January 4th 2020 Duke vs Miami (8 pm) pregame predictions, game thread and post game reactions.

[ALLoverCANE]

No, recruiting at Louisville and recruiting at Miami are not the same thing. But Louisville fired their coach. Their program was in chaos with the strippergate thing and then the FBI. Yet they were able to continue to function as a program, and are dominating now, and we enter 2019-2020 starting Rodney Miller Jr. at Center. Give me a break.

Brooks was playing in Europe this summer. This injury talk is nonsense. What in the world makes you think Cincinnati would have opposed the waiver? He already transferred to Miami. What would Cincinnati care if he played for us this year or next year?

Stop apologizing for horrendous recruiting and roster management. L is a great guy, did great things for UM basketball. Past tense. This season has been thrown away due to obvious coaching mistakes.

It's hard for people to accept their team not winning, and it's even harder for people to accept it when it's not anyone's fault. People like scapegoats. They like to point fingers, rather than accept that some things are beyond anyone's control.

Louisville is a near-blue blood. Miami is basically bottom-of-the-barrel (0 elite 8s is pretty terrible), at least in the P5. Obviously Louisville is going to bounce back much faster. Comparing to football, Louisville is like a Penn St and Miami is like an Indiana. If Penn St football were to get hit with sanctions, it would be a NY6 regular again in no time. If Indiana were to get hit with sanctions, it could take them a decade to recover.

L has made mistakes, sure. All coaches do, even the good ones. And whatever coach ends up replacing L one day is likely going to make even more mistakes than he has made, because that's the type of coach that we can attract.

How many ACC-caliber players are not on this roster thanks to the FBI? At minimum 2, right? Assuming we would've brought in 2-4 guys if not for the FBI, it's safe to assume that by the time that class reached its sophomore year there would be 2 guys playing major roles or starting. How much better would this team be if it had, say, another Waardenburg and an Amp-type? It's probably a NCAAT team.

Coaches bust their asses to find 2-3 ACC-caliber players every cycle (i.e. a roster of 8-12 contributors). It's not easy. There are not a lot of them, and there is intense competition for them. It's not realistic to think, "well we got 0 this year. Let's just double-up next year." It's going to take a couple of years.

 

[tcgrad1014]

We weren't filling all of our scholarships before the FBI. What we are seeing this season has been years in the making. We have a deficit of scholarship players, and among the scholarships we did use, 5 of them are being used on players that either shouldn't be logging minutes in the ACC this season (all 3 freshmen) and 2 of them (Miller and Waardenburg) who shouldn't be logging minutes in the ACC ever. We have 4 available ACC caliber players on the roster this season: Lykes, DJ, McGusty and Stone (and IMO Stone is borderline). That's awful.

 

[ALLoverCANE]

We weren't filling all of our scholarships before the FBI. What we are seeing this season has been years in the making. We have a deficit of scholarship players, and among the scholarships we did use, 5 of them are being used on players that either shouldn't be logging minutes in the ACC this season (all 3 freshmen) and 2 of them (Miller and Waardenburg) who shouldn't be logging minutes in the ACC ever. We have 4 available ACC caliber players on the roster this season: Lykes, DJ, McGusty and Stone (and IMO Stone is borderline). That's awful.

That is NOT awful. How many good players do you think most middle-of-the-pack ACC teams have? Have you looked at their rosters?

First, we have 5, not 4. Waardenburg has been one of the bright spots of the season. He's been playing extremely well for more than a month now, and against good competition. Coach K praised him and even went so far as to call him an "x-factor". So that's 5 ACC-caliber guys, plus 3 developmental young guys that should be contributing by this time next year (and hopefully sooner, in Bev's case).

Now add the 2 contributors that we should have had from last year's class, and what do you know, we have a team that looks like the other middle-of-the-pack ACC teams! 7 solid contributors plus 3 developing freshmen, and a couple of other guys that don't play in most games.

