Miami extended its unbeaten streak to three games to start the season as the Canes cruised to a 90-59 victory over FAMU in its lone game last week. While the Canes easily overmatched FAMU, the primary story coming out of this game was an early ankle injury to star freshman Lonnie Walker which caused him to leave the game and not return. However, early reports are that he is fine and he is expected to return with no additional time missed. The secondary story coming out of the game was Coach L’s disappointment with the Canes’ effort and free throw shooting. While the former may be slightly excused considering a weak opponent, there is no excuse for the free throw shooting as Miami is barely above 50% as a team on the year. That number will need to quickly improve.
As for individual performances, this one was as balanced as you can get: all five Canes’ starters reached double digits; Brown, Newton and Vasiljevic led the way with 15 points a piece. DJ shook off his first game shooting woes and connected on 3-6 from beyond the arc while newcomer Chris Lykes chipped in 13 points and 4 assists off the bench. Overall, the Canes shot better from beyond the arc (12-26) than they did from the FT line (10-22).
La Salle (neutral site in Reading, PA)
Wednesday, November 22, 6:00 PM, ESPN3
Miami takes its first road trip of the season traveling to Reading, PA to face La Salle in a neutral site/semi-away game a little over an hour from La Salle’s campus. The aforementioned star freshman Lonnie Walker hails from Reading, PA, which obviously plays a factor in his desire to play in front of his home crowd.
La Salle has already played 5 games this season, winning their first three (Saint Peters, Penn, South Alabama) before dropping their last two (Northwestern, Boston College). While Miami is certainly a step up in competition, both Northwestern and Boston College are pretty decent teams. Northwestern beat La Salle by 8, but Boston College, with both teams playing on the rare second night of a back-to-back, dominated La Salle by 19.
La Salle features mostly an 8 man rotation, but gives major minutes to three players: 6’7″ senior wing B.J. Johnson (a Syracuse transfer), 6’0″ junior guard Pookie Powell (a Memphis transfer) and 6’2″ senior guard Amar Stukes. Both Johnson and Powell were considered top 100 players coming out of high school, so there is no shortage of talent there. However, there is a depth issue, and that where is Miami will look to exploit the matchup. This is not a game where Miami can sleepwalk to a comfortable victory, but after Coach L criticized the team’s effort against FAMU, I doubt you will see that two games in a row.
North Florida
Saturday, November 25, 4:00 PM, ESPN3
Miami returns home to face off against North Florida on Saturday afternoon. The Ospreys are off to a brutal 0-6 start, but should notch their first victory of the season this week before Miami when they face local Jacksonville college Edward Waters.
North Florida opened its season with four games that read as a “Who’s Who” of college basketball: Michigan State (lost by 32), Michigan (lost by 20), VCU (lost by 10) and Florida (lost by 40). However, their last two games were against similar level of competition (Mount St. Mary’s and Wofford) but they managed to lose both games by 3 points.
The Ospreys are led by 6’1″ sophomore Ivan Gandia-Rosa, who leads the team in points (15.3 ppg) and assists (4.0 apg). Five other players reach at least 20 minutes per game. There is a serious size and depth discrepancy between these two teams, and as Miami is much closer in stature to Michigan State and Florida, a similar result should be expected in this game.
Predictions
THOMSON
You know you have a good team when you cruise to a 30 point victory and the coach is making a fuss about effort and free throw shooting. While he’s probably right to do so, it just speaks to the volume of talent this team has that those two areas are the topic of conversation following a blowout victory. Miami may have its hands full with La Salle, but I think Lonnie Walker puts on a show assuming the ankle checks out. Regardless, the team should still wind up cruising. Miami wins by 17.
In the second game of the week, it is hard to imagine anything short of a blowout victory. I don’t think this one gets to 40 points, but the outcome will never be in doubt. Miami beats North Florida by 27.
PARASURAMAN
La Salle in a sneaky gym could present a challenge. They do have some legitimate high-level talent, or a few players that fit that description at the very least. So I expect a close game early. The FT shooting is the one thing of concern early in the season and you certainly don’t want to get in a close game right now. I think the Canes will build a bit of a lead as the teams start to rotate and then pull away completely in the 2nd half. There will be a few nervy moments, but the Canes win. Miami by 13.
North Florida is just not good. They’ve been overmatched by every high level opponent they’ve faced, and this game should be no exception. Miami by 24.
Sebastian's Pub 