Noles Crush Hatters

Kreft really did play very aggressively in tune with what I saw at Chipola. On one play after a Stetson bucket he was trotting back to his offensive position and around the free throw line it looked like his and the other center’s eyes met and they just started towards each other. Right before they hit Kreft turned his body like he was boxing out at just drilled the guy with his hip, and it noticeably affect the other guy. He also had very active hands tonight but did pick up 4 fouls.

Offensively, I believe Kreft only had about 7-8 quality touches where he actually was able to do something with the ball. But of those 7-8 times, he was very aggressive and Stetson had no answer and Kreft was fouled 7 times and was only able to put up one legitimate hook shot that rolled out. His pass was noticeably crisper than what I remember, he even put a no-looker into James face right under the basket. James however, did not see it coming and it bounced off his chest and into a scrum which FSU luckily came up with. Also he was 6-10 from the line.

Defensively, Kreft was once again extremely physical down low. He really did maintain excellent position at all times and showed very good footwork. The TV announcers mentioned multiple times how Kreft was able to maintain positive leverage and was able to use his body to create rebound opportunities, something FSU sorely needed out of Alabi last year. I don’t believe Kreft blocked any shots, but he altered a ton and Stetson could not do much inside with him in the game, but that could just be because it was Stetson. Stetson had two centers of note, one built like a slightly frailer Kreft, and one built like the obese customer who goes to all-you-can eat restaurants to clean house. Seriously, the guy was like a lumbering mastadon. Kreft dealt with each guy very differently, just destroying the smaller guy with his size and weight, and with the fat one he used his quickness and footwork to win both the one on one and the rebounding battle.

One thing I noticed was 3 or 4 times FSU was going down the court transitioning into their offense, you would all of a sudden see Kreft streak towards the open basket with his hand up looking for the alley-oop. It was fairly subtle, but it looked like once Kreft saw the defense wasn’t paying attention he made his move. Loucks saw him once late but didn’t attempt it. Look for this in the future because Kreft was really known for that at Chipola, the kid can fly.

Oh, and the combination of Jon Kreft and Bernard James on the floor was fantastic. Both guys were physical tonight and Stetson could not focus on both at the same time so they chose Kreft. Jon would get the ball, James would streak in, receive the pass from Kreft in the open lane and get fouled on his was to the slam.

Overall, Kreft played about 12-15 minutes. He is definitely not in game-ready shape, but can be quite a force when he is not winded and that will be fixed after a couple weeks.

Ira Schoffel tweeted this about Kreft during the game

All kidding aside, Jon Kreft can change everything for FSU. Does so many little things well … really eager to see this team in January.