Pitt gets back into action with Florida State (Game notes, PDF). It should be a good match-up tonight.

Game worth driving to see in person: Third-ranked Pittsburgh should get its first test against a talented and dangerous group of Florida State Seminoles Friday night (No, I’m not counting Pitt’s sluggish win over Oakland as a test). For the Panthers, this is the only obvious challenge until they visit No. 7 Wisconsin on Dec. 16. As for FSU, this is the start of a brutal stretch, one that features three consecutive games against top 10 opponents. The Seminoles, led by Al Thornton and Toney Douglas, also get Wisconsin on Tuesday and Florida on Dec. 3, proof that Leonard Hamilton is still trying to play an NBA schedule.

Pitt last played FSU in 2003, at the Pete. Pitt won 63-56. (FSU Gamenotes, PDF).
So which storyline to try first. Oh, let’s start with the issue of match-ups.

There will be nearly two dozen NBA scouts at Petersen Events Center tonight, but not all of them are coming to see Aaron Gray.

Florida State senior Al Thornton, one of the top players in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a projected first-round draft pick, will display his talents when the undefeated Seminoles (4-0) visit Pitt (5-0) for the Colonial Classic final.

Thornton, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward, is considered one of the most physically gifted players in the nation…

…Thornton is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game for Florida State (4-0). He earned first-team All-ACC preseason honors and is ranked the No. 3 NBA prospect in the conference.

Because he’s improved his perimeter game, and he has outstanding athleticism, Thornton is among the toughest matchups that Pitt will face all season.

“He can go inside and outside,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “He’s so athletic and he can run. He plays hard. He’s skilled. He’s a senior, and he’s gotten better each year.”

Thornton will draw either Levon Kendall or Tyrell Biggs. Both of them will get help, including Gray, the 7-foot pre-season All-American senior center and projected first-round draft pick.

“There won’t be one guy guarding him,” Dixon said. “It will be a team defensive thing.”

The article points out that the power forward of any team Pitt has faced has gotten points this year. Lots of challenges in this game. FSU also has a talented backcourt to make Ramon, Fields, Graves and Benjamin have to really work on defense. They also play aggressive on both ends — plenty of steals and turnovers. They obviously like to play at a faster pace, and it is especially reflected in a defense that tries to fly at the guy with the ball and force mistakes.

“They’re very deliberate,” FSU senior forward Al Thornton said of the Panthers. “They’re not going to make mistakes; they execute their offense well. The thing that we feel like we can take advantage of is they like to run set plays. We feel like with our team defense and quickness, we can disrupt some of those plays.”

Of course, FSU has its own concerns in stopping a likely 1st rounder who came back for his senior year.

“He’s a load,” said 6-8 power forward Al Thornton, who expects to take a turn defending Gray when the Seminoles go with a small lineup. “We’re going to have to play helping team defense and execute our principles to slow him down.”

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton described Gray as a “point center” because the Panthers run so much of their offense through him to utilize his passing skills. A conventional approach of double-teaming the big man could be problematic.

“It’s a double-edged sword with him,” Hamilton said. “He’s finding cutters and he’s finding spot-up guys for shots.”

Both teams seem to see the need to go with help defenses with the opponent’s best player for this game. Not straight double-teaming but another guy collapsing on him or getting in front.

For FSU they are beginning a brutal stretch of games against top-10 teams.

But never, in all his years as a coach, has he encountered a stretch of games like he will be starting today. Florida State visits No. 3 Pitt tonight in the final game of the Colonial Athletic Association Classic at the Petersen Events Center. After that, the Seminoles travel to No. 7 Wisconsin Tuesday and then play at No. 1 Florida next Sunday.

Something about how the schedule worked out. FSU was victimized by a very soft non-con schedule and a down year in the ACC. It cost them a NCAA Tournament bid last year. They upgraded. Just as Pitt upgraded to improve its seeding and make sure a veteran, talented team wouldn’t take things for granted and know what would be expected all season.

Just can’t believe there is no TV coverage for this. Not even FSN-Pittsburgh or a Florida sports station. Radio only.