Next up – Miami’s first trip to Duke in the post-Larranaga era

Miami has had a bizarre season so far.

The Canes started 3-0, but problems soon began to appear. Miami lost Game No. 4 to Drake on Nov. 21 and has only had one win since then, against Presbyterian.

That was bad enough, but in October, after apparently starring for a long time, the Boozer twins Cameron and Cayden decided to turn down Canes for Duke, which their father Carlos starred in in the early 2000s.

And by Christmas, Jim Larranaga decided he had had enough and announced his retirement on December 26th. Assistant Bill Courtney took over and his career record is 0-5. Miami’s previous record is 3-12.

Still, it’s not a team that lacks talent.

Nijel Pack and Matthew Cleveland are a strong backcourt. You’ll remember that Pack left Kansas State and landed in Miami as one of the first major NIL signings. Cleveland came from Florida State, where he had excelled. Lynne Kidd was a solid center at Virginia Tech and freshman Jalil Bethea was a 5-star prospect, although he developed more slowly than expected.

Brandon Johnson and Jalen Blackmon are good, if not necessarily great, portal pickups. This also applies to AJ Staton-McCray.

Why is this team struggling?

Well, losing Norchad Omier, Wooga Poplar, Bensley Joseph and Kyshawn George to the transfer was a tough blow, and that level of movement is a big reason why the 75-year-old Larranaga called time on his career.

He also said that his team had problems with defense and rebounding and that his players were not particularly good individual defenders. As a team, Miami ranks 16th in the ACC defensively.

Constant losing can be truly numbing, and Duke is particularly impressive right now. So what chance does Miami have?

Well, the best chance they have is to simply surpass Duke.

It’s true that Miami’s defense hasn’t been very good, but the offense isn’t bad. It’s possible – not necessarily, but possible – that someone gets really hot and it starts raining threes, which could clear up the lanes.

And Duke needs to be prepared for someone to do that.

However, the reality is that these teams are going in very different directions. Duke has an obvious superstar in the making in Cooper Flagg and another promising young star in Khaman Maluach. Kon Knueppel isn’t far behind either.

As everyone has noticed, Duke is the greatest team in the country and the defense has become elite.

Unfortunately, the Blue Devils will be missing Maliq Brown. The notable defender, who often subs for Maluach, injured his knee against Notre Dame and will be out for some time. That will hurt Duke, but it gives freshman Patrick Ngongba a chance to shine.

As we’ve seen in recent games, Flagg and Maluach are coming into their own. Knueppel is not far behind.

But as we saw against Notre Dame, youth is vulnerable. Duke made several mistakes down the stretch on Saturday that could have been pretty serious.

And there’s something else the Blue Devils need to guard against on Tuesday night, and that’s complacency.

Everyone assumes 14-2 Duke will rise above 4-12 Miami. It’s just so obvious, right?

Well, until it isn’t. As mentioned above, Miami is not lacking in talent. They have some. And what do they have to lose? Their coach is gone, their season is a train wreck, and they’re playing in Cameron.

Given everything that’s gone wrong, why wouldn’t they act casual and, well, a little wild?

The last thing we expect from this team is to just give up. Miami comes to play. You can rely on that.

Duke better be prepared and they need to let the Canes know early – that won’t happen tonight.