Florida State my dark horse pick to win the ACC Tournament
Mar 11, 2009
Tags: ACC
Since you asked, the Florida State Seminoles are my dark horse pick to win the ACC Tournament.
Why FSU?
Two reasons: size and defense
The Seminoles had two players selected to the ACC’s All-Defensive team in Toney Douglas and freshman Solomon Alabi, and feature five more that are listed at 6’9” or taller.
Offensively, Florida State doesn’t have the firepower of a Carolina or a Wake Forest, but the team makes up for it on the defensive end. The 68.1 points they give up per conference game is the best in the league, and Toney Douglas is, in my opinion, the ACC’s best defender.
A closer look at the conference tournament bracket makes me even more comfortable with my pick. The Seminoles are automatically in the quarterfinals, courtesy of a first round bye, where they will likely face the Clemson Tigers, a team they’ve beaten twice this year already.
If they are able to get past Oliver Purnell’s squad, a hobbled North Carolina team likely awaits in the semis. Normally, seeing the Tar Heels on your half of the bracket wouldn’t be a good thing, but it seems increasingly likely that Ty Lawson, Carolina’s MVP and the recently-crowned ACC Player of the Year, will not play.
Carolina without Lawson is a completely different team – and without him in the teams’ only matchup, an 80-77 win for Roy Williams and Co., the Heels likely come out of Tallahassee with a loss. After all, who was it that provided the buzzer beater that broke the Seminoles’ hearts? None other than Lawson himself.
The matchups for Florida State against Clemson and North Carolina, are good ones for Leonard Hamilton’s team. The Seminoles’ size counters Clemson’s ability to dominate on the glass, particularly the offensive boards with Raymond Sykes, while Tyler Hansbrough has traditionally struggled with taller opponents, something the Seminoles can take advantage of with waves of near seven-footers.
Assuming that either Wake Forest or Duke came through the other side of the draw, life would be difficult for Florida State. The Devils have had FSU’s number in both meetings this season, while Wake Forest can match the Seminoles’ athletic bigs with a fleet of post players themselves.
That being said, once you get to the finals, you never know what can happen in terms of upsets.
In this case, if an upset should occur, it’s Florida State that I think will be cutting down the nets on Sunday.
