard Ian Miller who missed the first 11 games of the season after being suspended for unspecified reasons.

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton indicated that Miller's return to the line up has helped his teams defense but it is clear that the Seminoles needed Miller's offense. He is averaging 13 points per game in only seven games.

One of the aspects that will make Florida State such a difficult test for Duke is the height of their guards. The Blue Devils are deep at guard but aren't very tall at the position.

Snaer and Deividas Dulkys, two of the Noles' top guards are 6 ft. 5 in. and Miller is 6 ft. 3 in. That back court size could prove to be a challenge as Florida State's guards should be able to shoot over  the Blue Devils' smaller guards.

And if Dulkys has the kind of game against Duke that he did last weekend against UNC it could be a long afternoon for the Blue Devils.

Duke hasn't shown the same defensive efficiency it has in the past and a team like Temple with longer taller guards gave them fits. Florida State could very well end up doing the same thing.

The Blue Devils will have to execute on defense much more effectively than they have. They have been getting beat off the dribble and communication breakdowns appear to have led to a lot of missed switches with their help defense.

For Duke to win they will have to limit Florida State to under 45 percent shooting and out rebound them. If they can control those two stats and stay out of significant foul trouble then they will be in a good position to win the game.

If not, it could end up being the first loss for Duke in Cameron in almost 50 games.

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