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Ryan Reid Scores 17 Points as Florida State Seminoles Beat Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 66-59 in Overtime

TrueCubbie — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:53:53 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

3 days ago: Florida State forward Ryan Reid, left, shoots during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Georgia Tech on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009 in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Stanley Leary)

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No one would have predicted that Ryan Reid would score more than Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors combined. Florida State's lone senior was on a mission from the very first tip. In 36 minutes, Reid scored 17 points, had 5 rebounds, 3 steals and only one block. His energy under the boards was impressive. More impressive was his ability to step into the lane as the clock ticked down in over time to take a charge. This was Ryan Reid's best performance of his career and it could not have come at a better time.

This game was physical from the start, with both teams trying to establish the paint and demonstrate their athleticism. It was not the best basketball played, but it was certainly a great game to watch. Despite the constant pressure from Georgia Tech, the Seminoles demonstrated more energy and movement on offense than has been demonstrated so far this year. However, Florida State did not shoot the ball well despite numerous open looks at the basket. Chris Singleton went 0 for 6 from behind the arc, but again came through on the defensive end and made a few key baskets down the stretch. Derwin Kitchen passed on many open looks but finished the night 2 for 5 with 7 points and 6 assists. He only turned the ball over once. He hit a key three point shot down the stretch that kept the Noles in the game as the Yellow Jackets had a big run to finish the second half in which Zach Peacock could not miss.

The real heroes in this game were the Seminoles big men in the paint. Solomon Alabi, Ryan Reid and Terrance Shannon played an outstanding collective effort that limited Georgia Tech's highly touted front court. The Noles played great defense with multiple players crashing from the weak side to double on the Yellow Jacket's big men. They frustrated Lawal and Favors. Alabi finished with 9 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. He was only credited for one turnover and was only called for two fouls. Lawal and Favors combined for 12 points, 16 rebounds and 7 blocks. However, Favors had four turnovers.

Florida State's defense held Georgia Tech to their worst shooting night of the season and their second lowest OR% of the year. The Seminoles also slowed the pace down to the Yellow Jackets lowest pace of the year. And despite all of the no calls that Georgia Tech received, the Seminoles were also on the favorable end of the whistle. With only 3 fouls, Chris Singleton had the most of any Seminole, two of which were questionable calls. The Yellow Jackets only had a FTRate of 10%, by far their lowest total of the year.

This was a nail biter and the Seminoles hung in to win this game. it should have been won in regulation, but the Seminoles could not make key free throws down the stretch. Regardless, a road victory in the ACC against a ranked opponent is always a great way to start the regular conference season. There is still significant room for improvement but this was a great effort. The Yellow Jackets dropped out of the top 25 today for the first time all year. The Seminoles are lurking just outside the top 25. Now, the Seminoles will turn their attention to the 1 and 8 Tennessee Martin out of the Ohio Valley Conference who will visit the Tucker Center on Tuesday night. This cannot be a let down game for the Noles.

NCAA Basketball

College Basketball

ACC Power Rankings: 12.21

MRickman84 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:30:13 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

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It's time for another exciting edition of ACC Power Rankings. We've had some teams really moving around, so let's see where everyone stacks up.

1.) Duke Blue Devils (9-1, W vs. Gardner-Webb, W vs. Gonzaga) - Duke is really playing well right now. Kyle Singler has picked his game up and Jon Scheyer has been almost mistake free. Duke needs to worry a little bit about their starters' minutes as Scheyer, Singler and Nolan Smith are all playing over 33 minutes a game, and that's with the blowouts included. That notwithstanding, Duke has this spot with a bullet.

2.) North Carolina Tar Heels (8-3, L vs. Texas) - I am almost tempted to drop UNC a little bit further, but there aren't any other teams that have really earned the #2 spot. Regardless, UNC has looked awful in a couple games this year and they definitely have some things to work on. The bigs--Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and Deon "Miss It" Thompson--are playing well, but the Heels do not play good defense at all and there is literally no guard depth.

3.) Clemson Tigers (10-2, W vs. ECU, W vs. CofC) - Clemson has all the pieces. But they're Clemson. Trevor Booker is a very good player and the combination of Tanner Smith, Andre Young and Demontez Stitt aren't pretty, but they get the job done. Plus their defense can keep them in any game.

