Miami Hurricanes Basketball: 2015-16 Season Preview

Who will be this team’s MVP?

Sheldon McClellan. I think what we saw last year is just the tip of the iceberg for what this redshirt senior can accomplish. His offensive game is so versatile and the way he’s been shooting the ball in practice and the preseason was even better than last season.

In his first year in Coral Gables, McClellan rode in the passenger seat as Angel Rodriguez garnered all the attention and plaudits. I’m not here to say Rodriguez wasn’t a great player for the Canes last year and won’t replicate that again this year, I just believe McClellan will take the reins in his final season.

Amazingly at Texas and Miami, McClellan’s made just one tournament appearance and still doesn’t have a tournament win to his name. That’s got to make the redshirt senior hungry for one more shot at leading his team in March and I think he’ll display that all season.

More from Canes Warning

McClellan could have tried and tested the NBA waters last season if he wasn’t sold on how great this team would be and what kind of impact he could make for the Canes. He doesn’t get all the national credit that the players do at a Duke or North Carolina or those blue-bloods of college basketball, but I think McClellan has a chance to be on the All-ACC First Team this season.

If the Hurricanes make into March Madness, he’ll make the Canes a tough out for any opponent and considering he’ll be looking for that elusive first NCAA Tournament win, he certainly won’t go down easy.

Can the Canes and Angel Rodriguez rid themselves of last year’s inconsistency?

If there was one thing to point to last season as the Canes narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament, it was inconsistency.

Wins against Florida and Illinois, but then a 28 point loss to Eastern Kentucky. A 16-point blowout at Cameron Indoor, but then a 20-point loss at home to Georgia Tech. The ups and downs were extreme and ultimately those low points cost them a NCAA Tournament appearance. This year, there’s little room for error.

While I’m not expecting the Hurricanes to go undefeated this season, you have to believe that a team that experienced that kind of inconsistency last season and that also features so much experience won’t let it happen again this year.

One player that certainly wasn’t all to blame, but certainly had a part to play was Rodriguez. The Kansas St. transfer had the ball in his hands for much of last year and I think where his teammates are to blame is at times they would stand around waiting for him to make a play. Whether it was him forcing a shot or no movement on offense creating a rushed shot at the end of the shot clock, Rodriguez’s inconsistency mirrored the team’s.

Rodriguez had a remarkable 13 games last season with 15 or more points, but then on the other side he had eight games in which he scored 6 points or less (not including the three minutes he played vs. UNC). For a primary scoring option, that can’t happen that often.

I think like the team as a whole, we’ll see a lot less of those low point totals for Rodriguez as he’s got a year under his belt in Larranaga’s system and the talent around him should take the pressure off of him to try to save the team every game.

If Rodriguez can play within himself this season, he and this Miami offense will be so much more efficient and shouldn’t be sweating it come Selection Sunday like they did last season.

What is the most important stretch of the schedule?

February 14 at Florida St.

February 17 vs. Virginia Tech

February 20 at No. 1 North Carolina

February 22 vs. No. 6 Virginia

February 27 vs. Louisville

March 2 at No. 19 Notre Dame

Of course in college basketball any game can make or break your season whether you know it then or not (Miami vs Eastern Kentucky last year). There is however a stretch of games that can boost your seeding for March, cement your tournament status or give you the last opportunity for some big wins. For the Miami Hurricanes regardless of their record, this is that stretch.

The Hurricanes will hopefully be in a position to make a move on the seeding curve as they begin this stretch with a matchup against the revamped Seminoles in Tallahassee.

Head Coach Leonard Hamilton brings back sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes who had that outrageous 30-point outburst against Miami in a narrow defeat last season and looks to be one of the top players in the ACC. The Seminoles have also had huge success on the recruiting front and feature three players from the 2015 ESPN Top 100.

While Florida St. isn’t ranked to begin the season, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them creep up in the Top 25 and give the Hurricanes the chance at a solid road win late in the season.

After what hopes to be an easy victory against Virginia Tech at home, the Canes will enter their toughest two-game stretch of the season with a game in Chapel Hill against the preseason No. 1 Tar Heels and then a home game with the No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers.

Remember back to last season when the Canes missed out on win opportunities vs. UNC and Louisville late, which would have negated some of their poor losses. If the Canes are in striking distance at the top of the ACC, these could be vital games to decide the regular season championship. If they are struggling on the bubble, these games could be their last hope before the ACC Tournament.

The Hurricanes end this brutal stretch with games against teams that will likely be around them just below the first tier at the top of the ACC. Now I think the Canes could make a run at the regular season title but with such talent at UNC, Duke and UVa, it’ll certainly be difficult.

These games against Louisville and Notre Dame could also potentially serve as an elimination game of sorts, similar to the Hurricanes game with Pittsburgh last year.

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament will certainly be an important set of games for Coach Larranaga’s squad to begin the season, but we’ll have to wait and see who they come up against. For now though, this stretch from February 14^th to March 2^nd could be season-defining.

How far can this team go?

During the regular season I think this Miami Hurricanes team will be up at the top of the ACC for most of the year, but just not have enough to win the regular season title. I know it isn’t too bold, but I see the Canes coming in fourth in the ACC behind UNC, Virginia and Duke.

As we touched on earlier, I think we’ll see a lot more consistency from this Canes squad and we won’t see those ugly losses against bad teams. Watch out for the game on November 27^ththough when Miami takes on Northeastern at home. The Huskies, are the favorite in the Colonial Athletic Association as they return four starters from a team that made an NCAA Tournament appearance and nearly upset Notre Dame in the first round last season. If the Hurricanes take a loss there, we might see more of the same from last year.

There could be a loss that no one expects somewhere in the schedule, but that isn’t too uncommon in college basketball and wouldn’t kill the Canes if it was just one.

Realistically, I feel the Hurricanes will finish with seven or eight losses and make the tournament as either a four or five seed. There shouldn’t be any flirting with the bubble this year considering what kind of talent this team has. If there is, I don’t know how confident I’d be.

Ultimately though, I feel Coach Larranaga’s team will find a way to get to the Sweet 16. Now obviously this is so hard to predict because you never know what kind of matchups will arise, but this Canes team definitely has the talent and they certainly have the coach to make it to the second weekend.

We saw last year how well the Hurricanes played in the tournament format and we know that with Coach Larranaga at the helm, anything is possible.

If the team can find consistency and use the experience that they have, there is no telling how far this team can go.

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