February 2, 2019
#4 Florida State (14-2, 4-2 ACC) at North Carolina (12-6, 3-3 ACC)
So this game will obviously have special significance every year for a number of reasons now. I missed potentially getting the UNC job by just one year, the job went to the coach of my arch rival in the MAC from Ball State, and of course, this is my dream job and my dream school.
This is a UNC team with some holes, and they are beatable, but winning in Chapel Hill won't be easy. They won a road game over a ranked Florida team earlier this year so they're also capable of beating most anyone. UNC is in the midst of a hellish stretch right now... this is their 5 game run from 1/23 to 2/9:
at #24 Duke (L 60-73)
at #19 Clemson (L 62-68)
vs #4 Florida State
at #3 Georgia Tech
at #2 West Virginia
holy crap!
We're hitting them in an extremely weakened state. Two starters are out, 86 OVR SF and 86 rated SG. Their backups don't compare at all. UNC is thus currently rated lower than we are at 87 OVR (87 off/86 def/90 sht/85 reb/88 coach). I played them last year in my last season at Ohio, but only one of their starters returned from that team, at least to make it into the lineup.
Scouting
PG BA Goode – JR – 89 OVR – Goode is a potential lottery pick as a junior. 8.8 ppg/2.7 apg so far this year. 99 speed... that is the first 99 rating i've ever seen anywhere(at least that i've noticed). 92 quickness, 92 vertical, 89 hustle. 92 hands/81 passing. 92 defense/81 steals. 86 close/84 med/87 3. 85 off the dribble/80 in traffic. A truly elite talent. For whatever reason... maybe b/c he's a PG and a distributor, his shot tendencies haven't fully matured or he could score 20/game.
SG Eddie Esterkamp – FR – 79 OVR – Not bad at all for a freshman backup. 86 speed/85 quickness. 84 defense/73 steals. 86 close/81 med/81 3/85 in traffic. He's a 6'6” SG, but not a great rebounder despite the size. His awareness is low too, he has a lot of skills that will develop I'm sure. #64 recruit last year, 7.1 ppg this season so far.
SF Erick Starkey – JR – 78 OVR – 6'7” SF. 80 defense/74 steals, 89 close/79 med/66 3. 86 in traffic so he can drive a bit and be a threat to score that way, but he isn't a rebounder or a post player... though UNC will run a 3-2 defense so he'll be out front anyway, where he doesn't seem to have the quickness to keep up with my guards. 7.8 ppg.
PF Marcel Konate – SO – 86 OVR – 6'6” PF – 80 orb/86 drb. 84 post off/88 post def. 91 close/85 in traffic. 88 mid range shot as well, so he can step out and shoot. 87 vertical/93 hustle, 77 blocked shot rating, he's leading the team with 12.1 ppg/6.3 rebounds(leading them at least out of the guys we'll face... both injured players score more).
C Aleksander Luber – SR – 73 OVR – 7 feet tall, a walkon. This isn't b/c of injuries, they just have no depth inside. 82 orb/79 drb. 72 post off/81 post def. 85 close/85 in traffic. 3.6 ppg. His size my hurt our ability to drive, but hopefully we can get him into foul trouble.
We beat this team at home 100% of the time. I'm worried about the dean dome though. They seriously lack depth... hell, Esteramp and Starkey are their depth, and now they're starting.
Half
| Time
| FSU
| UNC
| Notes
|
1
| 19:25
| 1
| 0
| I forgot to change my lineup but Weisse is taking over the starting SF job. I move him in at the first dead ball, a foul on UNC as Crosswhite attacks the hoop.
|
1
| 16:40
| 1
| 10
| All my hatred for Ball State immediately comes back, this damn 3-2 defense. Pugh has gone hard inside 3 times and failed. Crosswhite 0-1 from 3 and Esterkamp is off to a really hot start. Timeout FSU.
|
1
| 12:10
| 11
| 20
| Well Esterkamp has 11... neutralize him and we're fine. Backups are in. Watson at SG.
|
1
| 10:50
| 16
| 22
| Duncan with a 3 and UNC calls a timeout. They sit Esterkamp.
