Jim Larranaga on impact Charlie Moore has had for Miami in ACC Tournament
The Miami Hurricanes came up short against the Duke Ble Devils in the Semi-finals of the ACC conference tournament. After the game, Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga praised the team for their performance. And for one player, in particular, Charlie Moore, Larranaga had a lot to say on his impact.
“The first thing I would say, I think that’s Charlie’s first offensive rebound basket this year, but he does whatever it takes to win the ballgame, whether it’s hit a long-distance three, like he’s done so many times this season, getting assists, getting to the paint, and find an open man, or drive the ball to the basket and shoot one of these high arching lay-ups or get a steal. He leads the league in steals.”
Against Duke, on Friday night Moore played an efficient game on both offense and defense. He finished the game with 15 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and from deep. Moore added in a game-high 8 assists plus one steal.
“He just is an incredible competitor, and he competes at everything. I mean, like everything. I think he has made my life very enjoyable because he gives me tremendous confidence in knowing that he’s going to make a lot of great decisions throughout the game.”
“He’s such a great teammate. We talked about it last night. These guys really are great teammates and friends to each other on and off the court. Charlie does whatever he’s asked to do.”
Larranaga previews ACC Tournament semifinals matchup with Duke
The Miami Hurricanes Men’s basketball team has a tough challenge ahead of them, on Friday, in the number one seeded Duke Blue Devils. Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga is not confused on the fact of how difficult the next game would be. And he’s well aware of Duke’s pedigree and the caliber of coach on the other side in Mike Krzyzewski. Before the game, Larranaga gave his assessment on the upcoming matchup and the semifinals of the ACC men’s basketball tournament.
“Duke, obviously, has been a top ten team all season long. They’ve got tremendous talent at every position. They have the winningest coach in college basketball history, and our guys are going to be very, very excited about playing them again. We played them one time earlier in the year. A lot has transpired since then,” said Larranaga.
But the Hurricanes head coach was that lacking any confidence in his team as he closed with this statement.
“We’ll need to get a lot of rest between now and tomorrow night’s tip-off. What time, 7:00? Yeah, at 7:00.”
Miami has no shortage of confidence heading into their semifinal matchup. But they will need their best performance of the season if they are to get past Duke and to secure a spot in the ACC championship game.