FSU basketball: Injuries could be a blessing in disguise for 2022-23 season

FSU basketball (13-11, 6-8 ACC) had a young team when the season began, with the team losing three starters, their top three scorers, and a top-five NBA Draftee from last year’s team.

However, Leonard Hamilton worked some magic after a shaky start to reel off six consecutive wins for sole possession of the first place in the ACC.

However, an injury to Malik Osborne was the beginning of several injuries that helped derail any chances of making the NCAA Tournament. The Noles have lost six consecutive games and may not be favored to win any of their remaining six regular-season games.

The first half against North Carolina in their last outing was one of the most embarrassing performances in recent memory, and I said the same thing about their first-half performance against Pittsburgh in the game before.

The Noles will be without Malik Osborne, Caleb Mills (ankle injury against UNC), Anthony Polite, and Naheem McLeod when they host Clemson Tuesday night. They’ll likely have to play more walk-ons, but that also means more minutes for some inexperienced players.

Mills is already the team’s scoring leader as a sophomore. Freshmen Jalen Warley, John Butler, and Matthew Cleveland will see extended minutes for the remainder of the season. Cleveland and Butler likely need to return for a second season to improve their games before entering the NBA Draft. Sophomore Cam’Ron Fletcher will see extended minutes after having one of his better games against North Carolina in the last outing.

It’s not ideal to have such a terrible season, but this experience could set FSU basketball up to rebound nicely in the 2022-23 season, should everyone return. They’ll lose RayQuan Evans and Anthony Polite, but Malik Osborne could return for another season if he chooses to.

This shared experience, coupled with some talented freshmen, likely means the 2022 season is just one of those years everything that can go wrong does.

That’s not to say there aren’t some glaring holes to fix, but the past few years have proven continuity in Leonard Hamilton’s system is a must for success.