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Sophomore ends any talk of jinx

Men's basketball forward Michael Joiner has heard fans whisper a dreaded phrase:

"Sophomore jinx."

He doesn't believe it applies to him even though his statistics are down from last season, when he made the ACC all-freshman team.

"I look at it like another year of learning for me," he said.

"I've been battling a lot of stuff."

For one, Joiner, 6 feet 7, 230 pounds, believed the arrival of bigger bodies would allow him to move from the low post, where he played last season and averaged 9.3 points on 42.9 percent shooting and 6 rebounds, to his more natural spot on the perimeter.

He even spent the summer working on his ballhandling and outside shooting. It hasn't happened.

"It was a big heartbreaker to be back in the post," he said. "But my biggest thing is for us to win, and I'll do anything I have to to win. "But it's been a psychological battle to play, to find the love again."

For the first half of the season, he lost that fight. Through nine games, he averaged 6.4 points on 35.5 percent shooting and 5.1 rebounds. In his past nine games, he has averaged 9.9 points on 47.9 percent shooting and 4.6 rebounds.

It's no coincidence the Seminoles, who visit Georgia Tech tonight, are 6-3 in their past nine games.

"I think it's just a settling-in effect that had to happen for Michael," coach Steve Robinson said. "A lot of times, instead of playing, he's thinking.

"Basketball's a reactionary game, and you've just got to react; read the situation and be able to make the play. That's a part about Michael that he's getting better at."

HELPFUL ADVICE: With her team mired in a slump (seven losses in past eight games), women's basketball coach Sue Semrau received some welcome encouragement from a peer, football coach Bobby Bowden.

"I got a (handwritten) letter, and he talked about this coaching profession as a bunch of ups and downs," said Semrau, whose team hosts Clemson on Thursday in a game to be shown on Sunshine.

"It's the same thing with a basketball season. We've had our down and, obviously, we're looking for our up."

PLAY BALL: Softball coach JoAnne Graf, whose team is No.15 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason poll, figures Sunday's opener against visiting Georgia Southern will be a good measuring stick.

"It will show us a little bit of where we're at and give us some things we need to work on in practice and hopefully create some situations we haven't worked on in practice so that we see how the kids adjust on the field," she said.

That's especially important for her newcomers, including freshmen Tatiana George and Bryttani Lindheim, the starters at shortstop and third, respectively.

MAKING A SPLASH: Sophomore Wickus Nienaber was named the ACC swimmer of the week. He won the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and helped FSU win the 200-yard medley and freestyle relays in Friday's upset of nationally ranked Alabama.

- Brian Landman covers Florida State athletics. He can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or at (813) 226-3347.

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