Florida State is still quite tall, just not quite so dangerous

This may come as a shock, but Florida State has a really really tall team again. Yes, it’s true. Buncha dudes on stilts over there who seem to get more skilled with each passing season.

The Seminoles lost some serious talent off of last year’s team—Patrick Williams and Devin Vassell both were lottery picks—and they’ve not been quite as good in 2021, but they don’t lack for potential either.

— Senior MJ Walker leads FSU in scoring so far, and he’s a solid three-point shooter, just like he’s always been. He’s also a surprisingly bad shooter inside the arc, just like he’s always been. You’d think a 6’5 dude would manage better than a career 38.9 2FG%, but here we are.

— Star freshman Scottie Barnes is raw but has loads of talent, and for better or worse should account for a lot of FSU’s possessions. He’s shooting 54% on twos but he’s just 5-18 from three and 11-26 from the free throw line. With as often as he draws fouls, he’s got to start canning the freebies.

— FSU has been just an average shooting team this season: 33.9% on threes (157th nationally) and 49.4% on twos (186th). The Noles also aren’t great at taking care of the ball, but they have been good on the offensive boards.

— FSU proves over and over that offensive and defensive rebounding are separate skills. While the Seminoles are consistently good on the offensive boards, they are consistently poor at the defensive end. This season, they rank 236th in defensive rebounding percentage. Good thing they got a bunch of tall guys to help erase second-chance opportunities! FSU ranks 19th in block rate and 25th in 2FG% defense.

— In ACC games, FSU’s defense ranks second in eFG% ... and then 13th or worse in the other three factors. Basically, if you manage to have a decent shooting night against the Noles, you should be pretty darn efficient overall, thanks to the Seminoles’ issues elsewhere.

— KenPom likes FSU by four.