UConn vs Miami Final Four

[FfldCntyFan]

 

[storrsroars]

For the tourney, Miami's top 8 guys are shooting 118-241 (49%) and 33-89 from 3 (37.1%), both just a hair better than their season averages. That's very good.

However, since giving up 56 vs Drake, they've given up more in each successive game: 69. 75, 81.

Pack is their volume 3 pt shooter, and their most accurate. He's hoisted 35 so far in the tourney, making 14, for a nice even 40% clip. Wong is 7-18 and Poplar 5-16. Joseph is their Joey C. He comes in primarily to shoot from deep, and he's 4-10 so far. So whomever we deem as our best perimeter defender should be on Pack. I'd expect them to go into Sanogo to get fouls.

That said, I'd say that given their defense, UConn should be able to get plenty of open looks. If they make 'em, it's a win. If we're cold, could be in for a long night. Miami is averaging 80 pts in the tourney, again, a hair above their season average. If somehow they score 80 on UConn, my feeling is that it will be because UConn is putting up 90.

 

[storrsroars]

Decided to re-watch UT-Miami tonight and came away with a couple thoughts (apologies in advance for the length):

• Their offense is really impressive. Generally four guys on the court that can create for themselves. Their offense against UT looked like what Arkansas was trying to run against us (ISO and get to the paint), but while we were able to completely sag off Arkansas due to their shooting incompetence, UT had to respect the mid-range and outside threat against Miami.
• I think we will see a completely different offense than what they showed against UT. They made no effort to establish the three and instead, took advantage of Texas having essentially no defensive presence in the paint. I'm curious to watch an earlier game where they employed a more balanced attack.
• Wong's ability to create off the bounce is the best we've seen in the tournament. He, and the Miami guards as a whole take the kind of shots you'd generally be happy to give up (a lot of contested mid-range stuff), but seem to make them at a very efficient clip. I think UConn's length will make a big difference there (but also don't expect we'll see nearly the same gameplan).
• I'm torn on Karaban this game. His defense has been really strong recently, but he's going to give up quickness this game and will have to play flawlessly. I could definitely see some foul trouble and having to go with a four guard lineup for stretches. That said, having him in forces Laranaga to either use their best defender (Miller) on Karaban, or try to have one of the smaller guards D him up (which Karaban will get some great post looks out of).
• UConn NEEDS to get back on D. They push the pace like crazy, even off makes and several times caught Texas sleeping and got some easy buckets. We did a great job on this against Arkansas and need to keep that going or we're going to get burned by their speed. That's all effort and focus.
• As impressive as their offense was, their defense was every bit the 100+ ranking they have earned this season. There's no other way to spin it, it was just bad. UT largely ran simple ball screen sets, they ran very little in the way of off ball motion or screens, and yet, UT seemed to have a WIDE OPEN three essentially whenever they wanted. The off-ball defenders just got caught looking at the ball constantly, drifted toward the lane, and then Carr or another Texas guard kicked out for an open look. If they do that against UConn, our shooters are going to feast.
• UConn should have a sizeable advantage down low. UT didn't really have a back to the basket game going (a few looks from bishop, but more two dribbles and a hook shot), so Omier wasn't really asked to be the primary defender much and with about ten minutes left in the first half he was already gassed (in fairness, the pace was pretty frenetic). This is another area where I'm curious to find another game with him guarding a legit post player, but nothing he showed makes me think he'll be a good matchup for Sanogo's relentless footwork or Clingan's size. If we don't come away with a sizeable rebounding advantage, I would be surprised.
• Their transition D was also not good. A lot of multiple guys collapsing on the ball handler and no effort to find the shooters. If they play like that against UConn, Jackson and Hawkins/Calcaterra are going to have a field day.

