Miami Basketball: 3 reasons why Hurricanes will improve for 2020-21 season
By Ian Mumm
Miami Basketball is looking to end their recent hiatus from the NCAA Tournament and may have the pieces in 2020 to make that a reality.
Jim Larranaga’s tenure in Coral Gables has been fairly strong, with four finishes in the ACC’s top-4 and two trips to the Sweet 16 in nine seasons. However, his last two campaigns have been his worst with the program. Despite star guard Chris Lykes doing all he can to push Miami Basketball forward, there has been little consistency or support from the rest of the roster.
The Canes used an 8-man rotation last season but had to fight through periods of injury. They heavily relied on their backcourt to produce within the offense, but with three players averaging roughly 11 shot attempts per game, there was little room for anyone else to develop a rhythm or overcome on-court slumps. In fact, defensive rotations and traps on Lykes significantly reduced the effectiveness and ball movement for the entire offense.
Miami was much too inefficient in all areas of their game to collectively overcome these limitations and struggles. They were a poor rebounding team, didn’t share the ball, didn’t shoot well from anywhere on the floor, and didn’t create turnovers. Granted the 2018 team had a better offense and defense, yet finished with a worse season than the 2019 squad.
With little change to the roster for 2020, why is there reason to be excited about this year’s team for Canes fans?