National Media Loses Their Minds as Miami Steps Up

/16 Comments/in , /by

It’s been 18 years since Miami won a major (at that time BCS) bowl game. And other than a minor blip in 2017, the program has largely not been in the national title conversation. Generally speaking a Renaissance of once proud programs is greeted with eager zeal. Who doesn’t want to see traditional powers rise from the depths of despair?

The problem is there is nothing traditional about Miami.

Not about about the way the program grew out of obscurity in the 1980s, not about the way it forever shaped the culture of college football, not about the diversity of its support. Miami is different, and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

If you were wondering if the national media had softened on Miami in their absence from the national stage, the last several weeks should have reminded you that for all of the carnival barking about Miami being irrelevant, they are always in the national consciousness.

When the Mario Cristobal rumors started, Miami fans were repeatedly told that Miami couldn’t afford him. Now, while it is true in the past that Miami was unwilling to pay coaches, they always could pay coaches. It was a choice. 

That fallacy, that Miami could not pay for coaches, lead the national media to spend a week spinning themselves into a frenzy in an attempt to discredit Miami as a worthy entity.

We’re Going to Have to Order Dramamine in Bulk

The week started with everyone making fun of Miami. “Why would Mario Cristobal leave Oregon with Nike money to come to Miami?”

Tired tropes about facilities (which have recently been upgraded) and lack of money (which the school committed to spending, finally) were trotted out.

In Miami, people were confident. I’d say say quietly confident, but we don’t do anything quietly in Miami. We understand the draw of this place, why it is special, and we’ll tell you about it.

When it became clear that the money would be there and that Cristobal would consider coming to Miami, his qualifications were attacked.

Keep in mind these are the same people that will defend the atrociousness that was Manny Diaz football. But Cristobal winning the Pac 12 twice, the Pac 12 North 3 times, and a Rose Bowl is not “that impressive.”

That “Mario isn’t good” angle was never serious and gained no traction. Oregon and Miami actively fighting over a coach is surely a sign that he is good.

Next target? The process.

The school is being mean to Manny Diaz. If they want to hire a new coach, fire the old one first. This break with decorum is now behind only Pearl Harbor and 9/11  in terms of crimes committed against this nation in the last 100 years. My favorite was this:

Gene Chizik, who has a list of moral ambiguities a mile long, and once resigned as Defensive Coordinator at UNC a week after National Signing Day, has problems with Miami’s process. Miami is dishonorable for continuing to pay Diaz while looking for a replacement. In a business where Brian Kelly lied to a recruit as he accepted the LSU job during an in-home visit, this is a bridge too far. 

Manny Diaz tapped into this line of thinking in his farewell statement. He was aggrieved here. Let’s see what Temple players have to think…

Oh yes, that’s right. He sold out Temple’s players during a comical 15-day tenure. Miami should have fired Diaz after the FIU game in 2019 for performance. But keeping him employed, under contract, while they found his replacement? While unorthodox, that is hardly the crime that it is being portrayed as.

I’m beginning to think College Football is a dirty business and all the national media lobbing moralistic grenades at Miami profit from this same business.

But after that lost steam, they went in for the kill as sports writers somehow became experts in healthcare.

Miami is reportedly using medical profits to hire a new football coach, which made the internet properly irate

Now, keep in mind the report was that Miami had made money off the UHealth system. The fact that the money going into the football program was being paid for by independent, billionaire boosters WAS IN THE SAME SENTENCE AS THE UHEALTH BLURB.

But nope, we’re going to ignore that, and the part about how those boosters were the ones funding this venture (again, in the same sentence) and not only assume that Miami was taking money out of the UHealth system to pay for the Athletic department, but that the profitability was due to gouging people during the pandemic.

Who knew the Venn Diagram between gas bag sports hot takers and for profit healthcare experts was a circle?

