So far, so good. With two 30+ point wins under their belt, the ‘Canes are doing exactly what they should be: blowing out opponents of lesser caliber in convincing fashion. Sure, the first half of Gardner Webb was a bit suspect, with the Canes heading into the locker room with a slim 4 point lead, but coming out of the break the ‘Canes showed how good they can be when they turn it on. The ‘Canes, led by Bruce Brown Jr.’s second career triple double, outscored the Runnin’ Bulldogs 50-22 in the second half, on their way to a relatively drama free win. On Sunday, the Navy Midshipmen came to town, fresh off their surprise home victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers. This could have been a test for the ‘Canes, if they got off to another sluggish start, but instead the rust displayed in the first half against Gardner Webb was washed away. The ‘Canes dominated Navy from start to finish, looking like a team that is already comfortable playing together.
With their next three games against Florida A & M, La Salle, and North Florida, the ‘Canes should find themselves 5-0 heading into their matchup with Minnesota. Even if the ‘Canes drop that game, they should dominate the rest of their non-conference schedule and head into ACC play with, at worst, one loss. Right? Well, as the Irish picking Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast.” While these “gimmes” at the beginning of the season are a great way to build chemistry, especially on a team so young, they can also be absolute killers if the ‘Canes lose focus and drop one of them. The ‘Canes got to start off the season against Gardner Webb, and play a really weak half of basketball, while working out all the jitters, and it didn’t hurt them. Another lapse in focus, especially one that lasts 40 full minutes, could be very detrimental to a resume that has the potential to be stacked come Selection Sunday. It’s become a trend over recent seasons for the ‘Canes to pull off huge upsets, but unfortunately it’s also become a trend for them to play down to their competition and suffer RPI busting losses. No matter how many big wins this year’s squad pulls off, the devastating losses are something that they must eliminate.
Remember January 23, 2013? When the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils strolled into Miami to take on the 25th ranked Miami Hurricanes in what was supposed to be a close contest. And then... Boom. The ‘Canes exploded and handed Duke a 90-63 beatdown, which included a second half that would have made the Harlem Globetrotters proud. The ‘Canes threw alley oops off the backboard, had endless breakaways, and toyed with a highly ranked Duke defense in the rout. All of this led to Dick Vitale giving the greatest call in Miami basketball history, after a steal led to a wide open Shane Larkin dunk. Dicky V lost his mind and proclaimed, “How many times have you seen a Duke team give up layup, after layup, after layup, after layup, after layup, after layup, after layup, after layup, after layup?” (yes that’s 9 “layups” from Dicky V). It marked the beginning of an epic run by Miami, who went on to win the ACC regular season and postseason title, a feat that had led to a #1 seed in the Big Dance, by every single other team that had previously accomplished it. But Miami found themselves on the 2 line come Selection Sunday. Why? Well, for all the big wins Miami had, they also had a few question marks:
- A 12 point loss in Dunk City
- A 2 point overtime loss to Indiana State on a neutral court
- Two conference losses to ACC basement-dwellers Wake Forest and Georgia Tech
These 4 bad losses proved to be blemishes that the committee ultimately couldn’t ignore.
And the 2012-2013 team isn’t alone. The 2014-2015 team which beat #4 ranked Duke 90-74 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, lost multiple questionable games, including non-conference home games to Green Bay and Eastern Kentucky. The game against Eastern Kentucky ended 72-44, an absolute whooping inside the BUC, and was a loss that the committee found simply inexcusable. The ‘Canes missed out on the NCAA Tournament, and ended up in the NIT as a #2 seed, which meant that they weren’t even considered as one of the “First Four Out”. So, while Miami had the biggest road win in the country (yes, this win was MUCH bigger than BYU over Gonzaga) and a respectable record (25-13, including 10-8 in ACC play), the committee couldn’t look away from the glaring losses that took place back in December. The ‘Canes proved how talented they were by going on a run in the NIT, but ultimately ended up losing a heartbreaker to Stanford at Madison Square Garden.
The 2015-2016 squad that achieved a #3 seed, and made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, also had a hiccup in late November. Ranked #15, the Canes fell at home to Northeastern, who ended the season 18-15. If it happens once it is what it is, twice, and you could still shrug your shoulders, but three times… That’s a trend. Miami beat Duke in all three of the aforementioned seasons, yet lost to teams that barely went .500 in their conferences.
So how can Jim Larranaga make sure that this team is different? How can he get them as focussed to play Florida A&M as he gets them to play Duke, or UNC, or Louisville? Whatever he said to them at halftime against Gardner Webb and before Navy certainly worked. The ‘Canes whooped both teams, while looking focussed and in sync the entire way against Navy. Now comes Florida A & M, a team that the ‘Canes should beat with no trouble at all. This should be a snoozer, a game that the ‘Canes lead from wire to wire, while getting different lineups into the mix, so Coach L can see all the options he has going forward.
It might not be the most exciting non-conference schedule, but this is where it starts for this ‘Canes program. For a team that should be safely in the tournament come Selection Sunday, it won’t be a matter of did a bad loss or great win keep them out or sneak them in. It’s going to be about ranking. And if the ‘Canes can avoid bad losses, while also putting together the big wins that have become just as much of a trend in recent years, well, there is truly no ceiling for this team.