Miami Hurricanes shift focus quickly to monumental challenge of beating Purdue

The Miami Hurricanes basketball team was back on the podium Saturday in the midst of preparations for Sundays Noon showdown with Purdue for the right to go to the Sweet 16.

Here is what Coach Jai Lucas and players were talking about:

JAI LUCAS: Last night I was most excited and most pleased with just our — we talk about this all year, but just our identity showing through. But controlling the glass, being able to get 16 offensive rebounds. I think it’s plus 17 on the boards. And then down the stretch, just really being able to execute and take care of the ball. In March, you have to be able, at least to me, to control the paint, control the glass and then value possessions. We had seven turnovers in the first half, ended up with two in the second half and we were able to create some separation.

And the guys just living in the moment with it being a road game. I expect it to be close to a road game tomorrow. I’ve played Purdue before. I’ve seen how they travel. So I expect it to be maybe not as crazy, but pretty close. So we’re just excited about the opportunity.

Q.  Can you tell us, what did it feel like when you came out from the tunnel and heard the decibel of the boos in that building for a neutral, quote/unquote, game? What did that feel like? What went through your mind at that moment?

If you could talk about facing Braden Smith. What kind of challenges does he pose? What kind of match up do you think that is?

JAI LUCAS: Yeah. With the environment, we kind of picked up on it on the bus ride over. You could see all the Mizzou fans, the route we took and everything going on. I could hear them before I actually went out there as the game was getting closer and as it got under five minutes, you could really start to hear them. Walking out there, you could feel it. It felt like a road game, but it still felt like that big moment of being in the tournament, which is always exciting. So it was fun. It was fun.

Then Braden Smith, I mean, man, well, he’s good. I’ll just start there. He puts a lot of pressure on you. Just his IQ, his poise, his ability to just command the team. He almost runs it himself. Matt Painter is a great coach, but when you have a point guard like that, that’s like having a great coach on the court and you can just see it with how he commands the team.

So for us, we have to give him different looks. We gotta give him different coverages. He’s seen everything, but we gotta keep him guessing. We have some stuff that we feel could kind of slow him down and make him think a little bit more than he usually does. So we’ll try and do that.

Q.  Coach, when you got these guys together and you’re trying to change the narrative of a program and you have a lot of new people, what did you have to give them from the start to even remotely dream of having a moment, it would lead to a moment like this.

Second part of that, I realize a stat like this might not be on your radar screen right now. But no one has ever had a bigger turnaround. Does that mean something to you personally to have been a part of that?

JAI LUCAS: The first part was I wanted to make sure we had a clear identity of who we needed to be and how we were going to win and that is why the team was built the way it was built. And I felt me and the staff did a great job of explaining that to the players, of giving as much clarity as possible. So one of the first meetings it was, all right, everybody, Malik is going to be our leading scorer. It’s just the way we’re going to play, how we’re going to operate. Is everybody good with that? Everybody was like, yeah, we’re good with that. So just trying to give them as many answers before we got started I felt helped us, because it kind of took that pressure off everybody. Like, this is what we’re doing, this is why we are going to be good, this is how we’re going to be good and this is how we’re going to execute it. So just try to do that as simple as possible.

For the turnaround question, I haven’t really, like, reflected on the season yet, and it just shows that we had the right people in the building, with the players, with the staff. And then also with the support from the university, from the administration and the fans. Like, our fans were great this year, especially coming down the stretch.

So for me, that’s just the reflection of that. And making sure that everybody is on the same page and everybody understands what we’re trying to do and execute, that’s my part of it, and just making sure we’re moving in the right direction.

But it started with getting the right players and the right staff.

Q.  Coach, you talked a little bit about the game planning for Purdue. A little while back to NC State, you were talking about picking your poison, whether it’s limiting the perimeter shooting with Paul McNeil or down low with Ven-Allen Lubin. Here’s kind of a similar setup where are you going to decide to put an emphasis on limiting Braden Smith and Loyer or is it going to be more down low with Cluff and TKR?

