FSU basketball: Why Leonard Hamilton deserves props, not criticism
By Kelvin Hunt
Don’t Judge A Coach On One Game
Virginia’s Tony Bennett was the first coach to lose to a No. 16 seed while coaching a No. 1 seed. Virginia won the National Championship the following year.
Florida State Seminoles Basketball
Roy Williams lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career this year.
Coach K lost as a No. 2 seed to Lehigh(15 seed) and a No. 3 seed Mercer (No. 14 seed) in the NCAA Tournament.
Leonard Hamilton took at No. 9 seed FSU to the Elite 8 and has made three consecutive Sweet 16’s.
Do you get my drift? Anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament, and there’s a reason we don’t see the same teams making the Final Four every year.
FSU basketball was a No. 4 seed and supposed to lose to the No. 1 seed Michigan. The fact oddsmakers had the game relatively even is a testament to the potential of the Noles.
If those two teams played one another 10 times, it’s likely both teams win between 4-6 games.
Michigan certainly isn’t nearly 20 points better, just like FSU wasn’t 20 points better than Virginia earlier this year when the Noles rolled the Cavaliers.
FSU is consistently a top team in the ACC and should have won the ACC for the second consecutive season. The fact they were in that position after losing three two lottery picks and another player that’s in the NBA is a testament to Leonard Hamilton’s ability as a coach.