From: kdelgado@loligo.cc.fsu.edu (Kevin Delgado)
Subject: FSU over UMBC
Organization: Florida State University Computing Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 02:52:33 GMT


Well, just got back from the game. Yet more bad news for 'Nole fans...Doug
Edwards has a hand injury (looked like a sprained thumb to me...but then I
was about 50 rows up and on the other side of the arena). I'm not sure what 
the extent of the injury is right now, nor do I know when or how he got it.
Pat Kennedy started freshman Mo Robinson in place of Edwards. Byron Wells was
moved to the other forward spot, and Rodney Dobard was shifted back to his
freshman postion of center. Sura and Cassell were the guards. 

This game was _supposed_ to be a major missmatch, but FSU played a horrendous
first half and gave UMBC (Univ. of Marylan-Baltimore County FYI, same area
from which Cassell originates I think) a chance to pull off the upset. UMBC
was able to move within two points towards the end of the first half, though
FSU was able to move the score out a little bit by the buzzer (10 pts or so).
In the second half, FSU came storming out, and from then on it was pretty much
over. Once again, Steven Gruhl was put into the game when Kennedy heard the
"WE WANT GRUHL" chant from the fans. The place went nuts when Gruhl scored his
only basket towards the very end of the game. 

Player analysis: (OK, so I'm bored...deal with it)

Sam Cassell: Sam still has not learned that he is a point guard right now. He
             still goes into every game with a shooting guard mentality, and
             this has seriously hurt FSU offense (particularly in the first
             half of this game). He does not even seem to try to make the
             neccessary passes, tries to do everything himself, and seems 
             almost totally unconcerned with setting up FSU's offense. I can't
             wait untill Ward gets back to the team after the Orange bowl...
             this way we will have an effective point, and two shooters on
             the court (Cassell and Sura), and this will hopefully bring the
             team back to its uptempo play of last year.

Rodney Dobard: Rodney seemed a little out of place at the center position, I
               think he prefers the forward spot--which gives him more freedom
               to hit the jumpers in the paint. He also gets more back-door
               jams as a forward. He did play well in the game though (had
               20 points I think), and picked it up considerably in the second
               half of play (probably became more comfortable at the center
               spot). I think he had around four or five blocked shots in the
               game as well.

Bob Sura: He shot a lot, he missed some, he hit some, he made some really
          aweful plays, he made some truly incredible plays. The usual. We 
          have given up bitching about him and just sit back and watch the
          points roll up.

Byron Wells: Byron had a surpirsingly good game. He sacrificed his body on
             several occassions to pick up some key fouls. Good overall play.

Mo Robinson: Starting in place of Doug Edwards was a big responsibility for
             this freshman. He played fairly strong inside on offense, but
             picked up a lot of fouls early on, thus limiting his overall
             effectiveness. He showed that he needs a lot more work on his
             interior defense...without Edwards playing, UMBC was able to
             dominate inside on offense.

Derrick Carroll: Watch for this guy to be a real star next year...maybe even
                 earlier. Coming in as the backup for Wells, Carroll was very
                 impressive as a freshman. He hit a few key three pointers,
                 and played very well inside on offense...showing that he is
                 a very dangerous player at the forward spot. Again, like
                 Robinson, his inside defensive play could not compare to Doug
                 Edwards. Both he, and Mo will need some more game experience
                 to overcome this.

Steven Gruhl: Sorry, I just had to. He got a pass thrown to him, he took the
              shot, it went in, the crowd--though pretty small as a result of
              the holiday--exploded.

Kevin (desperately seeking a point guard named Charlie Ward so FSU can play!)

Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college