Basketball season is just around the corner. There are only five days left until the Miami Hurricanes play a real game, but they have an exhibition game coming up on Wednesday night. They’ll face the Saint Leo Lions in their first exhibition game before the official season tips off on November 4 against Fairleigh ****inson.
There’s no point in selling a bill of goods that Saint Leo can defeat the Hurricanes this Wednesday evening at the Watsco Center. It's unlikely to happen, as Saint Leo simply lacks size, and Miami will exploit their advantage in the post during the game.
Saint Leo returned six players from last season’s 11-17 team. Gone is leading scorer Kanon Koster, but Honorable Mention Logan Ryan. is back alongside another threat, Shunta Wilson, who was their second-leading scorer against FAU and Florida State earlier last week. Shunta transferred over from the University of Charleston (D2), where he played a decent amount of playing time. Let’s dive in and get to know more about Miami’s first exhibition opponent.
#12 Brady Corso: 6’2” 185 lbs, Freshman Guard
6.0 ppg, 1.0 RPG
#23 Logan Ryan: 6’3” 185 lbs, Junior Guard
10.2 ppg, 2.6 RPG
#0 Owen Pawlikowski : 6’5” 210 lbs, Redshirt Sophomore Guard
7.4 ppg, 3.3 RPG, 2.2 APG
#1 Shunta Wilson: 6’6” 185 lbs, Senior Forward
10.1 ppg, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 APG
#2 Eric Jones: 6’6” 220 lbs, Graduate Student Forward
8.0 ppg, 5.9 RPG, 0.8 APG
They struggle under pressure; last week against Florida State, they had 14 turnovers, and against FAU, they had 18. Applying good pressure on their guards will force them to make mistakes.
Don't leave Logan Ryan open. Against Florida State, he was the leading scorer with 17 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc.
Let’s get into a breakdown of their offense:
— The Lions like to go four-out high sets a lot, but they also like The popular Euro ball screen continuity.
— To me, it looks like out of secondary break action, they're going to go four out one in a lot and play through their bigs. So, 4 out of 1 is in continuity with ball screens and space. The 5 for them is going to catch the high post, and the guys cut him off, and he is going to ball screen and roll or pop.
Here is a look at Saint Leo in transition. #2 Grant is aggressively looking for catch-and-shoot 3s in transition. However, he graduated, and I would expect that guy in transition to be Logan Ryan. We need to get matched up to him as soon as we protect the basket and stop the ball. No catch-and-shoot 3s for #23 Ryan.
Last season, the Saint Leo Lions gave up an average of 84.4 points per game. Opponents averaged just shy of 37.1 rebounds as well. The Lions do not foul a lot, so surely we will see them go with a 2-3 zone set versus the Hurricanes on Wednesday. There will be opportunities to attack the gaps and kick out for three, but their tallest player in the starting rotation is 6-foot-6, so I would like to get it inside more. Look for any opportunities to push the pace in transition as well.
There’s no point in selling a bill of goods that Saint Leo can defeat the Hurricanes this Wednesday evening at the Watsco Center. It's unlikely to happen, as Saint Leo simply lacks size, and Miami will exploit their advantage in the post during the game.
Saint Leo returned six players from last season’s 11-17 team. Gone is leading scorer Kanon Koster, but Honorable Mention Logan Ryan. is back alongside another threat, Shunta Wilson, who was their second-leading scorer against FAU and Florida State earlier last week. Shunta transferred over from the University of Charleston (D2), where he played a decent amount of playing time. Let’s dive in and get to know more about Miami’s first exhibition opponent.
Saint Leo Lion's Personnel
STARTERS (NOT OFFICIAL)#12 Brady Corso: 6’2” 185 lbs, Freshman Guard
6.0 ppg, 1.0 RPG
#23 Logan Ryan: 6’3” 185 lbs, Junior Guard
10.2 ppg, 2.6 RPG
#0 Owen Pawlikowski : 6’5” 210 lbs, Redshirt Sophomore Guard
7.4 ppg, 3.3 RPG, 2.2 APG
#1 Shunta Wilson: 6’6” 185 lbs, Senior Forward
10.1 ppg, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 APG
#2 Eric Jones: 6’6” 220 lbs, Graduate Student Forward
8.0 ppg, 5.9 RPG, 0.8 APG
Saint Leo Lions Offense
The Lions returned six players from their 11-17 team last season. However, only one of their players was in their starting line last season. The offense of Saint Leo's will try to jack up a bunch of threes, as in the last game in their exhibition against Florida State, they shot over 36 threes from the field and only made just about 12 of those. Saint Leo does not have size at all, as you see in their starting line, their biggest player is 6-foot-6, so they play small ball more like the Hurricanes do.They struggle under pressure; last week against Florida State, they had 14 turnovers, and against FAU, they had 18. Applying good pressure on their guards will force them to make mistakes.
Don't leave Logan Ryan open. Against Florida State, he was the leading scorer with 17 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc.
Let’s get into a breakdown of their offense:
— The Lions like to go four-out high sets a lot, but they also like The popular Euro ball screen continuity.
— To me, it looks like out of secondary break action, they're going to go four out one in a lot and play through their bigs. So, 4 out of 1 is in continuity with ball screens and space. The 5 for them is going to catch the high post, and the guys cut him off, and he is going to ball screen and roll or pop.
Here is a look at Saint Leo in transition. #2 Grant is aggressively looking for catch-and-shoot 3s in transition. However, he graduated, and I would expect that guy in transition to be Logan Ryan. We need to get matched up to him as soon as we protect the basket and stop the ball. No catch-and-shoot 3s for #23 Ryan.
Saint Leo Lions Defense
Last season, the Saint Leo Lions gave up an average of 84.4 points per game. Opponents averaged just shy of 37.1 rebounds as well. The Lions do not foul a lot, so surely we will see them go with a 2-3 zone set versus the Hurricanes on Wednesday. There will be opportunities to attack the gaps and kick out for three, but their tallest player in the starting rotation is 6-foot-6, so I would like to get it inside more. Look for any opportunities to push the pace in transition as well.
