Notre Dame Game

[Notsince1985]

I'm really, really, really, really ****ed at Manu. With Manu as PG, Newton could be a 2, or a 6th man. He's a scorer. He's averaging 15+ ppg. He's not a bad player, but he's being asked to be a PG, which he's not. I'm really, really, really ****ed at Manu. He was behind Angel, and thought he was behind Newton, so he left. He sat out a year. He could have sat out a year here, and then Angel would have been gone. I'm really, really really ****ed at Manu.

But generally how do you feel about Manu?

It's a dumb name

 

[Gables Canes]

For the "Huell should be playing more" crowd: Do you think Coach L forgets about him? Do you think he doesn't want to give us the best chance to win? Do you think he doesn't know how to utilize his roster? Seems to me if Huell is not playing, it's because he's not earning the playing time.

Huell is a major liability defensively. He's also not active on the glass.

Last night, both Huell and Izundu played 10 minutes. Izundu had 4 boards and 3 blocks in that span of time. Huell? 0 boards and 0 blocks. Yes, I agree that Huell offers more offensively (even though he's raw) but it's hard to keep someone out there who is this unwilling or incapable of playing defense and rebounding, especially when you are going up against a high powered offense such as Notre Dame.

 

[Gables Canes]

I never liked our chances. Overly reliant on the 3 point shot, even on a team with not enough pure shooters. Notre Dame was very well coached. They knew we didn't have guys who create their own inside shot in half court mode so they overplayed the 3 point line and the inside-outside passes throughout the game.

Those huge comebacks are fragile. Very hard to sustain. At some point the numbers make little sense. You aren't going to outscore a slightly superior team by 10 or 15 points over an extended period. Not often. It's very typical for the run to finish and then the opponent counters with a run of its own, like tonight. I told the fans sitting next to me it was likely to happen, unless we bumped the lead to 7 or more and Notre Dame had to force things.

Bruce Brown can't finish. Every time he drives to the basket I wonder where the clank will wind up. None of our guys have any clue toward how to use the backboard on those shots. Well, maybe a couple of times per game. Otherwise we play ping pong on either side of the rim.

More than anything we need one or two guys who can penetrate in the half court, find their own shot, and have a variety of finishing moves including touch and use of the glass. I realize that's a nice plan, like the guys who want to beat Alabama with the spread. But it drives me nuts every season. We love those alley oop plays. Not nearly so many this year with McClellan gone. I keep thinking I'd give up 10 years of alley oop dunks for a steady diet of guys who can create on their own.

Huell should be out there. I have no idea what happened to him. In early December he was becoming a force. Then the last game I attended a few weeks ago before the holidays, against George Washington, Huell was badly outplayed by Izundu. In fact, Larranaga benched Huell in favor of Izundu for the final 6 or 8 minutes. I assumed it was a one time deal, a lesson. But it played out again tonight. I was shocked how seldom Huell played. It is a mistake. Izundu has some ability but other than occasionally catching opponents off guard by being left handed he simply isn't the talent that Huell is.

That D.J. kid receives too much playing time. I couldn't believe he was out there down the stretch tonight. He is the epitome of the type of guy we over recruit...catch and shoot and otherwise no chance to create anything on his own.

Anthony Lawrence is making the same mistakes as last season. He always looks more promising than the results. For whatever reason he also has the little things go against him, whether it's borderline foul calls or shots that rim in and out.

Oh well. I expected to lose this game. Young teams as small conference home chalk have a poor history early in conference play. I believe it was the first home conference defeat since two seasons ago.

BTW, we absolutely should have continued the final possession while down 65-62, instead of calling time out. I jumped up and screamed when we called time out. Major gaffe. Notre Dame had several time outs to give. During the run of play the players probably wouldn't have realized that, and allowed us to pull up. Given that time out you known **** well they were going to hack us repeatedly, and it would take a semi miracle to get a competent look.

This. I thought it was just my imagination. Lawrence hustles, scraps, dives for loose balls, crashes the glass, is unselfish...but rarely gets rewarded. I've seen countless 3's of his rim in and out, and he is the victim of BS touch fouls more than anyone on his team. Just not having the kind of year I thought he would have, but it's not like he's playing poorly persay. It doesn't help that we are basically forced to play him out of position (he's a 3, not a 4).

 

[Gables Canes]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

 

[hardwoodhurricanes]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

Good catch on assists. Miami is 297th in the nation in assists.

 

[jackedaround]

we arent going anywhere this year.

 

[edge3241]

Jesus Christ, it's not a must win in January.

IMO, this was a must win in January if we want to go to the tourney because losing this game means we now have to win out at home and win at least 2 on the road to be over .500 in the ACC. With our lack of shooting, free throw shooting, and experience I just don't see us winning a few games on the road. It also assumes we will beat teams like UNC, Duke, and FSU at home. We lose any of those games and we'll have to steal more wins on the road which I don't see happening. Do you really think were capable of either winning two games on the road and winning out at home or only dropping one more game at home and winning three games on the road?

 

[gacaneaddict]

It was a must win if we want to get to the NCAA tourney.

