FSU nicknames its own brand of Madness
They’ve started calling it The Florida State Comeback.
The Seminoles aren’t kidding when they say it, either. This team has been a buzzer beater waiting to happen this college basketball season, hitting big shot after big shot near the end of games. There is a sense of March Madness to this team, an embodiment of all there is to love about this time of year. The crew in charge of clipping the “One Shining Moment” montage might want to tune in to the ACC Tournament finals today.
Never know with this team.
“We’ve hit some big shots already coming up into this game, and we know this is a special, special team. We haven’t had a team to hit three buzzer beaters before in ACC play, and we hit another shot at the end of the game [against Duke],” sophomore guard Michael Snaer said. "I’ve never been on a team to do that, ever. For a team like us, to be able to do that, it says we have a little bit of magic to us.”
Snaer had his moment against Duke earlier in the season, a buzzer beater that left the Cameron Crazies grasping for answers. Ian Miller, the team’s talented scorer off the bench, solidified the Seminoles’ No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament with a clutch 3-pointer against Virginia. Then, of course, Luke Loucks put the dagger in the Blue Devils’ back last night.
How far does the list go?
“Pretty much anybody. I mean, look at how old these guys are. We got Bernard [James], who’s 27 and has been in the military,” said the relatively young Snaer. "We got a lot of guys who are tough enough to step up and make big plays. It doesn’t have to be me, it doesn’t have to be Ian [Miller].”
The game-saving shots seem to have buoyed this Florida State offense, one that has always been the real question mark for coach Leonard Hamilton. The Seminoles’ offense floundered at times this season, mainly due to turnovers, and confusing losses to teams such as Clemson and conference bottom-feeder Boston College left many wondering if this team could be a threat in March.
"We’ve always been a great defensive team. The last two years we had the No. 1 defensive team in the country,” he said. "We’re not scared of anybody, we’re not afraid to take on anybody. We know we’re just as tough, we’re just as physical, we’re just as fast and we’re even longer. We know we can defend anybody out there. The problem in the past came down to how well we play offense that day.”
That has not been a glaring issue so far this tournament.
The only glaring issue at hand is that Snaer and his teammates can make some noise this month, especially if any “magic” is involved.