Jai Lucas was on the Field Of 68 show yesterday, and they questioned him about his playing style at Miami since he's a younger coach and the media isn't sure what to expect from him on the defensive side.
At the age of 36, he’s all about the belief that "defense wins championships," and he stands by that idea.
"For me, defense will be our foundation; that's going to be the foundation. I feel like you have to be able to guard, and you may have nights when you're not shooting great, so you can't rely on offense all the time. You've got to build on defense. So, are plan is to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, which will be a staple of our program." Said Lucas
Lucas also mentioned his desire for Miami to become a big and lengthy team, as this is what it takes to win now, according to Lucas. He has experienced this firsthand last year with Duke, which was the biggest team in the country.
"I still value being big. Having a passionate size but also having bigger bodies up front, if you watched the last couple of years of college basketball, those teams have been successful. You look at Florida and what they were able to do; you look at us at Duke-we were bigger even two years ago when we had Filipowski and Derek Lively. UConn was big in the years they won. So, I think basketball has shifted a little bit, and with some of the things that go into winning: being able to guard, being able to rebound, come up with loose balls when it matters, those things I think are fundamental. So, we'll have that toughness and that defensive mindset."
Although Lucas was not the head coach at Duke, he understands what great defense looks like.
Let us take a look at some defensive stats from Duke. The Blue Devils have limited their opponents to an average of just 61.1 points per game, which ranks sixth in the country. Additionally, they were the 29th-best team in defensive rebounding nationwide and held the No. 3 spot in overall defensive efficiency.
He’s been the defensive coordinator for the Blue Devils, and he led Duke to back-to-back top-20 finishes in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.
The Texas team that Jai was on from 2010 to 2011 had one of the best defenses in the country. They would straight up get upon you, as they ranked in the top five for defensive efficiency and forced over 12 turnovers per game.
Jai Lucas definitely knows on what it takes for Miami to succeed on the defensive end.
At the age of 36, he’s all about the belief that "defense wins championships," and he stands by that idea.
"For me, defense will be our foundation; that's going to be the foundation. I feel like you have to be able to guard, and you may have nights when you're not shooting great, so you can't rely on offense all the time. You've got to build on defense. So, are plan is to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, which will be a staple of our program." Said Lucas
Lucas also mentioned his desire for Miami to become a big and lengthy team, as this is what it takes to win now, according to Lucas. He has experienced this firsthand last year with Duke, which was the biggest team in the country.
"I still value being big. Having a passionate size but also having bigger bodies up front, if you watched the last couple of years of college basketball, those teams have been successful. You look at Florida and what they were able to do; you look at us at Duke-we were bigger even two years ago when we had Filipowski and Derek Lively. UConn was big in the years they won. So, I think basketball has shifted a little bit, and with some of the things that go into winning: being able to guard, being able to rebound, come up with loose balls when it matters, those things I think are fundamental. So, we'll have that toughness and that defensive mindset."
Although Lucas was not the head coach at Duke, he understands what great defense looks like.
Let us take a look at some defensive stats from Duke. The Blue Devils have limited their opponents to an average of just 61.1 points per game, which ranks sixth in the country. Additionally, they were the 29th-best team in defensive rebounding nationwide and held the No. 3 spot in overall defensive efficiency.
He’s been the defensive coordinator for the Blue Devils, and he led Duke to back-to-back top-20 finishes in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.
The Texas team that Jai was on from 2010 to 2011 had one of the best defenses in the country. They would straight up get upon you, as they ranked in the top five for defensive efficiency and forced over 12 turnovers per game.
Jai Lucas definitely knows on what it takes for Miami to succeed on the defensive end.
