For 37 minutes the Hurricanes were in complete control against a very good VCU team. With a lead that was no smaller than 6 after the 12 minute mark of the first half and swelled as high as 20, the Canes were dominating inside and were much more active on both the offensive and defensive boards. Then came some very poor decisions by inexperienced players and before you knew it the Hurricanes needed some good fortune to hang on. With under three minutes to go and a 13 point lead Lance Hurdle took an ill-advised three pointer with over twenty seconds left on the shot clock, and then Miami made numerous ball handling mistakes against a ferocious VCU press which chipped the Miami lead down to 5 with a minute to go. Mistakes by James Dews and Jack McClinton including failure to inbound the ball or just plain sloppiness was very worrying.
The Canes won and will face Arkansas or Providence in the finals Sunday on ESPN 2, but they have work to do to clean up the sloppy play. Some other random thoughts:
- Anthony King is one of the best players I have seen this season in America. His presence inside is unmistakable on both ends of the floor and statistics don't tell the full story even though King has 13 blocks in two games in Puerto Rico. His mere presence chances the way guards drive the lane and their shot selection.
- Ray Hicks had his most active game since the 2005-06 season. He kept several loose balls alive and set some excellent pick plays for the guards.
- Dwayne Collins is a phenomenal talent and a tough defensive player, but his offensive game is still so raw, and unfinished that I don't think Coach Haith can fully trust him in critical situations.
- Eddie Rios, the much hyped Freshman Point Guard was awful committing or contributing to turnovers on four consecutive possessions in the first half.
- Lance Hurdle has great talent but seems like one of those kids who is uncoachable.
- Jack McClinton continues to score points but his shot selection and ball handling are worrying to say the least.
- Brian Asbruy's scrappy active play doesn't get recorded in the box but he's the second most important player on this team behind King.
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7 comments:
Hang on? We never trailed in the game and they never got closer than 5 after 19-14.
Good win for basketball but where's the Virgian Tech preview?
Is this a Basketball site now? Who the f!!@#$ cares about Basketball in November! Call me in March after the season and signing day are completed.
I am embarrassed for this website. After such a promising start with honest analysis of the Canes which some of us disagreed with at the time but now see as accurate, the site has been flipping into something covering a sport that less than 1,000 people care about. UM Basketball is shit and has always been shit. Name me one year when the Basketball team has been better than the Football team.
I do care about Miami basketball but it's Saturday and where's the Virginia Tech preview?
You hate VT so muich but no analysis?
Sorry- I've been really swamped with another media related venture related to another sport. I have a preview I'm working on right now. Secondly, UM Basketball was better than UM Football in the 1996 to 2000 period every season.
That is a fact you can bank on.
Any thoughts about the Providence game?
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