I came away from this cautiously optimistic (though I definitely want to watch some earlier games). UConn's offense is better than Texas' without Disu, so they should be able to run the offense they want and get plenty of good looks. I also think Omier is going to have a long day (or short if he gets into foul trouble) and just genuinely have no idea what they're going to do with Clingan. Their offense is legit though and we could certainly still lose if they're hitting outside shots and our shooters have an off-night, and/or if their driving creates foul trouble for some of the key players. I think their margin of error is MUCH smaller than ours though.

TL;DR we're doomed.

I'm watching a replay now, just about over.

Texas self-immolated while Miami made a few contested twos, especially Wong. Texas was doing great when moving the ball and making an extra pass. But they also had 4 TOs from dumb passes after Miami cut the lead to 8. And in last minute, ballhandlers were neglecting wide open shooters in favor of going at Omier. I'd bet that Beard wouldn't have let that happen.

 

[Scrutineer]

They don't have a bad loss this season. They run a heavy guard set. We are deeper and can stretch the floor very well. We should have a rebounding edge.

This is going to be tight game with many lead changes. If Hawkins, Newton and Karaban can continue to hit their shots, I think we'll pull away late.

Sanogo and Clingan need to stay out of foul trouble.

Andre needs to control his emotions, play smart ball. I predict he finally gets a triple double this game.

It's going to be a battle. I see this game as harder then the potential champion game, much like in 2004. A hard game against dook, followed by a destruction of Wake Forest.

Uconn beat Miami in 2019 at the Charleston Classic. This won't be the first time Hurley has faced Larranaga and he has a better squad this time around

Go Uconn

Wake Forest 04?
Is that like when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

 

[Scrutineer]

Losing to Florida State and Georgia Tech are Massey #159 and #125 and FS was at home. St John's loss by UConn was to #69. Also gave up 105 points in a 2 point win over #167 Cornell. So Miami can play good but also have shown they can play pretty poorly. FS loss was in late February.

We had a very late bad loss to Louisville in 2014, so you just don't know how a team will respond in the tournament........hopefully not like we did!

 

[AntG168]

We had a very late bad loss to Louisville in 2014, so you just don't know how a team will respond in the tournament........hopefully not like we did!

Louisville was amazing that year

 

[Scrutineer]

Hello UConn fans!

Miami Hurricane fan here.

You guys seem very very confident in comparison to the Houston and Texas fans. LOL! Cool.

Could kind of tell that Houston fans were uptight about playing us when they kept spouting on and on about metrics. smh Obviously they don't tell even half the story.

A little about our team, our guards are quick but they are all 3 level players. decent height. Any one of them can hit from 3pt range and any can attack you off the dribble. Jordan MIller is our swing but he convers the other teams PF. He's strong and wirey but he can be pushed off his base by bigger PF. But if they aren't quick, they will have no chance of staying up with him. (See Texas PF trying to cover Jordan one on one. It went awfully for him until Jordan fouled him out.)

Norchad Omeir has been the piece that makes this all work. People point to our guards and they are good but Omeir allows for us to leak out on fast breaks by securing multiple offensive rebounds per night. He is as strong they come and well built. Your PF will be able to go over the top of him but he will not be able to bang him down. He can try. Others have.

You get Norchad off the floor and suddenly we're a team with almost no real board presence and we're forced to pack the paint to keep from getting killed.

Your guards are bigger than ours. I felt like we could shoot over Texas because their guards were short and slight. Your guards are all 6'5 or better. They should be able to shoot over the top of our guards.

One of the most unique things that I can think of about us is that we aren't wired to score in just one way and there isn't any one player that you can take from us on offense that will slow us down.

Texas decided to take away the entire teams ability to get clean 3pt shots(credit their D) we just beat them in a different way.

Our defense ranks low. No excuses. We attack passing lanes and take risks to create turnovers and get out and run. We can really run. Even our 6'9 backup PF is fast.

I think that everything.

Not to be petty, but how do offensive rebounds allow you to start fast breaks.

