Canes

Thoughts on basketball & spring footballDuring practice prior to the game against Virginia a University of Miami player was going through the motions when senior Duane Collins said act like you want to be here. The coaches couldn’t have been happier because they’ve been waiting 4 years for Duane to step up in the leadership department. Collins had another monster home game against Virginia scoring 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.  At home against the ACC Collins is averaging 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. If Miami is going to finish the season with a flurry they need Collins to continue with his read more...

5 things to watch for1. Miami’s defense must be alert for the play-action pass from Central Florida. 2. Miami’s defensive alignment must be on point. UCF will try to use a lot of motion to mess with Miami’s positioning. 3. Miami special teams must be wary of trick plays from UCF. They will pull out all the stops. 4. Miami’s back-ups must step in and step up. They must play to the best of their ability. Miami will be missing a lot of regulars, including: Patrick Hill, Josh Holmes, Aldarius Johnson, Eric Moncur, JoJo Nicolas, Randy Phillips, Marcus Fortson, Jordon Futch, Richard Gordon. Joel Figueroa is doubtful. 5. read more...

Huge second half leads Canes to victory over VirginiaDespite having two punts blocked and looking shaky at times in the first half, Miami cruised to a record-setting win over Virginia, improving their record to 7-2. The canes put up 28 points in the second half and gained a season-high 514 yards to just 149 for Virginia. We'll go ahead and call this a pleasant change of pace. The Canes have played heartstoppers the last couple of weeks and it was nice to see the team pull away in the third quarter and glide through the fourth. The Miami defense looked as good as they have since the Oklahoma read more...

Grading the Canes in 2009The Canes finished their 2009 season with a 9-4 record after falling to Wisconsin 20-14 in the Champs Sports Bowl.  Miami players emphasized that they wanted to get 10 wins so that they could carry that momentum into next season.  How much will not getting win number 10 hurt them.. if at all?  I'll examine that in my next and final blog of the season.  But for today.. I'm passing out report cards for every part of this year's team.  Now kids remember.. have your parents sign these and then send them back here to school. QUARTERBACK- Sophomore Jacory Harris played like a Heisman Trophy candidate read more...

ACC Basketball begins for UMSome observations as the adventure ride that is ACC Basketball begins for the University of Miami: -If Dwayne Collins plays like he did Saturday against Wake Forest, Miami has a chance every game in league. Collins was aggressive offensively and is playing better defensively, being an enforcer with 3 blocks -He may not be averaging double digits, but don’t underestimate just how good of a basketball player freshman Durand Scott is. He is Miami’s best defensive player, the best perimeter guard Coach Haith has ever had and he has great court awareness and anticipation. -Both Scott and Redshirt Sophomore Malcolm Grant give Miami read more...