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MBB Game 15: FSU 69 Texas A&M-CC 48

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at Florida St. Seminoles, Jan 3, 2009 4:00 PM EST


Tonight, the Islanders from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi roll into the Tucker Center for the Noles's last game before starting ACC play. Let's take a look at the match up and a couple of other musings on college basketball. The preview and game thread are inside.

N.B After turning the ball over 10 times in the first half and going 4 minutes without a basket to start the second half, the Noles pulled away at the end in their final OOC game. We needed a big win and we got it. Unfortunately, it took way too long for us to get started, but we only turned the ball over 6 times in the second half. ACC countdown begins...Duke visits the Tucker Center in 1 week.

Star-divide

The Islanders, currently 6-6 and ranked 229th in the Pomeroy Index, have played quite the interesting OOC schedule this year. Aside from taking on the unranked likes of St. Edwards, Texas A&M-International and Texas A&M-Kingsville, they have played Illinois, Northwestern, Tulsa and Oklahoma St. When they have played similarly ranked teams, the Islanders have done well, typically scoring in the 70's to 80's, topping out at 97 against NC Wilmington.

As I was doing some reading, I came across the following article on ESPN.com, discussing the financial incentives mid-major teams receive for playing the elite teams. I didn't realise that basketball had the same finiancial payoffs, obviously to a lesser sum, that football has. Here is a nice article from Ron Morris on thestate.com about the payouts we're starting to see in college football. Keep in mind, those figures are for regular season games...not bowl games. The fact that Ohio State will pay Navy over 1 million dollars is obscene. I know that Div 1 athletics, particularly football, bring in absurd ammounts of money, but it makes you pause for a minute in these economic times to wonder if all of this is "right." I'll get off my soap box now, but I just found this to be interesting. The first line of the UNC-Nevada preview on ESPN.com states the following: "Barely tested and hardly challenged." All major conferences are guilty of this and the OOC schedule should be a light schedule in preparation for what is a grueling two months for teams in conference play. Just thought we should take a minute and think about the little guy and what impact this may or may not have on their programs. Any thoughts on the pluses and minuses of financial incentives for scheduled beat downs? (I'm not looking to get into the athletes should be paid argument, just thoughts on the finiances of athletics or something like that)

On to the match up. This is going to be a tougher game for us than I think most imagined. This is a big, relatively experienced team that likes to play defense. Offense is not their specialty...at all...they have no one in Ken Pomeroy's top 500 offensive ratings. And keep in mind, only 3 of their 6 wins are against Div 1 teams.

                      Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency : 86.2 (317) 96.7 (123)
Adj Efficiency : 89.8 (295) 96.2 (103)

Effective FG% : 44.5 (291) 48.6 (156)
Turnover Pct. : 26.4 (331) 26.2 ( 17)
Off. Rebound% : 34.6 (129) 36.7 (277)
Free Throw Rate: 21.6 (246) 38.9 (225)

3-Point FG% : 28.0 (311) 34.5 (196)
2-Point FG% : 45.8 (232) 47.2 (147)
Free Throw Pct.: 64.1 (277) 68.9 (196)
Block Pct. : 11.7 (291) 7.9 (191)
Steal Pct. : 12.6 (313) 14.3 ( 13)

3PA/FGA : 32.5 (187) 29.7 ( 61)
A/FGM : 54.0 (169) 57.5 (240)

They play a down tempo game and that's about all I can say about their offense. They have put up a lot of points against lesser opponents, but against the likes of Illinois, Northwestern and such...they sit in the 40's.