 

[Scrutineer]

That UConn team should've lost in the sweet 16 and was down a dozen midway through the second half to Albany in the first round. There was a ton of talent but it was a totally unfocused group.

No one wanted to get hurt before the draft. No diving for loose balls, no effort where there was the slight possibility of an injury.

 

[UCfor3]

We are doomed. Look at this list. Escape the worst, most anti-UConn Big East refs only for the NCAA to put them in the Final Four crew.

Please no Jeff Anderson.

 

[caw]

Decided to re-watch UT-Miami tonight and came away with a couple thoughts (apologies in advance for the length):

• Their offense is really impressive. Generally four guys on the court that can create for themselves. Their offense against UT looked like what Arkansas was trying to run against us (ISO and get to the paint), but while we were able to completely sag off Arkansas due to their shooting incompetence, UT had to respect the mid-range and outside threat against Miami.
• I think we will see a completely different offense than what they showed against UT. They made no effort to establish the three and instead, took advantage of Texas having essentially no defensive presence in the paint. I'm curious to watch an earlier game where they employed a more balanced attack.
• Wong's ability to create off the bounce is the best we've seen in the tournament. He, and the Miami guards as a whole take the kind of shots you'd generally be happy to give up (a lot of contested mid-range stuff), but seem to make them at a very efficient clip. I think UConn's length will make a big difference there (but also don't expect we'll see nearly the same gameplan).
• I'm torn on Karaban this game. His defense has been really strong recently, but he's going to give up quickness this game and will have to play flawlessly. I could definitely see some foul trouble and having to go with a four guard lineup for stretches. That said, having him in forces Laranaga to either use their best defender (Miller) on Karaban, or try to have one of the smaller guards D him up (which Karaban will get some great post looks out of).
• UConn NEEDS to get back on D. They push the pace like crazy, even off makes and several times caught Texas sleeping and got some easy buckets. We did a great job on this against Arkansas and need to keep that going or we're going to get burned by their speed. That's all effort and focus.
• As impressive as their offense was, their defense was every bit the 100+ ranking they have earned this season. There's no other way to spin it, it was just bad. UT largely ran simple ball screen sets, they ran very little in the way of off ball motion or screens, and yet, UT seemed to have a WIDE OPEN three essentially whenever they wanted. The off-ball defenders just got caught looking at the ball constantly, drifted toward the lane, and then Carr or another Texas guard kicked out for an open look. If they do that against UConn, our shooters are going to feast.
• UConn should have a sizeable advantage down low. UT didn't really have a back to the basket game going (a few looks from bishop, but more two dribbles and a hook shot), so Omier wasn't really asked to be the primary defender much and with about ten minutes left in the first half he was already gassed (in fairness, the pace was pretty frenetic). This is another area where I'm curious to find another game with him guarding a legit post player, but nothing he showed makes me think he'll be a good matchup for Sanogo's relentless footwork or Clingan's size. If we don't come away with a sizeable rebounding advantage, I would be surprised.
• Their transition D was also not good. A lot of multiple guys collapsing on the ball handler and no effort to find the shooters. If they play like that against UConn, Jackson and Hawkins/Calcaterra are going to have a field day.

I came away from this cautiously optimistic (though I definitely want to watch some earlier games). UConn's offense is better than Texas' without Disu, so they should be able to run the offense they want and get plenty of good looks. I also think Omier is going to have a long day (or short if he gets into foul trouble) and just genuinely have no idea what they're going to do with Clingan. Their offense is legit though and we could certainly still lose if they're hitting outside shots and our shooters have an off-night, and/or if their driving creates foul trouble for some of the key players. I think their margin of error is MUCH smaller than ours though.

TL;DR we're doomed.

Texas' guards are also pretty small which I think should help UConn just get enough of a challenge without fouling on Miami's shots.

Texas, to me, appeared to really sell out trying to defend the three also, which I think contributed to Miami attacking the rim more. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen again here considering how UConn emphasizes defending the three.



