ACC Champs!

We just took down (in the regular season and in the tournament) two of the most storied programs in college basketball. It is not as if these teams are define by their "programs" even if they arewe bad. These are teams that are both top ten teams. They have great talent and great coaches. They are top seeds in the NCAA tournament.

The long march to the top of the conference was defined by my brother when he said, "You know it's a good thing and the program is legitimately where they are when you win the conference tournament and realize we should have won the tournament."

A tweet after the championship game read, "UNC still has more top 25 recruits on its roster than FSU has had in its history." I was slighted at first, but then I realized, SCOREBOARD. Then I realized in most people's eyes we should not have won the tournament despite the great play in the conference regular season, the big shots, the experience, the coacing adjustments.

Year after year we complained that Hamilton would not adjust. That he couldn't recruit a point guard, that his players did not develop. This all changed. His teams, maybe at a slow pimp's pace, morphed into a physically tough, savy, and skilled team. It is the perfect combination of three point shooting and inside play.

If a team pressures the guards, we beat them to the lane. If they clog the lane, we shoot the three. If we need a spark we play pressure defense. If a player beats a guard off the dribble, we have shot blockers or play help side defense. All the credit for this program goes to Hamilton. I am not sure he had this time frame in mind, he probably would've liked to start the NCAA tourney run a few years before he did, but we have arrived.

FSU is a legitimate contender year in and year out for the ACC title. We are no longer the bottom tier, middle of the pack, or our most recent claim to fame "the third best program." No we are number one and Hamilton has every intention of staying.

He has out coached Williams and K this season. He has game planned and prepared teams to play in EVERY big game. If there is a fault with his teams it is that they start the season very slow and have a debilitating defeat somewhere in early January. But that has proved to be the heat that melts the team and forges it together.

We will go into this tournament with confidence, hopefully not satisfied. I think we do not have a target on our back despite winning. Kentucky, Syracuse, Mizzou are all buzzed about. Duke and UNC have lost some luster, but pedigree of the programs and talent on the floor is too much for many analysts to look past (we know, just ask the media and fans about FSU football in the 00's).

But do not look past FSU's team play. Every player contributes and picks the other up when they fail. The way Snaer goes, so does our team, but everyone else is a fluid piece in an ever changing puzzle. This FSU team is more a team than any other in the conference. Each player has confidence in self and other teammates. A strange combination of selfishness and selflessness emerges when teammates trust each other to do their job. That has happed with FSU this year.

I love this team. I love Coach Hamilton for the perseverance and for taking care of his players. I love this conference for trying to screw anyone who isn't from Tobacco Road and still bowing to the best athletic department in the conference. They must be all sorts of butt hurt.

I think we make an Elite Eight run in the Tourney. We have the experience, confidence, and the skill. Most of all we have the coach who loves his players and they will follow him anywhere. Six years ago, I never thought I'd say it, but Hamilton is a hell of a basketball coach. I think he has learned some on the way, too. But I'm glad he's our basketball coach.