The reality is that UHealth has been a massive capital investment for the university which they lost money on for years. President Frenk, an actual healthcare expert instead of someone cosplaying as one to selectively channel outrage at Miami, was hired to clean that up and return it to profitability. That is finally happening now. What role did the pandemic play in this?

The University of Miami had a significant decline in its earnings in fiscal 2020, as the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted operations.

The nonprofit university in Coral Gables was among the most financially impacted schools because it operates a major health care system. Patient visits declined dramatically, and non-elective surgeries were temporarily halted during the beginning of the pandemic

Oops. In their zeal to try and make the money “dirty” they didn’t bother to, you know, learn anything factual. 

If you’re keeping up, so far we’ve got:

  1. Miami can’t afford Cristobal.
  2. Cristobal stinks anyway (unless Oregon keeps him, of course, in which case he is an amazing coach that Miami failed to get).
  3. Diaz is being mistreated because of the Canes job search.
  4. The money is nefarious because the University of Miami also runs the UHealth system.  Those healthcare workers that everyone spent the last 2 years praising for risking their health to help stem the pandemic? They’re now actually price gougers because Miami hired a football coach. We’ll be sure to pass on everyone’s disdain to the doctors at the Sylvester Cancer Center when they’re on break from saving lives.  

The reality is the reason for this pretzel-twisting, factually incorrect, bizarre attack on Miami has nothing to do with the actions. The real crime was being Miami.

M-I-A-M-I ‘Til I Die 

For better or worse, we are who we are. South Florida is an insular, polarizing community.

We know that, we embrace it. A lot of people hate us, and we revel in it.

With that said, South Florida is not closed off. As Cristobal said in his introductory press conference, “Once you’re a part of this community down here, you’re part of it forever.”

He gets it. Miami is more than just a school, it’s more than a brand. It represents not only the tri-county South Florida community, but it also represents the world, the “most culturally diverse, vibrant, energized, destination city in the world.”

It’s the school for those that don’t have a school. The school for the aggrieved. The misfit outcasts that society has deemed unworthy, dishonorable.

It’s the school for those who are always told they can’t accomplish things, that they’re getting too big for their britches, that they don’t deserve a seat at the table.

It’s the school for those that want to look up in the stands and see a fan base representing every shade of the rainbow. Where no one feels out of place.

You see this traveling through this country, the U being lifted at you, the telling nod, a “Go Canes” being exchanged between strangers. It’s like you’re part of a secret club that anyone can join, regardless of whether you went to college or not, regardless of where you call home. And it’s a club that once you join, it stays with you forever. As Jimmy Johnson so eloquently put it in Billy Corben’s fantastic 30 for 30 document “The U”:

I remember my first Super Bowl, someone asked me about my identification with the University of Miami. And I said listen, I want everyone to understand this. I was born and raised in South Texas, I went to school at the University of Arkansas and won a national championship on an undefeated team, but my home is South Florida and my school is the University of Miami.

Miami isn’t a school, it’s an ethos. 

The reason we lash out at those that try to spit on us in an attempt to diminish this school is because you are not just attacking a football program, you are attacking a community, a prideful cross-section of every race, religion, and nationality coming together in the South Florida sun to cheer on our local kids, hoping they will succeed and lift up our community.

They have in the past, and they will do so in the future, no matter how many times you tell us to temper expectations, to accept mediocrity. 

Cristobal ended his answer on what makes Miami special by talking about “the people, the people, the people.” You could see him choking up as he spoke, just as I am as a type this.

This is more than a football program, this is our people.

It’s a Canes Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

 

****

Loading
Loading...

The Predictable End of Manny Diaz

/2 Comments/in , /by

In the end, Manny Diaz left Miami the way he came in, unconventionally. The man who spent 15 days as head coach of Temple spent more than a week as Miami’s lame duck coach.

The Canes finally made the only decision they could make, letting Manny Diaz go with Mario Cristobal announced as his replacement shortly after.

For Diaz, the end was slow, excruciating, and inevitable.