4.) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-2, W vs. Chattanooga, W vs. AR Pine Bluff, L vs. Florida State) - Despite the loss to FSU, Tech is up here because they have a lot of talent and everyone knew they'd have some bumps along the way. Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors and Zach Peacock bring it most of the time, but with Iman Shumpert out, GT has to rely on freshman Mfon Udofia at the point. He's a gifted player, but he's still a freshman. Tech will have big wins and dumb losses (a lot like a certain team from last year).

5.) Miami Hurricanes (10-2, W vs. Stetson, W vs. Florida Atlantic) - The next few teams are kind of a jumbled mess, but right now I feel like the 'Canes have the edge. Their only blemish was the extremely close loss to Boston College. In all their other games they have won by an average of 22.7 points. Dwayne Collins is averaging 13 and 9, and the James Dews, Malcolm Grand and Durand Scott combo of guards are chipping in 31.4 a game.

6.) Florida State Seminoles (10-2, W vs. Georgia State, W vs. Auburn, W vs. Georgia Tech) - FSU's win over GT was a bit of a statement. The 'Noles had a few decent wins but no real statement win to their credit. This win helps them out and solidifies them as a tough, physical basketball team. Solomon Alabi and Chris Singleton are a real force and Derwin Kitchen is a well-rounded player. Ryan Reid is always capable of showing spurts as well.

7.) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-2, W vs. UNC-W, W vs. NC State) - Ok, I'll move the Deacs up. They are on a four game winning streak and the wins over Gonzaga, UNC-W and State are games they needed to win, but still look pretty good. If Al-Farouq Aminu can hold onto the basketball, he could average 20+ a game, but as it stands right now, he's still a beast. The key to Wake is whether or not they can get solid play out of their bigs at all--right now, they haven't.

8.) Virginia Tech Hokies (9-1, W vs. Charleston Southern) - VT's record is gaudy, but there aren't any wins that really stick out to me right now. But still, I love how Malcolm Delaney plays and Jeff Allen has done a good job so far. The problem is, there isn't a whole lot more there outside of Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila.

9.) Boston College Eagles (7-4, W vs. Bryant) - After back to back losses to Harvard and Rhode Island, where does BC stand? There's a good core there with Joe Trapani, Corey Raji and Reggie Jackson. Tyler Roche gives good minutes. Rakim Sanders is an explosive player. But BC needs to figure things out before ACC play before they can move up the list.

10.) Maryland Terrapins (6-3, DNP) - Remember when everyone was slobbering all over Maryland and Greivis Vasquez? Well, he is shooting 34.6% and 28.2% from deep. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne are good players and we all know about Eric Hayes, but Maryland has no good wins and they've lost to the good teams they've played. They need to prove something.

11.) N.C. State Wolfpack (8-2, W vs. Elon, L vs. Wake Forest) - State is an ugly basketball team. They almost lost to Elon and then looked just downright bad against Wake. They have no identity and no real players outside of Javi Gonzalez and Tracy Smith. That win against Marquette is still strange, and the rest of their wins aren't anything to write home about. The Wolfpack have a long road ahead of them when conference play gets going.

12.) Virginia Cavaliers (4-4, DNP) - The best thing to happen to UVA last week was that they got snowed in and didn't play. I wholeheartedly believe that UNC-W would have beaten them. This team is Sylven Landesberg and not much else--Mike Scott is ok, Mustapha Farrakhan shows promise and Sammy Zeglinski is Eric Hayes Part Deux, but the Cavs are not good. Their four wins are against Longwood, Rider, Oral Roberts and Cleveland State.

Paul Hewitt Approval Rating, 1 ACC Game Down, 15 to Go

BirdGT — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

Don't turn your back on us Coach... (AP Photo/Stanley Leary)

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Let us know your thoughts Post FSU Discussion.

Poll

Is Paul Hewitt doing a good job at GT?

FSU Q/A with Tomahawk Nation and Tip Off Open Thread

BirdGT — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:00:18 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

I am so happy we don't have to play against this guy anymore. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

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We e-mailed True Cubbie of Tomahawk Nation to get some perspective on this year's FSU Seminole hoops squad. Here is TN's preview of GT including a back and forth Q/A with FTRS. FSU just lost the guy who put a dagger in the heart of GT fans' dreams last season, Toney Douglas, so I focused questions around the team's handling of his loss and changing on-the-court dynamics:

1. How has the team dealt with the departure of Toney Douglas and Uche Echefu? In the relatively young basketball season, does this exceed or fall short of preseason expectations?
With such a young team, losing senior leadership is always difficult. Toney was 'the team' last year, particularly with regard to scoring. Toney scored 751 points last year. The next three highest scorers on the team combined for 844 points. Toney was also the defensive leader of the team, regularly limiting the production of some of the top guards in the country. Echefu was a relatively quiet player who would have productive games with little notice or production about it. He did struggle at times and lost his starting job for parts of the year. Last season, Echefu saw a dip in his production compared to the previous year, but he was playing injured at times.

