UConn vs Miami Final Four | Page 5 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Miami Final Four

B1GEast said:
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.
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Skip Prosser and Chris Paul thank you for making them NCAA finalists.

That 2019 game means nothing. Outside of freshman Wong and decent backcourt mate Chris Lykes, the rest of that Miami squad was atrocious.
 
Their offense and defense are worse than Gonzaga, but their best players are mirror opposites place: guards rather than wings/bigs. These aren't small guards, really (Pack is), like our 2014 back court that disrupted bigger guards, and we have multiple playmakers.

Any team can win at this stage. But if you told me two weeks ago we'd be in the Final Four, and have to beat Miami and the winner of FAU/SD State to win a title, I'd take it every single time. It's about as good a draw as anyone can hope for, sort of like 2011—a very good team that we should beat in the first Final Four game, and another very good, but imminently beatable team waiting on the other side of the bracket.

Do we win? Who knows. But we should.
 
tzznandrew said:
Their offense and defense are worse than Gonzaga, but their best players are mirror opposites place: guards rather than wings/bigs. These aren't small guards, really (Pack is), like our 2014 back court that disrupted bigger guards, and we have multiple playmakers.

Any team can win at this stage. But if you told me two weeks ago we'd be in the Final Four, and have to beat Miami and the winner of FAU/SD State to win a title, I'd take it every single time. It's about as good a draw as anyone can hope for, sort of like 2011—a very good team that we should beat in the first Final Four game, and another very good, but imminently beatable team waiting on the other side of the bracket.

Do we win? Who knows. But we should.
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Yup that is logical and realistic.
 
Leebo said:
I learned on the Miami forum that we haven't beaten anyone good. That includes Gonzaga because they played poorly.
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The issue is did you believe what you read on the “enemy’s “ propaganda site! They need to remember as we do to never underestimate your opponent. If Miami underestimates then good.
 
Leebo said:
I learned on the Miami forum that we haven't beaten anyone good. That includes Gonzaga because they played poorly.
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They aren't exactly wrong. There are very few "good" teams this year. Or rather a lot of good teams but no great teams (UConn excluded).

They beat Drake who was no better than Iona, considering the coaches I would put my money on Iona, though Drake is pretty similar.

Then Indiana who was probably the weakest four, and pretty comparable to SMC in terms of any metric. Either way a five vs a four. Highest seed either could play. Both good, or decent teams.

Then they got an overrated Houston team who's PG was playing with groin injury and at best only 90% of his normal self. Not to mention this fantastic win was against a team who beat SMC by 5 this year and lost to Bama. Better than Arkansas, but nothing special either.

Then they got Texas without their starting center. Gonzaga is at least as good as Texas without Disu.

Three of the four teams in the final four have been lucky with major, or minor injuries to other teams to some extent. Whether it was UCLA's, or Kansas. Houston, or Texas. Marquette, or KSU. Lots of those guys kept playing but they clearly weren't 100%.

SDSU has gone through a pretty healthy bracket but then again Bama was playing with their moral issues and Zona had a PG with his head up his ass half the year. Seriously though it did look like Nembhard may have tweaked himself in the game before Creighton fell apart.


All that said Miami has been the second most impressive team in the NCAAT so far, behind UConn. Teams just can't stop them from scoring (aside from Drake). They have ended up with large scoring margins against two of their opponents and had huge comebacks. Their offense is impressive. They also have given up a ton of points to teams not known for their offense.
 
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BiggieSmall said:
Yea but that’s the only center they have. We have two. Sanogo footwork is much better that his. I’m not worried. They need to keep him out of foul trouble.

Their guards are tough but Newton and just as big and strong as Wong. Pack has to chase Hawk around. Both great shooters.

They have no bench. They have a better coach, I like Hurley but this dude is a very good coach.
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We have the better coach
 
They’re on cloud 9 over there and believe they’ll win(as they should). But boy I can’t wait to pound them into the hardwood on Saturday.
 