NC St goes 8 deep, plus 1 freshman that seems to be similar to our freshmen. VT goes 7 deep plus 2 developmental freshmen. Etc. Programs like Miami don't roll 10+ deep, like Duke does. And our past NCAAT teams were in that same range too (incl. freshmen): 8 in 2018, 8 in 2017, 8 or 9 in 2016, etc.

So this team is 2-3 players away from being where it should be, despite having its entire sophomore class completely wiped out by an unfounded FBI investigation, and you guys want to blame the GOAT Miami basketball coach for only bringing in 8 guys in 2016-2017. Sheesh. It's a matter of proportionality. L probably deserves like 20% of the blame, yet this board spends 80% of the time complaining about him.

 

[Consigliere]

Two Old Posts: On Roster Management

Post #1: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/2019-20-rotation.151917/#post-4215670

Fact #1: The NCAA allows 13 scholarships for basketball.

Fact #2: Since 2014-15 (the last 5 seasons), we've started the season using (on average) 10 active scholarships.

Fact #3: Since 2014-15 (the last 5 seasons), we've started the season using (on average) 11 total scholarships.

Fact #4: In 2017, the complaint (via the Justice Department) stated their bullchit against "University-7" (us).

Fact #5: The 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were complete before the complaint was filed/public. This means that the FBI bullchit happened AFTER these 3 seasons were in the books. This bullchit had NO IMPACT on anything that happened BEFORE the complaint.

In summation: Again, roster management issues have been prevalent for a long time and before the FBI issue.

See this post here: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/anthony-mack-transferring.146869/page-3#post-3945121

-------------------------------------------

Post #2: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/anthony-mack-transferring.146869/page-3#post-3945121

1. As for roster management issues; they have been prevalent for a long time. They existed before the FBI bullchit too. Now the FBI investigation did really hurt us recruiting wise, nobody would say the opposite, but this doesn't mean that these issues didn't exist before that. So you have an issue that already existed, roster management, and then you have an even bigger hurdle (from outside forces). Even with the FBI bullchit, Coach was able to bring in 3 transfers last year (McGusty, Mack and Johnson). Clearly those 3 didn't care, I am sure there were others too. Also, Coach was able to recruit this year and has 2 signed recruits so far. There are other ways to fill the class besides elite HS recruits. Our best teams didn't have elite HS recruits.

Again, not saying this FBI bullchit didn't *** us. I am just saying that we've had roster management issues for some time.

2. As for historically playing with 10 guys, I am not going to argue whether this is true or not but look at the numbers below. The first number represents the "active" scholarships being used (those eligible to play). The second number represents the total scholarships being used.

(Active/Total Ships Used)

2018-19: 9/11 (McGusty is sitting out and Miller is redshirting)
2017-18: 10/12 (Wilson sat out and Gak redshirted)
2016-17: 9/11* (Gilmore sat out but was kicked out of school during the season)
2015-16: 10/11 (Muhammad sat out)
2014-15: 11/12 (Murphy sat out)

*Waardenburg sat out 2016-17 but arrived late. He is included in the numbers even though he sat and redshirted.

It is clear that having so few active ships (9.8 on average, see above) is not a good way to start the season.

- Injuries happen.
- Players get thrown out of school (e.g. Muhammad kicked out during the season).
- Players choosing to transfer (e.g. Mack)
- Then you have kids sitting out for other reasons (e.g. transfers coming in and redshirts)

3. What is the argument against bringing in more kids? Nobody is saying that every kid we recruit or that transfers into the program needs to be elite. We're just saying fill the class. As a program, we know kids are leaving all the time.

4. The thing I don't understand is why don't we bring in more grad transfers as fillers. I am not talking about highly sought after grad transfers (e.g. Z. Johnson), that is obvious. But if you know you have 2 open spots and there are no more really good transfers, why not bring in fillers? I am talking about players like Joe Thomas. They're low risk players who are willing to compete. They're gone in a year. It is better to have them then no one.