Offense Defense
Date Opponent Result Site Pace Eff. eFG% TO% OR% FTR Eff. eFG% TO% OR% FTR
Fri Nov 14 Tex A&M Kingsville (s) (sr) W, 83-64 H 71 116.4 48.4 21.0 50.0 49.2 89.7 46.4 21.0 28.1 41.1
Sun Nov 16 Illinois (s) (sr) L, 72-53 A 68 77.5 41.7 26.3 28.2 27.8 105.3 47.6 17.6 38.2 25.8
Wed Nov 19 Northwestern (s) (sr) L, 66-48 A 60 79.4 40.7 26.5 32.7 41.9 109.1 47.1 14.9 31.8 46.1
Sun Nov 23 Tulsa (s) (sr) L, 66-43 A 67 63.9 32.1 31.2 34.1 32.1 98.0 47.4 22.3 42.9 31.0
Fri Nov 28 Jackson St. (s) (sr) W, 73-63 H 75 97.9 54.8 25.5 36.9 53.9 84.5 44.2 38.9 45.2 50.0
Sat Nov 29 NC Wilmington (s) (sr) W, 97-64 H 78 124.6 59.9 20.6 45.5 33.3 82.2 47.4 32.1 28.6 19.0
Wed Dec 3 St. Edwards (s) (sr) W, 84-70 H 72 116.0 44.7 20.7 48.8 80.7 96.7 50.9 24.9 42.1 35.6
Sat Dec 6 Texas Christian (s) (sr) L, 66-53 A 63 83.8 34.9 19.0 44.5 24.2 104.3 58.3 30.0 31.4 52.4
Mon Dec 8 Texas A&M Intl (s) (sr) W, 87-60 H 79 109.9 52.5 26.5 45.3 47.5 75.8 38.1 26.5 25.0 35.6
Sun Dec 14 Oklahoma St. (s) (sr) L, 82-59 H 66 89.9 43.1 18.3 27.5 22.4 124.9 67.6 18.3 29.2 27.8
Thu Dec 18 Savannah St. (s) (sr) L, 47-42 A 67 62.8 35.9 41.8 32.8 48.7 70.2 30.0 28.4 37.5 54.0
Mon Dec 22 Georgia (s) (sr) W, 80-79 A 75 94.5 52.3 28.4 27.4 29.7 93.3 48.3 29.5 40.2 51.7

As an interesting exercise, just take a look up and down all of the colums for this team and see how much variation there is from game to game. They had a 19% TO against Texas Christian, in a loss, and they turner it over 42% of the time in a loss against Savannah St. As I have mentioned previously, teams like this worry me; you never know who is going to show up. However, the Islanders don't have the firepower to keep up with good defensive teams. They do play relatively good defense and force a number of turnovers, particuarly by stealing the ball. This is good and bad for us. We don't typically lose the ball as a result of steals; we make bad decisions and throw the ball away, travel or cause an offensive foul.

Here are their likely starters for the game:

LaMarr Drake 6'1 185 Jr G 7.8ppg 3.4apg 2.4 rpg

Horace Bond 6'8 190 So F 3.4 ppg 1.3 apg 3.7 rpg

Kevin Palmer 6'6 205 Jr G/F 15.3 ppg 3.1apg 4.3 rpg

Demond Watt 6'7 205 So F 9 ppg 0.7 apg 6 rpg

Justin Reynolds 6'9 230 So F 10.3 ppg 1.3 apg 4.9 rpg

 

Kevin Palmer is their offense. He leads them in terms of possessions, 31% and is 31st in the country, and shots 34% which is 22nd in the country. He also leads them in assists and steals. However, his Offensive rating is a terrible 96.7. Anything over 110 is good. He is shooting 42% from the floor and 31% from the 3 point line. But he turns the ball over 22% of the time.

This is also a relatively tall team...ranking 19th in the country for average minutes weighted height...we're number 1. Their effective height is 7th; we're number 4. They also have a 7 footer who comes off the bench and typically plays about 20 minutes a game and does a nice job on the boards at the defensive end of the court.

I have recently written a lot about our offense and defense, so I won't belabor the details here as some of my recent posts have been a tad on the long side. But to be complete, here are the stats:

                      Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency : 99.6 (195) 90.8 ( 46)
Adj Efficiency : 100.4 (163) 88.2 ( 33)

Effective FG% : 48.8 (167) 43.4 ( 30)
Turnover Pct. : 24.3 (295) 22.5 (104)
Off. Rebound% : 35.6 (100) 34.3 (203)
Free Throw Rate: 35.3 ( 9) 31.8 ( 86)

3-Point FG% : 35.2 (126) 33.6 (163)
2-Point FG% : 46.8 (207) 39.2 ( 11)
Free Throw Pct.: 71.6 ( 90) 64.7 ( 56)
Block Pct. : 6.8 ( 62) 18.3 ( 7)
Steal Pct. : 10.3 (196) 12.3 ( 44)

3PA/FGA : 33.4 (153) 37.9 (299)
A/FGM : 55.1 (145) 46.5 ( 28)

Our defense continues to get better and our offense has room for improvement.

