WHAT'S THE SECRET?

In this modern, saturated hoops age, every variation of every new X's and O's scheme is treated with slack-jawed wonder.  Tell us more of this dribble-drive motion, oh wise one.  Aspiring coaches and hoops aficionados grasp at any potential advantage, any cunning angle, any minor evolution in the game of basketball.

So when one team has quietly been the best defensive unit in the nation for not one but two consecutive seasons, the first thought that comes to mind is this:

There has to be a secret.  The Secret.

In other words: What does Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton know that the rest of the country doesn't?

"I don't think I have any original ideas," Hamilton said.  "What we do is just try to be consistent with what we teach our players.  We try to hold them accountable for everything we do."

Come on.  It can't be that simple, right?

Thing is, it just might be.  To hear Hamilton describe it, the key to building a defense that has allowed the lowest opponent field goal percentage in the past two seasons -- the first program since the John Thompson-coached Georgetown Hoyas in 1990-91 to do so -- boils down to the simplest of principles.  It's stuff any high school freshman learns (or, at the very least, should learn): participation, effort, teamwork, fundamentals, focus, accountability.

"They're just certain fundamental things that I think most coaches would like to see their players execute," Hamilton said.  "We try to have our players understand that defense is something that everyone can participate in.  It doesn't have anything to do with your quickness, your speed, your athleticism.  It's your ability to stay focused and be consistent each time the ball moves to a certain place.

"That's when you have a team defense," Hamilton said.

(Thanks ESPN's Eamonn Brennan)