Xavier Rathan-Mayes played a fantastic game, finishing with a stat line of 12 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. It was the 19th time he’s had at least 10 points and five assists in a game. More importantly, he was assigned in virtually all of his 29 minutes to the opposing point guard, and did a solid job applying ball pressure 35+ feet from the basket, and he communicated well with his teammates.
Braian Angola-Rodas did not fill up the stat sheet like XRM, finishing with five points. But he put in an excellent 15 minutes, during which he showed off his understanding of the game: good defensive positions, a bounce pass from the short corner into the lane, a nice high/low tip pass into the post, bodying up on the glass, blocking two passes and making a great hustle play to steal a possession, guarding the opposing PG when XRM was out of the game. He wasn’t perfect, as he gambled at times, and occasionally sagged too much on defense, but he appears to be the kind of role player who will bring great value off the bench.
Freshman Trent Forrest was not attributed with a steal, but he had three deflections to create 50/50 balls, and used his length well to disrupt passing lanes. He was also active on the boards, grabbing six rebounds including two on the offensive end.
In my glass-half-full description of the attendance (6,880) I will note that yesterday’s attendance marked a 13% increase from last year’s home opener, which was also a Saturday afternoon game against an overmatched opponent.
Florida State won 88-67 in a 76 possession game. In 12 out of conference games last year, FSU both scored more than a point per possession and allowed less than a point per possession four times. Yesterday’s game featured neither great offense nor great defense, but the ‘Noles were solid on both ends. The coaches have plenty to work with.
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