Inside Miami’s incredible offense in Final Four, and how it matches up with UConn

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Miami overhauled its offense, and it put them in the men’s Final Four. Here’s why the Hurricanes are so hard to defend

After three years in the doldrums of the ACC, Miami revitalized its offense for the 2021-22 season. What had become a rote, high-volume pick-and-roll offense needed some added punch. With a versatile collection of on-ball creators, Miami shifted to more 5-out looks with veteran center Sam Waardenburg as the floor-spacing big man.

Waardenburg’s gravity as a pick-and-pop shooter (41.8 percent from three), combined with the scoring punch of guys like Isaiah Wong, Kam McGusty and Charlie Moore, formed the pressure point against opposing defenses. When the 6’10 Waardeburg engaged in handoff actions with one of the guards, defenses had to pick their poison. Put two on the ball and allow an open pop? Drop and allow the pop? Switch and let Wong cook 1-on-1? There weren’t a lot of good options. As a result, Miami’s top-20 offense ranked inside the top-40 nationally in effective shooting, 2-point percentage, and turnover percentage.

This season, Miami experienced a good bit of roster turnover, including the addition of center Norchad Omier, an undersized yet tenacious 5-man. Omier isn’t the same type of shooter as Waardenburg; however, what he lacks in stretch, Omier makes up for with dribble-handoff (DHO) playmaking and downhill drives. Those 5-out sets have continued to hum, especially with the arrival of Nijel Pack, one of the best shooters in the country, and the development of Wooga Poplar, who is emerging as a nasty catch-and-go athlete on the wing.

Striking the right balance

Miami’s offense features five players who average above four three-point attempts per 100 possessions and shot above 35 percent from deep. Pack, of course, leads the way: 11.3 3-point attempts per 100 possessions (54.7 percent of Pack’s total FGA) and 40.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc. After a slow-ish start to the season, Pack shot 44.1 percent on his 3-point attempts (6.4 3PA per game) over the last 20 games. During ACC play, Pack shot 43.3 percent from deep, which ranked second in the league — behind only Duke’s Dariq Whitehead.

The dude who ties all of this together, though, is one of the most versatile two-way forwards in the country: Jordan Miller, a crafty cutter, finisher, and passer. Miller’s connective passing and DHO creation efforts unlock an offense with a decentralized playmaking approach. All six guys in Miami’s top-six, including backup guard Bensley Joseph, can initiate offense, which frees Pack and Wong to do what they do best: get buckets. Two of those six, Miller and Omier, are 6’7 hybrid frontcourt players with a real knack for faking handoffs and getting downhill.

Add it up — the spacing, the 5-out sets, the multiple playmakers — and Miami’s offense starts to look pretty damn dangerous.

When Miami has the ball

Speaking of that lineup, the Hurricanes have an elite point differential with that group on the floor. According to CBB Analytics, the Canes are +208 in 458 minutes this season with Pack, Wong, Poplar, Miller and Omier on the floor together, outscoring opponents by 27.3 points per 100 possessions (offensive rating of 126.8 points per 100 possessions). In four NCAA Tournament games, Miami is +35 in 66 minutes with that crew on the floor, per Pivot Analysis.

Miami uses hyper-active pick-and-roll coverages on defense to unlock its transition offense, which is scoring 13.2 fast-break points per 40 minutes (96th percentile nationally), according to CBB Analytics.

During secondary situations, when Miami is able to push after a defensive rebound, the Hurricanes will look to Wong or Pack for early offense with drag ball screens from Omier. Nearly 40 percent of Pack’s 3-pointers this season have come unassisted.

Miller is also encouraged to push in transition.

However, this team is razor-sharp in terms of its half-court execution, too. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of sets and actions that the Hurricanes like to flow into with their half-court offense.

5-Out

Miami runs a lot of different things out of its 5-out alignment, but one of the primary reads starts with Wong spaced in the left corner. Once the ball is centered to Omier or Miller in the middle third of the floor, Wong will trigger “Zoom” or “Chicago” action — coming off of a pindown and into a DHO with the 4/5.

This action helps Wong turn the corner and try to get into the paint. If the initial action is covered, though, Miami can flow into its spread pick-and-roll offense.

