Fox Sports – The Florida State Seminoles
are almost ready to dance.
After playing so well in a
nationally televised win at North Carolina
(their first win in the Dean Smith Center
in 10 years) Florida
State is on the verge of
their second straight NCAA Tournament bid.
With their remaining regular season
games all possible victories, the Seminoles (20-7, 8-5 in the ACC) could even
start thinking of improving their seeding.
However their coach Leonard
Hamilton prefers to keep his focus on the side’s final game against the Miami
Hurricanes this coming Saturday.
“I think you put yourself at risk
if you try to get into the tournament with just eight conference wins,” Hamilton said. “I don’t
think we have enough wins at this point. We have to make sure we continue
playing and we’ll see what happens in the end.”
One of the positives Hamilton has seen in his
team is their shooting. In fact if the Seminoles shoot from outside like how
they did against the Tar Heels they could be a tough out in both the ACC and
NCAA tournaments.
In their 77-67 victory Florida State buried 11 three-pointers, nine of
which came in the first half alone. Meanwhile North Carolina barely shot 42 percent for
the game.
Another feather in the proverbial
hat for Florida State is their defense. Hamilton has preached
pressure and smart defending, both of which are staples this year.
The stats back that up as the
Seminoles have not allowed an opponent to shoot over 47 percent this season.
They lead the ACC in overall defense.
Both aspects have put the Seminoles
in a favourable position at the start of March. Victories over Wake Forest and
Miami would assure
an upper-tier finish, a winning ACC record and bring thoughts of which region
they’ll play in for the “Big Dance.”
