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Where did it all go? Here we are with the final regular season game in the books. No more games at the Don. No more press conferences for Matt. This is it. Senior day.
From here on out it's win or go home. Who knows where it will end, but FSU will be playing somewhere. First it's the ACC Tournament, and then it's on to some unknown postseason tourney.
Regardless, here are the things I jotted down during the game. Tune back in later to get Matt's full game story after he wraps up his interviews. Since it is the final home game for Michael Snaer, I'm guessing the press might be there a while.
- Doris Burke wouldn't shut up about FSU's rebounding, and she was right. I'm not even going to look at the final stats, because that isn't what is important. FSU battled. Credit Turpin. Credit Bojo. And credit Okaro White whose tip-out in the final seconds won the game for Florida State.
- Speaking of that tip out, the free throws which followed allowed Michael Snaer to be pulled from the game with time left on the clock - which is how every senior should go out. And it allowed the unsung heroes - the walk ons - to finish on the floor. Not many are going to remember Joey Moreau or Rafael Portuondo years from now but they are every bit a part of this program as the guys on scholarship.
- Back when we were previewing the roster I wrote the following about Devon Bookert: "Because he didn't play in the summer leagues until his senior season, and because few recruiting services saw him play in high school, Bookert was just lumped in with the 2* and 3* recruits. And because of that, most FSU fans are sleeping on him. They're assuming he won't play as much as the more heralded recruits. And they're wrong." Since he's been inserted into the starting lineup FSU's offense has looked (and performed) at a different level. He's still not healthy, and he still has his freshman moments, but he had a career high 18 points and looked like the calmest player out there. Give him an off-season to get healthy, a more experience team around him, and a preseason foreign trip to get the kinks worked out and FSU fans should feel as confident about the PG position as they've felt in years.
- Ian Miller, who also still has his freshman moments, put the team on his back in the 2nd half and single handedly pulled FSU back into a game which was slipping away. Next year it is his turn to be a senior, and lets hope that he can play a full, healthy season. His ability to find teammates near the rim is uncanny, and it is that much more of a weapon when he's playing off the ball and often making those passes after two ball reversals and the defense in flux. I can see the pieces coming together for next year, and I have to say, I'm pretty damn excited.
- Congrats, and thanks, to Michael Snaer. I'll be posting a retrospective on what he's meant to this program, but I'm not doing it while FSU is still playing. Today, he became the 10th player in FSU history to score 1,500 points. He needs 8 points to move into 9th place, and 16 points to pass Al Thornton for 8th. Based on where FSU was when he committed, and where FSU is now, I'm going to be very disappointed if his jersey doesn't end up in the rafters.