5. The other thing I don't get is our local recruiting. Why don't we take chances on more local prospects? Remember Neftali Alvarez? Local kid from Miami Christian HS. Are you telling me we couldn't bring this kid in late? For those that forget...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4398075/neftali-alvarez

Neftali Alvarez joins the Fairfield University men's basketball program after last season at Miami Christian where he helped the school capture two state titles. In his junior season, Alvarez netted the game-winning three pointer in the first of those titles. He averaged a double-double last season with 27 points and 11 assists per game which caused the Miami Herald to select him as the 5A-1A Player of the Year. He was one of nine finalists for Florida's Mr. Basketball award, an honor bestowed to the top player in the state. He also garnered All-State honors both as a junior and as a senior.

Maybe you can convince him to redshirt. Maybe he just wants to compete. Why not bring more of these kids in?

 

[CANEFAN83]

Two Old Posts: On Roster Management

Post #1: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/2019-20-rotation.151917/#post-4215670

Fact #1: The NCAA allows 13 scholarships for basketball.

Fact #2: Since 2014-15 (the last 5 seasons), we've started the season using (on average) 10 active scholarships.

Fact #3: Since 2014-15 (the last 5 seasons), we've started the season using (on average) 11 total scholarships.

Fact #4: In 2017, the complaint (via the Justice Department) stated their bullchit against "University-7" (us).

Fact #5: The 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were complete before the complaint was filed/public. This means that the FBI bullchit happened AFTER these 3 seasons were in the books. This bullchit had NO IMPACT on anything that happened BEFORE the complaint.

In summation: Again, roster management issues have been prevalent for a long time and before the FBI issue.

See this post here: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/anthony-mack-transferring.146869/page-3#post-3945121

-------------------------------------------

Post #2: https://www.canesinsight.com/threads/anthony-mack-transferring.146869/page-3#post-3945121

1. As for roster management issues; they have been prevalent for a long time. They existed before the FBI bullchit too. Now the FBI investigation did really hurt us recruiting wise, nobody would say the opposite, but this doesn't mean that these issues didn't exist before that. So you have an issue that already existed, roster management, and then you have an even bigger hurdle (from outside forces). Even with the FBI bullchit, Coach was able to bring in 3 transfers last year (McGusty, Mack and Johnson). Clearly those 3 didn't care, I am sure there were others too. Also, Coach was able to recruit this year and has 2 signed recruits so far. There are other ways to fill the class besides elite HS recruits. Our best teams didn't have elite HS recruits.

Again, not saying this FBI bullchit didn't *** us. I am just saying that we've had roster management issues for some time.

2. As for historically playing with 10 guys, I am not going to argue whether this is true or not but look at the numbers below. The first number represents the "active" scholarships being used (those eligible to play). The second number represents the total scholarships being used.

(Active/Total Ships Used)

2018-19: 9/11 (McGusty is sitting out and Miller is redshirting)
2017-18: 10/12 (Wilson sat out and Gak redshirted)
2016-17: 9/11* (Gilmore sat out but was kicked out of school during the season)
2015-16: 10/11 (Muhammad sat out)
2014-15: 11/12 (Murphy sat out)

*Waardenburg sat out 2016-17 but arrived late. He is included in the numbers even though he sat and redshirted.

It is clear that having so few active ships (9.8 on average, see above) is not a good way to start the season.

- Injuries happen.
- Players get thrown out of school (e.g. Muhammad kicked out during the season).
- Players choosing to transfer (e.g. Mack)
- Then you have kids sitting out for other reasons (e.g. transfers coming in and redshirts)

3. What is the argument against bringing in more kids? Nobody is saying that every kid we recruit or that transfers into the program needs to be elite. We're just saying fill the class. As a program, we know kids are leaving all the time.

4. The thing I don't understand is why don't we bring in more grad transfers as fillers. I am not talking about highly sought after grad transfers (e.g. Z. Johnson), that is obvious. But if you know you have 2 open spots and there are no more really good transfers, why not bring in fillers? I am talking about players like Joe Thomas. They're low risk players who are willing to compete. They're gone in a year. It is better to have them then no one.