JAI LUCAS: That’s a great question because they have a lot of weapons. For me, these are the best games because you can kind of just throw everything at them and see what’s kind of sticking. Like all games, we’ll have multiple game plans that we can kind of adjust and adapt to depending on how the game is going. A lot of it starts with foul trouble and kind of things like that.

But you’ll see, and we’ve always done this and you’ll see tomorrow, like we play a bunch of different defenses, and we’re going to come in and do what we do tomorrow. For us it’s just trying to execute what we are and what we’re good at and then just tweaking it, depending on how the game goes and how it starts. Of course, you gotta always think about the ball screen coverage. I think that’s the biggest part of the game, how they like to put Kaufman-Renn in the pocket and how they like to let him kind of facilitate. And then the screening actions for Loyer is a big part of it, too. My thing is not letting them get comfortable. They’re number one offense in the country analytically. So I gotta find a way to disrupt their rhythm somehow. We’ll get it figured out. It may take 10 minutes. It may take a whole half. But eventually, we’ll find something and we’ll go from there.

Q.  Malik, Tre and Dante all mentioned how much they enjoyed playing in a road environment like last night. You guys are 8-2 on the road, 3-3, neutral site. What is it about playing in a road environment that gets you guys going or have a different kind of juice or momentum going as you enter the game?

JAI LUCAS: It all kind of starts with the chip that we had, us against everybody mentality. And it started early on with kind of where we were picked in the league, towards the bottom, not having any Big Monday games and kind of just being, oh, it’s Miami, you know. So we have had that chip on our shoulder the whole year, and the road game really lets us buy into that and live in that moment. And I think the guys enjoy that, and it lets us play our best basketball. And we expect the same thing tomorrow with Purdue.

They have been one of the best programs since I’ve been coaching. They’ve almost been like a blue blood. The only thing they haven’t done is win a National Championship. But they’ve been at the highest level for a long time, and that’s just a testament to Coach Painter. So for us, it’s another environment where we’ll be the underdog, we’ll be outnumbered. But that’s when we play our best.

Q.  With having Malik and Tre both coming from Big Ten programs and both of them having that chip because they both maybe felt, and Tre alluded to it here, that they were both maybe undervalued there in those programs. Do you think that, will that be a plus or can that be a minus tomorrow when they’re playing against a Big Ten opponent? Will they maybe try too hard and it gets too much in their head? Do you talk to them about that? Because it’s a little more personal for players who have played in that league and played against Purdue before.

JAI LUCAS: Yeah. That’s a great question, and I would be naive to think that it’s not going to be some type of emotion that comes with it, because there is familiarity and there is somewhat of a rival with Malik and Indiana and Purdue and what that feels like and Michigan and Purdue, with Purdue being at the top of the league every year.

So for me, it’s try to get them to stay as level-headed as possible, but also letting them live in the moment a little bit and just go out and attack it. And that’s our whole thing. Just go and get it. Go flow, go aggressively in doing it. But also doing it with poise and with patience. So that’s the part where I gotta kind of reel them in at times. But last night was an emotional game. There was a lot of emotion within the game. Former teammates, former staff. Road game. So this game will have its own emotion in it, and what you just talked about will be a big part with it with them. But them being seniors, it’ll take them a little bit, but I expect by the first media it will be under control.

Q.  How much is it a benefit that they know Purdue so well, both of them?

JAI LUCAS: No. They do and they know their tendencies. One thing I will say about Purdue, I’ve played against them before, coached against them before. They have the tendencies that have carried over, like all great programs. Now, he does a great job of disguising it and having different offenses, but usually they get to the same thing and the same actions. So understanding the triggers and when people are here, this is coming. When they throw the ball here, this is what’s happening. So they already have that and been talking about it in film and our prep.

So I guess that’s the biggest part in the short turnaround is you have people who have competed against them, which always helps.

Q.  This is the first Big Ten opponent you’ve faced all year. Is there a certain play style that comes differently in that conference that you’re not used to seeing?

