FSU vs South Alabama Preview and Game Thread

Florida State is 3-0, but their start has been a bit shaky. Offensively, Seminole fans are used to turnovers, but the Noles current 24.4% turnover rate is the worst of Leonard Hamilton's career. On the flip side, their eFG% is the highest of his career. You would hope that the combination of those two statistics would give coach Ham the ammunition he needs to impress on his players the value of not throwing away possessions.

Defensively, the Noles have been solid by mortal standards, but woefully short of FSU standards. The problem is in two areas, which should be fixable. The first is giving up offensive boards, and here the Noles are allowing teams to grab 36.4% of their own misses (compared to 30.9% last year). The second problem is due to Hamilton's rigorous system of switching on defense - his players haven't been executing accurately and this has led to 44.8% shooting on 2s, often on blown assignments.

To fix these problems, the University of South Alabama comes to town to face the Seminoles at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Last year Ronnie Arrow's squad was one of the worst in the country, and this year is no different. They're a terrible defense, and don't force many turnovers. On the other end of the floor they don't get after the offensive glass. So if FSU wants to fix its problems, today is the day. While they are projected to finish near the top of the Sun Belt - this isn't saying much, as the Sun Belt is not a good conference. The Seminoles should do as they please and win this game by 20+.

This is the worst defense the Seminoles will play all season, and so the goal needs to be set high. The Noles need to score 1.20 points per possession.  And defensively FSU should shut them down. 0.80 is a good goal.

The game tips at 3pm on ESPN3.