5. The other thing I don't get is our local recruiting. Why don't we take chances on more local prospects? Remember Neftali Alvarez? Local kid from Miami Christian HS. Are you telling me we couldn't bring this kid in late? For those that forget...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/4398075/neftali-alvarez

Neftali Alvarez joins the Fairfield University men's basketball program after last season at Miami Christian where he helped the school capture two state titles. In his junior season, Alvarez netted the game-winning three pointer in the first of those titles. He averaged a double-double last season with 27 points and 11 assists per game which caused the Miami Herald to select him as the 5A-1A Player of the Year. He was one of nine finalists for Florida's Mr. Basketball award, an honor bestowed to the top player in the state. He also garnered All-State honors both as a junior and as a senior.

Maybe you can convince him to redshirt. Maybe he just wants to compete. Why not bring more of these kids in?

Very good post. Jim Larranaga needs to be held accountable. Perhaps it's time to move on from him for a lot of reasons including his inability to fill a full roster, we have regressed from a few years ago when we were making the tourney almost yearly, and our D is horrendous. Not to mention his inability to find enough and attract quality bigs to make our front court competitive with the better/more elite teams.

 

[ALLoverCANE]

Very good post. Jim Larranaga needs to be held accountable. Perhaps it's time to move on from him for a lot of reasons including his inability to fill a full roster, we have regressed from a few years ago when we were making the tourney almost yearly, and our D is horrendous. Not to mention his inability to find enough and attract quality bigs to make our front court competitive with the better/more elite teams.

1) The next Miami basketball coach will be less successful than Coach L. Yes he hasn't been perfect, but he's been very good - much better than this program has ever had, and better than the next guy this program will be able to attract. L's quality as a coach far outpaces Miami's prestige as a program. The grass is not always greener.

2) No program of Miami's caliber consistently attracts quality bigs. I'm stunned people don't realize this. Just look at the top guards/wings in the NBA, and the top bigs in the NBA. All of the top bigs in the NBA came from blue bloods (or international). Most of the top guards in the NBA came from mid-majors or mediocre P5 programs (Curry, Harden, Lillard, etc.). Expecting Miami to attract quality bigs to be competitive with elite teams is ridiculous.

3) Most programs don't fill their 13 scholarships. UVA currently has 11 guys on scholarship, for example. It is terrible analysis to look at Miami's active scholarships, compare to the allotment of 13, and complain that there is a gap. It is common practice for schools to be well below 13 active scholarship players in a given year. Once you compare to a reasonable benchmark, Miami looks to be only a player or two short this year. Hmm, I wonder if the FBI cost Miami a player or two...the answer is obviously yes.


Look, I get it. Fans are simple: when the team is bad, they pout and look for people to direct their anger at. It is hard to accept that Miami is a mediocre (at best) basketball program that was hit with some bad luck, so is suffering through a couple of lean years.

 

[Consigliere]

We weren't filling all of our scholarships before the FBI. What we are seeing this season has been years in the making.

Exactly.

1. Our best teams have been when our players are older/more mature than our competition. So perhaps using more scholarships BEFORE would allow us to have more players available later.

2. If a team is X deep, it doesn't mean they ONLY use X scholarships to get to X deep. Also, just because you use X scholarships (only) doesn't mean we're X deep. It may just mean we're X deep because we're forced to play this number due to our roster management.

This isn't controversial either. What is the argument against using more scholarships?

 

[AmherstCane]

1) The next Miami basketball coach will be less successful than Coach L. Yes he hasn't been perfect, but he's been very good - much better than this program has ever had, and better than the next guy this program will be able to attract. L's quality as a coach far outpaces Miami's prestige as a program. The grass is not always greener.

