Nijel Pack, Norchad Omier share what stands out about UConn
Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack were honest about Miami’s matchup against UConn, giving them plenty of credit.
At this point, the Huskies might be the favorite among the four remaining teams, which includes Florida Atlantic and San Diego State on the other side of the bracket. These two are some of the best players for Miami, but they know they have their work cut out.
Omier made sure to point out how the Huskies handled previous opponents.
“UConn is a great team,” Omier said. “Gotta give them credit. They’ve been blowing up all the teams they play by at least 15 points. So they have inside presence, outside presence. We’ve just got to stick to the game plan, worry more about Miami than about UConn.”
Pack noted the history of UConn, which can win another national title this time around.
“They’re coached really well,” Pack said. “Their program has been a great program in the past. This is something that they’ve been in multiple times. We know how good of a team they are. They’ve got a lot of talent from inside and outside with a lot of size and things like that.
“But as long as we stick to what Miami does best, I think we should be in good shape.”
Jim Larranaga preview Miami’s matchup against UConn
Danny Hurley and the Huskies stand in the Hurricanes’ way. This might be the toughest test all season for Miami.
“Yeah, well, you know Danny Hurley has done an incredible job of building that program,” Larranaga said. “He comes from a basketball family. Bobby Hurley, the great player from Duke and head coach of Arizona State, Bob Hurley Sr, you know one of the legendary high school coaches who’s in the Hall of Fame. And I think UConn is very much a reflection of their families personality. They’re tough. They’re hard nosed, they’re aggressive. They attack you at each end of the floor with their offense with their defense.
“And it’s going to be up to myself and my staff to figure out first of all, how we guard these guys. We just finished a practice that I thought the guys did a pretty good job with the initial impression, but it’s going to take several days for us to prepare for this UConn team.”
Miami takes on UConn in the Final Four Saturday with a trip to the national championship on the line.