UConn had that horrid month with six losses and basically a seventh before they figured things out offensively.

IMO focusing on defense; UConn has had some trouble defending drives to the rim and people do rightfully point that out, but that is partially because they sell out defending the arc so much. However, I think the teams that really killed UConn were the teams that could pass the ball around and find the open man, much like UConn does. X/Marquette and Creighton are all top 30 assist % teams and overall good passing teams.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The team makeup is very different, but the style of play is very similar in how they get their points. Other than the A/FGM (Miami goes 1v1 a lot more like you said) the offensive numbers are fairly close across the board

View attachment 86074

Xavier with Freemantle is better than Miami, and if Freemantle had returned for the tournament like he was originally scheduled to, UConn would probably be playing them on Saturday.

The one thing Miami has on Xavier is that they are mentally tougher than Xavier.

 

[storrsroars]

We had a very late bad loss to Louisville in 2014, so you just don't know how a team will respond in the tournament........hopefully not like we did!

That was the only UConn game I've ever seen where I actually thought, "Our guys just quit." I remember Bazz's expressions and body language being, "I don't want to be out here anymore."

And coming back from that game to win the whole thing is really the one main reason I think KO can actually coach when he focuses on it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Please no Jeff Anderson.

The only reason Anderson could be there is to keep UConn from winning. He's awful.

 

[Umami Zen]

Sounds like this game could be a track meet.. Best offense wins.. And can our three point D disrupt their shooters.. Esp. Pack

 

[jibsey]

Analysis and ‘expert” opinions between now at Sat nite will be nonstop and they are firmly on UConn’s bandwagon. It’s as simple as we’ll see who plays better and every now and then you also need just a bit of luck. Haven’t needed it so far but…

 

[HuskyHawk]

I said all year Miami was the best team in the ACC. I honestly thought they were underrated. Most of their losses are close games on the road. GT the only bad one really. @NC State by 2 in OT, @Duke by 2, @Pitt by 3 FSU by 1.

That said, I have confidence in our guys. We've got this. They have seen nothing like this UConn team.

 

[Scrutineer]

The team makeup is very different, but the style of play is very similar in how they get their points. Other than the A/FGM (Miami goes 1v1 a lot more like you said) the offensive numbers are fairly close across the board

View attachment 86074

Since we couldn't beat Xavier I find these numbers very sobering and depressing.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

For the tourney, Miami's top 8 guys are shooting 118-241 (49%) and 33-89 from 3 (37.1%), both just a hair better than their season averages. That's very good.

However, since giving up 56 vs Drake, they've given up more in each successive game: 69. 75, 81.

Pack is their volume 3 pt shooter, and their most accurate. He's hoisted 35 so far in the tourney, making 14, for a nice even 40% clip. Wong is 7-18 and Poplar 5-16. Joseph is their Joey C. He comes in primarily to shoot from deep, and he's 4-10 so far. So whomever we deem as our best perimeter defender should be on Pack. I'd expect them to go into Sanogo to get fouls.

That said, I'd say that given their defense, UConn should be able to get plenty of open looks. If they make 'em, it's a win. If we're cold, could be in for a long night. Miami is averaging 80 pts in the tourney, again, a hair above their season average. If somehow they score 80 on UConn, my feeling is that it will be because UConn is putting up 90.

 

[Scrutineer]

Decided to re-watch UT-Miami tonight and came away with a couple thoughts (apologies in advance for the length):