Filling the production of those two players, was no easy task. There were two key things that occurred in the off season: Michael Snaer and Spain. Snaer was one of the top guards in the country coming out of high school and is the guard of the future at FSU. While Snaer is not putting up the offensive numbers of Toney Douglas, yet, he has probably been our best on the ball defender. This summer, the Noles had the opportunity to play 4 games in Spain and had an additional 10 practices as a result of it. When camp started, Coach Hamilton was no longer coaching about where to stand on the court and where to move, but working on game flow and subtleties.

Expectations about the Noles were mixed this year. Big questions surrounded Toney's departure, but with the core group returning, many had high expectations. However, it seems that the consensus has the Seminoles finishing 7th in the ACC. As this point in the year, the Noles are still playing like a young team. Stretches of great basketball and stretches of poor basketball. They are about where I expected them to be. Statistically, they are almost identical to where they were last year, meaning thus far, the void of Toney Douglas has been filled. This really has been a group effort with everyone upping their offensive production, rather than one player taking over.

2. Who is matching up with the double-double-duo of Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors (combining for 30 PPG and 19 Rebs/Game)? What is the FSU game plan for our front court presence?
In general, the ACC is huge this year. Last year it was about guard play; this year it is about the big men. The Noles certainly fit that mold. In fact, the Seminoles are the tallest team in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy. The starting front court is the following: Solomon Alabi 7'1 Xavier Gibson 7'0 Chris Singleton 6'9. The first guy off the bench is Ryan Reid who is 6'8. Jordan DeMercy has also been playing well off the bench this year and he is 6'7 but has great leaping ability and plays bigger than he actually is.

Does any combination of those players add up to 30 and 19? No. Alabi has finally started to put up points with 20+ in his last two outings. He is only averaging 6 rebounds a game. This is certainly an element of his game that needs improvement, though that is not unique to Alabi but a theme for the team. Singleton is an excellent defender, but isn't quite the physical low post presence that Lawal is/can be. Gibson is big and takes up space, but he is stronger on the offensive end. I wouldn't be surprised if Lawal has a big game.

Solomon Alabi has been an outstanding defender so far this year, closing the paint for most of our opponents. He blocks 2.6 shots per game, but this doesn't reflect the way he forces opponents to adjust shots in the paint. However, he has yet to see a center that has the talent of Derrick Favors. Conversely, has Derrick Favors seen a center like Solomon Alabi? Heading into the season, Alabi was projected on a few sites to be an NBA lottery pick. His play this far has not lived up to those expectations as his offense is still lagging behind his defense, but there has been a big improvement in the last two games.

The Seminoles play physical man to man defense. Lawal and Favors will likely see a steady rotation of all of the players mentioned above. The Seminoles have also seen success using a smaller three guard lineup. They have been forced to do so this year as the majority of their opponents have been relatively small and used full court press to limit the effectiveness of the Seminoles' height. When the Seminoles go small, they typically play Snaer, Dulkys/Loucks, Kitchen, Singleton and Gibson/Alabi. I don't see that lineup chasing Favors or Lawal out of the game. Getting Lawal and Favors into foul trouble early will certainly be to the Seminole's advantage. This may be the game that Miller and Sheehan come off the bench and prevent a significant decrease in height.

I have been looking forward to the match up between Alabi and Favors since Favors committed to GTech. It will be a great first test for both big men.

3. FSU has played a good number of major conference squads early in the season? Do you enjoy the scheduling of SEC/Big East games over cup cakes in the early Winter schedule?
Florida State is a football school first, meaning that the Seminoles basketball history/reputation will not get them into the NCAA tournament. They need a good out of conference resume. Fortunately, they have been successful against the schedule thus far, with the two exceptions being Florida and Ohio State. Granted, those are two road losses to two very good basketball teams. Given the quality of the ACC, the Seminoles need to be comfortable playing against quality opponents in tough games. Plus, as a basketball fan, it's fun to watch good teams and interesting matchups. However, if you look at the Seminoles stats, they play close games against the cupcakes as well. In the stats world. that is apparently called consistency. In reality, it's a reflection of their youth. The scheduling of the 'Big Conferences' is high risk high reward for the Seminoles. It adds to their tournament resume and is an essential lesson for our young players.