2) No program of Miami's caliber consistently attracts quality bigs. I'm stunned people don't realize this. Just look at the top guards/wings in the NBA, and the top bigs in the NBA. All of the top bigs in the NBA came from blue bloods (or international). Most of the top guards in the NBA came from mid-majors or mediocre P5 programs (Curry, Harden, Lillard, etc.). Expecting Miami to attract quality bigs to be competitive with elite teams is ridiculous.

3) Most programs don't fill their 13 scholarships. UVA currently has 11 guys on scholarship, for example. It is terrible analysis to look at Miami's active scholarships, compare to the allotment of 13, and complain that there is a gap. It is common practice for schools to be well below 13 active scholarship players in a given year. Once you compare to a reasonable benchmark, Miami looks to be only a player or two short this year. Hmm, I wonder if the FBI cost Miami a player or two...the answer is obviously yes.


Look, I get it. Fans are simple: when the team is bad, they pout and look for people to direct their anger at. It is hard to accept that Miami is a mediocre (at best) basketball program that was hit with some bad luck, so is suffering through a couple of lean years.

Simple conclusion. You are smart. Everyone else on this board is, apparently, dumb enough to believe that ACC starting quality recruits grow abundantly on trees... readily available to be picked and placed on Miami’s roster.

 

[mtsucalico85]

While it would be nice, it doesn't have to be an "ACC starting caliber" player to make use of those scholarships. There is zero downside to getting a grad transfer to fill up the open spots, even if you don't envision a big role for them. Take a guy like Joe Thomas back in 2014-15. He wasn't much of a player at Niagara before coming here (averaged 3.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG at his peak), and didn't do a whole lot on the stat sheet his one season here. But he was able to fill in a role and produce 10 minutes a game to give someone like Jekiri a bit of a rest (and our only other 'big men' where Omar Sherman and Ivan Cruz Uceda, both of which where more comfortable on the perimeter, especially Cruz Uceda). It was a low-risk move, and while he may not have made the team significantly better, his presence at least made us marginally better, and there is no lost cost in the future since he was only going to be here for one season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't shoot higher than Thomas to fill those scholarships - we certainly should - but you would think there is a 15-20 minute type of post player at a low or mid-major level that would be willing to come here for a season to play 10-15 minutes if they know there is very little depth here and would get an opportunity to play a role.

 

[AmherstCane]

While it would be nice, it doesn't have to be an "ACC starting caliber" player to make use of those scholarships. There is zero downside to getting a grad transfer to fill up the open spots, even if you don't envision a big role for them. Take a guy like Joe Thomas back in 2014-15. He wasn't much of a player at Niagara before coming here (averaged 3.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG at his peak), and didn't do a whole lot on the stat sheet his one season here. But he was able to fill in a role and produce 10 minutes a game to give someone like Jekiri a bit of a rest (and our only other 'big men' where Omar Sherman and Ivan Cruz Uceda, both of which where more comfortable on the perimeter, especially Cruz Uceda). It was a low-risk move, and while he may not have made the team significantly better, his presence at least made us marginally better, and there is no lost cost in the future since he was only going to be here for one season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't shoot higher than Thomas to fill those scholarships - we certainly should - but you would think there is a 15-20 minute type of post player at a low or mid-major level that would be willing to come here for a season to play 10-15 minutes if they know there is very little depth here and would get an opportunity to play a role.

This is where - because you’re not a coach of a high level team, you just don’t get it. I’m all for criticizing coaches and believe that you don’t have to be an experienced expert to have a valid opinion... but sometimes experience and expertise actually matters.

You can’t just add players. Adding the wrong guy WILL erode culture AND damage chemistry. And the wrong guy doesn’t just mean a bad egg... players that think they should play but aren’t good enough are poison to the team - as just one example.

Believe it or not... but that is why they haven’t just “filled” empty spots.

