Florida State University Athletics
Saturday, March 2
Atlanta, Ga.
12:00 p.m.
Florida State
at
Georgia Tech
Baba Miller: Defense Travels
3/1/2024 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA, Ga. – They say defense travels.
For Florida State's Baba Miller, he has traveled from Mallorca – an island off of the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea -- to Tallahassee – the capital city of the State of Florida. The distance between the two places Miller calls home is just under 4,800 miles.
As Miller and his teammates prepare to face Georgia Tech in an important ACC battle on Saturday, March 2, at Noon at McCamish Pavilion, the sophomore knows they must bring their best defensive game plan to stop the Yellow Jackets in their building. Under first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech has defeated both North Carolina and Duke on their home court this season. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 3 in the nation and the Blue Devils No. 7 when they lost on Georgia Tech's home court.
Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN2 at 12 Noon.
In just his second season at Florida State, Miller has developed into one of the Seminoles' top defensive players. He has earned 31 blocked shots and 25 steals and is one of a select few players in the ACC who has accumulated at least 30 blocked shots with at least 25 steals this season. He also ranks second amongst his Florida State teammates in rebounds with 139 for a 5.0 rebounds per game average.
For Miller, who is working towards earning his degree in Social Science from Florida State, playing defense hasn't always been his favorite part of a basketball game.
"When I was younger, I didn't like playing defense at all," said Miller. "With years of learning how I can turn defense into offense and help my team, playing defense is something I have come to really enjoy."
Miller has helped the Seminoles become one of the ACC's top defensive teams this season.
Florida State is ranked second in the league in steals (9.3 spg) and fourth in blocked shots (4.3 bpg). The Seminoles are one of only two ACC teams to rank in the top five in the steals and blocked shots statistical categories. As a team, Florida State has earned double-figure steals in seven of its last 10 games and recorded nine blocked shots and nine steals against Duke on February 17.
Many of the coaches in the ACC have taken notice of Florida State's defensive excellence.
"Florida State's length bothered us," said Boston College's Earl Grant after the Seminoles totaled 10 steals in an 84-76 win over the Eagles. "They have long arms. They were deflecting stuff at the rim. I think that was the difference in the game. If you turn the ball over, and they are getting points off of your turnovers, it's hard to catch them."
Wake Forest's Head Coach Steve Forbes was also impressed by the Seminoles' incredible ability to play defense after his Deacons were defeated by the Seminoles, 87-82, earlier this season.
"Florida State did a really, really good job of speeding us up on offense the entire game," said Forbes. "Their aggressiveness, their length, and their switching made it difficult for us on offense to get a catch which led to over-dribbling and trying to make plays for ourselves instead of moving the ball. I thought they were very handsy on defense, causing 20 turnovers – I can't remember the last time we had more than 10."
At 6-11, Miller is often the head of the snake for the Seminoles on defense. His incredibly long arms and his desire to turn defense into offense makes him a valuable athlete as the Seminoles unleash their full-court defense as they work to disrupt their opponents' ability to run their offense.
Florida State's defensive effort in its victory over NC State on Tuesday in Tallahassee illustrated how good the Seminoles can be on defense.
"We did do some good things against NC State," said Assistant Coach Steve Smith. "Defensively on our gameplan, we were able to accomplish what we wanted to do. We went into the game focusing on D.J. Burns and (DJ) Horne. We felt that we had to stop those two guys and that was the point of emphasis. We felt like if we could keep those guys from having big nights we could have a chance to win the game. Keeping those two main guys out of the offensive rhythm that they usually get into had a lot to do with being able to win that game."
The Seminoles held Burns to zero points and zero rebounds in 12 minutes of playing time, while holding Horne under his scoring average with 15 points.
The opportunity to learn the Florida State system of defense is one of the reasons the highly-recruited Spaniard chose to come play for Leonard Hamilton and his staff.
"Having the opportunity to guard point guards bringing the ball up the court isn't something that a 6-11 wing is allowed to do in any other program," said Miller. "So, yes, that definitely drew my attention and is one of the big reasons I chose to play for Coach Ham and his staff."
Miller has an incredible ability to defend players at each of the five positions on the court because the Seminoles' defensive roots of playing position-less basketball and switching defensively at every position on the court. He has a unique skill set because up until a recent growth spurt of more than eight inches, he was a 6-2 point guard. Miller's ability to handle the basketball and guard quick, agile players allows him to stay in a defensive comfort zone no matter who he is assigned to guard.
"Baba Miller is one of the most improved – mentally and emotionally – players on our team," said Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. "The anxiety of just being a freshman, with all the outside stuff he had to deal with was challenging. Now, he's more confident, he's bigger, and he's stronger. He's a different person."
Miller's height, length, and wingspan combine to make him the perfect player to defend an opponent's player who is inbounding the basketball after a made Seminole basket. His length and athleticism make it hard for any player to survey the Seminoles' defensive scheme and where to enter the basketball to begin their offensive sets.
"I try and read their eyes and force them to be more hesitant on passing the ball by using my length," said Miller.
Miller says what he has learned about playing defense in his first two seasons at Florida State is simple: I've learned that you can't take any possessions off, that you have to communicate at all times, and that all of us have to be disciplined with our principles.
