2009-10 Florida State Basketball Predictions
Written November 5, 2009 by Rock Henderson
Coming off one of their most successful seasons in school history, the Florida State Seminoles will try to keep the momentum from last season rolling into the upcoming year when the kickoff their season November 16th at home against Jacksonville. The Noles’ have the length and athleticism to compete with any team in the nation, but their biggest concern is finding a way to replace All-ACC G Tony Douglas. Florida State could definitely make a statement to the conference that they will be a factor in conference for sometime with another 20 plus win season. Unfortunately for the Seminoles faithful, the NCAA basketball odds to win the national championship this year aren’t exactly in Florida State’s favor as they are listed at +10,000 odds to take down the NCAA tournament this season.
Tony Douglas was the Seminoles heart and soul last season. The offense ran through him and he had the ball in his hands the majority of the time. He took almost 22 ppg and 4 rpg with him to the pros and can be credited with putting Florida State basketball back on the map. While losing Douglas is a major blow to the team, they only lost one other player due to graduation in F Uche Echefu. Freshman G Michael Snaer was a nice steal in recruiting for Leonard Hamilton. The top 10 recruit fits the mold of players Hamilton likes to bring into his program as he is a little rough around the edges, but can jump out of the gym and could be an instant contributor in the backcourt. Joining Snaer as first year players will be Pierre Jordan, Terrence Shannon and 7 foot center Jon Kreft, who will most likely not join the team until the second semester due to eligibility concerns. Get a 20% signup bonus with a new account at Bookmaker that you can use to do some college basketball betting this year.
If there is one player on this team that could definitely step into Tony Douglas’s role it would have to be highly touted sophomore G Chris Singleton. As a freshman, he averaged just over 8 ppg but seemed to fatigue as the season wore on. His 6-9 frame at the forward position causes concerns for opposing coaches as Singleton can go both inside and outside with his game. G Derwin Kitchen will run the point this year. At 6-4, he is one of the taller point guards in the nation and should expect to play more than is 25 mpg a season ago. C Solomon Alabi has the ability to be a dominant player in the ACC as he is incredibly athletic for a 7-1 man. Unfortunately, he is much more advanced on the defensive end compared to his offensive game as his 2 bpg ranked towards the top in the country. Projected to be a lottery pick when he declares for the NBA draft, Alabi’s development on offense has to be drastically improved if the Noles’ want to contend for a conference title. This team is extremely deep as Ryan Reid, Jordan Mercy, Luke Loucks, Deividas Dulkys and Michael Snaer should all see considerable playing time.
This team has enough talent to make the 65 team field at the end of the year, but will they gel and find a leader on the court? Hamilton has turned around each program he has coached at in the past and it looks like he has the Noles on the right track. I see them as a middle of the pack ACC team though that will be fighting for an at-large bid to the tourney.
If you’re looking for winning NCAA basketball predictions this year then you’ve come to the right place. There’s just no better place to get expert college basketball picks.
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