Observations from Miami Basketball Coach Jim Larrañaga on Upcoming Season

Miami Basketball coach Jim Larrañaga gave his annual pre-season press conference to the media this week. He talked about all the new faces mixing in with returning veterans and the rigor of a 20 game ACC schedule.

As Canes Warning wrote in our preview piece earlier this week, the Miami basketball team has only four players returning who saw action last season. Add to the mix three freshmen, two transfers and a player who redshirted last year. At this point last year the Miami Hurricanes had ten players available for game action.

That changed quickly when Rodney Miller chose to redshirt to work on his conditioning, stamina and development in the post. Shortly after that announcement, the Hurricanes were forced to sit former McDonalds All American power forward Dewan Hernandez (formerly Dewan Huell) due to questions surrounding his eligibility.

The NCAA would later rule him ineligible for all of last year and 40 percent of this season. Hernandez immediately announced he was turning professional and was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the NBA draft. He recently was added to the 15 man roster.

By then it was too late to burn Miller’s redshirt. To make matters worse, redshirt forward sophomore forward Deng Gak had a season-ending knee injury in December, leaving the Canes with a severely depleted frontcourt and only two available players off the bench. Larranaga discussed team chemistry.

"“We’ve got five veteran players who have been practicing a lot together because they know most everything we do…Then we have a core group of three freshmen and Deng Gak and Keith Stone.Deng has been here, but he’s been injured, so he hasn’t really played a lot of minutes and then Keith and the three freshmen are brand new to the program and learning. So we’ve got a good blend of youthful enthusiasm and veteran experience.”"

In the offseason, Coach Larrañaga and his staff were able to add those three freshmen, Anthony Walker, Isaiah Wong and Harlond Beverley. All were highly sought after, each holding several high major offers.

Miami also added grad transfer Keith Stone. Stone, like Gak, suffered a knee injury in January and has been undergoing rehabilitation. Larranaga told reporters that Stone is cleared for non-contact activity in practices.

No timetable has been given but typical recovery time for a torn ACL can be nine to 12 months. That would put Stone’s return likely at or before ACC play begins in January. Gak has been fully cleared to play and is expected to be ready when the season begins on November 5 versus Louisville at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables.

The return of Gak, Miller off his redshirt and the addition of Walker gives Miami greatly needed depth in the paint. Larranaga gushed how improved Miller’s conditioning and development are. Miller has lost 45 pounds and gotten considerably stronger, which we assume Larranaga meant from Miller’s freshman year.

"“I really believe it’s true if Rodney can stay healthy and play at the level that he’s capable of getting to on a regular basis consistently. He may be the most improved player in the ACCWe scrimmaged the other day ourselves and for 30 minutes and Rodney played all 30 of the minutes, that would never have been possible in his first couple of years.”"

As far as how this team has progressed since coming together over the summer, Larranaga feels that the trip to Italy has helped the team’s development as he said they played well in the three games.

"“Those guys played very well together and they continue to do that in practice, so I’m really hoping to see some really good chemistry. We’re trying to improve.We’ve got a lot of improving to do to have the kind of season that we’d like to have. We have a good group of guys who are working very, very hard to make that happen.”"

There appears to be considerable work to do on defense. While there is ample ability on offense, the Hurricanes have seen a material decline in defense statistically. In the past year and a half, Miami has gone from being one of the best in the ACC defensively to being one of the worst.

The Miami basketball team faces a grueling schedule this season. In just the ACC, Miami has 11 games versus teams that reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament, including six at home. Larranaga discussed how much the difficulty of the schedule has increased since the Hurricanes joined the ACC.

"“We also have one of the most challenging schedules, not only in Miami basketball history, but in the history of the ACC and I say that very honestly without exaggerating. The schedule is ridiculous because when I first got into the league, we played 16 conference games, that was 16 really tough games.Then the conference changed, went to 18 games. And now this year we’ve jumped to 20.”"

The Hurricanes play road games against UCF and Illinois, a neutral court game in Brooklyn against Temple along with playing in the Charleston Classic which includes UConn, Florida and Xavier as potential opponents. Miami will need to develop and come together quickly with a daunting schedule like that.