Thoughts so far...

Consigliere

All-American
Joined
Feb 2, 2012
Messages
21,927
We're 8-3 (0-1) and the regular season is 1/3 over. Not a bad start and no bad losses (in terms of the quality of the opponent).

BPI: 66th [https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/page/2]

SOS: 26th

RPI: 40th [https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/rpi/]

NET 81st [https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings] *Not sure how often this updates

Some Random Thoughts:

1. Guards and Scoring. The guards are the clear and obvious strength of this team. We will go as far as they take us. The magic number seems to be 65 points, obviously the SOS may explain part of that production. If they can combine to score 60 (or more), things may go our way during conference play. I think we will need some more production from the freshman but that may be difficult.

2. Kam. He is our leading scorer but I am most impressed with his rebounding. Considering we're NOT a good rebounding team (32.9 RPG or 302nd), if he can average 5.0 RPG that will be a tremendous help. Overall, this transfer is a great addition.

15.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2, 1.1 TO and 35.8% 3PT

3. DJ and his improvement. DJ has improved every year here and he continues to this year. Going forward, he must get 7-8/game attempts from 3PT. Let him shoot more, anywhere on the court, just let him shoot. They moved the 3PT line back and he is having his best season.

15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.3 APG and 47.1% 3PT

4. Lykes. He started off a little slow, maybe because of an injury but he is playing well. His scoring is down from last year (16.2 to 14.9) but that can be explained by possibly (a) playing 4.6 less MPG, (b) less FG attempts and/or (c) having Kam. Even though his scoring is down, his shooting percentages are up overall. He is shooting 46.1% from FG and 37.3% from 3PT. He is also averaging 1 less TO per game this year. Whether you love him or hate him, we're going to need him a lot going forward. I personally will take the good with the bad.

14.9 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG and 1.9 TO

5. Our Front Court. Clearly our front court has been bad, if we can somehow get (at least) 15 Points and 15 Rebounds from the combined efforts of Sam, Rodney and Stone, it would be tremendous.

- Sam. I proceed with moderate caution but I have been impressed with his production recently. Going forward I will gladly take his production over his last 6 games...28 Minutes, 9.5 Points, 7 Rebounds and 1.3 Blocks . He has been our sole consistent player in the front court. If he can hit his FTs and hold the ball (after a defensive rebound), his production will improve too.

- Rodney. I am shocked by his improvement, with that said, he shouldn't play more than 15 minutes per game. He can still hardly move and is incredibly weak. Rodney is a tremendous defensive liability and one of the worst defensive players (who actually plays) during the Coach L era. I expect him to get abused in ACC play by any big man with a pulse.

- Stone. It has been a small sample but 1 good game and 3 bad ones. Hopefully most of his issues are from getting back to game shape.


------

Next up @ Clemson and they're pretty bad. After Clemson we play Duke and @ UL. Clemson feels like a must win game.
 
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We're 8-3 (0-1) and the regular season is 1/3 over. Not a bad start and no bad losses (in terms of the quality of the opponent).

BPI: 66th [https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/page/2]

SOS: 26th

RPI: 40th [https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/rpi/]

NET 81st [https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings] *Not sure how often this updates

Some Random Thoughts:

1. Guards and Scoring. The guards are the clear and obvious strength of this team. We will go as far as they take us. The magic number seems to be 65 points, obviously the SOS may explain part of that production. If they can combine to score 60 (or more), things may go our way during conference play. I think we will need some more production from the freshman but that may be difficult.

2. Kam. He is our leading scorer but I am most impressed with his rebounding. Considering we're NOT a good rebounding team (32.9 RPG or 302nd), if he can average 5.0 RPG that will be a tremendous help. Overall, this transfer is a great addition.

15.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2, 1.1 TO and 35.8% 3PT

3. DJ and his improvement. DJ has improved every year here and he continues to this year. Going forward, he must get 7-8/game attempts from 3PT. Let him shoot more, anywhere on the court, just let him shoot. They moved the 3PT line back and he is having his best season.

15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.3 APG and 47.1% 3PT

4. Lykes. He started off a little slow, maybe because of an injury but he is playing well. His scoring is down from last year (16.2 to 14.9) but that can be explained by possibly (a) playing 4.6 less MPG, (b) less FG attempts and/or (c) having Kam. Even though his scoring is down, his shooting percentages are up overall. He is shooting 46.1% from FG and 37.3% from 3PT. He is also averaging 1 less TO per game this year. Whether you love him or hate him, we're going to need him a lot going forward. I personally will take the good with the bad.