• Their offense is really impressive. Generally four guys on the court that can create for themselves. Their offense against UT looked like what Arkansas was trying to run against us (ISO and get to the paint), but while we were able to completely sag off Arkansas due to their shooting incompetence, UT had to respect the mid-range and outside threat against Miami.
• I think we will see a completely different offense than what they showed against UT. They made no effort to establish the three and instead, took advantage of Texas having essentially no defensive presence in the paint. I'm curious to watch an earlier game where they employed a more balanced attack.
• Wong's ability to create off the bounce is the best we've seen in the tournament. He, and the Miami guards as a whole take the kind of shots you'd generally be happy to give up (a lot of contested mid-range stuff), but seem to make them at a very efficient clip. I think UConn's length will make a big difference there (but also don't expect we'll see nearly the same gameplan).
• I'm torn on Karaban this game. His defense has been really strong recently, but he's going to give up quickness this game and will have to play flawlessly. I could definitely see some foul trouble and having to go with a four guard lineup for stretches. That said, having him in forces Laranaga to either use their best defender (Miller) on Karaban, or try to have one of the smaller guards D him up (which Karaban will get some great post looks out of).
• UConn NEEDS to get back on D. They push the pace like crazy, even off makes and several times caught Texas sleeping and got some easy buckets. We did a great job on this against Arkansas and need to keep that going or we're going to get burned by their speed. That's all effort and focus.
• As impressive as their offense was, their defense was every bit the 100+ ranking they have earned this season. There's no other way to spin it, it was just bad. UT largely ran simple ball screen sets, they ran very little in the way of off ball motion or screens, and yet, UT seemed to have a WIDE OPEN three essentially whenever they wanted. The off-ball defenders just got caught looking at the ball constantly, drifted toward the lane, and then Carr or another Texas guard kicked out for an open look. If they do that against UConn, our shooters are going to feast.
• UConn should have a sizeable advantage down low. UT didn't really have a back to the basket game going (a few looks from bishop, but more two dribbles and a hook shot), so Omier wasn't really asked to be the primary defender much and with about ten minutes left in the first half he was already gassed (in fairness, the pace was pretty frenetic). This is another area where I'm curious to find another game with him guarding a legit post player, but nothing he showed makes me think he'll be a good matchup for Sanogo's relentless footwork or Clingan's size. If we don't come away with a sizeable rebounding advantage, I would be surprised.
• Their transition D was also not good. A lot of multiple guys collapsing on the ball handler and no effort to find the shooters. If they play like that against UConn, Jackson and Hawkins/Calcaterra are going to have a field day.

I came away from this cautiously optimistic (though I definitely want to watch some earlier games). UConn's offense is better than Texas' without Disu, so they should be able to run the offense they want and get plenty of good looks. I also think Omier is going to have a long day (or short if he gets into foul trouble) and just genuinely have no idea what they're going to do with Clingan. Their offense is legit though and we could certainly still lose if they're hitting outside shots and our shooters have an off-night, and/or if their driving creates foul trouble for some of the key players. I think their margin of error is MUCH smaller than ours though.

TL;DR we're doomed.

There's been a lot of speculation about "shooting background" issues when playing in these type stadiums and some thoughts that it could be the air currents from the HVAC system that affect the long range shots.
If neither team is hitting 3's it will come down to who can best make mid-range shots, score inside and make free throws. Not sure who that favors but hope our defense seals the deal.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

 

[UConn Esq]

Im trying to secure my tickets on third party websites like Stubhub. Does anyone know which is the UConn corner? Would it be number 1, 2, 3 or 4? Or do they no longer assign corners for student sections?

 

[NotADime89]

Im trying to secure my tickets on third party websites like Stubhub. Does anyone know which is the UConn corner? Would it be number 1, 2, 3 or 4? Or do they no longer assign corners for student sections? View attachment 86143

We have sections 119-125

 

[B1GEast]

I said all year Miami was the best team in the ACC. I honestly thought they were underrated. Most of their losses are close games on the road. GT the only bad one really. @NC State by 2 in OT, @Duke by 2, @Pitt by 3 FSU by 1.

That said, I have confidence in our guys. We've got this. They have seen nothing like this UConn team.

You kind of summarized what I said in an earlier post. Miami is a solid team. I think we have a much better team and should pull away late.

 

[87Xfer]

When do we find out who our officiating crew will be?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

When do we find out who our officiating crew will be?

20 minutes