FSU Loses to Nebraska, Goes 0-3 In ESPN Invitational
I can't say I'm surprised, but that doesn't make it any easier to process. Florida State entered the ESPN Events Invitational 1-4, and will now leave Orlando 1-7 after losing to Siena, Stanford, and Nebraska. For those doing the math, they lost to Siena by 17, Stanford by 10, and Nebraska by 17. In three games over four games, they were outscored by a total of 44 points. For the season, they are being outscored by 9.25 points per game.
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This Nebraska game was more of the same that we've seen through the first few games of the season; an early lead followed by bad play going into the half, and a bad first few minutes out of the half essentially puts the game away. You can say this about every game they played in Orlando this weekend. It was just copy and paste for the whole weekend. You want a lot of turnovers? There were 98 combined turnovers from FSU's last three games, including 51 by themselves. You want pitiful 3-point shooting? As a team, FSU shot 13/56 (23.2%) from 3 this weekend. You want to get destroyed on the glass? Look no further than this FSU team, who was out-rebounded 89-113 this weekend. Nothing is working. FSU made 64 total field goals. Compared to 51 turnovers. They averaged 1.25 shots made per turnover, which is not a stat I love to look at.
Let's focus on the Nebraska game a little bit.
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I don't care how many points Matthew Cleveland finished with (17, for those asking), he wasn't good in this game. Defensively, he was letting people drive by him all game and really couldn't stay in front of anyone. Offensively, he was playing out control with his passing and attacking the rim, evidenced by his 5 turnovers. He only shows emotion when it's too late. I've said it since the beginning of the season, he has to be better, and he just hasn't been.
College basketball often is won by who has the better guards, so let's check in on Jalen Warley, Caleb Mills, and Darin Green Jr. In this game, Warley had 2 points, 4 assists, and 5 turnovers, Mills had 9 points, 6 assists, and 2 turnovers, and Green had 6 points, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers. I really like Darin Green Jr, but he needs some help and he has some cold shooting moments. Announcers are saying Mills especially has to be more aggressive, but the whole unit needs to be playing better.
Naheem McLeod getting pushed through the chest on defense by 6'8" Derrick Walker as he finished at the rim was telling of the whole night and season so far. FSU is just being pushed around and dominated when they aren't focused. Walker was phenomenal for the Cornhuskers, finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
There is just no consistency with this team. There is no identity besides turning it over and getting dominated on the glass. Broadcasters are saying this isn't Florida State basketball because players aren't used to these kinds of minutes. In reality, this isn't Florida State Basketball because they aren't playing for each other. The broadcasters on ESPN NEWS did get it right by saying these are five guys playing 1-on-1 basketball. There is zero cohesion.
It's not going to get easier. Purdue comes to town Wednesday for the ACC/B1G Challenge, who just beat Duke 75-56, then they travel to Virginia Saturday for their first ACC game. So it's extremely likely this team is 1-9 by the end of the first weekend of December, and I don't know how long the athletic administration will put up with it.
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