Here's our game log:

Offense Defense
Date Opponent Result Site Pace Eff. eFG% TO% OR% FTR Eff. eFG% TO% OR% FTR
Sat Nov 15 Jacksonville (s) (sr) W, 59-57 A 69 85.6 52.4 26.1 18.8 73.2 82.7 36.0 16.0 33.3 26.5
Tue Nov 18 La Salle (s) (sr) W, 65-61 A 71 92.0 45.8 25.5 26.9 58.3 86.3 40.0 19.8 31.5 30.0
Thu Nov 20 Stetson (s) (sr) W, 79-77 H 73 108.3 45.5 23.3 46.1 60.7 105.6 53.1 19.2 33.3 20.0
Sat Nov 22 Coastal Carolina (s) (sr) W, 82-70 H 71 116.0 56.7 21.2 32.8 50.0 99.0 51.8 31.1 37.5 30.9
Mon Nov 24 Western Illinois (s) (sr) W, 67-55 H 62 108.6 48.0 19.4 36.5 44.0 89.1 40.9 21.1 21.0 47.7
Fri Nov 28 Cincinnati (s) (sr) W, 58-47 N 64 90.7 42.0 28.1 43.2 50.0 73.5 36.1 29.7 40.5 31.5
Sat Nov 29 California (s) (sr) W, 80-77 N 78 102.7 55.2 23.1 25.6 70.8 98.8 44.1 16.7 20.8 54.2
Wed Dec 3 Northwestern (s) (sr) L, 73-59 A 69 86.0 47.1 30.6 33.9 37.3 106.4 49.1 18.9 42.9 55.4
Sun Dec 7 Florida (s) (sr) W, 57-55 H 64 88.8 37.3 21.8 38.9 51.0 85.7 43.1 24.9 31.3 33.3
Sat Dec 13 Georgia St. (s) (sr) W, 62-57 A 54 114.1 64.5 27.6 44.2 50.0 104.9 44.3 12.9 32.8 28.3
Tue Dec 16 Tennessee Tech (s) (sr) W, 69-59 H 75 92.3 53.9 32.1 34.5 39.2 78.9 41.7 29.4 33.3 28.3
Thu Dec 18 Charleston Southern (s) (sr) W, 71-48 H 66 107.0 49.2 19.6 45.2 35.5 72.4 39.3 28.6 35.9 19.6
Sun Dec 21 Pittsburgh (s) (sr) L, 56-48 H 67 71.8 34.0 26.9 27.8 46.8 83.8 38.1 22.4 38.1 20.6
Sun Dec 28 Western Kentucky (s) (sr) W, 82-69 h 65 127.0 54.1 13.9 40.0 34.4 106.9 50.0 23.2 44.7 25.9

 

Pomeroy gives us a 95% chance to win this game and I agree. We should shut them down on defense and hopefully continues to improve on the offensive end of the court. This is a big team and I think will be a good tune up before getting into conference play, which is a week away.

Thoughts on the game?

Go NOLES!

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Good read, TC

This CC offense makes us look like the showtime lakes. I will hope for no injuries.

by Bud Elliott on Jan 3, 2009 1:32 PM EST reply actions  

Looks like they are strong at forcing turnovers and Steals

It will be a big deal if we have under 10 Turnovers again. I’m hoping not to see 20+

by Zach_Nole on Jan 3, 2009 1:35 PM EST reply actions  

My hometown team, the Islanders lol. I remember they came to Tally few years back. Now that I am actually home for the holiday still, I wish this was a home game for the Islanders so I could grab a glimpse of some Nole action. Hopefully the game will be broadcasted online and I can find yall a feed.

by thirdcoastnole on Jan 3, 2009 2:20 PM EST reply actions  

We should run all over this team...

but will we? I’m going to stay optimistic but for some reason i see us coming out flat and unmotivated. Hopefully we’ll stick to the gameplan (assuming there is one) and not resort to the AND1 mixtape stuff we try and do sometimes against teams like this….

