Ian Miller "shut down" until further notice

Leonard Hamilton announced this afternoon that junior combo guard Ian Miller will be "shut down" until further notice. The bone bruise on his foot isn't healing. He suffered the injury immediately prior to the North Florida game, and has been wearing a protective boot ever since.

Prior to his injury he was averaging 8.8 points and 3.5 assists. Since then he's missed one game and averaged 4.0 ppg and 1.3 apg during FSU's current 3-game skid.

This will obviously open up more minutes for FSUs other guards. But none of them bring to the court as much as Miller. His defense will be missed (a testament to how far he's come since his freshman year), but more importantly Coach Hamilton uses him as an extra ball-handler. Miller - while not having the instincts of a point guard - has excellent vision and an ability to break down defenses. There's a reason he's leading the team in assists despite playing off the ball.

This news comes at a time when FSU absolutely has to get some wins. At 4-4 with two quality wins and two questionable losses, the Noles resume can't handle many more hits if they're to push their program best 4-game NCAA Tournament streak to five.

If Miller can get healthy prior to ACC play and FSU can escape the rest of the non-conference unscathed, then the extra development for the young guys could be an unexpected bonus. But if FSU drops a couple more games while playing without Miller then the season could quickly come off the rails.