When an opposing defense starts to lean on those handoffs — anticipating the exchange before it takes place — Omier and Miller will counter with fake DHO keeps. This helps those guys keep defenses off balance while working in the middle of the floor, often against slower defenders.

An after-timeout (ATO) counter to this 5-out keep maneuver is to have the off-ball player on the strong-side wing cut backdoor when Omier or Miller dribble in their direction. Here, Pack is covered on his back cut, but Miller sees the defense shifted and cuts right in front of Taylor Hendricks for a layup.

Chop

One of the other ways Miami likes to get Wong moving into a ball screen is with its “Chop” action. This is a set that UNC has run a lot under Hubert Davis — mostly for Caleb Love.

This starts with Wong on the left side of the floor, and the other off-ball guard/wing zippering up and receiving the initial pass. As that happens, Wong lifts up and off a pindown from the 4 to receive a DHO from the other guard in motion. Wong collects the DHO and immediately flows into a ball screen from the 5 — with the 1 (Joseph) leaking back up the middle of the floor.

It’s a lot of moving parts, with several guys touching the ball. That’s tough to deal with.

Here’s that same set with Virginia putting two on the ball and packing the paint, which opens up the skip pass for Wong.

If Miami sneaks Miller to the strong-side block (on the right side of the floor) — instead of having him at the left elbow to set the pindown for Wong, this is a tell: they want Miller to fake the DHO with Wong and look to attack. Here’s an ATO play vs. Wake Forest: Miller fakes and keeps the DHO with Wong, which allows him to turn the corner on Bobi Klintman and finish at the rim.

Scissor Cuts

Another way for Miami to initiate with Omier or Miller in the middle third comes from its scissor action. On these plays, which Miami runs frequently, the point guard starts the play by passing out to the wing and cutting diagonally down through the lane — off of a little brush screen from Omier. That’s immediately followed by a second cut from the off-ball cut, who cuts diagonally in the opposite direction, though once again using Omier as a screen. Once the ball is centered to Omier or Miller, the Hurricanes again flow into Zoom/Chicago action: pindown into a DHO.

With a spread floor and pindowns on both sides, there’s room for Miller or Omier to once again work in isolation and look to attack 1-on-1. Omier, with his strength and speed, is a tough cover in the middle third of the floor.

Miller has scored on this exact look multiple times in wins over Indiana and Texas. Upon his arrival in Coral Gables last season, Miller quickly established himself as a talented team and 1-on-1 defender, who could also help link actions together on offense. This postseason, though, has seen Miller’s profile grow.

Dating back to the ACC Tournament, Miller is averaging 16.8 points per game on 11.0 field goal attempts across six postseason contests, while shooting 63.6 percent on 2-points attempts. (During this six-game stretch, Miller also averaged 4.5 FTA, 2.8 assists and only 0.8 TOV per game.)

Chin – Floppy

Similar to that Scissor set, Miami will run single-double “Floppy” action out of its Chin series.

As Pack crosses half-court, notice how he signals with his left hand, pointing to his actual chin. Pack passes off to Omier and cuts down; so, too, does Wong, though neither player cuts across Omier in that scissor style. As Omier faces up, Pack switches sides of the floor and sprints off of two screens: Wong and Miller. Wong follows and cuts off a pindown from Harlond Beverly on the right side. That’s the single-double setup for Floppy.

Pack uses the staggered screens and flows into spread pick-and-roll with Omier. With Wake in drop coverage and Tyree Appley displaced by Omier’s screen, Pack has a runway to get to his floater.

Horns Twist: Old Trusty

When some of the 5-out/handoff looks aren’t hitting, Jim Larranaga will dial up his go-to pick-and-roll set for Wong. This is what Miami will go to when it’s determined to put the ball in Wong’s hands and let him create a shot: “Horns Twist.”

Twist is a simple pick-and-roll play out of a Horns set. It’s used by teams at all levels, including the NBA, when an offense wants to attack drop coverage or get a switch for its primary creator.

