Is Miami a Final Four team?

[gatorbogey]

canes look really good...carving up UNC right now 49-31 early in the 2nd half
hitting outside, have a good inside presence, blocking shots, playing some tough D, pg larkin knows how to run the offense.

[GatorsGators]

Are they good enough to make the Final Four? Yes.

Will they make the Final Four? No.

[ETGator1]

Yes.

[gatorbogey]

veteran team
veteran coach
balanced team
good pg
that usually a team that can do some damage in the ncaa

[sec1]

i think elite 8

[Gatuar]

Unfortunately yes ...not without Kadji

And that part stings

[akaGatorhoops]

Yes. But they r not a tourney tested team. I think they will lose earlier than they should.

[ApexNC]

Yeah, I've become a believer too. They are one of the most experienced teams in the country. This is the year for them. I expect they'll drop off a good bit next year.

[Brodeur]

Miami very easily could be a final four team, for all the reasons bogey just mentioned.

Looking at their schedule, its very soft from here on out except for a game at Duke. They could easily become a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. If Florida is #2 in the east, I'd much rather have Duke as our #1 than Miami.

[regurgigator]

They look pretty good. I just hope we don't have to play them. I never like facing a "little brother" program that probably has a chip on their shoulder. Let someone else knock them out, or put us in a different bracket, please :joecool:

[ReggieNelson]

did we recruit shane? not blaming billy d at all here, just forget his recruitment. i remember a poster on here saying at the time we kinda dropped the ball there (docgator or tampagator maybe?)

[phideltdj]

Right now they have as complete of a team as anyone. They are getting more credit for their ACC dominance when let's face it the ACC is probably worse than the SEC right now. They have no strong out of conference wins and some really bad losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Indiana State. The ACC only has one quality team to challenge them in Duke...maybe you could toss in NC state as well.

[keefer]

Best looking team in the country right NOW and they are completely healthy. They have everything you need to win it all.

[Jaggator]

Best looking team in the country right NOW and they are completely healthy. They have everything you need to win it all.

Agreed! Miami is as good as any top 5 team I've seen play this year.

[diamondted13]

The more I watch Miami (and I have watched a lot of their games), the more I think they might be the best team in the country...or at the very least as good as anyone. Great size, experience, shooting, and a dynamic point guard. They are a pretty complete team. Watching Kadji and the player he's become is bittersweet. If only he had stayed. What a difference he would have made on our previous 2 squads (he would have graduated already had he not transferred). No doubt we get to at least one Final 4 with him. No surprise at the athleticism, but he's really skilled. Not just his shot, but he has put it on the deck and gone coast to coast on several occasions this year.

[jmoliver]

The team averages like 24 years old.

[Jonas]

crazy that they lost to Florida Gulf Coast

[gtr2x]

I think they were missing a couple of guys in the FGC loss, starting with the big kid in the middle, but they are no doubt looking good now. I'll wait and see how they do on the road at Duke before I predict NCAA greatness tho. UNC is not very good this yr.

[bullish]

I believe Miami is hungry. Are they a final four team, I believe if they believe it they will get there. Good Bigs, Good Guards, good depth, play tough defense. What else is there?
If they play focused and continue to play together, as good as anybody I have seen this year.

[themistocles]

I think they are dangerous.

Certainly, one of the more dangerous teams in the country this year..

[austingator]

Experience is significant when it comes to the tourney and they certainly have that. Could definitely see them advancing far into the tourney especially with a high seed like they appear to be headed toward.

[tilly]

In the history of the ACC, no team has ever beaten UNC and Duke in the same season as badly as Miami has this year. That's amazing.

[gtr2x]

Experience is significant when it comes to the tourney and they certainly have that. Could definitely see them advancing far into the tourney especially with a high seed like they appear to be headed toward.

Agree on the importance of experience come tourney time. Canes have experience with a veteran team, but not tourney experience. Could get a little stage fright, never know. ACC tourney will be a good test. Good coach tho.

[akaGatorhoops]

Agree on the importance of experience come tourney time. Canes have experience with a veteran team, but not tourney experience. Could get a little stage fright, never know. ACC tourney will be a good test. Good coach tho.

This.
I see UM as a legit top 5 team, but losing earlier than they should.

[rserina]

I've never thought experience mattered much in the tournament. Maybe tournament experience, but not in general. It definitely helps during the regular season and especially in conference play when you need some maturity to deal with the ups and downs of a long schedule. In the postseason, though, I take talent and balance over experience any day of the week.

[1gatorbear]

They look as good as any team I've seen this year. I'm hoping they make the final four.

[gtr2x]

In the postseason, though, I take talent and balance over experience any day of the week.