2006 loss to George Mason is a concern from a karma standpoint. How much were we favored by in that game. I could not watch that one was on a golfing junket in AL. But all the people on the trip gave me updates even though I was avoiding them by shutting off my phone. Laranaga did it to us before but I do think the first round and elite 8 games at least for me carry more pressure.
 
karstenkibbe said:
Skip Prosser and Chris Paul thank you for making them NCAA finalists.

That 2019 game means nothing. Outside of freshman Wong and decent backcourt mate Chris Lykes, the rest of that Miami squad was atrocious.
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That game does mean something, and it's that Hurley has experience now and knows a little about coach Larranaga.
 
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caw said:
They aren't exactly wrong. There are very few "good" teams this year. Or rather a lot of good teams but no great teams (UConn excluded).

They beat Drake who was no better than Iona, considering the coaches I would put my money on Iona, though Drake is pretty similar.

Then Indiana who was probably the weakest four, and pretty comparable to SMC in terms of any metric. Either way a five vs a four. Highest seed either could play. Both good, or decent teams.

Then they got an overrated Houston team who's PG was playing with groin injury and at best only 90% of his normal self. Not to mention this fantastic win was against a team who beat SMC by 5 this year and lost to Bama. Better than Arkansas, but nothing special either.

Then they got Texas without their starting center. Gonzaga is at least as good as Texas without Disu.

Three of the four teams in the final four have been lucky with major, or minor injuries to other teams to some extent. Whether it was UCLA's, or Kansas. Houston, or Texas. Marquette, or KSU. Lots of those guys kept playing but they clearly weren't 100%.

SDSU has gone through a pretty healthy bracket but then again Bama was playing with their moral issues and Zona had a PG with his head up his ass half the year. Seriously though it did look like Nembhard may have tweaked himself in the game before Creighton fell apart.


All that said Miami has been the second most impressive team in the NCAAT so far, behind UConn. Teams just can't stop them from scoring (aside from Drake). They have ended up with large scoring margins against two of their opponents and had huge comebacks. Their offense is impressive. They also have given up a ton of points to teams not known for their offense.
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They can be a lot like us in results yet different in certain execution. We should not rate them on how one or two of their games went just as they would be foolish to believe that our loss at ‘home’ at the, hands of the Red Johnnies is typical us. I again expect a close game but I expected that in the last two games but I was wrong. If we are consistent we will get past Miami. By consistent I mean that we play as a team because we do not have that one superhuman shooter who scores 30 + something points almost every game therefore alone carries the team on his shoulders. When such a player is off in one game that is a recipe for failure.
 
Joey has re-emerged as a big weapon from 3, so even if Hawk was to be off we have plenty of other firepower. On the other side Pack went 7-10 against Houston but then 1-4 against Texas who very much shut down his 3’s. We have to shut his attempts down and I’m sure Hurley and staff are on that, but then against Pitt Poplar went 6-8 and Wong has had his big games. Who guards who?
 
This Miami teams really concerns me…they remind me a lot of the 2014 Huskies. Two dominate scoring guards, a tendency to make the critical basket, phenomenal clutch free throw shooting, and the ability to close out tight games.

My guess is every team UConn beat in 2014 went through the match ups player by player and concluded they had the advantage. But Shabaaz, Boatright et al made the big shots, the big free throws, and closed out games.

UConn needs to set the tone early and dominate the game. If it comes down to a one possession game in the last 2 minutes Miami has shown they win those games.
 
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Palatine said:
Their 6-11 guy is 215 pounds.
Their 250 pound guy is 6-7.

