FSU basketball: Noles check in at No. 25 in latest rankings

FSU basketball remains in the top 25 rankings.

FSU basketball (5-2, 1-1 ACC) hasn’t taken the court since losing to Clemson by 10 points last week.

The Noles were to take on Duke Saturday night, but COVID-19 issues forced that game to be postponed.

FSU was to take on Syracuse Wednesday, January 6, but that game has been postponed as well, and now the Noles aren’t slated to play again until January 13 against NC State.

Despite coming off the loss and not playing any games, the Noles remain in the latest top 25 rankings released Monday:

Thoughts

FSU basketball may be ranked in the top 25, but they aren’t playing anything like it the last three games that have seen them lose two of three.

They’ve relied too heavily on the three-point shot and getting crushed on the offensive glass. I know they are only seven games in, but this still has no real identity yet. They have shown, at times, they can play at a high level, but they lack the consistent effort we’ve seen from last year’s team.

However, that’s where the lack of experience from veterans like Trent Forrest and Devin Vassell comes into play.

It also means there’s more of a drop-off when Leonard Hamilton goes to his bench compared to the past few years.

Freshman phenom Scottie Barnes looked to be turning the corner after breakout performances against Indiana and Florida.

However, he hasn’t built on that earlier success, and the Noles are scrambling to find their respective roles on the team. There are players taking shots they shouldn’t be taking, and they’ve struggled with switching on defense. The latter is something Leonard Hamilton has talked about addressing in a recent interview.

I know there was a lot of hype around this team earlier in the year, but they have a long way to go before they’ll challenge for any type of championship.

Here’s to hoping they can figure some things out during this time away from the court and get it together against a good NC State team next week.