Sweet 16!!!
Starters
- Nijel Pack 6-0 - elite level shooter with some handles
- Isaiah Wong 6-3 - elite level all around scorer with some shake and bake
- Wooga Poplar 6-5 - 3andD athlete
- Jordan Miller 6-6 - very good all around scorer but prefers to drive and post up smaller players
- Norchad Omier 6-7 -250lb super strong/athletic lob / drive&dish threat, bulldozer.
Bench
- Bensley Joseph - 6-1 strong, best defender
- the 6 above get the majority of minutes but will note they have have 2 6’9 215lbs bigs as backups for omier or occasional “big” lineups
About Miami
From the roster makeup above 2 things are obviously note worthy, 1) they are an extremely good offense, all starters can easily put 20+ on you. 2) they are very undersized, they are not a very big team… Miami is a very poor defensive team who tries to our score you
the Match up:
Rebounding - I think this will be one of the biggest defining factors of the game. While we might look to have an edge here, and i think we will win the overall rebounding margin, Omier and Miller are really good offensive rebounders. Even if we win the rebound margin we might give up 13 offensive rebounds, that are swung to open shooters that might cost us the game. getting offensive rebounds will be huge for us, but preventing them from getting offensive rebounds will also be huge.
Norchad Omier - speaking of omier he is the glue the makes this team run, their defense and rebounding are completely based around him and they have no replacement for him if he is out. i would say to try to get him in foul trouble but he is rarely in foul trouble (by design) - he tries to muscle you out of the post but if you are somehow in position, he just puts his hands up (doesnt go for the block). Miami also plays a TON of post help, that is why despite being small if you watch a miami game the opposing teams are mostly shooting 3s, Miami gives you the 3 in order to help the post …but prepping for Omier’s strength will be key and we might get lucky and get him in foul trouble
Our O vs their D: among Miami’s starters there are some athletes (miller, omier and poplar) but none are great iso defenders (joseph on bench is the best and only real threat) thus miami is the classic overhelp defense. With good ball movement we should be getting good looks all night, i think Jamal will have a ton of assists. A big deciding factor will be if we can make open shots (and in the case of Terrance and Jarace not hesitating to take them) also finishing at the rim when help doesnt come… Keeping jamal out of foul trouble will be big (Their D starts looking good if the ball isnt moving well)… They will also have a guard defending Jarace…and we will also get a lot of second chance points.
The Main Matchup- Our D vs Their O- I think we can keep them in check. they’ve only played 2 teams all year in the same hemisphere of defense as us, both kept Miami at bay (Virginia and Rutgers, not counting end of game Free Throws Miami just scratched 60 in both), assuming Sasser is healthy (being honest Sasser was a step behind in the auburn game on D), i feel confident in every matchup… sasser/wong, shead/pack, mark/poplar, jarace/miller, jwan/omier… their guards are not tall enough to shoot over our guys, and while they are skilled (shake and bake handles) they are not that fast. Omier is all muscle and not that skilled with moves in the post. they do screen alot but we are at a point in the season to know how to handle that. i think we can give them tough shots all night, they will make some, tough ones but not a lot if we play to our level. their offense is also dictated by pace, they rebound and launch the ball on the fast break. i doubt we let them have the frenetic pace (especially fighting with us for boards).
Final Game thoughts- i think we should win. we almost never lose to “offensive teams” (with weak defenses). almost all our tournament eliminations for the last 5 years are from dominant defenses. so thats a positive sign, but streak come to an end, so cant hold on to that … we cant let them dictate the pace, we have to rebound, defensive rebound, and have good ball movement and make open shots… overalll i think we will win. and i think miami is the kind of team our style of play will shell shock them (not accustomed to playing). the key will be hitting a decent percentage from 3…