An unqualified assistant coach whose level was Temple and who had already worn the fans’ patience thin as Defensive Coordinator would always have a short leash. For Diaz to succeed, he had to be serious, had to be focused, had to instill discipline, and could not waste any time. The nature of his hire, without a search, and his history of being on Miami’s previous staff, demanded quick success. 

Instead, Diaz was much more concerned with media manipulation, putting on a show for social media, coining slogans, not realizing that the only way to placate fans is with the one thing he could not do, win football games.

 

All Hat, No Cattle

When Diaz arrived back in Miami 2 weeks after accepting the Temple job, he decided to be the player’s coach. To that end, and to the end of his tenure, the players played for him.

The problem is that Diaz failed them. He was to be the adult in the room, the person that provided the mix of comfort and discipline, raising the standard of the program, demanding excellence.

What they received, instead, was the adult trying to be “cool” and be everyone’s friend. He had a responsibility to this program as its steward, and he chose to “have fun with the guys.” I’m reminded of the episode of Saved By The Bell where Principal Belding’s “cooler” brother shows up, charms the kids, but ends up letting them down. They needed the “uncool” brother who was reliable, did the right thing, and took care of them.

Instead, Diaz came up with new jewelry (Touchdown Rings), taped 7-6 to a tackling dummy before promptly going 6-7, seemed more focused on winning social media than football games, and spun that into his inevitable downfall. No amount of being the coolest kid in the class can make up for losses. 

Diaz was having the time of his life while fans suffered through some of the most abhorrent football this hallowed program has ever seen.

The football itself was atrocious, as was his record. His one “good” season involved losing a bowl game and getting blown out twice, including the most embarrassing defensive performance in school history. This is for a school that employed Mark D’Onofrio for 5 years.

For all the absurd narrative around close losses this year (conveniently ignoring that Diaz’s Canes actually made out better in close games than expected), 2020 saw a huge Canes’ 3-game winning streak in the middle of the year where they eked out one possession games. This ran Miami’s record to 8-1, before they predictably imploded. And that was Diaz at his best.

That will be the legacy of Manny Diaz football. Exciting games that ended up close because the Canes mostly superior talent kept them in games, while Diaz’s coaching and lack of preparation made sure that talent advantage was mitigated. All told, Diaz leaves Miami with a collection of several of the worst losses in school history.

He should have been fired for losing to FIU in his first year, something unimaginable. He cemented the obvious by following that loss with losses to Duke, and an unbelievable bowl loss to Louisiana Tech where the team failed to enter the red zone, let alone score. That Diaz somehow managed to keep his job for 2 more years after that is a testament as much to his political savvy, always selling that Miami would be “Next Year’s Champions,” as it was to Blake James complete lack of standards. 2 years after losing to FIU, Diaz would notch his final embarrasing loss, at rival FSU, who had lost to Jacksonville State and would fail to make a bowl game. James was fired immediately, and Diaz would follow him weeks later. The seemingly infinite tolerance had finally run out.

 

****

Loading
Loading...

****

 

The New Miami

One of the many slogans that Diaz coined was “The New Miami.” See, he was going to fix this program by…well, he never really finished the sentence.

What was the “The New Miami”? He never articulated it because it was empty, much like his game plan after a bye week.

What actually happened is Blake James and Manny Diaz perpetuated a fraud on this community for 3 years. James hooked up his buddy, putting him in a position he had not earned without conducting anything resembling a coaching search. He then backed him through loss after loss. The fans? Not only were they of no concern, but in fact started taking the blame for poor recruiting.

The greatness of sports is that after all the talk stops, the results speak. And Diaz didn’t have the results, and the problem with the Grifter’s Alliance he formed with James is that eventually, the jig is up. You can only spin and deceive so long. We saw this with Al Golden, and now with Manny Diaz, as they kept explaining why it was not their fault that the program they were in charge of was underperforming.