 

[Consigliere]

While it would be nice, it doesn't have to be an "ACC starting caliber" player to make use of those scholarships. There is zero downside to getting a grad transfer to fill up the open spots, even if you don't envision a big role for them. Take a guy like Joe Thomas back in 2014-15. He wasn't much of a player at Niagara before coming here (averaged 3.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG at his peak), and didn't do a whole lot on the stat sheet his one season here. But he was able to fill in a role and produce 10 minutes a game to give someone like Jekiri a bit of a rest (and our only other 'big men' where Omar Sherman and Ivan Cruz Uceda, both of which where more comfortable on the perimeter, especially Cruz Uceda). It was a low-risk move, and while he may not have made the team significantly better, his presence at least made us marginally better, and there is no lost cost in the future since he was only going to be here for one season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't shoot higher than Thomas to fill those scholarships - we certainly should - but you would think there is a 15-20 minute type of post player at a low or mid-major level that would be willing to come here for a season to play 10-15 minutes if they know there is very little depth here and would get an opportunity to play a role.

It is too complex for some.

I’ve floated this Joe Thomas-type player numerous times. I still wait to hear the downside of taking someone like that.

Apparently there is some benefit of leaving multiple ships open for numerous years and taking no one.

 

[ALLoverCANE]

While it would be nice, it doesn't have to be an "ACC starting caliber" player to make use of those scholarships. There is zero downside to getting a grad transfer to fill up the open spots, even if you don't envision a big role for them. Take a guy like Joe Thomas back in 2014-15. He wasn't much of a player at Niagara before coming here (averaged 3.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG at his peak), and didn't do a whole lot on the stat sheet his one season here. But he was able to fill in a role and produce 10 minutes a game to give someone like Jekiri a bit of a rest (and our only other 'big men' where Omar Sherman and Ivan Cruz Uceda, both of which where more comfortable on the perimeter, especially Cruz Uceda). It was a low-risk move, and while he may not have made the team significantly better, his presence at least made us marginally better, and there is no lost cost in the future since he was only going to be here for one season.

I'm not saying we shouldn't shoot higher than Thomas to fill those scholarships - we certainly should - but you would think there is a 15-20 minute type of post player at a low or mid-major level that would be willing to come here for a season to play 10-15 minutes if they know there is very little depth here and would get an opportunity to play a role.

If you add Joe Thomas to this team, this team still stinks. I agree, we should have another Joe Thomas or two on the roster. Those of us defending L aren't arguing that we shouldn't have another two Joe Thomases.

We're arguing that it's insignificant compared to the damage done by the FBI. Which of the following has had a larger impact on this year's and last year's teams?
A) Missing multiple ACC-caliber contributors (the damage done by the FBI)
B) Missing multiple Joe Thomases (the self-inflicted damage)

It's obviously A, but folks on this board are obsessed with B. It's preposterous. They have no sense of proportionality.

But I get it. Fans like to point fingers. They expect their teams to win, and when they don't, they want someone to blame. "Bad luck" doesn't cut it.

 

[hotshot]

That is NOT awful. How many good players do you think most middle-of-the-pack ACC teams have? Have you looked at their rosters?

First, we have 5, not 4. Waardenburg has been one of the bright spots of the season. He's been playing extremely well for more than a month now, and against good competition. Coach K praised him and even went so far as to call him an "x-factor". So that's 5 ACC-caliber guys, plus 3 developmental young guys that should be contributing by this time next year (and hopefully sooner, in Bev's case).

Now add the 2 contributors that we should have had from last year's class, and what do you know, we have a team that looks like the other middle-of-the-pack ACC teams! 7 solid contributors plus 3 developing freshmen, and a couple of other guys that don't play in most games.

NC St goes 8 deep, plus 1 freshman that seems to be similar to our freshmen. VT goes 7 deep plus 2 developmental freshmen. Etc. Programs like Miami don't roll 10+ deep, like Duke does. And our past NCAAT teams were in that same range too (incl. freshmen): 8 in 2018, 8 in 2017, 8 or 9 in 2016, etc.

