JustinYoung

Key Players:
SF Michael Joiner Junior 7.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.4 apg
SF/SG Anthony Richardson Sophomore 7.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg
PG Nate Johnson Junior
PG Todd Galloway Freshman
SG Tim Pickett Junior

Strengths: Chris Rix is great. Florida State fans have to keep telling themselves that throughout the basketball season. It’s going to be a long year…again.

Having Leonard Hamilton at the helm is a start in the right direction. As the former head coach at Miami, Hamilton has a nice foundation already in the state of Florida. He is a coach that knows how to revive NCAA teams. But his biggest strength is defense. Hounding defense. He has several athletic wings that can lock down opposing offenses.

To say Michael Joiner had a sophomore slump is an understatement. In his inaugural season at FSU, Joiner was named to the All ACC freshmen team. With that acknowledgement, many people in the conference were expecting great things from the North Carolina native. But he let everyone down by scoring less than eight points. This year is the year for Joiner to prove to everyone.

The best prospect and most athletic player on the roster is former McDonald’s All American Anthony Richardson. He played okay last year but like Joiner didn’t live up to the expectations that were placed on him in his rookie season. This year could be his coming out party.

Nate Johnson was a second team JUCO All American at Moberly CC in Missouri last season. He’s a bigger point, standing at 6-3, which is nice. Johnson will start right away but could be sharing time with freshman Todd Galloway as the season goes along.

Another junior college transfer that should make an impact is Tim Pickett, a 6-4 shooting guard from Indian River CC in Florida. While at the JUCO ranks, Pickett averaged 21 points a game in his sophomore season. He originally signed to South Carolina but was denied admission due to an strange SEC rule regarding JUCO transfers.

Giving some nice depth to the rotation the ‘Noles welcome back Andrew Wilson, an underused combo player from Kennesaw, Georgia. He returns after sitting out all but one game last season. He tore his ACL in the season opener against Florida. He’s back and perhaps even better. Wilson’s jumper may be one of the nicest in the ACC.

Weaknesses: The top three scorers, Delvon Arrington, Antwuan Dixon and Monte Cummings are all gone. As is Nigel Dixon, thus clearing an entire zip code out in Tallahassee. The 6-10, 350 center transferred to Western Kentucky…Losing these players allows the ‘Noles to run an up tempo style of basketball that coach Hamilton likes to run…The keys to FSU’s success lays within Joiner and Arrington. They dictate the team’s success.

The schedule is tough but it will be paying dividends for conference play and recruiting. They play tough out of conference teams, Iowa, Florida, Miami and Arizona…FSU must win the majority of their easier out of conference games because they still don’t have a chance in the ACC…Don’t expect Duke to lose again at Leon County Civic Center so scratch that game off already.

With Hamilton being new to the program, he also brought in his own coaching staff. There isn’t one coach that was apart of last year’s team. Maybe that’s a good thing. But as for now, it may be an adjustment that might take a while for the team to gel right away…Same goes for the team. Although there are quite a few players returning, there are also two junior college transfers that will be starting from the get go. For some programs that has proven to be a winning strategy. But this year, it may be the only way to compete. After all, they are Florida State.

Key Games:
12/2/02 Iowa
12/6/02 Florida
12/8/02 Miami (FL)
12/22/02 UNC
12/30/02 @Arizona
1/11/03 @Maryland
1/14/03 @Georgia Tech
1/18/03 NC State
1/26/03 @Wake Forest
1/29/03 @Virginia
2/2/03 Duke
2/8/03 @UNC
2/12/03 Maryland
2/15/03 Georgia Tech
2/18/03 @NC State
2/26/03 Wake Forest
3/1/03 Virginia
3/6/03 @Duke

2003 Recruiting commitments: SF Von Wafer 6-5 Lisbon, LA

JoeF

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...all/briefs.htm

I think the surgery was Thursday 10/17/02. Anyone heard anything else on his prognosis?

JustinYoung

Wrong team. This is FSU, the crappiest Florida team out of the big three.

White is doing better than expected though...according to the team doctor.

OZZY

Off topic a little but I really like Nigel Dixon as a NBA prospect. Very good athlete for such a giant man, can run and is not like George Muresan or something out there. Almost a good thing that he is not 7-4 +, because at his height his weight becomes a actual factor instead of a weakness.

Will Western Kentucky become the Georgetown of the 21 century? .....but they did do a great job getting Nigel and Marcus to come to there school.

a

I really hope that was a joke, because Nigel Dixon sucks. Every big man in the ACC had a field day with him last year, and that's probably why he got out. And he doesn't move well at all. Matt Christensen got up the floor quicker than he did.

OZZY

Well that is your opinion but I'm looking at his size and I say, hey that kid might be able to slow down Shaq for a quarter, because Shaq can't rock him backward with his power like he can other NBA centers, so maybe he is worth a shot, and he will get drafted by a team I promise if Shaq is still in the NBA when he comes out.