Miami has been there before. We’ve seen this playbook. Fire the coach, bring another cheap hire in, sell hope, keep the new coach way past the sell by date, hire cheap again, repeat. The key to this con is everyone would be so relieved that the previous coach was gone after overstaying his welcome that any alternative would be accepted. 

I’m sure James thought he could keep Diaz at least another year. He was able to retain Al Golden for a 5th season despite a 6-7 4th season that ended on a 4-game losing streak.

But he miscalculated. The community rose up, and overthrew him. Long before James was dismissed moves were being made to move on from his line of thinking. And when he went, so went Diaz’s protector. Miami decided to save Miami, and Blake James and Manny Diaz were not part of that solution. 

Diaz tried to save his job, unleashing one last empty slogan, “Building Something Special.” He pumped out that narrative, ignoring the struggles with a 3-win GT team and a loss to a 5-win FSU team as 2 of his last 4 games, pushed the young player/close games narrative, and tried to rally players to his defense, but no one in power was listening anymore. You can only run a Ponzi scheme for so long.

Miami had already decided to invest in the program, go get their coach (Mario Cristobal), and give him the resources needed to build an elite staff. Diaz couldn’t help himself, with one last, blame shifting, release dripping in victimhood:

Ah yes, “Next Year’s Champions,” again. And yet, despite this, people will still say that had he received the backing Cristobal received, maybe he could have done better. The reality is that no serious program that is investing in the way that Miami has decided to finally do so would ever hire Manny Diaz as their head coach. He only got the job in the first place because the school was running on a shoestring budget. 

Far from being victims, James and Diaz were collectively in charge of South Florida’s beloved football program for 3 years despite lacking the qualifications. Woe is them? No, woe is us.

Miami chose to turn the page on James and Diaz’s form of leadership, where the focus was on staying employed, keeping the grift up, and worrying more about public perception of the program than actual performance. Unfortunately for James and Diaz, a New Miami necessitated getting rid of those that came to symbolize 15 years of futility, which somehow managed to degenerate further the last 3 years.

For once, Diaz’s slogan rings true. This is “The New Miami.”  And James and Diaz will rightly play no part in it.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Sacramento Kings Need Another Shakeup

/0 Comments/in , /by

The necessity of a trade is sometimes the fault of a player not living up to his end of the contract or a front offices’ miserable ability at building a winner.  Assembling a quality squad through the draft takes years.  It only makes it more painful for those competing or the devoted supporters who spend their money and time on the product when the people in charge have no plan.

 

It seemed like there was an idea for the Sacramento Kings after the 2017 draft.  They got a gold claim in De’Aaron Fox, the most dynamic guard in the class who had just fallen in their laps.  But in the following years, Sac took two guys who play the same position as Fox and had another miscalculation picking Marvin Bagley over Luka Doncic. 

 

The Kings have the longest active playoff drought in the NBA (15), and their best player, the Fox, is already on his second deal.  It’s the first year of a five-year contract worth  $163 million, the largest in the organization’s history.  Unfortunately, the Kings make roster upgrades at a snail’s pace.  The Fox might be on his third contract before this outfit breaks its abysmal streak of failure.

 

But they shouldn’t wait that long.  With three players who should have their opportunity to claim the QB spot, Sacramento got very lucky that Tyrese Haliburton is versatile enough to be a secondary initiator and tall enough to play shooting guard.  The problem is the team is too small if it plays the three of them at once, and the Kings reluctantly do so. 

****

Loading
Loading...

****

 

Usually, rebuilding teams in the lottery want their young guys competing with each other to build chemistry.  Three of the last four first-round picks for Sacramento (Fox, Haliburton, Davion Mitchell) have shared the floor in eight different lineups this season.  None of those rotations that Sacramento uses with its three point guards averages more than 8.2 minutes per game.  

 

Mitchell might have been the best player available, but if the Kings needed a guard that badly, perhaps they should have taken Chris Duarte, who is four inches taller and a more effective marksman.  He fell to Indiana at 13.  

