Well it wasn't the game I thought it would be. It seems like, for some reason, demons arise when we play the Canes. However, saying this isn't exactly fair, because, as we learned yesterday, Miami looks like a pretty good team. They are definitely a different team now that they are healthy. While Reggie Johnson didn't look all that impressive, you could see that his presence was still badly missed. Overall, I am excited that we won the game, but am not thrilled with the way we played.
What to like:
1. Mike Scott- Simply put, this year we will go as far as Mike Scott takes us. Without him, we would likely be in that blob of average teams in the ACC, along with Virginia Tech, NCST, Florida State, and Maryland. He showed last night that he is a legitimate ACC Player of the Year contender. Scott, against a very big, physical, and athletic Miami frontcourt, showed that he cannot be stopped. In previous games, it almost seemed as if Mike was leaning on his jump-shot as opposed to taking his man down low. Well, now it is clear that his defenders had basically been conceding him those shots, because they know how good he is down low. He showed this ability last night, as he went up, over, and around the Canes' defenders, finding many different ways to score. If you back off of Mike, he'll shoot over you. If you stay tight with him, he'll either go by or spin around you. You just can't use one defender to shut him down. This is really, really important, as it takes the pressure off the rest of our offense. Also, Mike's a great passer out of the double-team, so he'll know where best to put the ball. Bottom line, Scott's 23 point, 8 rebound performance in 33 minutes against a strong Miami frontcourt solidifies his status as one of the nations premier post players.
2. The Defense- Even by our high standards, the defense last night was very impressive. One of the reasons why Miami scared me is that out of all of the teams we played this year (excluding possibly Seattle, although I think that game was a little flukey) the Canes possessed the most ability to score the ball. Grant could hit shots, including deep threes, Scott could blow by you and finish at the rim, Kadji has a nice shot for his size and could also put the ball on the floor, and Johnson could finish in the paint. I think that they were a much tougher team to defend than Michigan, who, aside from Burke and Hardaway, had pretty much one-dimensional players. I thought our defense in the paint was phenomenal. Mike, who's biggest flaw by a mile is his on the ball defense (he was a Leitao recruit, don't forget that, though he has made gigantic leaps forward), played a very good defensive game. As expected, Miami struggled with the pack-line. When you combine the size of Reggie Johnson with the principles of the pack-line defense, there just isn't going to be any room down low. Credit Kadji for finding a way to create for himself, because without him, their only option was Durand Scott's drives. I thought Jontel played amazing on the ball defense, as usual. Just thinking about all of the quick guards he has faced this year (Burke from Michigan, Stringer/Hickey from LSU, Loyd from Oregon, etc.), the job he has done is quite impressive. Scott and his NYC ability to take it to the rim was his toughest task, but he fared well. Sammy did a great job frustrating Malcolm Grant, only giving him the option to chuck deep threes, which for him is very tempting. The defense against this Miami team that had just scored 99 points in its last time out was good preparation for the matchup against Duke on Thursday. Like the Canes, Duke has a surplus of guys who can score against you in many different ways. The Blue Devils' scorers, however, are much more talented and better coached. We will find out just how good our defense is against Duke.
3. The Crowd- For years now I have been defending JPJ as one of the toughest places to play in the country. During the inaugural 2006-2007 season, that claim wouldn't likely have been contested by anyone. Three mediocre seasons later, however, that claim causes a great deal of snickers. Still, I know that when JPJ is full, it just might be the loudest arena in the nation. I've been to Cameron Indoor. Yes, it's impossible to win there, but that's another story (it has more to do with guys wearing black and white stripes than it does nerdy students whose blue paint covers the acne on their scrawny chests). But honestly, JPJ is better built for noise. Yesterday was a good sign that we are going to have some big and loud crowds this year. I was impressed with my fellow students for coming back during break to fill the student sections. Also, the lower level was full, and most of the upper deck was full. The prophecy of "If you win, they will come" is being fulfilled. I think the crowd really helped at the end of the game. For a defensive team like ours, the sixth man of JPJ makes it even harder to put the ball in the bucket.
Honorable mention: Frosh play (loved that stretch with the 3 frosh in the lineup. Darion has major potential on both ends of the court. I'll do a piece on him soon)
What not to like:
1. Shooting- What has been our achilles heel almost took us out last night. Our two best perimeter shooters, Harris and Zeglinski, had a really poor night shooting the ball. If we're gonna be a legitimate top 15-20 team in the country, they're gonna have to hit the shots they got last night. The one good thing about this was that it was that we could get open looks. Looking back at the tape, we had some great opportunities, our guys just missed shots they normally make. I'm not too concerned about this. People do have off nights. I know that we will hit those shots most of the time. Perhaps we were a little tight knowing what they did to us last year.
2. Free Throws- It wasn't as much poor FT shooting as it was our inability to get to the line. Now Karl Hess shoulders some of the blame here, as he's know for "letting the boys play". But still, guys other than Mike need to be getting to the line. And yes, it sucks that Joe missed that free throw, but that was greatly out of character. We should have been looking to get Mike on the line, as he had already gone there plenty and was shooting well in general.
Conclusion: When we look back on Selection Sunday, I think there's a good chance this ends up being one of those "Top 50 RPI" wins. Miami is a good basketball team. They are starting to play like the team that many predicted to finish 3rd-5th in the league. While we didn't play all that great, it's nice to know that Mike and our defense should have our back just about every game. Like I've been saying all year, it's better to learn your lessons in a win than a loss. Still, this was a hard fought we should be proud of.
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