Canes Baseball

The Bad:

 

Good pitching beats good hitting. The Canes were 0-4 in their last four Friday night games. The Canes looked befuddled against top notch ACC pitching. The bats appeared stagnant and they could not come up with the timely hits. ACC aces Danny Hultzen (UVa), Derek McGuire (GT), Sean Gilmartin (FSU), Chris Dwyer (Clemson) and Alex White (UNC) all dominated the Canes.

 

Base running blunders are the norm instead of the exception. Numerous times Miami was picked off and caught napping on the bases. They would stretch routine singles into doubles and get thrown out.

 

The hitting has not been as hot as it previously was. There is not one player on this team that can put the team on its back like Yonder Alsonso last year.

 

The Good:

 

Sophomore starter Chris Hernandez looks like the Chris Hernandez of last year. He has regained his form and found his command. He has won two of his last three starts but pitched well in a losing effort to UNC. His cutter is jamming right handed hitters.

 

Junior reliever Taylor Wulf has been nursing a sore right arm and has been out of the mix. There were many questions about the bridge to standout closer Kyle Bellamy. Freshmen Sam Robinson and Daniel Miranda have been the answer as they have shown they can perform in pressure situations in the seventh and eighth innings.

 

Defensively Miami has looked a lot better. Miami led the conference in errors before this stretch. Now they are in the middle of the pack. Junior Chris Herrmann looks more comfortable in left field and Harold Martinez has proven he is a quality third baseman.    

Patriots

How Ironic

 

Matt Cassell has been traded to the team that gave him his first opportunity to play since he was in High School. In the opening week of the 2008 NFL Season, Tom Brady suffered a season ending knee injury against the Kansas City Chiefs. Now the Patriots have traded Matt Cassell and Mike Vrabel to the aforementioned Chiefs for only a 2^nd round pick in this year’s draft. These two stars reunite with Scott Pioli, former director of player personnel with the Patriots and now Chiefs general Manager.

 

To me, the Patriots did not get enough in return. Only a second round pick for these two highly regarded players?!?!?!

 

This also speaks volumes about the confidence the Patriots have in Tom Brady. They must fully anticipate him being healthy to start the 2009 season.

 

Should be interesting to see if Cassell was a product of a good system with excellent talent around him or if he was just that good. The Patriots were the first team to win 11 games in the regular season and not make the playoffs in two decades.

Hurricanes Alive

Thursday night’s victory of UVA not only kept Miami’s NCAA tournament hopes alive, but it kept their chances of having a successful future alive as well.

Miami showed they can win in a hostile environment without Jack McClinton having to carry them.

Jack was 3-of-10 shooting and only tallied 11 points, all be it he did have the dagger with under one minute remaining when his three from the right corner gave the Canes a two possesion advantage with 45 seconds remaining.

There is hope for this team. When Jack leaves, James Dews and Adrian Thomas proved they could execute from the perimeter. Cyrus McGowan can be a force down low.

There is a reason to believe in these Hurricanes, not only now, but in the future

Hurricanes Baseball Weekend Recap

New facilities, same results for the Hurricanes Baseball team.

They won 3 out of 4 games against Rutgers. This team played like a young experience team yet was still able to grind out a couple of wins. They committed 13 errors over the weekend and had some mental lapses that cannot be accounted for on the statistics sheet. I was at all four games this weekend, here are some things that surprised me.

-          Scott Lawson, JUICO transfer from Texas look great. He was 7-16 on the weekend, 4 doubles, 4 RBI, 1 HR. Solid defense. One play that stood out to me was he turned a routine single into a standup double with ease. His hustle and effort is always there.

-          Harold Martinez seemed comfortable and broke open the game Friday night when he hit a bases loaded single to give UM a 4-1 lead.

-          Ryan Jackson had a relatively quiet weekend. Sunday he was a homer shy of the cycle. Jackson batted third the first three games but struggled so much he was pinch hit for Saturday night was dropped to seventh in the lineup on Sunday. Maybe that took some pressure off of him

-          Kyle Bellamy looked better than ever.

-          Iden Nazario, reliever turned starter, has high aspirations. His goal is to be the Saturday starter. He might be on his way there since he pitched six innings, allowed on three earned runs and struck out a career high eight batters

-          Taylor Wulf’s 12 to 6 curve ball is as good as advertised. He bridge to Bellamy should be pretty sturdy if he is on his game

Deflating

Hats off to Jack McClinton for becoming the first Hurricane since Eric Brown in 1988-1989 to have 3 straight 30+ point performances. Playing the best clearly brings out the best in McClinton as those stellar shooting feats came against Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina.

 

To me, it’s inexcusable for Brian Asbury to take the game winning shot with 44.3 seconds left. He had a wide open look at the three but elected to drive base line and got called for an offensive foul. The ball needs to be in the heart and soul of the team’s hands. That was like not letting the birthday boy blow out his own candles on his birthday. This was Jack’s game to win. He provided the spark along with tremendous defensive efforts by Jimmy Graham and James Dews. Jack was the one who rallied the troops and cut a 14 point deficit to one against a North Carolina team that had won 19 of their previous 20 road games.

