Through four games Trent Forrest has been extremely active on defense. He already has 10 defensive rebounds and after grabbing four steals vs Detroit, he now has a team high eight. For the year he has now generated a steal on 5.3% of opponent possessions. If he were able to maintain that rate for the season he’d pretty much be a lock to be among the five best in the nation.
Florida State made just 1-14 3s is now shooting 27.8% on the year (293rd nationally). Is it possible in modern basketball to have an elite offense without being a decent shooting team? Well, last year the No. 1 offense in the nation belonged to North Carolina, and they were 259th in 3-pt%. How did they do it? They were top-25 nationally in 2-pt% and turnover%, and 3rd in offensive rebounding. FSU’s ability to mitigate their lack of outside shooting will be something to keep an eye on.
Florida State turned the ball over just eight times in a 78 possession game. Despite playing uptempo basketball, the ‘Noles have now turned it over 10 or fewer times in three of four games. Florida State is 22nd nationally out of 351 teams, turning it over on 14.1% of their possessions.
Terance Mann led FSU with 30 minutes played, which is the most any Seminoles has played in a game this season. Florida State has 11 players averaging 10.5 minutes or more. That’s how you wear teams down. Prior to garbage time, FSU has now played 62 different lineup combinations. In the big run in the 2nd half, the ‘Noles capped off the final 10-2 portion of that run with Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Trent Forrest, Terance Mann, Dwayne Bacon, and Jarquez Smith, which is the first time this season those five have been on the floor together.
Florida State won 100-71 in a 78 possession game. The ‘Noles are now averaging 79.5 possessions per game, and are the most uptempo team in the ACC. Thursday’s game vs Temple will be a struggle between two teams trying to control the tempo. FSU is 21st nationally in average possession length on offense, while the Owls are 266th.
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