Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Big men still growing
So the instant read on Saturday’s game is one team made its path easier, and the other one more treacherous. Tourney hopes rise as team scratches out wins
Dave Hyde: Hurricanes basketball starting to mine young potential.
CORAL GABLES – Within minutes of his team’s latest escape, Jim Larranaga changed completely from his courtside, suit-and-tie coach’s uniform. He donned sweat pants, tennis shoes, T-shirt and a long-sleeve pullover. “I was sweating too much,” the Miami men’s basketball coach said as he sat before the media.
Long before his team ebbed and flowed through a 71-65 win against Clemson, Larranaga knew this season would be a season to sweat out. These Hurricanes are good but young — decidedly young — as three freshmen, two sophomores and two seniors played Saturday.
In November and December, as the youth revealed itself, Miami lurched through good nights and bad nights, up halves followed by down halves, even staggering differences from one time-out to the next.
But after months of harnessing the high school talent and developing it toward Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, Larranaga had a question Saturday.
“Did you see Dewan defend Blossomgame on that one play?” he asked.
That was Miami guard Dewan Huell, one of the freshmen, against Clemson’s Jaron Blossomgame, a redshirt senior with a chance for the NBA next season. And their personal meeting late in Saturday’s game, with Miami clinging to a lead, defines a change.
“Blossomgame tried to beat the young
guy and take him with his straight-line drive,” Larranaga said. “Dewan shut it off. It was beautiful.”
And then he said what the good coaches can in February, what the collective scores and eyewitness testimony allows: “We’re making a lot of progress,” he said.
With the Heat, Erik Spoelstra has directed a team full of cast-offs and one-year contracts into the league’s hottest team. With the Panthers, a healthier team has finally started to play like it should.
But the Hurricanes are right there for development as the season moves on. They have just eight players under scholarship, after all, due to the fall-out of the Nevin Shapiro sanctions, a transfer and strategic recruiting that will pay off next season.
Saturday was a must-win for Miami’s NCAA Tournament hopes, too. That’s because in the all-important RPI calculation of wins and schedules, Miami entered Saturday ranked 50th — with Clemson 51st.
Nevermind that Miami entered the game 7-6 the ACC while Clemson was 4-9. Clemson had some definitive out-of-conference wins, and RPI often is the judge and jury for teams on the edge.
So the instant read to this game is one team made its path easier, and the other one more treacherous. That’s what made Saturday’s progress so interesting, considering the Hurricanes were without second-leading scorer Ja’Quan Newton, who served the second of a three-game disciplinary suspension.
Enter Bruce Brown. He’s one of the freshmen who’s grown up, even though he’s “working on half a tank right now,” Larranaga said.
He’s tired. All the kids are are. Larranaga must judge when to push, when to pause and how to preserve bodies accustomed to a shorter seasons while preparing for big games.
Brown was sick and couldn’t get out of bed earlier this week. But he played 37 minutes to help Miami beat Georgia Tech on Wednesday, and had nine points and five assists in Saturday’s win.
“I think our young guys, our freshmen and sophomores are gaining a lot of confidence and a lot of experience,” Larranga said. “And our veterans will say, ‘Hey, let’s run something for Ebuka,’ because they are confident in him.”
That’s 6-10 sophomore Ebuka Izundu, who a year ago couldn’t stay in games because of foul trouble. Now he’s learned to play defense, and so could play enough to score 12 points as one of four Hurricanes in double figures.
Larranaga won his 600th game in January. That was a significant milestone. But win No. 607 could be more important considering Miami’s next three games are at No. 14 Virginia, against No. 12 Duke and at No. 17 Florida State.
The coach better keep the postgame sweat suit and pullovers ready. His kids are growing up nicely. But there’s a lot of sweating yet to be done.