FSU Basketball Moves to 3-0 on Spain Trip

by TrueCubbie on Aug 18, 2009 8:05 PM EDT in FSU Basketball Comment 9 comments

For the third game in a row, the Seminoles put up 100+ points to earn their third victory abroad. Devidas Dulkys showed off his shooting abilities, putting up 30 points, making five three pointers along the way. Solomon Alabi scored 11 points for the 'Noles with 6 rebounds.

Take a look inside for the official release from Valencia, Spain.

**Update: A little info about Spanish Basketball Leagues in the Comments Section-- who are the Noles playing and what does it really mean in terms of our off-season evaluation**

Image from here.

Official Release from FSU:

FLORIDA STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM IMPROVES TO 3-0 IN SPAIN WITH 127-60 VICTORY OVER SPANISH CLUB CLARET

          VALENCIA, Spain – Sophomore guard Deividas Dulkys scored a game-high 30 points to lead seven Seminoles in double figure scoring to lead Florida State to a 127-60 victory over Claret in its third of four games during its 11-day summer tour of Spain. The Seminoles’ 67-point margin of victory was their largest of the first three games of the tour and increased its average margin of victory to 59.3 points per game. Florida State’s offense is averaging better than 115 points per game while surrendering an average of 56 points per contest.

          Dulkys led the Seminoles against Claret as he made five 3-point field goals. He led seven Seminoles who made at least one 3-point field goal during the game. Sophomore forward Chris Singleton made three 3-point field goals (in three consecutive possessions during the second half) and totaled 11 points during the game.

          All-American center Solomon Alabi, who scored 19 points in both of the Seminoles’ first two games of the trip, scored 11 points and is averaging 16.3 points per game heading into the Seminoles’ final game later this week. Alabi also added six rebounds.

          Junior guard Derwin Kitchen continued to have the hot hand as he scored 11 points and dished out seven assists for the third consecutive game. Sophomore guard Luke Loucks scored nine points and was credited with a game-high nine assists while freshman guard Pierre Jordan contributed seven points and seven assists.

          Senior forward Ryan Reid scored the second double-double of the trip for the Seminoles as he scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Sophomore forward Xavier Gibson scored 19 points while junior guard Jordan DeMercy totaled 14 points.

          The Seminoles departed after the game for Barcelona and their final stop on their tour of Spain. While in Barcelona, the Seminoles are scheduled to play one final game before returning to the United States on Saturday.

These summer games are adding much needed game experience and familiarity to our young 'Noles basketball team. We have seen significant contributions from everyone on the team, with consistent play from our big men. As stated, Alabi is averaging 16.3 points per game and Xavier Gibson is contributing double digit scoring as well.

Luke Loucks is demonstrating that he is taking over this offense and is ready to take on a significant leadership role on this team. 9 assists. More on Loucks in the coming days.

It looks like the 'Noles are firing on all cyclinders in the off season. I have tried to find more information about their competition. Leonard Hamilton's squad is putting up huge numbers and keeping the competition to limited points, espescially shutting teams down in the first half. Even if these teams are not on equal terms with the ACC, this is a great way for the team to develop, mature and gain confidence.

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i had a class with loucks last year

sat next to him often, seemed like a good guy.

by B-rod24 on Aug 18, 2009 8:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Seminoles.com has pictures of where the women’s basketball team played in South Africa. It looks like a gym. I’m guessing the competition is not very good. They put up similar numbers to the men’s team (100 points, 40 to 50 point margin of victory).

by Jaguar on Aug 18, 2009 9:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

so how does this work we can play games vs other countrys but not other schools

And why cant Football do the same I know they use too. Anyhow this seems cool. 3-0 in these games is this saying something or are we supost to win these kind of games. (not trying to be smart because I realy dont know)

Why is the sky blue? Because, God Loves the Infantry

by Desman on Aug 18, 2009 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great question Des.

Clearly FSU, both the men’s and women’s teams, has done a number on its competition while abroad.

Here is the original article from FSU about the trips to Spain and South Africa for the men’s and women’s teams respectively. Apparently Nike funds trips like these every four years; we were lucky enough to be the recipient of the funding this year.

I too have been wondering who the competition has been while we were away. Regardless of who it is, I’m glad we’re having the opportunity to play organized games and to be able to practice during the summer, with the coaching staff available.

I looked into this ‘Claret’ team and I think it might be a bit of a misnomer. If anyone is more familiar with the Spanish Basketball League’s, please let me know. I believe the Claret team is actually the C.B Gran Canaria. Apparently, the team started at the Colegio Claret on the Canary Islands. As the team got better and went mainstream, it lost the Claret part of its name, however it apparently follows the team from time to time. If this Claret team is actually the C.B Gran Canaria, we are playing some of the top basketball teams in Spain.

The C.B Gran Canaria is a member of the ACB, which stands for the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (Association of Basketball Clubs), which is the premier basketball division in Spain. This is the league that the likes of Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Andres Nocioni and Jose Claderon played in before heading to the NBA.

Last year, the C.B. Gran Canaria finished 20-12 in league play, finishing in the top 8 of the league. It has former NBA players on the team. I don’t immediately recognize any of their names, but they were NBA players at one point in time.

The second team that FSU played was C.B. Alginet. Here is their website. Check out the posters they made for the FSU game. I think that this team is not at the level of the Gran Canaria team. Here is a game tape of C.B. Alginet. I’m assuming that FSU played under FIBA rules rather than NCAA rules while abroad.

The first team that FSU played while abroad was Eurocolegio Casvi. They are a member of the EBA league, which is one of the better leagues in Spain but does not compare with the ACB. Last year, Eurocolegio finished 13-15 in league play.

I hope this helps us all understand what level of competition the Noles are seeing abroad. If the Claret team is really the C.B Gran Canaria, that is an impressive win against a team that plays in the top division in Spanish basketball, whatever that means.

If any of you know more about the details of Spanish basketball, please educate all of us about it. This was what I could quickly pull up.

If we are playing Barcelona in the next few days, they are a very respectable team, especially if it is Regal F.C. Barcelona. The ACB website is here. I warn you…it’s in Spanish.

www.Tomahawknation.com

by TrueCubbie on Aug 18, 2009 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree TC...

regardless of who the competition any chance for us to play meaningful minutes together will be beneficial. We lost our identity last year with TD graduating and this team needs to find what their identity is going to be without him. And the sooner we are able to figure that out the better.

I’m still not sold on Loucks. I want to see how he improves this year….

by Renegade11 on Aug 19, 2009 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I speak some spanish- maybe I can work through this later on.

Tomahawk Nation: No-Holds-Barred Nole Analysis

by FSUncensored on Aug 20, 2009 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dulkys has been hitting a ton of threes in these games.

I hope he has found his stroke. I thought maybe he felt more comfortable playing European ball since he is from Lithuania, but I looked and he has been playing in the US since 2005. Hopefully he can hit the same shots again ACC competition next year.

OH YEAAHH!

by TBfisherman on Aug 19, 2009 11:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Another Great TC post

We’ll miss TD but I’m getting excited for FSU hoops again this year.

DK, Singleton, Dulkys, Alabi, X-man, Demercy and Loucks should all be a year better and more mature. Mr. Snaer (sp?) should come in and make an impact early.

This Summer PT in Spain is nothing but good. (The Celtics did it before they won Banner 17 – it’s a great team building experience.)

by CelticPride on Aug 20, 2009 12:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs