What's up, everyone?
Leonard Hamilton was nice enough to let some local media come out on Wednesday and watch his team practice for a couple of hours.
Figured since I was there, and there are so many newcomers on this roster, this would be a good place to post some initial observations on the team.
First and foremost, Caleb Mills didn't participate in practice. He had an allergic reaction to something he ate, and out of caution, they held him out. He did shoot FTs, though. I stopped counting consecutive makes at 28. But that should/could be a weapon late in games to have a FT shooter like that if you're nursing a lead.
Cam'Ron Fletcher is really impressive physically. He's built almost like a tight end. He's not bulky. But he's thick. And is an explosive, explosive athlete. Had a flying tomahawk dunk in transition. Looks to be a capable shooter, too. Leonard said he has a chance to be a great defender. Also said Mills is a better defender than people might think.
Speaking of shooting ... I swear, in warmups, if Anthony Polite just shot corner 3's, with nobody near him, I bet out of 100 attempts he's make 90. He's just a knockdown shooter. He's dealing with a bit of a minor injury, so he didn't practice a ton on Wednesday, but he's been here long enough that they can definitely count on him knowing what to do in games. Also, Malik Osborne can be a legitimate knockdown shooter. I mean, I know game-shots are different than practice ones, but he's made some big 3's already in his career and I think that's going to be an even bigger part of his game in 2021-2022. He just shoots with a ton of confidence. I probably saw him take 20 3's in different drills and he made 15 of them.
Throw in Wyatt Wilkes, who is probably the best shooter on the team, and you got some dudes who can really fill it up from beyond the arc on this team. Mills, Polite, Osborne and Wilkes is a nice quartet of veteran shooters.
Matthew Cleveland has a chance to be something special. He's long and a terrific athlete. Never seen him in person before, but there's a smoothness and a flow to his game. Just seems natural. And while I don't think he's a great 3-point shooter yet, I did watch him make 12 out of 15 3's during one drill. So, it's in there. Has a pretty release. Should end up being a good shooter when it's all over.
Could be able to say the same thing about John Butler. First off, I've never seen anyone built quite like this kid. I mean, he is skinny, skinny. Listed at 7 feet and 190 pounds, I'm not even sure he's 190. But he can move. Well. He's going to be a wing for them, and he has a good enough shot right now that you can see that being a strength of his later in his career. Good form. Good rotation. Looks pure. Even when it doesn't go in. He's going to be fascinating to watch.
The Warley kid is the one I might be most intrigued by. He's a legit 6-5 or 6-6. He's really good, it seems, at getting the ball and pushing the tempo. Either with the dribble or the kick-ahead pass. I think he's going to be a good defender. Not Trent Forrest good, but good. He's long and has some quickness to him. Also could be a good rebounder when it's all said and done. Overall, he has a nice game. The one thing he doesn't have, that is going to be a MAJOR work in progress, is a shot. I'm sure Stan and the staff will get it figured out, but right now it's ugly. Going to be a project to get him to become even an average shooter from 3. But he is a hard worker, they say, and could eventually get there.
I think the two biggest wildcards this season, literally and figuratively, are going to be the two young centers, Ballard and McLeod. McLeod is one of the biggest humans on the planet. Just astonishingly tall. I think he's 7-4? Maybe 7-3? And he can get up and down the court. But while he might be in basketball shape, he's not quite in FSU Basketball shape yet. And he's still learning the defensive principles and what exactly he's supposed to do. Ballard, too, for that matter. We didn't see Ngom because he's dealing with a minor injury. But don't expect it to be anything too severe.
As for the practice itself, you can imagine that a lot of attention was paid to defense. Leonard thinks it has the potential to be a very good defensive team, especially if one of the 7 footers can establish himself as a solid college defender, and during the practice they stressed over and over and over how important it is to get into passing lanes and make the team have to pass the ball backwards.
It's an interesting drill actually. They don't look for steals. Or even deflections. In fact, if there is one, if the ball is deflected out of bounds, a manager hurriedly gives a new one to the guy on offense to keep the play and motion going. They are working at making the passes as hard as possible. By extending arms and being able to see peripherally between your man and the guy with the ball.
There was a moment where they were getting on one of the young centers because he let the point guard catch the ball at the top of the key about 21 feet away. And CY stopped practice and begged the entire team - mostly the newcomers, of course, - to understand the difference between a guard catching the ball at the top of the key, right where he wants to be, with an easy pass. And making him go just 2-3 feet further back and to the left, to get him off his spot. The point being, the offense gets affected in a major, major way, if the guard is having to start from there then right at the top of the key. It changes the whole possession.
So, I thought all that was really interesting. Just the drills they run, over and over and over, the attention to detail that is paid, to make sure the principles are understood and executed well.
What's also interesting is how guys like Wilkes and the walk-ons Prieto and Lindner, are out there on defense telling their teammates what to do. Hamilton joked that they could coach the team. Because they've been doing it so long, they know exactly what is supposed to be done. That's invaluable, imo, when it comes to sustaining culture.
Anywho. Hopefully we'll be able to watch another practice or maybe a scrimmage before the preseason is over. Either way, it was cool to get a glimpse into how FSU basketball practices.
Because it was really intense.
Leonard Hamilton was nice enough to let some local media come out on Wednesday and watch his team practice for a couple of hours.
Figured since I was there, and there are so many newcomers on this roster, this would be a good place to post some initial observations on the team.
First and foremost, Caleb Mills didn't participate in practice. He had an allergic reaction to something he ate, and out of caution, they held him out. He did shoot FTs, though. I stopped counting consecutive makes at 28. But that should/could be a weapon late in games to have a FT shooter like that if you're nursing a lead.
Cam'Ron Fletcher is really impressive physically. He's built almost like a tight end. He's not bulky. But he's thick. And is an explosive, explosive athlete. Had a flying tomahawk dunk in transition. Looks to be a capable shooter, too. Leonard said he has a chance to be a great defender. Also said Mills is a better defender than people might think.
Speaking of shooting ... I swear, in warmups, if Anthony Polite just shot corner 3's, with nobody near him, I bet out of 100 attempts he's make 90. He's just a knockdown shooter. He's dealing with a bit of a minor injury, so he didn't practice a ton on Wednesday, but he's been here long enough that they can definitely count on him knowing what to do in games. Also, Malik Osborne can be a legitimate knockdown shooter. I mean, I know game-shots are different than practice ones, but he's made some big 3's already in his career and I think that's going to be an even bigger part of his game in 2021-2022. He just shoots with a ton of confidence. I probably saw him take 20 3's in different drills and he made 15 of them.
Throw in Wyatt Wilkes, who is probably the best shooter on the team, and you got some dudes who can really fill it up from beyond the arc on this team. Mills, Polite, Osborne and Wilkes is a nice quartet of veteran shooters.
Matthew Cleveland has a chance to be something special. He's long and a terrific athlete. Never seen him in person before, but there's a smoothness and a flow to his game. Just seems natural. And while I don't think he's a great 3-point shooter yet, I did watch him make 12 out of 15 3's during one drill. So, it's in there. Has a pretty release. Should end up being a good shooter when it's all over.
Could be able to say the same thing about John Butler. First off, I've never seen anyone built quite like this kid. I mean, he is skinny, skinny. Listed at 7 feet and 190 pounds, I'm not even sure he's 190. But he can move. Well. He's going to be a wing for them, and he has a good enough shot right now that you can see that being a strength of his later in his career. Good form. Good rotation. Looks pure. Even when it doesn't go in. He's going to be fascinating to watch.
The Warley kid is the one I might be most intrigued by. He's a legit 6-5 or 6-6. He's really good, it seems, at getting the ball and pushing the tempo. Either with the dribble or the kick-ahead pass. I think he's going to be a good defender. Not Trent Forrest good, but good. He's long and has some quickness to him. Also could be a good rebounder when it's all said and done. Overall, he has a nice game. The one thing he doesn't have, that is going to be a MAJOR work in progress, is a shot. I'm sure Stan and the staff will get it figured out, but right now it's ugly. Going to be a project to get him to become even an average shooter from 3. But he is a hard worker, they say, and could eventually get there.
I think the two biggest wildcards this season, literally and figuratively, are going to be the two young centers, Ballard and McLeod. McLeod is one of the biggest humans on the planet. Just astonishingly tall. I think he's 7-4? Maybe 7-3? And he can get up and down the court. But while he might be in basketball shape, he's not quite in FSU Basketball shape yet. And he's still learning the defensive principles and what exactly he's supposed to do. Ballard, too, for that matter. We didn't see Ngom because he's dealing with a minor injury. But don't expect it to be anything too severe.
As for the practice itself, you can imagine that a lot of attention was paid to defense. Leonard thinks it has the potential to be a very good defensive team, especially if one of the 7 footers can establish himself as a solid college defender, and during the practice they stressed over and over and over how important it is to get into passing lanes and make the team have to pass the ball backwards.
It's an interesting drill actually. They don't look for steals. Or even deflections. In fact, if there is one, if the ball is deflected out of bounds, a manager hurriedly gives a new one to the guy on offense to keep the play and motion going. They are working at making the passes as hard as possible. By extending arms and being able to see peripherally between your man and the guy with the ball.
There was a moment where they were getting on one of the young centers because he let the point guard catch the ball at the top of the key about 21 feet away. And CY stopped practice and begged the entire team - mostly the newcomers, of course, - to understand the difference between a guard catching the ball at the top of the key, right where he wants to be, with an easy pass. And making him go just 2-3 feet further back and to the left, to get him off his spot. The point being, the offense gets affected in a major, major way, if the guard is having to start from there then right at the top of the key. It changes the whole possession.
So, I thought all that was really interesting. Just the drills they run, over and over and over, the attention to detail that is paid, to make sure the principles are understood and executed well.
What's also interesting is how guys like Wilkes and the walk-ons Prieto and Lindner, are out there on defense telling their teammates what to do. Hamilton joked that they could coach the team. Because they've been doing it so long, they know exactly what is supposed to be done. That's invaluable, imo, when it comes to sustaining culture.
Anywho. Hopefully we'll be able to watch another practice or maybe a scrimmage before the preseason is over. Either way, it was cool to get a glimpse into how FSU basketball practices.
Because it was really intense.
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