So this team is 2-3 players away from being where it should be, despite having its entire sophomore class completely wiped out by an unfounded FBI investigation, and you guys want to blame the GOAT Miami basketball coach for only bringing in 8 guys in 2016-2017. Sheesh. It's a matter of proportionality. L probably deserves like 20% of the blame, yet this board spends 80% of the time complaining about him.

Can't agree on Waardenburg. Take what K said with several grains of salt. Sam is just not a serviceable ACC starter. I could cull out some games Miller has had that could build a case for him too. Neither has any business playing major minutes.

 

[mtsucalico85]

This is where - because you’re not a coach of a high level team, you just don’t get it. I’m all for criticizing coaches and believe that you don’t have to be an experienced expert to have a valid opinion... but sometimes experience and expertise actually matters.

You can’t just add players. Adding the wrong guy WILL erode culture AND damage chemistry. And the wrong guy doesn’t just mean a bad egg... players that think they should play but aren’t good enough are poison to the team - as just one example.

Believe it or not... but that is why they haven’t just “filled” empty spots.

And the guy that I described - a small school rotation player, that had never previously transferred (meaning he had no problem with his role at this previous school, and his coaches likely didn't have any issues with him) and did well enough academically to put himself in position to grad transfer to another program - how often is that player going to be the one that causes problems or become a team cancer? Sure, it won't be the case in every circumstance, but I'd say it is more often than not that a player with that background is more likely to be a positive/neutral influence than a negative one.

I'm not saying you just let anybody come, obviously you need to do your due diligence on the potential grad transfer. But I don't think it is a stretch to suggest that there are at least a handful of players at Niagara-type of schools who would be willing to go from 15 minutes a game of playing time to 10-12 minutes a game here for their final season just to get a chance to play for a team in a larger conference and potentially play for a tournament team (thinking before the season, not now, since a tourney bid is not likely at this point of the season). Those guys are out there, all you have to do is find them. And given Coach L's experience and connections, he would likely have more contacts at the lower levels to be able to find that type of player to fill the role than someone who has less experience/connections.

 

[Consigliere]

I like how it is black or white. It is (A) or (B). There is no option (C).

For those that aren’t biased homers and are able to discuss the program freely; it clearly is Option (C).

Option (C) there were some roster management issues prior to the FBI bullchit AND the FBI only made an issue worse for us. It made it harder to recruit for a period of time. With that said, since we struggled before that, you can’t say it was just the FBI that got us here today. It was both...

- Coach got ***ed by the FBI but he was still able to bring in 3 transfers that year. He could have brought in more. He could have brought in more players PRIOR to that season or AFTER that season but he stopped. When you have roster management issues; things outside of your control make it harder to fix them.

- Coach has had issues with local recruiting. This has NOTHING to do with VCJ. This has to do with NOT taking local players as recruits or “projects“ because they may be there in the end (see Alvarez). If you miss on other big name recruits, consider bringing these in because they may help in other ways (i.e. improve local recruiting). This also is a way for us to use our scholarships.

- If you strike out, bring in fillers. Bring in your low risk Joe Thomas types that are mature elders and willing to compete. Better them than no one.

- Miami doesn’t have X guys like Duke or UL or whatever bigger ACC school. Hence we need to use our scholarships better and use more of them. We need to use them to build depth/maturity and each one you don’t use hurts us more than said schools because our X aren’t as good as them. When you have Duke’s top 7 players, they may be fine only using or having 9 active ships. It isn’t the same here.

 

[AmherstCane]

And the guy that I described - a small school rotation player, that had never previously transferred (meaning he had no problem with his role at this previous school, and his coaches likely didn't have any issues with him) and did well enough academically to put himself in position to grad transfer to another program - how often is that player going to be the one that causes problems or become a team cancer? Sure, it won't be the case in every circumstance, but I'd say it is more often than not that a player with that background is more likely to be a positive/neutral influence than a negative one.