Wong will dribble up the floor and use the initial ball screen from the 4 (Miller) moving to his left. As soon as Wong hits the left slot, he turns back to his preferred right hand and uses a second ball screen from the 5 — in this case, Anthony Walker. And with Wake in deep drop coverage, Wong exits that Twist action with a good look at the rim.

If Wong is able to turn the corner, he can pressure the rim for a layup or collapse the defense and hit a teammate for a layup or a kick-out 3.

If the defense wants to hedge the second screen against Wong, he’s more than happy to outlet the ball to Miller or Omier on the short roll in space.

When things looked wobbly for Miami against Texas, with a ticket to the Final Four on the line, Larranaga called Horns Twist five times for his senior guard. Miami scored on three of those possessions and drew a foul on another.

Wong is a ridiculous midrange shot-maker. Over the last three seasons (100 games), Wong shot 50.3 percent on 2-point attempts: 393 total makes. According to Bart Torvik’s shot data, 314 of those 393 2-point field goals have come unassisted: 79.9 percent.

This isn’t the first time Wong and Miami have spanned Horns Twist. During a comeback win over NC State last season, Miami ran the same set on eight straight possessions, scoring seven times. It was huge for Miami during a February victory over Wake Forest.

Texas defended the action well, but with the screen defender closer to the level and Wong in his bang, Miami was able to unlock Omier for a lob finish at the rim, too.

BLOB: Open The Screen Doors

When Miami is set to take the ball out from under the opponent’s basket, Wong becomes a primary option in a couple of different screen-the-screener (STS) baseline out-of-bounds (BLOB) plays.

The Hurricanes will set up in a Box formation, with Wong at the block opposite of the player passing the ball in.

Wong will set a quick diagonal screen for Miller and then come off a pindown from Omier, looking to score — that’s the screen-the-screener action. It’s a good way to create a clean catch-and-shoot jumper for Wong.

The Hurricanes run another similar BLOB Box play for Wong — with a slight twist. Once again, Miami comes out in the Box, but instead of screening diagonally, Wong sets a back screen for Pack and then comes off staggered screens from the two bigs, Miller and Omier.

This, too, is screen-the-screener action for Wong; however, the Canes involve that second screener to provide Wong with a little extra room.

Hedge that bet?

In each of the last two seasons, the Hurricanes have gone to at least the Elite Eight while also having a defense outside the Top 100 in adjusted efficiency. Miami can be scored on; obviously, the defense has vulnerabilities.

Last year’s team was small but quick, so Miami leaned into being a hard hedge/trap defense in terms of its pick-and-roll coverages. They used that approach to force turnovers (No. 10 nationally with a steal rate of 13.0 percent) and kick-star their transition offense.

With Omier and Miller, Miami has two undersized, yet highly mobile, frontcourt players. As such, the Canes have continued to hard hedge and trap on ball screens, though Omier offers some scheme versatility. He can also play at the level or in drop, although that can get dicey at times given the lack of size. Miller and Omier can both switch out and move vs. smaller players, but that’s tough for UConn’s size and movement.

When the trap hits, that approach can trigger Miami’s electric transition offense.

However, it’s a risky path to walk. Poplar and Miller can cover a lot of ground on the back side, but if Omier is attacking ball handlers 25+ feet from the rim, it can put the defense in some dicey 3-on-4 scenarios.

Offenses can lift Miami’s defense and use screening actions to get players behind the coverages. UConn loves to open up hi-lo actions for Adama Sanogo. Those looks will be there.

Opponents have attempted 3s at a higher rate than Miami’s offense — 38.3 percent to 34.4 percent of field goal attempts. The recovering rotations must be tight against UConn’s army of 3-point bombers. Plus, it can leave the rim exposed. Over the last five games, only 26.6 percent of opponent field goal attempts have come at the rim, but they’ve connected on 64.1 percent of those looks.

While Miami still features a dangerous transition offense, the Hurricanes don’t force turnovers nearly as frequently this season (18.0% TOV rate). Miami’s defense has rebounded the ball better this season, too, thanks to Omier, who ranks Top 30 nationally in both offensive and defensive rebound rate (26.6 percent), and some of the more conventional coverages.