|
1
| 8:00
| 20
| 30
| Another UNC timeout after another Duncan 3, but they've got the lead back up to 10 and had it 13 before that 3.
|
1
| 6:55
| 20
| 30
| I call a timeout to get the starters back in.
|
1
| 3:15
| 23
| 40
| Esterkamp has 15 now... god its just like playing ball freaking state. Heh.
|
1
| 2:00
| 29
| 42
| We draw foul #2 on Konate and he sits. Won't help us a ton this half but if we can keep him on the bench in the 2nd half we have a massive edge inside.
|
| HALF
| 33
| 42
| Good finish to the half to avoid total disaster. After falling behind 40-23 we finish on a 10-2 run and have it down to single digits. UNC is shooting 68%. That just cannot continue. Esterkamp is 6-9 for 15 points. Konate 3-4 for 6, and Goode 2-3 w/ a 3 and a couple free throws for 7. All of their starters have at least 5.
We're 10-26, just under 40%. 5-11 from 3 which has kept us in it. Crosswhite with 8, Duncan 6, Summers 5, Weisse 3, but not b/c I haven't been getting him looks, he's 1-5.
|
2
| 17:45
| 41
| 44
| A 3 by Weisse, a post move by Pugh and a 3 point play by Crosswhite and its a 3 point game!
|
2
| 17:05
| 41
| 44
| Konate with a reach in, his 3rd foul.
|
2
| 14:15
| 48
| 53
| Crosswhite has 16 and is heating up, but they've made 3 straight 3's to extend their lead.
|
2
| 13:45
| 50
| 53
| And here's the reason to start Weisse along with Crosswhite, they have our last 13 or 15 points now between the two of them, Weisse now has 10 on the game and our last 4 straight after 5 in a row by Crosswhite. Timeout UNC after Weisse scores in transition.
|
2
| 12:00
| 57
| 58
| We briefly took the lead as Crosswhite ran off 5 more straight points but UNC just scored to go back up 1. Sadly I cannot keep my starters going, they're worn out. Backups are in on a FSU timeout. Crosswhite has 21, Weisse 10, Esterkamp has 20 for UNC.
|
2
| 11:45
| 60
| 58
| Inside out to Watson for an open 3 and we're back up 2, UNC timeout.
|
2
| 7:45
| 71
| 72
| We'd totally be up 5 or 7 now if we could have avoided fouling. Delic scores a few inside over their weaker big men before Konate came back in. Watson hit a 2nd three, but we allowed 2 3 point plays, an open 3 to give Esterkamp 23, and its a 1 point deficit.
Starters are back in.
|
2
| 5:00
| 79
| 80
| We trade buckets before going on a 5-0 run and leading 79-75. Now they're on a 5-0 run themselves and right back up 1 with 5 to play.
|
2
| 4:25
| 81
| 80
| Crosswhite misses an open 3 but Pugh gets the board and putback. UNC timeout.
|
2
| 3:25
| 87
| 80
| Some great defensive play leading to fast breaks and we're out to our biggest lead with under 3 ½ to go!
|
2
| 3:05
| 90
| 80
| DAGGER. Another missed shot, a run out for us, they're back in transition but Crosswhite is hot, so screw it. Open 3 with no one else down, GOOD! He's got 29, we've got a 10 point lead.
|
They fail to score the next time down and we can burn clock the rest of the way. Good road win.
Florida State 92
North Carolina 85
We scored an incredible 62 points in the 2
nd half of this fast paced, high scoring game.
They put 6 players in double figures, Esterkamp finished with 26 and was amazing, 5-7 from 3. Goode had 12, 4 others had exactly 10.
We got one of our great games out of Crosswhite, its been a few since he's done this. Pugh was solid inside and Weisse showed what he can add to the starting lineup.
Summers: 7 points
Crosswhite: 32 points (5-11 from 3)
Weisse; 14 points
Pugh: 15 points/12 boards
Locklier: 4 points/5 boards
Watson: 8 points
Delic: 7 points
Duncan; 6 points
We shoot over 60% in the 2
nd half and finish the game 12-27 from 3.