Duke, Louisville, UVA, UNC, FSU will thump this squad.

We will be in dogfights against Clemson, VT, @NC State.

We are now staring at 8-10 in league IMO.

We had a week to rest get ready.

They had to make the long road trip.

 

[edge3241]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

Good catch on assists. Miami is 297th in the nation in assists.

Someone needs to send that stat to Coach L if he isn't aware. With this young team, it's more important for them to learn to pass the ball then to win. I'd start benching players if they are not willing to share the ball. Especially when we don't have players who can create their own shot or are good shooters. Moving the ball is the only way we have a chance of scoring consistently.

 

[Gables Canes]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

Good catch on assists. Miami is 297th in the nation in assists.

Someone needs to send that stat to Coach L if he isn't aware. With this young team, it's more important for them to learn to pass the ball then to win. I'd start benching players if they are not willing to share the ball. Especially when we don't have players who can create their own shot or are good shooters. Moving the ball is the only way we have a chance of scoring consistently.

Who would you bench them for? Have you seen our depth? We have NO BENCH. We have 9 scholarship players, and one of them doesn't play (Miller).

 

[mirednmediocrity2]

Is this team just green, or do they just really suck? Haven't paid much attention to BB yet, but it seems this team is a mess.

 

[hardwoodhurricanes]

Is this team just green, or do they just really suck? Haven't paid much attention to BB yet, but it seems this team is a mess.

Mostly green. A few returners have underperformed or failed to improve as expected (Newton, Lawrence, Izundu), but mostly just young with three freshmen playing significant minutes.

 

[edge3241]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

Good catch on assists. Miami is 297th in the nation in assists.

Someone needs to send that stat to Coach L if he isn't aware. With this young team, it's more important for them to learn to pass the ball then to win. I'd start benching players if they are not willing to share the ball. Especially when we don't have players who can create their own shot or are good shooters. Moving the ball is the only way we have a chance of scoring consistently.

Who would you bench them for? Have you seen our depth? We have NO BENCH. We have 9 scholarship players, and one of them doesn't play (Miller).

Great point. Completely forgot we have no one else. Just hate the one on one basketball and I can only imagine how much Coach L despises it.

 

[jhtheking]

More than anything else, the lack of a true point guard and facilitator is absolutely killing us. I can't recall a Larranaga coached team whose offense is this painful to watch. It's stagnant, disorganized, sloppy basketball. There is no crisp ball movement or flow to our offense. The ball often sticks in one player's hand for far too long, or we will pass the ball back and forth on the perimeter with absolutely no purpose.

There's just way too much one on one play going on. Far too often, I see Newton (in particular) attempting a near impossible, low percentage off balance shot. I love aggressive basketball, but it doesn't work when you're playing reckless and borderline selfish basketball. On the season, we average under 12 assists a game. That has to be one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the entire country.

Good catch on assists. Miami is 297th in the nation in assists.

Someone needs to send that stat to Coach L if he isn't aware. With this young team, it's more important for them to learn to pass the ball then to win. I'd start benching players if they are not willing to share the ball. Especially when we don't have players who can create their own shot or are good shooters. Moving the ball is the only way we have a chance of scoring consistently.

Umm I guarantee Coach L knows.

 

[caneworld]

Is this team just green, or do they just really suck? Haven't paid much attention to BB yet, but it seems this team is a mess.

Far too many turnovers.... was frustratingly sloppy effort with dumb turnovers... hopefully it was inexperience

Lack of a true PG was glaring!!! Offense was stagnant for most part... just mindless tossing ball to each other on the outside hoping for a 3 pt shot....

 

[linhdz15]

we should be able to beat some good teams at home and build the momentum for next year. Let's win this game and see if we can steal a few on the road.

 

[Freddie Bear]

Fitting that we turn it over without even getting off a shot. No shame in losing to the #20 team, but the way we lost is indicative of this team, and why more likely than not this is an NIT team, and why this season is going to be infuriating. The future is bright, but unfortunately this was a rebuilding, not reloading year. We're almost at the point where we can just count on going to the NCAAs every year, even after losing guys like Sheldon and Angel, but we're apparently not there yet. Even with recruits like Brown and Huell. I think we'll be there soon because Coach L is building a program, but it's still going to take a couple of more recruiting classes until we can just reload. If we had Manu this year we'd be so much better and we'd be an NCAA lock. At this rate we're a bubble team, and the way we're playing now, an NIT team.

Agree. Losing Lecomte was a killer this year and last year.

 

[Freddie Bear]

Turnovers as usual killed the team. Late in the game Newton should have tried to get the ball to Reed who was hot. But he had to take the ball missed a shot. Murph bails him out with a great rebound he gets the ball back then tried again to take the ball instead of kicking it out to read. Newton is a good player but there are other players on the court Newt. Take what the other team gives you.

 

[hardwoodhurricanes]

Closing the thread. Let's move on. Plenty to discuss besides one loss, especially after demolishing Pitt Saturday.

 

[Notsince1985]

A basketball thread was locked. We here.