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CORAL GABLES — Patience is part of the University of Miami basketball season considering its complete roster of first-year coaches and players. But the idea takes on a different meaning for the Hurricanes’ NCAA Tournament game Friday night against Missouri.
Thirty-one other games will have played — 35 counting the play-in tournament games — before Miami takes the court in St. Louis for a scheduled 10:10 p.m. tip-off in the final game of the first round.
“The hardest thing about coaching in the tournament is trying to keep everything the same,” Miami coach Jai Lucas said. “It’s almost impossible to do. It’s all you see on TV. It’s all you’re hearing about. Everything is college basketball, 24/7.
“And we have the last game of the first round so we have two full days of fit. My job is to try to keep everything as normal as possible.”
Seventh-seed Miami is a 1 1/2-point favorite against 10th-seed Missouri. But Miami also is coming off what Lucas called its, “worst game of the year,” in an ACC Tournament loss to Virginia. The benefit of that was a couple of extra days rest.
“This is when you want to be fresh,” Lucas said. “We’re as close to 100 percent as possible.”
Miami’s identity is clear by now. It’s not an outside-shooting team, attempting and making fewer 3-pointers than any team in the ACC. It’s effective inside behind All-ACC forward Malik Reneau, who averages team-leading 18.8 points a game.
Missouri is a zone-heavy defense and is led on offense by guard Mark Mitchell’s 18.3 point average. But Missouri also likes to bang inside and has a size advantage at four starting spots beginning with 7-foot center Shawn Phillips.
“We have to limit (Missouri’s size) as much as possible,” Lucas said. “We have to do that without fouling. They put a lot of pressure on you at the paint and pressure on you at the rim. So, we really got to make sure we’re hitting with our chest on defense, showing our hands, not giving them any free points from the line.”
Miami also is up against the site of St. Louis, a two-hour drive from Missouri’s campus in Columbia, Mo.
“This is a road game,” Lucas said. “We’ve competed in big-time environments. We played teams like this. That’s why our scheduling was like that. Eight teams out of the ACC made (the tournament), so this isn’t going to be any different.”
There’s little crossover between Miami and Missouri. They haven’t played each other. Former Missouri assistant Charlton Young is a first-year assistant on Miami. Missouri’s Anthony Robinson and Miami’s Tre Donaldson were high-school teammates in Tallahassee.
Beyond handling Missouri, there’s handling the wait until tip-off. Lucas said practices times have been pushed back this week to prepare for the late-night start. The winner advances to play the winner of second-seed Purdue against 15th-seed Queens on Sunday.
“It’s pretty clear what the task is — survive and advance,” Lucas said.
Continue reading...
Thirty-one other games will have played — 35 counting the play-in tournament games — before Miami takes the court in St. Louis for a scheduled 10:10 p.m. tip-off in the final game of the first round.
“The hardest thing about coaching in the tournament is trying to keep everything the same,” Miami coach Jai Lucas said. “It’s almost impossible to do. It’s all you see on TV. It’s all you’re hearing about. Everything is college basketball, 24/7.
“And we have the last game of the first round so we have two full days of fit. My job is to try to keep everything as normal as possible.”
Seventh-seed Miami is a 1 1/2-point favorite against 10th-seed Missouri. But Miami also is coming off what Lucas called its, “worst game of the year,” in an ACC Tournament loss to Virginia. The benefit of that was a couple of extra days rest.
“This is when you want to be fresh,” Lucas said. “We’re as close to 100 percent as possible.”
Miami’s identity is clear by now. It’s not an outside-shooting team, attempting and making fewer 3-pointers than any team in the ACC. It’s effective inside behind All-ACC forward Malik Reneau, who averages team-leading 18.8 points a game.
Missouri is a zone-heavy defense and is led on offense by guard Mark Mitchell’s 18.3 point average. But Missouri also likes to bang inside and has a size advantage at four starting spots beginning with 7-foot center Shawn Phillips.
“We have to limit (Missouri’s size) as much as possible,” Lucas said. “We have to do that without fouling. They put a lot of pressure on you at the paint and pressure on you at the rim. So, we really got to make sure we’re hitting with our chest on defense, showing our hands, not giving them any free points from the line.”
Miami also is up against the site of St. Louis, a two-hour drive from Missouri’s campus in Columbia, Mo.
“This is a road game,” Lucas said. “We’ve competed in big-time environments. We played teams like this. That’s why our scheduling was like that. Eight teams out of the ACC made (the tournament), so this isn’t going to be any different.”
There’s little crossover between Miami and Missouri. They haven’t played each other. Former Missouri assistant Charlton Young is a first-year assistant on Miami. Missouri’s Anthony Robinson and Miami’s Tre Donaldson were high-school teammates in Tallahassee.
Beyond handling Missouri, there’s handling the wait until tip-off. Lucas said practices times have been pushed back this week to prepare for the late-night start. The winner advances to play the winner of second-seed Purdue against 15th-seed Queens on Sunday.
“It’s pretty clear what the task is — survive and advance,” Lucas said.
Continue reading...