4. Where do you see GT and FSU seeded in the ACC Tournament come Spring?
I see FSU as a five or six seed. Georgia Tech as a four or five seed. I thought the Noles would finish 6 or 7th in the conference last year, and they finished a surprising 4th. The lack of offense makes it hard to predict what they will do. The Noles can play defense with the best of them so they will be in most games this year, just hard to know if they will close any of them out.

5. Feeding off of #4, what are FSU's post season expectations?
This team should make it to the NCAA tournament, likely as a 10 seed or lower and will likely be the last ACC team in. There is a lot of work and improvement that needs to occur in order for that to happen.

6. One on one. Tim Pickett vs. Toney Douglas. Who wins a game of 21? Who wins a game of H-O-R-S-E?
21: Toney Douglas. H-O-R-S-E: Tim Pickett Two very different styles of play. It would certainly be a great match up to watch.

Thanks to True Cubbie at TN. Always good quality stuff over there. If you don't read Tomahawk Nation, you should. There's always lots of good ACC and FSU information especially with the recently deposed King of Tallahassee. Feel free to comment on the game in the comments section. Game is on FSN with a 5:30PM Tipoff. Go Tech!

RPI WATCH: 12/17/09

BracketCat — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:15:17 -0000

by Laura Rauch - AP

Thanks to the Worldwide Leader, Frank and his Wildcats are sucking up all the national attention. Take that, Lew Perkins! (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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As an astute reader pointed out last night, Kansas State indeed moved up to No. 1 in the RPI.

So I guess I was wrong about No. 2 being the pinnacle — we managed to pass Duke after all.

I still say enjoy it while it lasts. After Alabama, we play a trio of teams that will put at least a small dent into that ranking. But once we get into the meat of Big 12 play, I could see it settling into the Top 10 or Top 15 and staying there for the duration.

Frank couldn't have planned this non-conference schedule any better if had tried. Not only are Dayton, Xavier and UNLV living up to expectations, but Loyola — who just netted a really nice road win — and Washington State appear to be better than expected, and IUPUI quickly is looking like a front-runner in its conference. Brave, Mr. Martin.

Wednesday night's results are after the jump. A couple of close ones, but our opponents pulled them out in the end and vaulted us to the top overall spot.

Current Kansas State AP Ranking = 17

Current Kansas State Record = 9-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 1

Current Kansas State SOS = 2

Great Wins (RPI 1-50, bold = RPI 1-25) = Loyola, Dayton, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (7-2, 1-1) | RPI = 45: Win at Bradley (68-65)
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146
No. 20 Ole Miss (9-1) | RPI = 35: Win over UTEP (91-81 in overtime)
Dayton (7-2) | RPI = 27
IUPUI (8-3, 2-0) | RPI = 60
No. 22* FHSU (7-1)
Washington State (8-2) | RPI = 88
Xavier (6-3) | RPI = 61
UNLV (8-1) | RPI = 24
Alabama (7-3) | RPI = 87: Win over Samford (60-45)
UAPB (0-8) | RPI = 281: Loss at No. 22 Georgia Tech (65-53)
Cleveland State (4-7, 0-2) | RPI = 235
South Dakota (6-4) | RPI = 139
Missouri (6-3) | RPI = 161
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2) | RPI = 18
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (9-0) | RPI = 5
Oklahoma State (9-1) | RPI = 42: Win at Stanford (71-70)
Baylor (8-1) | RPI = 72
No. 1 Kansas (9-0) | RPI = 21
Nebraska (7-2) | RPI = 151
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (7-3) | RPI = 142
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18

*Division II Top 25

Hayes of the Day: 12/17

MRickman84 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:24:51 -0000

You didn't think I'd forget about Hayes of the Day just because finals put ACC basketball on hiatus did you? We're back and better than ever. So without further ado, who is today's Hayes of the Day?

Poll

Who is today's Hayes of the Day?

