Vs Wake 2pm ACCN

Only got to watch the first half. I was a little nervous but I also felt like Wake was hitting more of their shots than could be expected. (Though our defense was allowing them to get pretty good looks.) From the box score, it seems like maybe they came back to reality a little in the second half, or maybe we just played better all around. Anytime you hit 44% from deep and your opponent hits 21% you're in good shape. Nice that we had a solid advantage in free throws too. I'll take the production from Mack happily. We really need Waardenburg to turn his season around. Since I only saw the first half I saw him miss a layup and give up a couple boards. Hit two shots, too. If he can give us 6+ points and 6+ rebounds every game, that'd be good.

Getting the W feels good, even though Wake is probably the worst team in the conference. The schedule the next few weeks is tough... UNC twice, UVA, FSU again, VT, Syracuse, and ND. We're on the road against Cuse, UVA and UNC so those could get ugly. Hopefully we'll play tough at home and snag another win or two. Coach L seems to be doing a good job with limited bodies since we've been competitive deep into the second half of our ACC losses. We'll see if that can continue in a tough stretch.

UNC isn't nearly as good as they have been in the past, and Miami has shown the ability to compete against **** good teams this year. I wouldn't be shocked if Miami stole some games. I"m not saying that Miami will find themselves at .500 in conference coming down the stretch, but this team plays hard and has some explosive players that can go off at any moment. I'd love to see Sam W. get some more confidence, it's obvious that he has some ability, but just doesn't look comfortable. Maybe utilize him as a zone busting passer at the FT line when that look is thrown out there. Miami needs to get some significant minutes out of Sam and DJ.
 
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Sam was better today. Sure, he missed some chippies at the rim, but he had 9 boards and a few nice passes.
 
Any chance Hernandez comes back, we upset UNC on Saturday, and then go on a miraculous run to sneak into the tourney?
 
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Im happy we will have Lykes here for 4 years. Best scorer since McClinton on this team.

Sheldon McClellan was a more complete scorer than CL. Davon Reed was also a very solid scorer as well. Chris, due to his size is more exciting, but he is also limited due to his lack of heft as well. Chris, on a good Miami team would still be a solid scorer, but would be the third or fourth option.
 
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Sheldon McClellan was a more complete scorer than CL. Davon Reed was also a very solid scorer as well. Chris, due to his size is more exciting, but he is also limited due to his lack of heft as well. Chris, on a good Miami team would still be a solid scorer, but would be the third or fourth option.
As far as raw scoring output Lykes is better than both.
 
If Sheldon Mac or Davon had CL's self-confidence, they would've both been top draft choices. Both had the same negative of being too passive on the court at times. Not a knock, just who they were. As for Lykes, if he had their size ....
 
As far as raw scoring output Lykes is better than both.

He also jacks up more shots than those two. That's like saying Allen Iverson is a better scorer than Kobe, because he jacks up more shots. Sheldon and Davon knew when to pick their spots. They knew when to go and attack, and when to do other things.
 
He also jacks up more shots than those two. That's like saying Allen Iverson is a better scorer than Kobe, because he jacks up more shots. Sheldon and Davon knew when to pick their spots. They knew when to go and attack, and when to do other things.
When it comes to putting the ball in the basket Lykes is better.
 
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If Sheldon Mac or Davon had CL's self-confidence, they would've both been top draft choices. Both had the same negative of being too passive on the court at times. Not a knock, just who they were. As for Lykes, if he had their size ....

Self confidence is an overrated trait in a scorer. There are plenty of chuckers out there with a ton of confidence, but you can't do anything with them. Sheldon was a guy that knew when to attack, and when to lay back. Davon was the kind of guy that was more about winning than his own stats. How many guys with his skill set would spend most of their career as a third option, and not even consider transferring? Both could have easily put up more points than they did, but they didn't have to. By the way, CL is putting up huge numbers because he has to. Someone has to take shots, and guess what? CL is one of the few guys on the team that can create for himself.

I like that Lykes is fearless, but when you look at his skillset and what he can do, he isn't the complete scorer that McClellan and Reed were. He isn't a pure enough shooter to make up for the fact that he struggles to finish at the rim. Some of that isn't his fault, but he isn't nearly the explosive athlete that guys like Shane Larkin were, although Lykes is significantly quicker. Then again, Shane was a bit taller and better built, so he could finish with contact.
 
Canedude, I'm always interested on a team who the guy is who WANTS the big shot -- the shot to put away the other team, win it at the buzzer, etc. The "leader." As great as Davon and Mac were (and, I loved their games), I'm not sure either was really were looking for that role. That's what I meant by confidence.

In Sheldon's case, his high school coach in Texas when asked if SM lacked anything in his game, pretty much said as much, i.e., he wished he was more consistently aggressive in his mental approach.

Do I think Lykes right now is better offensively than Sheldon or Davon when they last played for UM, my answer is "no."
 
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