14.9 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG and 1.9 TO

5. Our Front Court. Clearly our front court has been bad, if we can somehow get (at least) 15 Points and 15 Rebounds from the combined efforts of Sam, Rodney and Stone, it would be tremendous.

- Sam. I proceed with moderate caution but I have been impressed with his production recently. Going forward I will gladly take his production over his last 6 games...28 Minutes, 9.5 Points, 7 Rebounds and 1.3 Blocks . He has been our sole consistent player in the front court. If he can hit his FTs and hold the ball (after a defensive rebound), his production will improve too.

- Rodney. I am shocked by his improvement, with that said, he shouldn't play more than 15 minutes per game. He can still hardly move and is incredibly weak. Rodney is a tremendous defensive liability and one of the worst defensive players (who actually plays) during the Coach L era. I expect him to get abused in ACC play by any big man with a pulse.

- Stone. It has been a small sample but 1 good game and 3 bad ones. Hopefully most of his issues are from getting back to game shape.


------

Next up @ Clemson and they're pretty bad. After Clemson we play Duke and @ UL. Clemson feels like a must win game.


Must win game? Sure, bud!
 
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Thanks for your porst. Two questions:

1. Is that your only comment?

2. Can you actually read what was there?

Are you 12 years old? Or do you just harbor a lot of resentment towards lady parts from years of rejection?
Either way... Sad!

1577077242953.png
 
We're 8-3 (0-1) and the regular season is 1/3 over. Not a bad start and no bad losses (in terms of the quality of the opponent).

BPI: 66th [https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/page/2]

SOS: 26th

RPI: 40th [https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/rpi/]

NET 81st [https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings] *Not sure how often this updates

Some Random Thoughts:

1. Guards and Scoring. The guards are the clear and obvious strength of this team. We will go as far as they take us. The magic number seems to be 65 points, obviously the SOS may explain part of that production. If they can combine to score 60 (or more), things may go our way during conference play. I think we will need some more production from the freshman but that may be difficult.

2. Kam. He is our leading scorer but I am most impressed with his rebounding. Considering we're NOT a good rebounding team (32.9 RPG or 302nd), if he can average 5.0 RPG that will be a tremendous help. Overall, this transfer is a great addition.

15.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2, 1.1 TO and 35.8% 3PT

3. DJ and his improvement. DJ has improved every year here and he continues to this year. Going forward, he must get 7-8/game attempts from 3PT. Let him shoot more, anywhere on the court, just let him shoot. They moved the 3PT line back and he is having his best season.

15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.3 APG and 47.1% 3PT

4. Lykes. He started off a little slow, maybe because of an injury but he is playing well. His scoring is down from last year (16.2 to 14.9) but that can be explained by possibly (a) playing 4.6 less MPG, (b) less FG attempts and/or (c) having Kam. Even though his scoring is down, his shooting percentages are up overall. He is shooting 46.1% from FG and 37.3% from 3PT. He is also averaging 1 less TO per game this year. Whether you love him or hate him, we're going to need him a lot going forward. I personally will take the good with the bad.

14.9 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG and 1.9 TO

5. Our Front Court. Clearly our front court has been bad, if we can somehow get (at least) 15 Points and 15 Rebounds from the combined efforts of Sam, Rodney and Stone, it would be tremendous.

- Sam. I proceed with moderate caution but I have been impressed with his production recently. Going forward I will gladly take his production over his last 6 games...28 Minutes, 9.5 Points, 7 Rebounds and 1.3 Blocks . He has been our sole consistent player in the front court. If he can hit his FTs and hold the ball (after a defensive rebound), his production will improve too.

- Rodney. I am shocked by his improvement, with that said, he shouldn't play more than 15 minutes per game. He can still hardly move and is incredibly weak. Rodney is a tremendous defensive liability and one of the worst defensive players (who actually plays) during the Coach L era. I expect him to get abused in ACC play by any big man with a pulse.

- Stone. It has been a small sample but 1 good game and 3 bad ones. Hopefully most of his issues are from getting back to game shape.


------

Next up @ Clemson and they're pretty bad. After Clemson we play Duke and @ UL. Clemson feels like a must win game.
Good post! I agree.
 
We're 8-3 (0-1) and the regular season is 1/3 over. Not a bad start and no bad losses (in terms of the quality of the opponent).

