Although they’ve performed better this year, things couldn’t have possibly gotten worse than they did last year. They have, at least so far this season, come very near to losing to Clemson, Texas, Indiana, and NC State, but they have also suffered a loss to DePaul, the other bottom-feeding major conference team. That was just the start of their awful performances, as they required a game-winning play to defeat UMBC, who is currently 320th in KenPom, has only won one ACC game thus far—a road victory against Miami, their first away from home in more than two years. They have also lost to UT-Chattanooga and Arkansas State.

It’s a lot of words to say that it’s not a very good basketball team once again. This year, it’s as many injuries as it is anything else, as just five players have played in all 21 games so far. It already wasn’t a very talented team, to begin with, and they’ve only gotten worse as the injuries and other… situations… have developed. It’s about a 7-man rotation normally, but three of their top players are dealing with injuries.

They do have four players currently averaging double-figure scoring: Michael James, Tre White, Skyy Clark, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. James leads the way at 13.4 PPG and had an impressive stretch in early January where he scored 20+ in three straight games. Since then (five games), he’s back down to earth, averaging just over 12 PPG, including less than 10 points in three of those games. He’s not as efficient on his 2s as you’d like him to be, but is a good shooter from both the line and the 3-point line.

Tre White just eclipsed his previous career best of 22 points with a career-record 29 points against Clemson on Tuesday night. He is James’ opposite—a superb inside-the-arc scorer who is typically subpar outside the arc. For a perimeter player, shooting 52% on twos is outstanding, especially considering this team’s lack of spacing.

Their main guard, Skyy Clark, averages 12.8 points and 2.9 rebounds each game. Despite taking the most 3-pointers on the team, his percentage of made 3-pointers is only 31.2%. He can move swiftly downhill because to his excellent first step, which adds to his deadly speed. After taking a knee to the face during Tuesday’s game against Clemson, Clark was forced to sit out the remainder of it.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield has been forced to play as a small center at 6’10”, 235 pounds, and has done an admirable job by averaging 10.1 PPG and 8.6 RPG. He’s not a shot-blocker whatsoever, so Florida State will have opportunities at the rim if they can get inside. He lives on the inside, with only 9 attempts threes all season, but is athletic enough to guard multiple positions.

Ty-Laur Johnson has helped them a lot in the play-making department, but a rolled ankle in warmups before Clemson forced him to sit that game, and his status in this one is up in the air. Louisville is one of the worst teams in college basketball when it comes to assists, so having Johnson and Clark up in the air is going to make them rely on isolation baskets more than usual.

With all of the injuries, Curtis Williams and Kaleb Glenn have seen an increase in minutes recently. While Glenn is essentially simply a big man they can use in the frontcourt, Williams is a reliable three-point shooter.

This team is awful; they struggle to get easy baskets, play terrible defense almost everywhere, and shoot the ball poorly from outside the 3-point line. It’s difficult to see them scoring if they’re not residing at the line.