Conflicted Feelings: The Last Two Miami Team Made us Proud in the ACC Tourney- This Team Embarrassed Us

Today's disgraceful final 10 minutes in Charlotte doesn't in any way undo what the Hurricanes have accomplished this season. But what it does do is make me take a less favorable view of this team's grit as compared to it immediate two predecessors both of whom battled and fought to the death against far superior teams than this season's Hokie club in the previous two exits from the ACC Tournament.

Two years ago Miami was chasing the NCAA Tournament until losing a virtual elimination game to Florida State in the final game of the season. The Canes then went to Greensboro knowing it had only one possible post season destination: the NIT. Yet those Canes instead of laying down came from 17 behind to beat Clemson and took RPI #1 team Duke to the brink. Duke had last lost an ACC Tournament game in Greensboro in 1997, but the Hurricanes fought until a now infamous phantom call against Rob Hite put J.J. Reddick on the line to seal the game with 2.3 seconds remaining. That team went down fighting.

Last year the Canes played much of the season with five scholarship players, and finished in last place in the ACC. Yet the team fought like mad in the ACC Tournament beating fifth seeded Maryland on day one and then taking Boston College, one of the best teams in the country into overtime and losing in the last seconds of OT. The Canes weren't going to the NCAA or NIT but played for pride and played better than all year in the ACC Tourney.

This year with an NCAA bid all but wrapped up the Canes played two successive lackluster games where players were not fully focused and the coaches seemed to have been more interested in politicking the team into the NCAA and questioning officiating than focusing on playing with pride. I certainly hope the week that the Canes took off mentally leads to a more focused NCAA Tournament.