BPI: 66th [https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/page/2]

SOS: 26th

RPI: 40th [https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/rankings/rpi/]

NET 81st [https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings] *Not sure how often this updates

Some Random Thoughts:

1. Guards and Scoring. The guards are the clear and obvious strength of this team. We will go as far as they take us. The magic number seems to be 65 points, obviously the SOS may explain part of that production. If they can combine to score 60 (or more), things may go our way during conference play. I think we will need some more production from the freshman but that may be difficult.

2. Kam. He is our leading scorer but I am most impressed with his rebounding. Considering we're NOT a good rebounding team (32.9 RPG or 302nd), if he can average 5.0 RPG that will be a tremendous help. Overall, this transfer is a great addition.

15.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2, 1.1 TO and 35.8% 3PT

3. DJ and his improvement. DJ has improved every year here and he continues to this year. Going forward, he must get 7-8/game attempts from 3PT. Let him shoot more, anywhere on the court, just let him shoot. They moved the 3PT line back and he is having his best season.

15.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.3 APG and 47.1% 3PT

4. Lykes. He started off a little slow, maybe because of an injury but he is playing well. His scoring is down from last year (16.2 to 14.9) but that can be explained by possibly (a) playing 4.6 less MPG, (b) less FG attempts and/or (c) having Kam. Even though his scoring is down, his shooting percentages are up overall. He is shooting 46.1% from FG and 37.3% from 3PT. He is also averaging 1 less TO per game this year. Whether you love him or hate him, we're going to need him a lot going forward. I personally will take the good with the bad.

14.9 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG and 1.9 TO

5. Our Front Court. Clearly our front court has been bad, if we can somehow get (at least) 15 Points and 15 Rebounds from the combined efforts of Sam, Rodney and Stone, it would be tremendous.

- Sam. I proceed with moderate caution but I have been impressed with his production recently. Going forward I will gladly take his production over his last 6 games...28 Minutes, 9.5 Points, 7 Rebounds and 1.3 Blocks . He has been our sole consistent player in the front court. If he can hit his FTs and hold the ball (after a defensive rebound), his production will improve too.

- Rodney. I am shocked by his improvement, with that said, he shouldn't play more than 15 minutes per game. He can still hardly move and is incredibly weak. Rodney is a tremendous defensive liability and one of the worst defensive players (who actually plays) during the Coach L era. I expect him to get abused in ACC play by any big man with a pulse.

- Stone. It has been a small sample but 1 good game and 3 bad ones. Hopefully most of his issues are from getting back to game shape.


------

Next up @ Clemson and they're pretty bad. After Clemson we play Duke and @ UL. Clemson feels like a must win game.

I agree with you observations of the team and the season. I agree that beating Clemson is very important to Miami finishing in the upper half of the ACC. Especially with Carolina and Virginia having scoring issues, Duke and Florida State have outside shooting issues so it looks like Louisville is going to be the best team in the ACC this season. Miami can win 10 plus games in the ACC this season if they continue to shoot the ball well and they learn to defend and rebound at some point.
 
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I would have never guessed our record be this come late December. Happy to see it. With that being said I still think we are going to struggle mightily in league play. Hope I'm wrong
 
I would have never guessed our record be this come late December. Happy to see it. With that being said I still think we are going to struggle mightily in league play. Hope I'm wrong

I am only going to say that you are wrong because the rest of the ACC is not as strong as you think. I can see Miami finishing somewhere between 4 and 8 depending on health, defense and rebounding.
 
Well, In college basketball the guard play is key. I believe we are playing well in the back court also. If waardenburg and miller continue to rebound and off set a bad scoring night by Lykes and McGusty I think we will be ok. I’m not sure if 500 in the ACC gets us into the tournament though.
 
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Well, In college basketball the guard play is key. I believe we are playing well in the back court also. If waardenburg and miller continue to rebound and off set a bad scoring night by Lykes and McGusty I think we will be ok. I’m not sure if 500 in the ACC gets us into the tournament though.
We have to beat Duke Saturday to strengthen our resume
 
Maybe I'm feeling jolly due to time of year, but I can see 9 (reasonably winnable) ACC games where would be underdogs 5 or less or even the favorite. If DJ and Kam and Lykes all get 3point streaky same game, might even beat one of the top dogs, defense and other porous flaws as they are.

Merry Christmas All.
 
Maybe I'm feeling jolly due to time of year, but I can see 9 (reasonably winnable) ACC games where would be underdogs 5 or less or even the favorite. If DJ and Kam and Lykes all get 3point streaky same game, might even beat one of the top dogs, defense and other porous flaws as they are.

