NFL BAD GANG: FSU has been brutally authorised to damage Boston College in a viral prediction…
The Seminoles require a rebound after dropping five of their last six games.
With five losses in a row and only one victory—against Boston College—Florida State has a great chance to turn things around at home. Following a difficult defeat to Duke on Saturday, their morale might be a little lower.
Last year, Boston College triumphed in Tallahassee for the first time since 2007, and FSU cannot afford to lose to them at home once more.
This game will be at 7 PM on the ACC Network, live from the Donald L Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida.
Boston College Eagles Breakdown (15-10 Overall, 6-8 ACC)
It’s been a much different road for these two teams since they played two weeks ago. Boston College lost to FSU and followed it up with a loss to Duke, but have since rattled off two straight home wins over Louisville and Miami. Four of their last five games have been at home, so they’ll have to get used to playing on the road again, as they haven’t even won a road game since January 27th against Notre Dame.
Compared to Florida State, who has lost three straight since beating BC, the Eagles feel a little better about their situation.
What has helped is changing the starting lineup. BC changed its starting lineup against Florida State, but not having Claudell Harris in that initial rotation killed their offense. Prince Aligbe hurt his ankle and BC started to find some offensive success with him out.
Aligbe didn’t miss any games following the FSU game but has come off of the bench since as coach Earl Grant has gone with a lineup of Jaeden Zackary, Claudell Harris, Mason Madsen, Devin McGlockton, and Quinten Post to give them some more offense. It’s worked thus far, scoring 89 points against Louisville and 85 against Miami.
This has also helped them cut down on turnovers. In their three most recent games they’ve averaged just under 9 turnovers per game and a turnover rate of around just 13%. In the four games before that, which includes the FSU game, they were averaging 16.5 turnovers per game and a turnover rate of around 23%. They generally play low-possession games, so capitalizing on every possession and not turning it over is vital.
Madsen has helped them space the floor for Post, but Madsen has benefitted as well, as he’s coming off of 25 points against Miami, which included a 7/12 performance from 3. Let’s just hope he got all of his hot shooting out of the way, I’m not sure the Tucker Center can bear another one after Virginia’s Isaac McKneely and Duke’s Jared McCain.
Florida State Seminoles Breakdown (13-12 Overall, 7-7 ACC)
There are certainly some things to monitor with Florida State as we close these last six games. Many are wondering if this will be Coach Hamilton’s final season roaming the sidelines, but with him having consistently said he wants to keep coaching last offseason until he or someone at FSU says otherwise, I’m not worried about it.
What I am monitoring is rotations, specifically with Primo Spears. Spears had a curious foul out against Virginia Tech, intentionally fouling out on an 88% free throw shooter with 1:30 left, then didn’t play at all in the second half against Duke after 14 minutes in the first half. There was a time when he was vital to bench production, giving this team the spark and playmaking needed, but he’s been a rough watch the last few games, culminating in a -13 in just one half against Duke.
I think it’s fair to say that Chandler Jackson’s playing well has minimized what Spears can do. Jackson is younger, better defensively, and has more size, which makes him more malleable with different lineups, even going down and playing the 3 at times this season. When Spears is on the floor, he has to have the ball in his hands and takes the highest percentage of shots on the team. Jackson is more willing to play off the ball, which matters.
