Monday, February 14, 2011

Can Chris Singleton Return For FSU?

Chris Singleton had "successful" surgery on his foot today after breaking it on Saturday against Virginia. The school is insisting that his return is "uncertain", and that he might return this season. And maybe that's true, but it just seems implausible that a kid could break his foot and return in less than four weeks, and we're less than four weeks from Selection Sunday.

Florida State's defense is arguably the best in the nation and it will continue to be elite without Singleton, but Singleton is the team's best offensive player, and that's where the pain really will be felt. Things aren't quite as bad as a few years ago when Toney Douglas was the only competent offensive player on the team and they looked horrible with him off the floor, so all isn't lost yet. Derwin Kitchen has been good, and Leonard Hamilton may choose to turn to the highly-hyped freshman Okaro White to fill a lot of the minutes that Singleton had been playing. White has actually played well offensively this year in limited minutes, and with an 81% free throw percentage he can score a lot by just attacking the rim and getting fouled.

FSU is 8-3 in the ACC with wins over Duke, Boston College and Baylor, along with a bad loss to Auburn. Their RPI is 50th and their Sagarin ELO_CHESS is 42nd. There's no question that they'd be in the Tournament if the season ended now, but they've probably got to win at least three more games to stay in the Tournament. They can do it, but it will be hard.

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