Everything Miami Head Coach Jim Larrañaga Said After Another Blowout Victory
Another blowout victory and Miami head coach Jim Larranga is still not satisfied with what they have been able to do in the first three games of the season.
The Miami Hurricane men's basketball team (3-0) put up another offensive clinic today and the head coach still was focused on the defensive side of the ball. He had more to say after the game during his presser.
Opening Statement
Well, I thought we shared the ball extremely well today. 21 assists and only nine turnovers. Nigel Pack had nine assists terrific job. We have six guys in double figures offensively. We rebounded the ball well 42 to 26 in that category and you know we ended up with a plus 30 93-63 so um I thought our defense in the first half was critical we only gave up19 points um and that's really a good job.
On where he would like the team to be....
I wouldn't say disappointed, I just know we still have a long way to go to where I'd like to be defensively you know we gave up 19 points in the first half that's really a good job. We gave up 44 in the second not-so-good so the consistency at the defensive end of the floor was the primary goal. I'm most pleased that we're sharing the ball pretty regularly. We do take some ill-advised shots at times but I think overall we're doing a good job of sharing.
On improvements in shooting the ball...
Yeah we're a good shooting team I mean, and we got good shots they sat in the zone for a good portion of the game, and when they did if we moved the ball we could get an open look and we had different guys who could make it. Brandon went two for three Matt went three for four Four went two for four Nigel went two for four AJ went three for three and Jalil went two for four so that's a lot of different guys making three-point shots and against the zone that's what you concern yourself with. They spread the floor and you're able to make shots.
On the improvement in the younger players...
Not there yet the one thing I was very impressed with was Austin Schwarz's defense when he came in. He played 12 and a half minutes and did not make a shot uh but he had three assists which was a plus, I'm interested in him becoming a better defender and I think he did now he didn't get up he didn't get any credit for rebounding but Divine is tough. Isn't he going to the basket making those layups?
On the step up in competition against Drake...
We'll see as we step up in competition the size of the athlete the speed of the athlete skills of the athlete. We'll see this weekend you know how we stack up what do you know about I mean Drake we know from a couple of years ago how new coaches are a lot of lot of new players.
On Brandon Johnson performance and 1000 point career mark....
Yeah, he scored a thousand points for his career uh he's just a very good versatile player he plays the four he plays the five handles the versus a press he can shoot the three. He's our leading ra rebounder almost every day in practice he had eight rebounds today he's our leading rebounder again so Lynn had five and Matt had seven that's good for our starters we need the guards to rebound more I like that Divine got four.
On AJ Staton-McCray...
I felt like uh AJ was one of those veteran players who plays multiple positions we played him today. He subbed first at the two then he moved to the three and his last appearance was at the four so when you have a guy that you can utilize him at different positions it really helps and I think he's a great teammate. He knows how to play he shares the ball he defends really well got called for a couple of fouls that you know uh know will happen but he's a good defender.
On the lineup versatility...
I think we don't know yet because we haven't played against you know the 6-foot 10s the 6-foot 11s the seven-footers we're getting ready to so we'll find out pretty quickly is Drake all team um I just finished playing cop and you can ask me about you know everything that about he's making progress so he actually working on his skills his is protected we're working on his righthand working on his conditioning working on his ballhandling he'll be big plus.
On Matthew Cleveland starting again and getting him more shots...
Matt was in the starting lineup until he got a concussion. I talked with AJ and he understood completely AJ you look at his minutes and what he's been playing he played half the game and played 16 and a half minutes so that's kind of what we're looking for you know a starter playing 25 and a sub play in15. You saw today how you envision him offensively finding shots and being more effective well first of all we're playing him at the three and today in the last game we had to move him to the four because of circumstances um secondly he's an excellent three-point shooter so if he gets some open looks we expect he'll knock him down at a high rate but his best asset is he's a gazelle he can run like a deer and get to the rim and get layups and he's rebounding very well right now so if he can get his layups and his threes and rebound he's going to have a terrific senior year.