We should come out pressing and put this team away early…

by Renegade11 on Jan 3, 2009 2:41 PM EST reply actions  

I definitely think we should show the press and get used to it against this team. I am very worried about this game as we could easily look ahead.

Speaking of looking ahead, I have posted a preview of our ACC conference play. Hope you all enjoy. Should carry you over until game time.

by TrueCubbie on Jan 3, 2009 2:43 PM EST up reply actions  

Can't overlook this team

A loss here would cost us dearly come tournament time. Bad losses frequently overwhelm good wins in the minds of the committee. Remember they won their last game in Georgia.

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 3:06 PM EST reply actions  

I guess they hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer to win that Georgia game

but great point about the committee. the back to back losses last year to Cleveland St and USF really hurt us badly last year….

by Renegade11 on Jan 3, 2009 3:12 PM EST up reply actions  

We need to do a better job of controlling the defensive glass

But I like our game so far…

13-4 FSU on the back to backs…

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 4:19 PM EST reply actions  

Steal

DK hits his second on the 2 on one break
15-4

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 4:20 PM EST reply actions  

love the snazzy scoreboard on the front page

great for us people working. and we’re looking solid, even better …

by hopnole23 on Jan 3, 2009 4:56 PM EST reply actions  

Im happy so far

It looks like we are playing pretty well so far.

by fsunole23 on Jan 3, 2009 5:01 PM EST reply actions  

TC you mentioned we are playing a very different style...

what are we doing different? sorry i’m at work and have been trying to follow but keep getting distracted.

by Renegade11 on Jan 3, 2009 5:08 PM EST reply actions  

I'm basing this off what I'm listenting to on the radio...so take it with a grain of salt.

But I feel like we’re actually pushing the ball up the court and play with more confidence on the offensive end. Granted, we’re causing a lot of fast break opportunities, which is why our shooting percentage is so high. I just feel like we’re trying to play more of an up tempo game. The passes, at least listening, appear to be crisper and happening more frequently. Guys are making decisions. We have already put up 29 shots, previously we’re only averaging about 50 a game if my memory is correct. This is the type of play we need in the ACC—fast, fast, fast decisive basketball.

by TrueCubbie on Jan 3, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions  

35-26 at 15:17 media timeout

FSU still hasn’t scored in second half

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 5:20 PM EST reply actions  

yep

Tex cuts the lead to 8

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 5:28 PM EST reply actions  

Once again...we don't score coming out of a time out on a set play.

Some say a measure of offensive success is how well you do coming out of timeouts…any thoughts?

by TrueCubbie on Jan 3, 2009 5:32 PM EST reply actions  

I worry

because too much of our offense is based off of our defense (an RH trademark) and we don’t execute well enough in the half court set (If we can’t against Tex A&M CC, how are we going to do it aganst UNC and Duke).

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 5:37 PM EST reply actions  

Sorry a little late but...

i see the same thing happening that did against Pitt. not only do we rely on our defense for our offense we also rely way too heavily on timely shooting. Those that watched know that we went up by 8 on them…and then literally 1:30 later its a tie ball game. We put up unnecessary, quick shots in that game which we had been hitting in the 1st half but not in the 2nd which allowed Pitt to get right back into the game. And then relied on TD to try and hit threes at the end of the game. We aren’t going to win tight ball games like that….

by Renegade11 on Jan 3, 2009 5:47 PM EST up reply actions  

hoop and the harm

DK with a ft to push the lead to 14 (but he missed)

by CelticPride on Jan 3, 2009 5:46 PM EST reply actions  

Good to win

our last ooc game. Now we need to start conference play with a win over Duke!

by fsunole23 on Jan 3, 2009 6:21 PM EST reply actions  

How many points did Douglas have?

At a guess, 20-25.

Well, I'll appreciate for you to keep my zingers outta your mouth!

by BoSox415 on Jan 3, 2009 7:22 PM EST reply actions  

I was out for most of the game

It seems we got the result we needed to get. Difficult to evaluate the process to arrive at those results until I see the final numbers. There’s some really good commentary here, however, and I’m glad we’re developing quite the basketball following.

by Bud Elliott on Jan 3, 2009 10:05 PM EST reply actions  

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