JAI LUCAS: There’s a physicality in the Big Ten and the history of the league, but especially since I’ve been coaching, it’s one of those leagues, and Purdue is no different, where they play two 5-men and they’re big and physical. You look at Michigan. You look at Michigan State, Purdue, Nebraska, Wisconsin. They all play a very physical brand with two bigs that you don’t see a lot anymore. And so that’s the one thing about it.

And then on the perimeter, there’s always great shooting. You know, it goes to the region of the conference and the Midwest with those states and those schools, just kind of how it’s built through grass roots. It really shows in college. But I think just the physicality, the bigger 4 and 5 men, less of a shooting 4, more of a banging physical 4 has always been kind of the calling card of the Big Ten.

Q.  Jai, you guys had an unbelievable season, but one of the issues all year long has been your free throws and it’s kind of been a big plague for you. I know we’re right next to the game. Is there anything you guys can do to try to fix that or make it better or is it just getting to the paint and getting to the line at a higher volume and having that even out?

JAI LUCAS: There you go. There you go. You know, when you build a team certain ways, you give up certain things. So my thing for this first year was I wanted to make sure we could compete and control the paint, control the glass, be able to rebound offensively, get kind of 40 percent of our misses back. When you do that, some of the shooting and some of the other stuff goes away. So you have to make up for it.

My thing is kind of like you explained for this year, how can we make 19 free throws? All right. It may take 35 attempts. It may take 32. Well, then that’s what we gotta get. And by doing that it puts so much pressure on the other team with foul trouble, with not wanting to foul and the constant assault on the paint and on the rim. It just kind of evens out where you have a game where teams shoot, make 14, 13 threes and you’re still able to win by six and eight because you made 19 free throws, you had 16 second-chance points. So it’s just kind of the formula with how our team is built. We work on free throws. We shoot them. They shoot, make 100 a day, 200 a day. We do it a lot, but it’s just sometimes you’re good at stuff, sometimes you’re not. So we had to figure out for us, it’s just about getting as many as possible.

Q.  Jai, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. You’ve talked all year about this formula, about make more than the other team attempts and 40 percent of the offensive rebounds, all these numbers and statistics. Where do your analytics come from? Where are these numbers and these formulas coming from?

JAI LUCAS: So I kind of take it from teams I felt were built like us and why they were good and why they were good offensively. So it was four times I kind of looked at, Arizona, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Florida. I had Michigan at first, but they were kind of an outlier because they made 10 threes per game. With Arizona, I said this all year, they’re the number one team in the country and they only make six threes a game, but they also have the number three offense. So you’re trying to figure out why are they so good. And you look at their numbers and what was true across all these teams was Arizona, now, they shoot a lot of free throws, but they are really good at free throw shooting. They’re one of the best free throw shooters. They make 20 a game. You go to Gonzaga, 17 a game. Tennessee was like 18. Florida was 19. Okay. And then the offensive rebounding and everybody was at least 37 percent or higher.

With threes, it was like that mean average was like 7.2, right around where we were. And then the second-chance points was right around 14. So I kind of saw that and read into the numbers and felt for us this is a simple, similar formula that we could do for this year, why we could be good offensively. And we have been for the most part. We’ve had a few games where we struggled. But we’ve been a lot better offensively than I imagined. I thought we would be built more defensively, and we actually have been more of an offensive-based team this year, which has shocked me.

But just looking at teams that were built like us and why they were good and then kind of reading into the numbers and seeing where it was and that’s kind of where I came up with it.

Q.  It’s working.

JAI LUCAS: Yeah. So far, so good.

Q.  Coach, last night really felt like a tone setter for Dante. How have you seen him come into this new role ever since that mid season, late season adjustment?

