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There is a lot of optimism to be found upon the initial viewing of Florida State Basketball’s draw in the 2021 March Madness tournament.
Michigan might be the weakest one seed due to injuries and many believe FSU has a favorable matchup against 5 seed Colorado but you can never count your chickens before they hatch in the month of March.
Before they can even think about playing the big dogs on their side of the bracket they must first take care of business against 13 seed University of North Carolina Greensboro.
UNCG comes into the tournament fresh off of a victory in the Southern Conference Championship with an overall record of 21-8. Wes Miller, a former UNC Tarheel player, has been the head coach at UNCG for the past 9 years and has steadily raised the floor of the program. He has led the Spartans to conference championships 3 of the past 5 years and currently holds a 5-year streak with 20+ wins.
UNC Greensboro finds most of its success through its aggressive defense which ranks as the 65th best in the country according to KenPom. Most of their possessions start with a full-court press defense headed by their start guard Isaiah Miller. MIller has the sixth-highest steal percentage of any player in the country which plays directly into FSU’s Achilles heel: turnovers.
The story is similar on the offensive side of the ball. Isaiah Miller leads an aggressive pick-and-roll heavy offense that looks to challenge the defense in the paint. Wes Miller does a good job of varying looks and actions in order to manufacture good looks for his star point guard. However, they have a glaring weakness on this side of the ball. In an era where the 3 ball reigns supreme, the Spartans struggle in that category. They rank as the 312th best 3 point shooting team (out of 357) in the country.
This is a difficult matchup for the Seminoles. Star Freshman Scottie Barnes has spent this year transitioning to more of a point guard role and so FSU has struggled with turnovers without a true point guard. They will need big performances from Senior MJ Walker and Junior Raiquan Gray if they want to make a run in this tournament.
Some of these concepts are hard to wrap your head around on paper. So to take a closer look at some of these ideas in action check out this video scouting report of the Spartans.
And if you are just checking in to follow FSU during March Madness you can also check out the scouting report for the Seminoles done at the beginning of the season.
HOW TO WATCH
When
Saturday, March 19 12:45 pm
Watch
TruTV
Stream
ESPN, YoutubeTV, March Madness Live app, Sling, FuboTV
Listen
‘Nole Radio Network
Vegas line, Spread
Currently, according to Vegas Insider, the Seminoles are a 6 point favorite in the matchup, with the over under currently set at 145.