Everyone else is 219 or less.

www.espn.com

Miami Hurricanes Men's College Basketball Roster - ESPN

Explore the 2025-26 Miami Hurricanes NCAAM roster on ESPN. Includes full details on point guards, shooting guards, power forwards, small forwards and centers.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Their 6'11" guy has also played 38 minutes all season, so if he's in the game something has gone wrong for them
 
Really nice article about the team in the Athletic. Taking care of business.
"At the merciful end, there was nothing so much that you’d notice from UConn. No spring-loaded dash from the bench to the playing floor. No leaps or hugs or leaping hugs. No cathartic screams. Just smiles and a handshake line, one more clinical sequence in a night overloaded with them. The cameras came out and surely wanted something more, and all the Huskies provided was a happy shrug."

theathletic.com

There's no doubt: UConn is back, and the Huskies are just getting started

UConn beat Gonzaga 82-54, ending Drew Timme's college career in the process.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
 
Just looked at Miami run this tournament and there legit - Beat Indiana, Houston and Texas. IU and Houston they never really trailed and like us, they just destroyed both of them in the 2nd half. Texas they just never gave up. Even the loss to Duke they lost there only true forward and still fought it out. They had some bad losses, but they're going to be tough.
 
caw said:
They aren't exactly wrong. There are very few "good" teams this year. Or rather a lot of good teams but no great teams (UConn excluded).

They beat Drake who was no better than Iona, considering the coaches I would put my money on Iona, though Drake is pretty similar.

Then Indiana who was probably the weakest four, and pretty comparable to SMC in terms of any metric. Either way a five vs a four. Highest seed either could play. Both good, or decent teams.

Then they got an overrated Houston team who's PG was playing with groin injury and at best only 90% of his normal self. Not to mention this fantastic win was against a team who beat SMC by 5 this year and lost to Bama. Better than Arkansas, but nothing special either.

Then they got Texas without their starting center. Gonzaga is at least as good as Texas without Disu.

Three of the four teams in the final four have been lucky with major, or minor injuries to other teams to some extent. Whether it was UCLA's, or Kansas. Houston, or Texas. Marquette, or KSU. Lots of those guys kept playing but they clearly weren't 100%.

SDSU has gone through a pretty healthy bracket but then again Bama was playing with their moral issues and Zona had a PG with his head up his ass half the year. Seriously though it did look like Nembhard may have tweaked himself in the game before Creighton fell apart.


All that said Miami has been the second most impressive team in the NCAAT so far, behind UConn. Teams just can't stop them from scoring (aside from Drake). They have ended up with large scoring margins against two of their opponents and had huge comebacks. Their offense is impressive. They also have given up a ton of points to teams not known for their offense.
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Everything's relative. If we beat a number of the consensus best teams in the country (Alabama, Gonzaga, etc.) that means we're very good.

So I do think it's a silly point to say we haven't beaten anybody good. We've beaten a lot of good teams, soundly at that.

Miami may have played tougher competition in the Tourny but we've played a tough schedule this season and the only struggles we had were in the Big East.
 
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dwalks93 said:
This Miami teams really concerns me…they remind me a lot of the 2014 Huskies. Two dominate scoring guards, a tendency to make the critical basket, phenomenal clutch free throw shooting, and the ability to close out tight games.

My guess is every team UConn beat in 2014 went through the match ups player by player and concluded they had the advantage. But Shabaaz, Boatright et al made the big shots, the big free throws, and closed out games.

UConn needs to set the tone early and dominate the game. If it comes down to a one possession game in the last 2 minutes Miami has shown they win those games.
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I’d say the main difference is the 2014 huskies had a top 10 defense (kenpom) and had the ability to just smother teams backcourts. I’m not seeing that with Miami.
 
B1GEast said:
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
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Wake Forest?
 
B1GEast said:
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
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I think our size and depth make us a difficult matchup for them. We are very tough to practice and plan for. BE teams get it-others will be surprised.
 
Mots010 said:
I’d say the main difference is the 2014 huskies had a top 10 defense (kenpom) and had the ability to just smother teams backcourts. I’m not seeing that with Miami.
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Yeah, this Miami team is not like that 2014, except superficially. Bazz was better than anyone on their team by a lot (1st team AA), and we had a Top 10 defense. The offense was efficient enough (Top 40) but slow (sub-250).

Miami's defense is just okay (if we're being kind...if we're not, they're bad) and they play at a faster pace.
 
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