JAI LUCAS: Yeah. Dante has grown throughout the season, and it could have been easy to start Dante at the beginning of the year just with the preseason and the summer he had. But Tru also had a great summer. I thought that was kind of where we needed to go and it was for part of the year. And then I felt we got stagnant throughout the year because our bench, we weren’t using it as much and not getting a lot of production off the bench, especially once Marcus got out. So I felt we needed some pop off the bench. So flipping Tru and Dante, I felt, put everybody in a bucket that they could be comfortable with. And so Dante is a great connector. He’s really good at playing with other good players. So putting him out there with that starting group, he’s able to connect and do the little things that are winning things that really show up and it gave me the ability to bring Tru off the bench and put him more in the scoring role. So when Malik is off the court or Shelton is off the court or Tre is off the court, we are coming in the game with some punch off the bench.

So Dante has done a great job of just continuing to buy in to the winning plays and you’ve seen him develop throughout the year. Like his shooting showed up last night. He hit some big threes for us. But just his ability to defend, his ability to get in the paint and get fouled. He’s starting to make some reads. So he’s grown throughout this season, and for me I hope he stays around as long as possible. I want him to be one of the foundations of our program.

MODERATOR: Miami Hurricanes players are here now – Tre Donaldson, Malik Reneau and Dante Allen. We’ll start off with questions for the student-athletes.

Q.  First of all, congratulations to all of you three for last night. I have two questions. Dante, I just want to ask you about your first experience in March Madness and what it’s been like for you, what you anticipated compared to what it really is.

For really any of you, maybe Tre or Malik, Braden, if you could talk about Braden Smith. He set the record yesterday for assists. What do you think it’ll be like playing against him, what kind of challenges does he pose?

DANTE ALLEN: To me, it’s a blessing. March Madness, I’ve been watching it as a kid since I learned what basketball was. So to be able to play in the tournament in that type of environment, too, and most importantly to be able to come out with a win, it’s a blessing, something I would have dreamed about when I was growing up learning how to play basketball.

A great experience, even better that we were able to get the win, also.

MALIK RENEAU: Yeah. I mean, Braden Smith is a great point guard. Congratulations on him getting the assist record. But, yeah, I mean, we gotta show him a lot of crowds. He’s a great passer and he’s the fuel to their offense. So being able to defend him without fouling and stuff like that so we can get an edge on him because he’s the fuel to their offense. So if we can stop him, we can stop Purdue.

TRE DONALDSON: Like you said, me and Malik are familiar with Braden Smith playing in the Big Ten. Like he said, show him crowds, giving him different looks and keeping in front, that’s the biggest thing, make it tough for him. He’s a very gifted and good player. So make it as tough as possible for him.

Q.  Malik, you’re very familiar with this Purdue team, playing at IU for three years. How excited are you to go up against the Boilermakers again and what do you take from those three years that you can use to your advantage?

MALIK RENEAU: It’s going to be a fun game. I’m super excited. Not just because I’ve been at IU and know the rival state. Man, just playing with these guys, it’s always been fun playing with them.

It’s just another obstacle, another road game that we have to come through. And just having that experience and knowing what they’ve done on the offensive end and what they do as a program. So just letting these guys know what we’re going to see ahead of time and get everybody’s minds ready for what we’re going to face on Sunday.

Q.  For any of you, you’ve talked before about the chip on the shoulder mentality a little bit this team has, and obviously that’s been good for you during the season. When you get into March and you’re playing a team like this at a moment like this, how valuable is it and necessary to have that sort of approach and mentality?

TRE DONALDSON: I mean, I don’t feel like it changes. It’s the same chip we’ve had all season. Just because we’re in March and just because we’re playing another good team, it doesn’t really change. It’s the same chip, and I feel like that’s the biggest thing, and that’s something that other teams can get misconstrued that they have to change when it comes to March. You just have to be yourselves, be the same people, and I feel like the teams that are able to do that are the teams that come out on top.

DANTE ALLEN: I think like Tre said, to keep it is definitely important. I think one big thing we’ve carried ourselves a lot of years is that we’re ready to face anybody. We’ll play against be anybody, no matter the conference, wherever they’re from. And I think a team like Purdue, top ranked nationally, one of the better teams in their conference. So I think to kind of carry over that chip, knowing that it’s games like this that we wanted with the team, with the name, with the players that they have, just kind of knowing going into the game, it’s going to be a fight. But it’s nothing that we’ll ever shy away from, I think, within our program.

