By Andy Demetra | Voice of the Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech will have both its legs and its home crowd back when it returns to ACC play on Saturday. But Damon Stoudamire wants something else to accompany the Yellow Jackets’ return to the court.
“You have to have a sense of urgency about what you’re doing. That’s what we’re going to have this week,” Tech’s head coach said.
With three games left, the ACC regular season has turned into a sprint, and the Jackets are keenly aware they can’t waste a moment. Can they have the urgency to jump on their opponent early and head into halftime with some long overdue momentum? Can they have the urgency to stop scoring runs before they build, and the urgency to stop their own scoring droughts before they become insurmountable? And can they have the urgency to play crisp, connected basketball against a Florida State team (14-14, 7-8 ACC) that has a reputation for relentless hustle?
After a week off, the sprint starts again. Enjoy the top notes from my chart as Tech bids for a fourth straight win at McCamish Pavilion over the Seminoles (12:00 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network).
When he looks at Florida State’s season, Stoudamire sees a familiar trajectory.
“How they’re hitting their stride at the right time reminds me of how we were last year,” he remarked on this week’s “Damon Stoudamire Show.”
After an 0-5 start, the Seminoles have surged to 7-8 in the ACC under first-year head coach Luke Loucks, highlighted by road wins over Miami and Clemson. Like Louisville, Georgia Tech will once again have to subdue a team that’s not shy about spraying threes:
Category Louisville Florida State
3pt. Rate #3 NCAA #12 NCAA
3pt. FGA/g #3 NCAA #8 NCAA
3pt. FGM/g #4 NCAA #30 NCAA
FSU’s percentage (31.9%) may not jump off the page, and its three-point shooting sometimes blurs the line between aggressive and reckless, but even if they miss a few, they won’t be deterred. 6-5 guard Robert McCray V (15.5 ppg, 5.9 apg), the reigning ACC Player of the Week, is playing “as good as any guard in the league” according to Stoudamire and leads the Seminoles as a lithe, long-armed, left-handed driver. FSU’s offense features plenty of whip-swing passes and muscular drives to create their looks, with a healthy amount of aggressive isos mixed in. Georgia Tech can’t give up “dare” shots and will need to defend well in randoms and one-on-one situations. Florida State plays a smaller lineup – they were outrebounded -19 in a loss to Miami on Tuesday – but the Seminoles play “bigger than what they actually are” according to Stoudamire. Pay extra attention to 6-7 Lajae Jones, who scored a team-high 21 points against Miami and tied a school record with 10 threes against Georgia Southern.
On Tuesday, Georgia Tech sophomore Ashley Steen suited up with her Alpha Xi Delta sorority sisters for an intramural playoff basketball game at the Campus Recreation Center.
On Saturday, Steen will be with her friends and Alpha Xi Delta sisters at McCamish Pavilion, ready to watch a basketball game that will probably chew at her nerves a little more.
“I’m really excited to see my brother on my own turf,” she told me this week.
A biomedical engineering major from Panama City Beach, Fla., Steen is the younger sister of Florida State senior Alex Steen, who transferred to the Seminoles last Spring following a three-year career at Division II Florida Southern. The forward has started 24 games for Florida State, averaging 7.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
“I’m hoping I’ll sit by some of my less rowdy friends,” laughed Ashley, who will also have plenty of immediate and extended family members in attendance as well. She and Alex grew up in suburban Minneapolis before moving to Panama City Beach, where their parents own a pair of seafood restaurants.
Ashley originally participated in competitive cheer in high school, though a broken ankle caused her to give up the sport heading into her junior year. She instead switched to basketball, where like Alex, she became a team captain as a senior.
“[I was] kind of inspired by him,” she told me. “I played when I was really young in the yard with him and stuff. I ended up wanting to switch over and did pretty well.”
(While Alex stands 6-9, Ashley says she’s a comparatively modest 5-8)
When her brother committed to Florida State last April, the family group text buzzed with talk about an eventual sibling showdown against Georgia Tech. The game – and all the associated stress – will finally arrive on Saturday. But no matter the outcome, Ashley will still be ready to represent the Yellow Jackets.
“It’ll be great to have a little reunion and show them around the Georgia Tech campus,” she said.
Steen isn’t only ACC player who has experienced a Georgia Tech-related sibling rivalry this year. The sister of senior guard Chas Kelley III, Claire, is a sophomore at Boston College. They overlapped for a year at BC before Chas entered the transfer portal and signed with Georgia Tech. Last year in Chestnut Hill, Kelley drilled a game-winning three-pointer against Florida State with 3.7 seconds left to cap a comeback from an eight-point deficit in the final minute.
It’s tempting to try to match FSU’s long-range gunning – “threes beat you, twos don’t,” as Stoudamire likes to say – but two-point shooting may be the bigger barometer of Tech’s success against the Seminoles.
When Florida State allows less than 52% shooting from two-point range, they’re 12-2.
When they allow greater than 52%, they’re 2-12.
Georgia Tech actually shot 58% from two-point range against Louisville, which came in ranked 22nd nationally in two-point defense. The Seminoles can be piranhas on paint touches and want teams to play at a pace beyond the point of precision. The Jackets will need to cut hard and not get overheated against Florida State’s ball pressure.
Another stat you may have overlooked from last Saturday: Georgia Tech scored 17 second chance points against Louisville, the most the Cardinals have allowed in an ACC game this year. Florida State allowed 25 second chance points against Miami on Tuesday.
Both Stoudamire and Florida State head coach Luke Loucks served as NBA assistants before taking their respective head coaching jobs. But they also have some obscure connections to their opposing schools.
As a senior at Arizona, Stoudamire scored 25 points and dished out 12 assists in a 96-78 win over Florida State on December 6, 1994 in Tucson. Loucks, meanwhile, was recruited by Georgia Tech out of high school in Clearwater, Fla., before opting to sign with the Seminoles. He told my colleague Jeff Culhane of the Seminole Sports Network that Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton hosted him on his visit.
Now that we’re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the “Ramblin’ Wreck Tip-off Show” at 11:30 a.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at McCamish.
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