I'm not saying you just let anybody come, obviously you need to do your due diligence on the potential grad transfer. But I don't think it is a stretch to suggest that there are at least a handful of players at Niagara-type of schools who would be willing to go from 15 minutes a game of playing time to 10-12 minutes a game here for their final season just to get a chance to play for a team in a larger conference and potentially play for a tournament team (thinking before the season, not now, since a tourney bid is not likely at this point of the season). Those guys are out there, all you have to do is find them. And given Coach L's experience and connections, he would likely have more contacts at the lower levels to be able to find that type of player to fill the role than someone who has less experience/connections.

All salient points... except the staff has busted their asses to find those players who would fill such a role at Miami and have come up dry.

Why:
1) ACC quality players who want to come to Miami (no basketball tradition, poor fan support, FBI drama, no realistic hope of competing for championship, etc) as grad transfers are hard to find;
2) the high character, skilled enough to contribute even 10-12 minutes, and realistic self-assessment (ie knows they are not good enough to get more than 10-12 minutes) grad transfer market is pretty thin.

So y’all can moan and whine and twist and contort and think you’re smarter or harder working than the staff... or accept the actual reality of what has transpired.

This year is gonna continue to be a struggle. The excuses are gone next year, however... fortunately there is much to be excited about.

Btw, who thought Rodney would score 8 points vs Duke?

 

[ALLoverCANE]

Can't agree on Waardenburg. Take what K said with several grains of salt. Sam is just not a serviceable ACC starter. I could cull out some games Miller has had that could build a case for him too. Neither has any business playing major minutes.

Miller has never had a 6 game stretch anywhere close to Waardenburg’s last 6: 10.7 pts, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 59% from the field.

And he did it playing against a very tough schedule, including a #1 seed (Duke), 2 bubble teams away from home (Temple, Illinois), and another conference foe on the road.

If he sustains that, that is very clearly a serviceable ACC starter, or more. He’s done it for long enough, and vs. good enough competition, that I think there’s a chance he’s turned a corner. It’s not like he just had 2 OK games vs. cupcakes.

 

[jkdood]

There is surely some room for improvement in coaching and roster management, but I seriously doubt we could do much better than Coach L for a variety of reasons, even if he may be nearing a hasbeen (there) status of late.

Maybe there is a football flavor to this comment, but I think Miami suffers from a variety of longstanding ailments that affect recruits and their choices (and their parents) and attraction in general. (Past) terms like thug-like, undisciplined, sanctions, party campus/party town, etc... and a fairly anemic record in football and certainly basketball the last decade or 2 are hard to live down, and we are maybe several successful seasons away from that being erased from consideration.

Hoping we can get lucky and have a successful season or 2, and put that behind us.. But while rooting through the roof, I'm not holding my breath, nor expecting much, even next year. Go Canes!

 

[Canesfreak2020]

Yeah it was his fault that the Adidas BS killed the recruiting for 2 years, Ir was also his fault that Huell was declared ineligible before the start of last season. Coach L will finish out his contract. We have a very good recruiting class coming in and with the returning players, we should be very good next season.

You are delusional! Look at everything Louisville went through including post season bans and they are ranked in the Top 12, why because they made a great coaching hire and he (unlike our staff) can recruit!

 

[hotshot]

Miller has never had a 6 game stretch anywhere close to Waardenburg’s last 6: 10.7 pts, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 59% from the field.

And he did it playing against a very tough schedule, including a #1 seed (Duke), 2 bubble teams away from home (Temple, Illinois), and another conference foe on the road.

If he sustains that, that is very clearly a serviceable ACC starter, or more. He’s done it for long enough, and vs. good enough competition, that I think there’s a chance he’s turned a corner. It’s not like he just had 2 OK games vs. cupcakes.

I hope you're right! God knows we need the "new Sam."

Still, he looks very stiff to me (180 degrees from what one would call "athletic") and I have little doubt that if an opponent were to play tough D against him, they could limit him to maybe a couple hoops a game. Despite Coach K's protestations, I think opponents focus hard on Lykes, McGusty and DJ which, of course, takes any defensive focus/pressure off Sam. Good on him that he's been able to exploit that as well as he has.