Season-Opening Spotlight
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – They played three games during a 10-day summer tour of Italy. There was a scrimmage. An exhibition game. And hours of work in the weight room and in practice.
Now, it’s time for the Hurricanes to officially start the season. And they’ll waste little time learning about themselves, right from the get-go.
When Miami takes the floor Tuesday evening at the Watsco Center for its opener, it will face one of the nation’s top college basketball teams, fifth-ranked Louisville.
The Cardinals bring with them high expectations and a talented roster led by star forward Jordan Nwora, who has earned a plethora of preseason accolades, including recognition as the preseason ACC Player of the Year.
Adding to the excitement of Tuesday’s opener? The fact it will be the first men’s basketball game broadcast on the new ACC Network.
That, the Hurricanes hope, will give them a chance to show they’re an older, deeper, more experienced team than they were last season when a seven-man rotation took its toll during a tough 14-18 campaign.
And facing Louisville will help give them a better idea of where they stand.
“There’s nothing we can really do to prepare them for the level of opponent they have to open the season. We played a scrimmage, but that’s not the caliber of Louisville. We played an exhibition game, but that’s not the caliber of Louisville. So what we’re interested in is learning as much as we can learn about ourselves,” said Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga, who is set to begin his ninth season at Miami. “I think we’ll find out there are some really good things that hopefully we’ll be able to consistently do.”
Said senior guard Dejan Vasiljevic, “I think this is more of a bragging rights start to the ACC. It’s always good to tip off against a really good opponent and Louisville, being the No. 5 team in the country, will be exciting for us. Our team is looking forward to it. We’re excited.”
While the Hurricanes will be looking to answer some questions Tuesday evening, they do know they return a pair of veteran guards in Vasiljevic and Chris Lykes, who can provide a solid dose of scoring.
Lykes, a second-team All-ACC selection last season, started all 32 of Miami’s games last year and averaged a team-high 16.2 points. Vasiljevic, meanwhile, averaged 11.8 points and emerged as one of the Hurricanes’ top outside threats, shooting a team-high 37 percent from 3-point range.
Both, Larrañaga said, will be counted on to provide not just guidance on the court, but leadership in the locker room, even as Lykes continues his development on that front.
“D.J. is a very natural leader. He’s very, very comfortable in that role. He’s a veteran player with a great deal of confidence. He has a very clear plan as to how to play and he’s got the skills to match that plan. He’s a tremendous 3-point shooter,” Larrañaga said. “Chris, on the other hand, is a much more natural scorer. He’s not the kind of personality that just leads the team by giving direction, but he’s someone that’s leads with his effort, like saying ‘I’m going to play really hard and I’m going to be really aggressive and I need everybody else to play really hard and be really aggressive and we’ll be okay.’ In my experience, it takes all different kinds of leaders within your own team.”
Along with contributions from Lykes and Vasiljevic, the Hurricanes are hoping to see center Rodney Miller Jr., who did not play last year, emerge as both a leader and a solid presence inside.
Early on, Larrañaga has been encouraged by Miller’s performance.
“He’s very, very comfortable and confident and in Rodney’s case, he has a game,” the coach said. “Some guys just play the game, but you have to have a game and Rodney’s game is ‘Hey, I can rebound in and around the basket, I can score in and around the basket. I’m not looking to shoot threes. I’m not looking to handle the ball and break the press. I’m not a jack of all trades, I’m a master of few.’ And that’s really what makes a guy good.”
The Hurricanes will also need several of their newcomers to step up, including redshirt junior guard Kameron McGusty, who sat out last season after transferring from Oklahoma where he averaged eight points per game as a sophomore and Florida transfer Keith Stone, a forward who is recovering from an ACL injury.
Freshmen Isaiah Wong, Harlond Beverly and Anthony Walker will also be counted on to step up and earn time in the Hurricanes’ rotation.
If things come together the way Larrañaga envisions, the coach believes some of the challenges of a season ago will quickly fade into memory.
“Right now, we’re really taking positive steps forward,” he said. “I don’t know if we can get to where we want to be during this season because of so many new things, but if we can keep these young guys playing hard and playing well together, I think the future looks very, very bright.”
