FSU's Leonard Hamilton: Duke Threw In Threes From the Parking Lot

Coach tried to cheat off of perimeter to stop Vernon Carey

Florida State made it a priority to put the clamps on Duke center Vernon Carey Jr. For the most part, the Seminoles accomplished that, limiting the big freshman to 10 points on five shots. But it wasn’t enough in Duke’s 70-65 win, as other Blue Devils stepped up.

“He’s a handful,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said of Carey. “I’m not sure you ever really stop a guy like that. I think the attention that we gave him opened up doors for guys who came off the bench who were knocking down those threes. So it’s a give and take. You concentrate on stopping him and all of a sudden, you get (Alex) O’Connell and (Matthew) Hurt coming out there throwing in threes from the parking lot. That’s kind of what happened, but that’s what a good team would do. I think Duke has done a real good job of putting the team together that really has all the ingredients to win basketball games. We were clogging up the middle and taking their inside game away, (coach Mike Krzyzewski) came off the bench with two guys, and they start knocking down threes. They’re going to be very difficult for people to compete against, and it seems to me they’re getting better and better as the season goes on. Hopefully, we can do the same thing.”

The Noles are still trying to gel as a team.

“We’re a long ways away,” Hamilton said. “We have six new guys who have come in to learn. That’s probably the best thing about our team. We’re still kind of sputtering a little bit. I don’t think we were smooth in our offensive execution. We kind of got away from the efficiency. I’m hoping we can keep finding ways to win games while we’re getting better.”