When you get to the final four everybody has talent, save the occasional Cinderella stories. There is no Ky type talent this yr, so I will take experienced talent. :joecool:

[dadx4]

I think so..

[rserina]

When you get to the final four everybody has talent, save the occasional Cinderella stories. There is no Ky type talent this yr, so I will take experienced talent. :joecool:
Well, you have to win four games before you get there and the surest path to winning those games is not having the most experienced team on the floor, but the most talented and balanced team. I am not inferring that tournament experience isn't useful. It is. But in general having played a bunch of games for NIT teams the past two seasons hardly gives you an appreciable leg up come March.

[diamondted13]

rserina, did you ever envision Kadji developing the stretch 4 skill set? I assumed he was recruited by Billy to be a traditional 5. I saw him as a rawer version of Speights. The kid has really developed his ball-handling and shooting. It's crazy to see from a 6-11 kid.

[Brodeur]

But in general having played a bunch of games for NIT teams the past two seasons hardly gives you an appreciable leg up come March.

That's a good point, they're older but don't have NCAA tournament experience. Its also a much different experience being the favored team with a target on your back, instead of the upstart underdog. We'll see how they handle being the former instead of the latter.

You also have to wonder, whats the difference in this team between this year and last year? The players are all the same, yet they went 19-12 last season before losing in the 2nd round of the NIT. Are things just clicking for them now? Did they visit a certain lab in town that's been in the news lately?

[rserina]

rserina, did you ever envision Kadji developing the stretch 4 skill set? I assumed he was recruited by Billy to be a traditional 5. I saw him as a rawer version of Speights. The kid has really developed his ball-handling and shooting. It's crazy to see from a 6-11 kid.
Never saw that one coming, no. Happy for him, though. He was a great kid while here and Ramker really pimped him.

[diamondted13]

Pardon my ignorance, but who's Ramker?

[GatorAvatar]

They have the potential to win it all...key word: potential. If everything lines up well, I see them winning the title. But I can also say the same about the Gators.

[gatorbogey]

miami does have good balance...and what i term as "developed talent" plus some good basic talent to work with to begin with.

i think they'll have a good mindset going into the tourney too. probably will play to prove themselves. seems like they've earned their way up the rankings - by winning, the ole fashion way of doing it.

[rserina]

Pardon my ignorance, but who's Ramker?
Florida Rams coach, Kadji's AAU program. Big Florida guy (or at least he was).

[NorthCaptivaGator]

Kadji would have a red shirted here during his transfer year as he was recuperating from back surgery anyway. It would really be nice to have him but he simply needed a change of scenery. I'm happy for the kid, anybody having to go through back surgery at that age deserves success. Miami is good, that little arena they play in is a fun place to watch a game when it is rocking. Anyway, they are going to come down to selection Sunday and CBS is going to announce that the University of Miami has been banned from the tourney secondary to NCAA violations, well one can hope anyway, naw, not really, I would be excited to see them do well, Prove to the nation that the state of Florida has a lot of basketball talent

[nbace]

Right now they have as complete of a team as anyone. They are getting more credit for their ACC dominance when let's face it the ACC is probably worse than the SEC right now. They have no strong out of conference wins and some really bad losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Indiana State. The ACC only has one quality team to challenge them in Duke...maybe you could toss in NC state as well.

I don't know if the ACC is worse than the SEC....the bottom of both conferences are both pretty bad. However, Miami beat Michigan State in non-conference, which is certainly a quality out of conference win. It would be fun to see both UF and Miami in the Final Four.

[gatorbogey]

yeah, could have a couple of top seeds or 2-seeds from the state of florida. has that ever happened?

[gatordavisl]

Yes. But they r not a tourney tested team. I think they will lose earlier than they should. This is a reasonable point, but the same could be said for many teams (both historically and this year). I think that right now, they have as good a chance of winning the NC as any other team. And of course, much depends upon the draw.

[rounds]

How the hell is Kadji still elgible at age 25?? Is he a Mormon?

[madgator]

canes look really good...carving up UNC right now 49-31 early in the 2nd half
hitting outside, have a good inside presence, blocking shots, playing some tough D, pg larkin knows how to run the offense.


No.

I think they are way too dependent on the 3 point shot. I'm not a believer.......yet


the ACC sucks

[bearshark]

Why not? They have as good a shot as anyone else.

[GatorAvatar]

Miami is gonna be #1 on Monday. Let's see how they handle that.

[GatorAvatar]

How the hell is Kadji still elgible at age 25?? Is he a Mormon?

LOL...didn't he get medical redshirt?

[tilly]

Based on new info from Winston-Salem this afternoon, I'd like to say...No. No they are not a final four team.