Clemson G Demontez Stitt vs. ECU: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 TO

4 votes

GT G Mfon Udofia vs. Ark-Pine Bluff: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 TO, 3-10 FG

2 votes

Miami G Durand Scott vs. Stetson: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists

3 votes

GT G D'Andre Bell vs. Ark-Pine Bluff: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 TO

2 votes

Miami G Malcolm Grant vs. Stetson: 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds

1 votes

Maryland G Eric Hayes vs. Finals: Did his thing and is probably playing Call of Duty

8 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed

Around the ACC: 12.17

MRickman84 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:06:29 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

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We finally got a few ACC teams playing on the same day again. Finals are wrapping up and we're closing in on conference play. All four ACC teams won by double figures yesterday, but none played anyone in the KenPom top 100, so it was to be expected.

Let's recap the action in the ACC...

Miami 69, Stetson 49

Dwayne Collins beasted it with 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the Canes shot 56.5% from the floor. There weren't really any other spectacular performances for Miami, but defensively they held Stetson to 33% shooting and 20% from 3. Miami owned the boards +12. Pretty basic non-con cupcake win there.

Clemson 80, East Carolina 63

Another ho-hum game. Trevor Booker did what Trevor Booker does--13 points, 12 rebounds and a surprising 9 assists, not to mention 3 blocks. I've said it before and I'll probably say it a lot more, but Booker is one of the two most overlooked post players in the ACC. I'd take him and Lawal against just about anybody. Tanner Smith and Andre Young combined for 30 points on 10-19 shooting.

GT 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53

Speaking of Gani Lawal, he only had 15 and 15 yesterday. No big deal. Derrick Favors looked like the ACC Rookie of the Year again with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets amped up the D and held the Golden Lions to 29.4% shooting.

Wake Forest 80, UNC-Wilmington 69

We know how this one finished up, but I'm still in awe of L.D. Williams and his career-high 23 points on 6-7 shooting and 11-12 FTs. If L.D. shows those kind of spurts more often, Wake is a much more dangerous team. Ishmael Smith hjad a complete game with 19 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals and Al-Farouq Aminu overcame some really sloppy play to provide a highlight reel dunk and 17 points/13 rebounds. It didn't look pretty (16 turnovers) and UNC-W had a number of runs in the second half, but the Seahawks only hit 6-23 from deep and were plagued with bad free throw shooting (15-28).

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Open Thread

BirdGT — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:30:14 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

CPH is winning. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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We got some Lions rollin' in to A-Town tonight at 8:30PM tip off. They're 0-7 on the season and pretty bad. Let's keep the freight train rollin'. No TV but the game will be on 106.7 and XM 190.

Jackets vs. Mocs Postgame: 95-64 Victory

Winfield Featherston — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:00:19 -0000

by Wade Payne - AP

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I talked to Bird last night while watching the game on TV in Warner Robins: "We're finally beating the crappy teams. Last year was difficult. We couldn't put them away you know?" I think we finally know.

Chattanooga is nothing special this year. They were a tournament team last year but lost all 5 of their starters so don't let anything fool you. But it's not the winning that is impressive (right now) it's how we're winning. The Jackets shot 60% from the field, FIVE players put up double figures led by Gani Lawal who had 29 points in just 17 minutes followed by Favors (14) Rice (11) Miller (10) and Udofia (10). Hell, even the FREE THROWS were up.

Even Chattanooga players knew they were outmanned and outmatched. From: We hung in there but they're just too good. To:"They were getting easy buckets all night," Chattanooga forward Ridge McKeither said. "They're NBA guys. They got moves no matter how much pressure we put on them."

Early season basketball usually doesn't mean much but it does give you indicators. In the 2008-2009 season, the Yellow Jackets averaged 74.6 ppg while allowing 63.2 with in their first 8 games (6-2). This year, the 2009-2010 season is giving us a 80.8 ppg while allowing 62.8. The increase in the offensive production can easily be linked to the talent brought in by this year's freshman class.

So ok we won, we beat Chattanooga. Good job everybody, we took care of business. When's the first real test? Florida State comes to town Sunday for our first ACC matchup of the year. The first road ACC game is January 13th in Charlottesville.

UT-Chattanooga Open Thread

BirdGT — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:00:19 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

Derrick Favors is the man. (AP Photo/Stanley Leary)

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Feel free to post thoughts during the game. It's on Raycom so most likely around the Atlanta area. 7:00 PM tip off!