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<\/a> <\/p>\nWhen he looks at Florida State\u2019s season, Stoudamire sees a familiar trajectory.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow they\u2019re hitting their stride at the right time reminds me of how we were last year,\u201d he remarked on this week\u2019s \u201cDamon Stoudamire Show.\u201d<\/p>\n
After an 0-5 start, the Seminoles have surged to 7-8 in the ACC under first-year head coach Luke Loucks, highlighted by road wins over Miami and Clemson. Like Louisville, Georgia Tech will once again have to subdue a team that\u2019s not shy about spraying threes:<\/p>\n
Category\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Louisville\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Florida State
3pt. Rate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #3 NCAA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #12 NCAA
3pt. FGA\/g\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #3 NCAA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #8 NCAA
3pt. FGM\/g\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #4 NCAA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 #30 NCAA<\/p>\n
FSU\u2019s percentage (31.9%) may not jump off the page, and its three-point shooting sometimes blurs the line between aggressive and reckless, but even if they miss a few, they won\u2019t be deterred. 6-5 guard Robert McCray V (15.5 ppg, 5.9 apg), the reigning ACC Player of the Week, is playing \u201cas good as any guard in the league\u201d according to Stoudamire and leads the Seminoles as a lithe, long-armed, left-handed driver. FSU\u2019s offense features plenty of whip-swing passes and muscular drives to create their looks, with a healthy amount of aggressive isos mixed in. Georgia Tech can\u2019t give up \u201cdare\u201d shots and will need to defend well in randoms and one-on-one situations. Florida State plays a smaller lineup \u2013 they were outrebounded -19 in a loss to Miami on Tuesday \u2013 but the Seminoles play \u201cbigger than what they actually are\u201d according to Stoudamire. Pay extra attention to 6-7 Lajae Jones, who scored a team-high 21 points against Miami and tied a school record with 10 threes against Georgia Southern.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Georgia Tech sophomore Ashley Steen suited up with her Alpha Xi Delta sorority sisters for an intramural playoff basketball game at the Campus Recreation Center.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Steen will be with her friends and Alpha Xi Delta sisters at McCamish Pavilion, ready to watch a basketball game that will probably chew at her nerves a little more.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited to see my brother on my own turf,\u201d she told me this week.<\/p>\n A biomedical engineering major from Panama City Beach, Fla., Steen is the younger sister of Florida State senior Alex Steen<\/a>, who transferred to the Seminoles last Spring following a three-year career at Division II Florida Southern. The forward has started 24 games for Florida State, averaging 7.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping I\u2019ll sit by some of my less rowdy friends,\u201d laughed Ashley, who will also have plenty of immediate and extended family members in attendance as well. She and Alex grew up in suburban Minneapolis before moving to Panama City Beach, where their parents own a pair of seafood restaurants.<\/p>\n Ashley originally participated in competitive cheer in high school, though a broken ankle caused her to give up the sport heading into her junior year. She instead switched to basketball, where like Alex, she became a team captain as a senior.<\/p>\n \u201c[I was] kind of inspired by him,\u201d she told me. \u201cI played when I was really young in the yard with him and stuff. I ended up wanting to switch over and did pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n (While Alex stands 6-9, Ashley says she\u2019s a comparatively modest 5-8)<\/p>\n When her brother committed to Florida State last April, the family group text buzzed with talk about an eventual sibling showdown against Georgia Tech. The game \u2013 and all the associated stress \u2013 will finally arrive on Saturday. But no matter the outcome, Ashley will still be ready to represent the Yellow Jackets.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be great to have a little reunion and show them around the Georgia Tech campus,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Steen isn\u2019t only ACC player who has experienced a Georgia Tech-related sibling rivalry this year. The sister of senior guard Chas Kelley III, Claire, is a sophomore at Boston College. They overlapped for a year at BC before Chas entered the transfer portal and signed with Georgia Tech. Last year in Chestnut Hill, Kelley drilled a game-winning three-pointer against Florida State with 3.7 seconds left<\/a> to cap a comeback from an eight-point deficit in the final minute.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to try to match FSU\u2019s long-range gunning \u2013 \u201cthrees beat you, twos don\u2019t,\u201d as Stoudamire likes to say \u2013 but two-point shooting may be the bigger barometer of Tech\u2019s success against the Seminoles.<\/p>\n When Florida State allows less than 52% shooting from two-point range, they\u2019re 12-2.<\/p>\n When they allow greater than 52%, they\u2019re 2-12.<\/p>\n Georgia Tech actually shot 58% from two-point range against Louisville, which came in ranked 22nd nationally in two-point defense. The Seminoles can be piranhas on paint touches and want teams to play at a pace beyond the point of precision. The Jackets will need to cut hard and not get overheated against Florida State\u2019s ball pressure.<\/p>\n Another stat you may have overlooked from last Saturday: Georgia Tech scored 17 second chance points against Louisville, the most the Cardinals have allowed in an ACC game this year. Florida State allowed 25 second chance points against Miami on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Both Stoudamire and Florida State head coach Luke Loucks served as NBA assistants before taking their respective head coaching jobs. But they also have some obscure connections to their opposing schools.<\/p>\n As a senior at Arizona, Stoudamire scored 25 points and dished out 12 assists in a 96-78 win over Florida State on December 6, 1994 in Tucson<\/a>. Loucks, meanwhile, was recruited by Georgia Tech out of high school in Clearwater, Fla., before opting to sign with the Seminoles. He told my colleague Jeff Culhane of the Seminole Sports Network that Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton hosted him on his visit.<\/p>\n Now that we\u2019re prepared, we hope you are as well. Join us for pregame coverage starting with the \u201cRamblin\u2019 Wreck Tip-off Show\u201d at 11:30 a.m. ET on the Georgia Tech Sports Network. See you at McCamish.<\/p>\n -AD-<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n