That said, UConn is a different monster when it comes to the offensive glass: No. 2 nationally in offensive rebound rate, gathering 38.5 percent of their misses. According to CBB Analytics, the Huskies average 4.7 put-back attempts per game (95th percentile), which translates to 7.9 percent of their total attempts (93rd percentile).

Sanogo, Donovan Clingan and Andre Jackson, who seems to always know where Jordan Hawkins is for a kick-out pass, are all terrors. If those put-back opportunities get Omier in foul trouble, Miami has a big problem on its hands.

Clingan averages less than 14 minutes per game, but the 7-foot-2 rookie’s advanced numbers are sick: 19.9 percent offensive rebound rate, 5.5 fouls drawn per 40 minutes, 72.3 FG% at the rim and 53 dunks (4.3 per 40 minutes).

Wooga World: Catch-and-go, potential matchup with Hawkins

Poplar has stepped up with a much larger role this season. His shooting line is pretty sick: 39 percent from three, 54.9 percent from two-point range, and 86.7 percent from the foul line. With his improved 3-point touch and willingness to let it fly, Poplar has turned into a perfect fit around ball-dominant guards Wong and Pack. When Poplar’s man shows help on Wong around the nail, Poplar can space for kick-out opportunities. Wong and Miller have each assisted Poplar 20 times this season, per CBB Analytics.

The increased shot volume has also opened up other fruitful avenues of Poplar’s game — namely his ability to catch-and-go, getting into gaps and attacking closeouts.

Poplar uses long strides when going to the rim, getting skinny when he needs to and slithering into tight windows. He also plays with his head up, which sets the stage for Poplar to grab the occasional second-side playmaking rep.

There’s a lot of room for growth for Poplar, but with this version of him fully operational: Miami has another pressure point on the rim and someone that can be efficient with a lower-usage role.

Defensively, the UConn matchup will serve as a big matchup for Poplar, too. It seems likely that Poplar will serve as the primary matchup on Jordan Hawkins, the best movement shooter prospect for the 2023 NBA Draft. Hawkins is the complete package as an off-ball mover — non-stop motor, efficient screen usage and an explosive leaper — and he plays in an offense that’s geared toward generating open looks with creative motion packages.

Crafted by head coach Mike Young, Virginia Tech is another motion-heavy offense that features plenty of dizzying off-ball sets. During the two matchups with VT this season, Poplar served as the primary chase defender on Hunter Cattoor, another elite movement shooter (career: 41.8 3P% on 600 3PA) and the closest facsimile of Hawkins in the ACC.

Cattoor shot the ball well vs. Miami in those two games — 35 points on 21 attempts (8-of-16 3PA) — some of which came against so-so chase defense from Poplar.

Here, VT comes out in a Horns set, enters the ball to Cattoor at the elbow and runs Chicago/Zoom action for Sean Pedulla coming out of the corner. After Cattoor pitches the ball to Pedulla, he fans out off of a flare screen from Justyn Mutts, which catches Poplar.

The sophomore from Philly has the length and athleticism to serve as the primary cover for Hawkins, if Larranaga opts for that coverage. However, he must do a better job staying attached, navigating screens and avoiding falling for UConn’s dummy action. That’s a lot to ask. It’d be a major assignment.

Poplar was able to use his tools to recover on some of his possessions against Cattoor and, in theory, put up a good contest. However, with shooters like Hawkins and Cattoor, defenders must stay attached and be in their airspace as soon as the catch the ball. If the defender is getting up to contest while the shooter is already in the air, it’s too late.

On this possession, the Hokies launch “Razor” action out of Horns: back screen from Cattoor into the elbow handoff.

There’s also the chance that Poplar gets matched with Andre Jackson, but then that leaves Wong or Pack tasked with chasing Hawkins. Miller could be an interesting variable. Perhaps Poplar gets Hawkins and Miller takes Jackson, though that’s probably untenable with Wong left to defend the 6’8 stretch-4 Alex Karaban.

Given Poplar’s lower-usage role on offense, though, Miami could give him this task — do his best vs. Hawkins, empty the bucket on defense — and then let the other four guys try to carry the offense.

The Huskies have a plethora of options and a blistering motion attack. They hurt you in a variety of ways, though if you can limit Hawkins it alters their half-court calculus.