Q.  Talking about that theme of adversity that you guys have faced and conquered again and again, starting off this tournament, going to St. Louis, playing Missouri. And even next game, the timing of it with it being at noon. Not much rest from last night until Sunday. How do you guys feed off of that in terms of getting ready for how to prepare?

TRE DONALDSON: I mean, just gotta deal with it. I mean, we’re going to be prepared for any moment that comes our way. Just stay the course and just continue to just keep pushing and pushing. And I mean, we’ve been in basketball our whole season. So we’re just going to keep fighting.

Me, personally, I don’t feel, we just can’t overcomplicate it. We can’t get too high or low. Just continue to look at everything the same way and attack it head-on. We have all day today to rest. Last night was a late game, but nobody cares. They’re not going to use that as an excuse or anything like that. So we just have to come out, rest today, take care of our bodies, but also stick to what we do, don’t change nothing and attack it the same way we have been all year.

Q.  I want to ask Tre and Malik, with the experience that you have in the Big Ten, just how valuable is that to be able to play an opponent that you know so well, and what have you been able to — without sharing any secrets, how much have you been able to talk to your teammates about Purdue?

And then for Dante, I’m just wondering, what was the celebration like last night? It was late, but did you stay out late or did you just go back to your rooms and sleep?

DANTE ALLEN: I think the celebration was really just within the locker room. Kind of getting back there with the team, coaches, everybody kind of involved, being able to put our sticker and go into the next round, just kind of enjoying that. I think by the time we left the arena, I think we were already ready for the next game. I think the biggest thing for us is it was a quick turnaround. We have today, but even then going back, getting a good meal and good shower and then also a good night’s rest, I think, was the most important thing to us.

MODERATOR: Your familiarity with the Big Ten, advantage or no?

MALIK RENEAU: Yeah. I wouldn’t say it’s an advantage, but yeah, just being familiar with the opponent, just giving these guys a heads-up. Like I was saying earlier, just a heads-up on the type of actions and concepts they like to run. They got a lot of plays in their play book. So we have to be prepared for everything. And just being prepared for everything. I mean, that’s what I’ve been telling them, just showing them the little concepts and how to guard ball screens because those are going to be vital in this game.

TRE DONALDSON: I feel like just our experience with them is going to help us a lot. Purdue has been doing what they do for a long time. This is nothing new. Coach Painter has had the program down pat and he’s done a great job with the program.

Me being able to play them last year three times, knowing what it takes to win, it’s just a big thing that I can not only relate to the young guys, but to Malik, as well. Me and Malik bounce a lot of ideas and thoughts off of each other on how we can help each other win. Him playing in the Big Ten for three years and being familiar with the program and what it means to him. I feel like it’s going to be a big thing for us.

Q.  And one thing, is there a flip side where they know you, too? They also know the two of you, right?

TRE DONALDSON: No.

MALIK RENEAU: Probably not so much. The way I play is quite different than how I played at IU. So I mean, we’re going to be able to put me in space and it’s going to be harder to double team and stuff like that. Yeah, that’s pretty much.

TRE DONALDSON: We’ve both grown a lot from last year. So it’s different aspects mentally, physically and obviously our basketball games have changed a lot. I played one year in the Big Ten. Coming from Auburn, they weren’t really familiar with my game. Like I said, I played them three times. So they’re going to know a little bit. They’re going to have a good scout. They have a good program, so I know they’re going to prepare as best as possible. But we just gotta be us.

Q.  What’s the most important thing Coach Lucas has given you individually? What means the most to you? What is most powerful to you?

MALIK RENEAU: I mean, his self-belief in us. The way he trusts everybody on the team to do their job at a high level and then the confidence he gives in everybody to go out there and just compete and have fun and leave it all on the court.