For Florida State's Baba Miller, he has traveled from Mallorca – an island off of the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea -- to Tallahassee – the capital city of the State of Florida. The distance between the two places Miller calls home is just under 4,800 miles.
As Miller and his teammates prepare to face Georgia Tech in an important ACC battle on Saturday, March 2, at Noon at McCamish Pavilion, the sophomore knows they must bring their best defensive game plan to stop the Yellow Jackets in their building. Under first-year head coach Damon Stoudamire, Georgia Tech has defeated both North Carolina and Duke on their home court this season. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 3 in the nation and the Blue Devils No. 7 when they lost on Georgia Tech's home court.
Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN2 at 12 Noon.
In just his second season at Florida State, Miller has developed into one of the Seminoles' top defensive players. He has earned 31 blocked shots and 25 steals and is one of a select few players in the ACC who has accumulated at least 30 blocked shots with at least 25 steals this season. He also ranks second amongst his Florida State teammates in rebounds with 139 for a 5.0 rebounds per game average.
For Miller, who is working towards earning his degree in Social Science from Florida State, playing defense hasn't always been his favorite part of a basketball game.
"When I was younger, I didn't like playing defense at all," said Miller. "With years of learning how I can turn defense into offense and help my team, playing defense is something I have come to really enjoy."
Miller has helped the Seminoles become one of the ACC's top defensive teams this season.
Florida State is ranked second in the league in steals (9.3 spg) and fourth in blocked shots (4.3 bpg). The Seminoles are one of only two ACC teams to rank in the top five in the steals and blocked shots statistical categories. As a team, Florida State has earned double-figure steals in seven of its last 10 games and recorded nine blocked shots and nine steals against Duke on February 17.
Many of the coaches in the ACC have taken notice of Florida State's defensive excellence.
"Florida State's length bothered us," said Boston College's Earl Grant after the Seminoles totaled 10 steals in an 84-76 win over the Eagles. "They have long arms. They were deflecting stuff at the rim. I think that was the difference in the game. If you turn the ball over, and they are getting points off of your turnovers, it's hard to catch them."
Wake Forest's Head Coach Steve Forbes was also impressed by the Seminoles' incredible ability to play defense after his Deacons were defeated by the Seminoles, 87-82, earlier this season.
"Florida State did a really, really good job of speeding us up on offense the entire game," said Forbes. "Their aggressiveness, their length, and their switching made it difficult for us on offense to get a catch which led to over-dribbling and trying to make plays for ourselves instead of moving the ball. I thought they were very handsy on defense, causing 20 turnovers – I can't remember the last time we had more than 10."
At 6-11, Miller is often the head of the snake for the Seminoles on defense. His incredibly long arms and his desire to turn defense into offense makes him a valuable athlete as the Seminoles unleash their full-court defense as they work to disrupt their opponents' ability to run their offense.
Florida State's defensive effort in its victory over NC State on Tuesday in Tallahassee illustrated how good the Seminoles can be on defense.
"We did do some good things against NC State," said Assistant Coach Steve Smith. "Defensively on our gameplan, we were able to accomplish what we wanted to do. We went into the game focusing on D.J. Burns and (DJ) Horne. We felt that we had to stop those two guys and that was the point of emphasis. We felt like if we could keep those guys from having big nights we could have a chance to win the game. Keeping those two main guys out of the offensive rhythm that they usually get into had a lot to do with being able to win that game."
The Seminoles held Burns to zero points and zero rebounds in 12 minutes of playing time, while holding Horne under his scoring average with 15 points.
The opportunity to learn the Florida State system of defense is one of the reasons the highly-recruited Spaniard chose to come play for Leonard Hamilton and his staff.
"Having the opportunity to guard point guards bringing the ball up the court isn't something that a 6-11 wing is allowed to do in any other program," said Miller. "So, yes, that definitely drew my attention and is one of the big reasons I chose to play for Coach Ham and his staff."
Miller has an incredible ability to defend players at each of the five positions on the court because the Seminoles' defensive roots of playing position-less basketball and switching defensively at every position on the court. He has a unique skill set because up until a recent growth spurt of more than eight inches, he was a 6-2 point guard. Miller's ability to handle the basketball and guard quick, agile players allows him to stay in a defensive comfort zone no matter who he is assigned to guard.
"Baba Miller is one of the most improved – mentally and emotionally – players on our team," said Head Coach Leonard Hamilton. "The anxiety of just being a freshman, with all the outside stuff he had to deal with was challenging. Now, he's more confident, he's bigger, and he's stronger. He's a different person."
Miller's height, length, and wingspan combine to make him the perfect player to defend an opponent's player who is inbounding the basketball after a made Seminole basket. His length and athleticism make it hard for any player to survey the Seminoles' defensive scheme and where to enter the basketball to begin their offensive sets.
"I try and read their eyes and force them to be more hesitant on passing the ball by using my length," said Miller.
Miller says what he has learned about playing defense in his first two seasons at Florida State is simple: I've learned that you can't take any possessions off, that you have to communicate at all times, and that all of us have to be disciplined with our principles.
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