After attempting 40 or more free throws in a game twice in the previous six seasons, Florida State has now done it three times this year. And in an odd twist of the fate, the ‘Noles attempted exactly 40 each time, and made 27. The other two games were versus Iona and Minnesota. It’s odd to see a team like FSU get to the line that often in three separate games, as the Seminoles aren’t particularly great at drawing fouls (80th nationally). Luckily, they make 71.7% of their FTs, which is above the national average of 69.6%.
PJ Savoy attempted four shots, one of which was from inside the arc. This broke a string of 25 consecutive shot attempts coming from 3-pt land. For the year, 92% of his shots have been 3s. During Leonard Hamilton’s tenure, Deividas Dulkys is the player who attempted the highest percentage of his shots from behind the arc: 73%.
FSU blocked six shots, but more importantly took possession on five of them. The Seminoles now have four players who have blocked at least 10 shots. Of those four, FSU has retained possession the most often from Jonathan Isaac (80%). FSU has kept the ball on 60% of blocks by Michael Ojo and Jarquez Smith. Christ Koumadje, meanwhile, needs to improve his ability to keep the ball in play, as FSU has only gained possession following 29% of his blocked shots.
It’s somewhat uncommon for an official to overrule his partners, and when it happens the crew typically huddles to get on the same page before making the call. But Jamie Luckie changed not one, not two, but three of his crew’s calls. And there were no huddles. There were no debates. He just changed the calls. Jamie Luckie and Leonard Hamilton have been at odds ever since Luckie invented a phantom foul against Andrew Wilson at the buzzer to allow Georgia Tech to steal a game at the free throw stripe in 2005. Yesterday, two of the overturned calls were Dwayne Bacon and-1s changed to charges, and one was a possession change. That is a guaranteed four points taken from FSU, and a potential eight to nine points. A cynic might note that FSU won by 16 against a 24-point Vegas spread, or that the teams combined for 150 points when the over/under was 156. But I’m not a cynic. I’ll stick with the more likely option that Jamie Luckie is just incompetent and a bad person. He probably hates puppies, cheered for Hans Gruber in Die Hard, and swerves at flocks of sparrows as they feed on the side of the road.
FSU won 83-67 in a 71 possession game. For those keeping score at home, the FSU offense is now the 21st most efficient in the nation. The most efficient offense in Ham’s tenure was 22nd.
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