TRE DONALDSON: Me, personally, just reminding me of like why I’m here. Me just being counted out, people thinking I wasn’t able to play basketball at a high level, things like that. That helps me keep that chip on my shoulder, helps me continue to play at a high level.

DANTE ALLEN: I think for me just kind of being the young guy coming in and having a bit of a bigger role within the team, just instilling that confidence in me the same way my teammates do, instilling the confidence in me that I’m out there for a reason. I provide a lot of positives for our team, especially things that may not always show up on the stat sheets, the box scores, stuff like that. So just kind of reminding me all the positives I’ve done that have gotten me here and just making sure that I don’t ever shy away from them.

Q.  Dante, what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from this senior class of Tre, Malik and Ernest that you’ll take with you?

DANTE ALLEN: I would say just never shy away from who I am. Obviously college is different. You have guys that are bigger, more physical and might be more experienced, but also kind of knowing that I’ve been a really good player here before, been recruited and I think kind of coming here just always remembering the things that got me here, things like toughness, competitiveness, kind of stuff like that. So never shying away from them, never shying away from the things who make me me, and just going out there having fun every night, whether it’s a game, practice, individual workout by myself, just making sure I’m always having fun with it and always loving the game of basketball the same way I always have.

Q.  I want to ask all of you, what did it feel like if you could just describe or remember, when you ran out onto the court last night and everybody was booing. It was really, really loud. I’m wondering what went through each of your minds, because it may be similar tomorrow. What did that feel like right when you go out from the tunnel and you’re hearing these deafening boos?

DANTE ALLEN: I think it was amazing for me. I think one of the best things about it is that I’ve always wanted to play in the tournament. But I think me also being the competitor, kind of having that extra level of adversity, it kind of being closer to their home, I think it just added to the fun for me. And then also added onto that, really, really wanted to come out with a win.

TRE DONALDSON: Running out to all the boos, I embraced the villain role. I like it. I like playing on the road. I feel like it’s more fun. It kind of gives you a little motivation, got everybody going against you. Proving 17,000 people wrong is really fun. I enjoy it. And I feel like our team takes on that role, as well.

MALIK RENEAU: It just added more fuel to the fire for us and just made us even more excited to go out there and just play. The only thing I really can remember from the cheers was the MIZ. That’s all I really remember from what was going on out there. Everything else was just go out there and have fun.

Q.  I want to ask, also piggybacking about Coach Lucas, Jai Lucas. CY said, when I first met him that the thing about Jai is he’s demanding without being demeaning. Can you talk about just his personality and how when you see him, he seems like this mild-mannered guy. But how do you feel he balances being demanding but not demeaning?

MALIK RENEAU: At the end of the day, he just wants what’s best for us. So we understand that. And going out there and competing at a high level, he’s going to yell at every single one of us, whether you’re the top player on the team or you’re the walk-on on the team. He wants the best from everybody. So just having that, really, and having that from a coach, it just makes us all go.

And then off the court he’s just a great guy. I mean, he’s going to talk to everybody. He’s going to interact with everybody. And he’s just a great guy to be around.

TRE DONALDSON: I tip my hat to Coach. He’s very professional. I feel like that’s the biggest word when it comes to it, because like you said, he’s very mild-mannered, but he holds us to a high standard and that’s what comes with being professional. He’s been around the game of basketball and around great coaches and around great programs. So he just carries that on with him to his own program here at Miami. And he does a really good job of being professional and carrying himself the right way, but also holding us to a high standard, holding our entire program, coaches as well, to a high standard to understand what we want to get done and what his goal is for his program and his teams.

DANTE ALLEN: I think like one thing Tre said is he’s been around the game. He’s been a coach at high-level programs with high-level players. He’s also been a player, too. So I think one great thing about him is he understands the mind of a player a little. There will always be times when he gets on us when he really needs to get his message across. But I think the thing about him is he understands us. He understands how to really get his message across, whether that’s a one-on-one conversation, whether that’s something that he might need to emphasize a little bit more. But I think he does a really great job of understanding how we receive messages, kind of how to get that message across, too.