Clemson 91, Miami 72

I haven’t seen too much of this year’s Miami Hurricanes basketball squad this season, but what I have seen hasn’t been all that pretty.

A 13-point loss to #2 UCONN is acceptable. Early in the season. Tough foe. High expectations. Fail that early season test, but respond to the next challenge.

Instead, Miami’s ace in the hole wanted to bury his head in one, after taking a swipe and a defender. Jack McClinton got tossed early on againt Ohio State and the Canes wilted down the stretch.

A quality road win four days later hardly felt victorious. Miami hanging on, Kentucky running out of time. (UM was outscored 41-27 in the second half.) From there, a win over FIU gets lost in the shuffle.

Robert Morris makes a game out of what should’ve been a “take out your frustration on a lesser opponent” type event and tonight in the ACC season opener, Clemson puts on a clinic at BankU.

91-72? C’mon now. Bad Miami teams didn’t lose by Clemson by that margin. This team started out top 20 and is folding. In a year when people were starting to take the Canes seriously, they’re fading fast.

A few more “L”s and they’re in the running for this year’s “preseason pretender” in some sports rag’s year in review issue.

This time of year, I’m a casual college basketball observer. Football is still in the air. I don’t make the switch until after recruiting season, though I’ll make an exception this year. January 17th, an ESPN prime-time showdown at #1 North Carolina. A big game that could ignite a flat team who looks to be in some trouble and in need of a mid-season boost.

Between now and then – @St. John’s, North Florida, North Carolina Central, Florida Atlantic, @Boston College and Maryland. A half dozen chances to flip the proverbial script. Come together and become the team many predicted they’d be.

Four seniors with one last shot to make some noise. Some young talent is on board, but Miami won’t easily replace Jimmy Graham, Lance Hurdle, Brian Asbury and #33. Though tonight’s numbers won’t scare next year’s starters.

Hurdle, 0-6 from the field and 0-2 from the line. A few rebounds and a block for Graham. McClinton, a respectable 20 points, but 1-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-14 on the night aren’t going to cut it against quality ACC teams.

Asbury came through with 10 points off the bench. Clutch, but a wasted performance when the starters don’t deliver.

Being on the wrong side of a 16-0 run. Turning the ball over 22 times. Missing 12 of your first 17 free throws. It resulted in Miami’s worst loss since third-ranked North Carolina laid a 41-point beat down on the Canes in January 2007.

As a self-admitted post-bowl-season basketball fan, I want to hear from those of you who follow it religiously. What’s going wrong and why? What will it take to fix it? Did the Canes simply turn it on late and overachieve down the stretch last season? Is Miami really 19 points worse than Clemson, at home? How will these Canes fare in the ACC this year?

Help the “Casual Fan ‘Til Jan” type fan make sense of three losses before we acknowledged that the season started.

Comments

comments