Hot! Miami Hurricanes Basketball Coach Wants Better Shot Selection

Jim Larranaga has six days to get his University of Miami men s basketball team ready for its Nov. 3 exhibition and two weeks to prepare for the season opener against Tennessee Tech. In that time, the new coach is giving his players a crash course in shot selection and point guard play.

He is not satisfied with what he has seen so far.

At this stage of their career, there s a certain expectation of what they should know and be able to do, Larranaga said. But one of the most difficult things to teach is shot selection, so we re trying to work on that area. We re going through a transition period where it s very difficult for players to understand what I m asking them to do. It s not their fault. It s very different from what they re used to. While they re making the transition, it s like we take one step forward and two steps back.

He urges players not to shoot every time they re open, as is their tendency, but rather when they can take a high-percentage shot. He also demands his point guards play more like quarterbacks. He described Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott as high octane, (Grant made 84 three-point shots in five minutes at a recent practice) but said they need to create more offense for teammates.

Malcolm is a tremendous three-point shooter, don t know if I ve ever coached anybody who can shoot the ball better from that range, he said. Durand is a very crafty player, very good going to basket. He can hit threes, pull-up jumpers, layups. But I didn t describe either one as point guards who create shots for other people. Offense, just like in football, there s a play every time down the field. You huddle, call a play, and the quarterback orchestrates. Sometimes he hands off to a running back, sometimes he runs it himself, sometimes he passes.

Larranaga said UM shouldn t be judged on its nonconference record. I am taking over a program that won 21 games, so, there s a certain amount of physical talent here. But we finished ninth in the . I m not measuring success on wins and losses. If we re not learning how to play better and better, we ll struggle to finish top 4-5-6 in the ACC. Our goal is to position ourselves for an at-large bid, and right now we re not showing capability of doing that.