’Canes seek a confidence booster
CORAL GABLES — Ahead of his team’s sixgame month-long road trip, Miami men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga stressed the extended time away from home would be a necessary test for his young players, a chance for the Hurricanes to learn a little bit more about themselves.
After going 4-2 on a trip that took them to the nation’s capital, Hawaii, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech, the 15th-ranked Hurricanes discovered they’re a group with talent and potential — but they’re still a team that has to develop its chemistry and find some offensive consistency now that play in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference has arrived.
And as guard Bruce Brown noted after the Hurricanes’ tough 64-54 loss to unranked Georgia Tech this past week, the Hurricanes are a team that has to remember to enjoy itself out on the court.
“I think we need to play a lot faster. We’re not a half-court team. I don’t think we are,” said Brown, a sophomore who is averaging 10.9 points and is Miami’s second-leading scorer. “We just need to get out in transition, get easy lay-ups and dunks and have fun. One key is it doesn’t look like we’re having fun out there. Once we start doing that, I think we’ll win a lot of games. … We’re fighting the defense out there and not doing things we need to be doing — attacking, getting in transition, rebounding the ball. … Just focus on the big things.”
Added Larrañaga, “I see a lot of mistakes being from inexperience, guys who have not had that kind of responsibility before at this level. Unfortunately, there’s always a domino effect. If someone dribbles too much, then the next guy tends to dribble too much. … We’ve got a lot of growing up to do.”
For the Hurricanes, trying to grow and regain their footing after Wednesday’s loss to Georgia Tech — which entered the game with a sub-.500 record — won’t come easy. Though Miami will today return to the Watsco Center for the first time since a Dec. 5 win over Boston University, the Hurricanes (12-2) will host a tough rival in No. 24 Florida State.
The Seminoles have opened ACC play with a pair of tough efforts against two of the conference’s powerhouse programs. First, the Seminoles — whose roster features four players averaging double figures — came up just short in a 100-93 loss to No. 2 Duke in Durham last Saturday.
That was followed by an 81-80 win Wednesday over No. 12 North Carolina in Tallahassee, where the Seminoles (12-2, 1-1) built a big lead early and then held off a Tar Heels charge to secure the win.
Miami has yet to notch a win against that kind of competition, the Hurricanes’ biggest victory coming on the road in November to a then-unbeaten Minnesota which has since fallen out of the AP Top 25.
A win today over the Seminoles, Larrañaga knows, would go a long way in helping the Hurricanes build their confidence.
“I think they’re playing at a very, very high level right now. I thought they had a great chance to win on the road at Duke. … But Florida State was right there. They were ahead; I think it was 88-87 with just under three minutes to go,” Larrañaga said. “And then they beat Carolina by a point. They’ve played a tough schedule and they’re going to be a handful for us Sunday.”