March 5, 2024
#8 Georgia Tech (24-6, 11-3 ACC) at #21 Florida State (20-7, 7-7 ACC)
TEAM: FSU|GT
OVR: 93|94
OFF: 92|94
DEF: 92|93
SHT: 94|97
REB: 92|93
COA: 91|96
I've grown to hate seeing Georgia Tech. They have really embarrassed us the last couple years. They won by 20+ last time, and their starting PG was hurt for that game, PG Koki Humphrey is rated 86 OVR, replacing the 80 OVR backup they had.
We're just going to slow things down and try to get Mayer and McCants in good spots, try to get McClurkin and Day 3's using the inside-out game and just find the hot hand, but no forcing anything against these guys.
Scouting
PG Koki Humphrey – SR – 86 OVR – 94 speed/88 quickness, 87 defense/75 steals. 92 hands/84 passing. 86 close/86 med/70 3/86 off the dribble. 7.2 ppg/4.8 apg.
SG Femi Shavies – SR – 90 OVR – 89 speed/91 quickness. 82 defense/84 steals. 91 close/81 med/88 3/83 off the dribble/83 in traffic. Good athlete, 79 off awareness/80 def awareness. Has always scored well against us and this year leads the nation in scoring, 25/game. A very serious player of the year candidate.
SF Goran Ravello – JR – 87 OVR – 6'6”, actually a SG. 89 speed/85 quickness. 87 defense/81 steals. 87 close/84 med/83 3/87 off the dribble/83 in traffic. Poor strength and if Mayer can get him in the paint Mayer will have a huge edge. Ravello has the edge when Tech has the ball though. 13.9 ppg, 2
nd on the team.
PF Reginald Franklin – FR – 81 OVR – 6'8” PF – 79 orb/85 drb. 82 post off/74 post def. Poor shot blocker. 88 close/82 in trafic. Another guy who will be very good, but is not all the way there yet. A very solid freshman though. Was the top big last year, #13 overall. I tried briefly to go after Franklin but had no shot as he was from Atlanta. 7.4 ppg/4.4 rpg.
C Clifford McClaren – SR – 84 OVR – 6'7” PF – 92 orb/83 drb. 90 post off/72 post defense. 87 blocks. 85 close/92 in traffic. Serious weakness on defense, and tiny. Decent strength but I need(NEED) to re-focus my efforts in the post today. 7.3 ppg/4.7 rpg.
Half
| Time
| FSU
| GT
| Notes
|
1
| 15:45
| 13
| 5
| Outstanding start. They miss a couple jumpers an we are firing on all cylinders. Mayer has missed once in transition, blocked by Shavies. But he has 6, Millar has 2 inside, McClurkin hit a 3 and Day got a transition layup. We've only missed one shot, aren't allowing offensive boards, and are doing great.
|
1
| 14:00
| 19
| 10
| Ga Tech takes their second timeout as we continue to play very well.
|
1
| 12:40
| 20
| 10
| Mayer and McCants are out. Other starters still in for a little more. McCants is decidedly cold so far. Mayer, on the other hand, has 11 and is drawing fouls reliably when he attacks the rim.
|
1
| 11:45
| 27
| 10
| Day with 5 straight, then a steal gives us a 6th man boost, Millar with a dunk in transition, holy crap go go!!!
|
1
| 9:42
| 31
| 15
| All backups are in now. Shavies has 10 of Tech's 15 heh. They take their 3rd timeout.
|
1
| 3:50
| 43
| 25
| I get a timeout to get the starters back in. Black is playing like a freaking superstar, 8 points total, 4 of them on second chance points. Dearman hit two 3's, and Ga Tech has started scoring but the backups kept up and kept ahead every step of the way.
|
| HALF
| 53
| 33
| So who saw this coming? Not me! We shoot a ridiculous 17 free throws, making 15 of them. Mayer draws 6 fouls on them by himself and is 11-12 from the line.
Tech is led by Shavies and backup SG Day, 10 and 8 for them. Only two of Tech's starters have 2 fouls and they have great depth, so that isn't really an issue, and they only have 8 total fouls committed.
We are all about Roberto Mayer. 19 points, 11 at the line, 4-5 from the field. In the first meeting against Tech every time he drove he got stuffed. Things are just going our way at home I guess. Day has a solid half w/ 7. Black was outstanding for the backups, 4-5 for 8 points, 4 boards to lead everyone. Dearman hits 2 3's and has 6 points as well. They're explosive so I'm not convinced its over quite yet, but we can put it away if we just don't let them go on a huge run early.
|
2
| 13:00
| 59
| 48
| Oof, 15-6 run, and it came fast really. Slow start to the half for both teams, we led 59-41 about 1 minute ago, quick 7-0 run for the yellow jackets and its all of a sudden an 11 point game. I get a timeout and get my backups in for a change of pace.
|
2
| 10:35
| 61
| 50
| Worth noting that we finally scored again, its been awhile. Shavies missed a wide open 3 that could have cut it down to 6. Black is really coming up huge today, he hits a pretty turnaround to put our lead back up over 10. Tech calls a timeout.
|
2
| 10:00
| 61
| 53
| They hit a 3 out of the timeout and halfway through the 2nd half they have cut 12 points out of our 20 point halftime lead. UGH.
|
2
| 7:30
| 64
| 53
| After a number of possessions where neither side can do anything, Porter comes up with a huge 3 for us. Timeout Tech.
|
2
| 6:20
| 64
| 55
| I get a timeout and bring the starters back in.
|
2
| 5:00
| 66
| 55
| McCants with a pretty little hook shot and we're up 11 with 5 left.
|
2
| 3:00
| 72
| 57
| McClurkin and Mayer with 2 more, then McCants with a beautiful fadeaway(I love these touch shots in the post, they look so good). It looks like we've fully taken control back here.
|
We're able to easily finish out the final 3 minutes.
#21 Florida State 77
#8 Georgia Tech 62
This is a great feeling win today, after all the struggles we've had lately against Georgia Tech. They get 16 from backup SG Day, 15 from Shavies, and 12 from PF Franklin. The only guy that ended up with 4 fouls was their PG, Humphrey. No one else picked up more than 3 in the game. Our ability to drive to the rim won the game for us today. In Atlanta that ability was non-existent. I don't know what changed, just some home luck or a die roll or something that determines these things, but we dominated this one.
McClurkin: 5 points
Day: 10 points/3 steals
Mayer: 27 points
Millar: 6 points/7 boards
McCants: 10 points/8 boards/3 assists
Black: 10 points/5 boards
Dearman: 6 points
Great win! We guarantee ourselves a .500 finish in league play with this one.