The Stevens Scoop

       The Seminoles travel to Chapel Hill on the next stop on Hamilton's farewell tour. The Tar Heels are coming off a three-game win streak, and the Noles will enter this game after coming up short in their last matchup against Louisville.      UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis and Coach Ham share some history. Back in the 2000-2001 NBA season, Leonard Hamilton, coach of the Washington Wizards, had a man by the name of Hubert Davis on his roster.      In the latest edition of Joe Lunardi's bracketology, the Tar Heels are one of the first four teams out of the NCAA tourney, so Coach Davis and his crew will be eager for their sixth win in a row in matchups with FSU.  Offense     Entering this game, UNC ranks 33rd nationally in offensive efficiency. Coach Davis and the Tar Heels run what's called a "four out" offense. This offensive set usually has four UNC players above the three-point line. This allows their crafty guards like ...

       It's rivalry time as the Florida State men's basketball team prepares to take on the Miami Hurricanes. This game comes just a couple of weeks after the Hurricanes' former head coach, Jim Larra ñ aga , announced his retirement from the team.      The Hurricanes are off to a historically poor season start, entering this game with a 4-10 record. This is the Canes' worst start in two decades, going back to before Miami was even a part of the ACC. The Noles, however, enter this matchup with some momentum after they picked up their first conference victory of the season against Syracuse last weekend.      Miami's down year cannot be credited to a lack of efficiency on the offensive side of the ball. The Hurricanes have the nation's 50th-ranked offensive efficiency and have scored 75+ points in every game, except in their loss to Clemson. They have the ACC's sixth-best scoring offense, averaging about 78 points a game, while converting ...

   The Florida State Seminoles men's basketball team went 0-2 last week in their first road games. Both games were lost by 10 points, as well. In a stretch which was thought to have been the 'Noles' first true tests, dropping both doesn't raise any green flags. People may think "They can't beat anyone good" or "The offensive struggles are still there from years prior". While these may be warranted thoughts, I don't think it's time to hit the panic button on the 'Noles.     The losses against LSU and NC State were chances for FSU to build their resume for March early in the season, as LSU (56 in NET) would've been a Quad 1 win and NC State (108 in NET) would have fallen into the Quad 3 category. However, the Noles picked up two quality (hopefully) losses early in the season. But that's the key. It's still early. There are still two out of conference games for FSU to play before we get into the heart of conference ball. Thes...

    The game got a little close at the end, but the Noles prevail for their second straight victory. Temple has players that are extremely dangerous if overlooked, like Jamal Mashburn Jr, but FSU handled their business and held a top 10 scorer to 20 points on 6-15 shooting from the floor, only 1-4 from deep.     Offensively, FSU dominated the paint (40 to 30) and converted on threes at a more effective rate than we have seen so far this season. At one point, the Seminoles were shooting a red hot 60% from deep, but cooled off and finished the game at 36.8%. Of the eleven players that saw minutes in tonight's game, ten scored. Hamilton loves to use deep rotations, and this team is beginning to prove that it has guys that can contribute. The second unit of Deng, Thomas, Davis, Maluk, and Swinton have served key roles in the early successes of this young season. These guys get into the game and play with high motors that many of the teams FSU has played can't handle with...