FSU’s Leonard Hamilton preaching patience as young Seminoles fight through injuries, inexperience

Leonard Hamilton has had a successful coaching career that spans three decades. Still, the Florida State coach is finding himself undergoing one of his most challenging seasons as the Seminoles fight through injuries and inexperience.

Hamilton, 73, has transformed FSU into a new blue-blood basketball program in the ACC, competing with North Carolina and Duke. The Seminoles have earned Sweet 16 appearances in the past three NCAA Tournaments.

But injuries to forward Malik Osborne (ankle), center Naheem McLeod (hand) and guard Anthony Polite (hand) have sent FSU (13-11, 6-8 ACC) into a tailspin, with the Seminoles dropping six straight games for the first time since 2004-05.

The latest, a humiliating 94-74 loss at North Carolina on Saturday, saw Hamilton’s team fall behind 18-0 before trailing by as many as 40 points early in the second half. Along the way, FSU lost its leading scorer Caleb Mills, who injured his ankle midway through the first half and didn’t return.

Hamilton has preached patience throughout the season.

“I was asked by one of my coaches, ‘Should we change?’ ” Hamilton said of the team’s recent struggles. “The Seminole Way has been pretty consistent. So now I’ve got to be consistent and we’ve got to keep teaching because it’s proven that our defense works and our offense works.

“Now we’re short-handed with inexperienced players, so what I must do is stick to the task and not overreact. I’m constantly thinking about how we got to this point, eliminating those mistakes, and never letting them happen again. I go to sleep thinking about it and I wake up thinking about it.”

While Hamilton is cautious about laying blame, he believes his young team was not in sync with the Tar Heels.

“In the last 10 or 12 years, there have been very few games that I feel like teams have given more effort than us,” said Hamilton. “In the Carolina game, we were a half step slow for whatever reason. They ran a little faster, they jumped a little harder, moved a little quicker and moved the ball a little better, and that’s a concern.”

Mills’ status for Tuesday’s home game against Clemson (12-13, 4-10 ACC) is uncertain. The sophomore guard, who is averaging 12.7 points per game, didn’t practice Sunday and an MRI didn’t reveal any fractures in his foot. He’ll visit a foot specialist who should be able to provide some clarity as to when Mills can return.

“It seems as if that’s the way it’s been each game with us,” Hamilton said of the latest injury. “Losing a guy that was our leading scorer was a little challenging going into that game.”

Mills’ absence allows other players to get some valuable playing time.

“As I look at this game coming up, that means that [senior forward] Harrison [Prieto] and [senior guard] Justin [Linder] will be forced into the rotation a little bit more, especially if Caleb is not available,” Hamilton said. “It seems as if each game we’ve had different lineups, different rotations, but that’s part of the journey we’re on this particular year.”

Hamilton has used nine different starting lineups this season and various rotations throughout the game.

Freshmen John Butler, Cam’Ron Fletcher and Jalen Warley all have seen their playing time increase in the absence of veterans Osborne, Polite and McLeod. Many of the newcomers have had to learn on the fly.

“It’s been extremely challenging to be patient with guys who are just learning,” Hamilton said. “We’re still teaching some of our new guys the basics of how we do things the Seminole Way. As a coach, I’ve got to be understanding and patient but also holding everybody accountable and not wanting to start changing things.”

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.