Merry Christmas All.

That is not as crazy as you think. Let's remember, the conference was stronger last season and Miami lost 7 or 8 games by 7 points or less with only 7 scholarship players. This season, the conference is weaker and Miami is stronger due to the overall depth and talent on the roster.

With a 20 game conference schedule, 10 conference wins is not a far fetched idea. 12 to 14 is somewhat possible depending on how well Miami plays. 16 or above is when someone needs to be drug tested.
 
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Well, In college basketball the guard play is key. I believe we are playing well in the back court also. If waardenburg and miller continue to rebound and off set a bad scoring night by Lykes and McGusty I think we will be ok. I’m not sure if 500 in the ACC gets us into the tournament though.

We win 10 conference games I think we would get in. I can't remember the last time a 10 win ACC team didn't get in. Yes I know this is the first time we've gone to 20 ACC games but I would think us going 10-10 which puts us at 18-12 would be good enough to get in
 
I have no idea how conference play is going to go. Our front court is over matched and has no depth. But I've been impressed with what I've seen from Stone and it gives me some hope. Sam is really the X factor for this team moving forward. Sam is talented and he has potential. If(and it's a big if) he can understand when to shoot, pass, etc and also play with the aggression he played with against Temple, it can elevate us to a tourney team assuming the guards keep playing really well and the freshmen can give us something off the bench.

I remember the OP laughing at me last year about Rodney being a rotational player on this team and saying how he will never play. I give you credit for somewhat owning it in this post, but the guy is going to have to play more than 15 minutes since we don't have any depth and he still gives us size. Rodney is not a liability offensively, if he gets to his spot on the floor he has very good low post footwork and can finish. Defensively is where he kills us with his lack of athleticism but if we start playing more zone that could help mask it. At the end of the day though we're gonna need Rodney to overachieve and although he'll probably be completely over matched in ACC play, he's continued to improve so let's hope he can at least somewhat hold his own on D while continue to be someone we can feed down low to score a high percentage field goal.
 
Didn't think this Canes team was going to be anything special, and my opinion on that hasn't change. HOWEVER, the rest of the ACC looks pretty weak, as does the rest of college basketball generally.

Only teams I don't think we have any shot against are Duke, Lville and FSU-we can beat the rest. If the team gets hot, we might sneak into the tourney. Of course that requires us to beat the inferior Gtechs, Wakes, and BCs of the world, something L's teams always struggle with. If we don't, we'll be a decently seeded NIT team.

Basically, even though we kinda stink, so does everybody else.
 
Before I begin, we’re likely going to disagree.

I think we should go small. Our strength is our guards and even though he doesn’t get enough burn (IMO), there is a reason Bev is our 4th leading scorer yet only 6th in minutes.

I would run a 4 guard lineup the majority of the game. We also should be running, a lot. We don’t and we force a “traditional” lineup.

I remember the OP laughing at me last year about Rodney being a rotational player on this team and saying how he will never play. I give you credit for somewhat owning it in this post, but the guy is going to have to play more than 15 minutes since we don't have any depth and he still gives us size. Rodney is not a liability offensively, if he gets to his spot on the floor he has very good low post footwork and can finish. Defensively is where he kills us with his lack of athleticism but if we start playing more zone that could help mask it. At the end of the day though we're gonna need Rodney to overachieve and although he'll probably be completely over matched in ACC play, he's continued to improve so let's hope he can at least somewhat hold his own on D while continue to be someone we can feed down low to score a high percentage field goal.

A few things:

1. Rodney has improved. With that said, averaging 1.5 PPG and 1.5 RPG would be tremendous improvement.

2. Even with his improvement, Rodney isn’t good. He isn’t an ACC caliber starter. He is hardly an ACC caliber bench player. Rodney is still very slow and extremely weak. His offensive skills are okay, he isn’t a good rebounder and he is atrocious on defense. He may score 7 PPG but he allows/gives up more, much more. We will see how he does against ACC quality competition; my guess is his production will go down.

3. Rodney doesn’t HAVE to play more than 15 MPG. We choose to start him and play him ~25 MPG. We could go small and run 4 guards. It isn’t like Rodney offers some great rebounding advantage by keeping him in. With Sam playing better and being a more consistent option, Rodney becomes needed less. This also assumes that Stone offers very little going forward.

4. I again admit that Rodney has improved but I think people had low/no expectations from him and they’re greatly overstating his production and are more shocked because of where he came from. With that said, I think our best lineups don’t include him and his minutes should decrease a lot.
 
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