 

Dwayne Collins was missed dearly down on the low blocks. UNC had numerous second chance opportunities. Miami just quite can’t get over that hump. Big game against FSU on Wednesday. Miami looks to sweep the season series.

Bryce Brown

News Flash to all Hurricanes Fans: UM does not need Bryce Brown to be successful. Sure he has Barry Sanders like lateral movement and can be explosive out of the back field. After all he is rivals No. 1 overall recruit regardless of position. But Miami does not need to bring in an 18 year old that thinks he is bigger than the game. Why should one pay for updates? How can somebody be a commit at one school (Miami), but like another school (Oregon) better? Miami has plenty of running backs and will be successful without Bryce. Let’s take a look at each one.

 

Javarris James: IF he stays healthy, he can be a big bruiser in the back field that will get yards after the first hit. He is a pro style running back who has a good pedigree (Edge). Plus he obviously has the experience as he will be a senior.

 

Graig Cooper:  Cooper is good in bits and pieces. If he is used too much he becomes like a tomagachi, something that gets old and redundant after a while. Give him at most 10 carries a game and he will give you a good 65 yards on the ground. If you have noticed, he is either feast or famine when he gets the ball.

 

Lamar Miller: 4 star player, top 10 running back in the country for the class of 2009. He was arguably the best player in Dade County this past year.  He rushed for over 1700 yards and had 22 touchdowns. Despite the fact that he did not enroll early, he will have a big impact.

 

Mike James: Enrolled early and a very solid running back. He has the edge because he will participate in spring practices and get acquainted with the playbook.

 

Lee Chambers: Last but not least. Chambers proved he can play at this level. He is a diamond in the rough that took advantage of every opportunity given to him last year. Although his sample size was small, he did average over six yards per carry. In the Emerald Bowl, he was the Canes best player as he provided the spark off the bench and rushed for 60 yards on nine carries.

 

My point is Bryce Brown is not going to make or break the Hurricanes next year. If anything he will disrupt everything and demand the ball instead of be a team player.

Keys to the Duke Game

Alright here are my keys to the game.

Dwayne Collins needs to be dominant. In last year’s upset against Duke, DC had 26 points and 14 rebounds. Duke is soft in the post and by far it’s their achilles heel.

Canes need a secondary scorer. You know Jack is going to show up. Lately its been Adrian Thomas providing the two in the one-two punch. Dews and Hurdle have really been non factors.

Canes need to control the tempo. Duke is one the most well conditioned basketball teams in the country. They can run you out of the gym. Haith needs to play a halfcourt game and cannot let Coack K’s crew get out in transition.

Prediction: Duke 77, Miami 66.

This game is gravy for the Hurricanes. It’s tough to win on the road in the ACC, especially in Cameron Indoor Stadium

 

PS: Hats off to the entire staff at the BankUnited Center for letting fans rush the court this past Wednesday. That is what college basketball is all about, passion and enthusiasm.

Stick a Fork in ‘em, They’re Done!

Put the nail in the coffin or use whatever cliché you want to use. The Miami Hurricanes season is over.

Miami is on the precipice of six straight losses as they kickoff February facing three straight top ten teams.

Miami has already lost as many home games as they did all of last year. They have no marquee wins.

What was Frank Haith thinking during the Maryland game? Dwayne Collins was not on the court pretty much the entire 2nd half!

Dews touched the ball way too many times. Jimmy Graham has no basketball IQ. Adrian Thomas ran out of magic. Brian Asbury proved his 21 point effort against Virginia Tech was an anomaly. Lance Hurdle is unable to finish at the basket and has no control. Jack is feeling the pressure and forcing shots.

There was no interior defense. Miami shot 31 three pointers and turned the ball over 16 times compared to Maryland’s 7.

There is a lot of uncertainty in Hurricane Nation right now. Wednesday is a big day as Hurricanes football looks to add more youth and athleticism to its roster on national signing day.

Later that night Miami looks for a signature win against Wake Forest, a team that will be hungry coming off a crushing defeat to Georgia Tech. Wait, forget about signature win, let’s just hope Miami remembers a pen to the big match up.

Miami vs. Maryland

I want to know everyones thoughts on this critical match up at College Park on Saturday at 8pm. Bottom line this is a MUST win.

Maryland has not beaten Miami since March 1st, 2006. This cannot be a trap game for the Hurricanes. They cannot be looking ahead.

They have a brutal stretch coming up after the Terps game where they face perennial powerhouses Wake, @Duke, UNC.

Haith needs to keep giving the ball to the hot hands, I am talking about Collins and Adrian Thomas. Of course Jack is going to get his share of shots in.

I want to see the Hurricanes for once play a complete game of basketball, show up start to finish.

I expect the better UM to pull out a victory tonight.

Prediction: Canes 68, Terps 61

Hurdle and Dews, Where are U????

These two have regressed so much. Dews was coming off a stellar year where he was second on the team in scoring and started every game except one. Hurdle showed a lot of promise and after transferring from a Community College. These two need to step up. When was the last time the Hurricanes played a complete game of basketball? Even against Robert Morris it was a struggle until the end. Jack cannot will this team to victory every time. Someone needs to man up and take a stand besides McClinton And Collins