 

On Nov. 21, the Kings fired coach Luke Walton adding another name to the graveyard of instructors who tried to turn the team around.  I’m not here to say Walton was anything special as a coach, but the blame for the team’s record cannot be entirely placed on him.  Perhaps he’d still have a job if former general manager Vlade Divac knew a generational talent when he saw one.  

 

Picking Mitchell in the previous draft was President Monte McNair’s choice.  Despite the poor start to the 2021/2022 campaign, the Kings have the ammo to make significant modifications to the lineup.  It starts with putting Fox on the trade market.  

 

 It was reported in July (before the draft) that Sacramento was one of the teams interested in Philadelphia’s disgruntled All-Star Ben Simmons.  The Kings had an opportunity to get him, but they didn’t want to include Fox or Haliburton in a deal.  And that’s why “scared money don’t make no money,” as Jeezy said.

 

Simmons was one of the finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021.  The Kings are 28th this season in defensive rating, needing versatility and size in their frontcourt.  Simmons could have provided that and the threat of a ball-handler in exchange for Fox.  Philadelphia likely won’t be interested now in a swap with Sacramento after the emergence of Tyrese Maxey.

 

And that’s also why Grover Washington sang, “Good things come to those who wait, but not for those who wait too late.”  

 

Road to the Orange Bowl goes through the SEC

/1 Comment/in , /by

The road to the Orange Bowl goes through these final few games.

The most important being the SEC Championship Game between No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Alabama. A clean win by the undefeated Bulldogs will open up another spot for either No. 5 Oklahoma State or No. 6 Notre Dame enter the College Football Playoff.

A win for Alabama would either lead to the best thing or the worst thing to happen to the sport. While chaos and passionate debates is what makes college football special. Alabama winning might prompt the committee to just set up a rematch.

If Georgia wins and Oklahoma State beats No. 9 Baylor for the Big 12 title, a spot in the playoffs would rightfully belong to the Cowboys. The Big 12 was never fully taken seriously when Oklahoma was on top. The Sooners were always bumped down in the rankings despite coming out on top in all but one game prior to Bedlam. Beating Oklahoma meant more than winning as Oklahoma in the committee’s collective view.

At No. 4, all Cincinnati has to do is beat No. 21 Houston for the American Athletic Conference championship and there will finally be a Group of 5 team in the playoff. Although time is a funny thing. The Bearcats went undefeated last year and played a very close game with Georgia in the Peach Bowl. The only difference now is a win over Notre Dame and their future membership to the Big 12, which will finally have 12 teams.

Michigan reached No. 2 status after finally beating Ohio State. All the Wolverines need to do now is not get tripped up by a No.13 Iowa team that is known more for being immovable than unstoppable. A pair of touchdowns by Hassan Haskins would total him 20 and make a compelling Heisman case.

A Georgia win and Iowa win might have been enough to put Notre Dame in the playoff. The Fighting Irish only lost to Cincinnati and who wouldn’t want to see that rematch?

Apparently Brian Kelly didn’t and bolted to LSU, making an entrance like he won a Presidential nomination.

Jaylen Waddle celebrates his touchdown catch in the Miami Dolphins' win over the Carolina Panthers.

Pressure Point: Dolphins, Tagovailoa have historic turnaround within reach

/0 Comments/in , /by

The never-enough-crowd that is relentlessly sifting through Tua Tagovailoa’s 84-percent completion rate over the past two weeks for any nit to pick with the second-year quarterback is absolutely missing the point of what is transpiring with the Miami Dolphins.

Something remarkable is taking shape in their rise from a 1-7 half-season debacle in a potentially historic turnaround, now at four consecutive wins and more within reach.

After Sunday’s 33-10 dismantling of the Carolina Panthers, it is unquestionably realistic that the Dolphins could run through the next four middling opponents — Giants, Saints, Jets, Titans (sans Derrick Henry) — to set up a season-ending showdown with the Patriots.

No NFL team has made the playoffs after a 1-7 start. In 2015, the Chiefs were 1-5 and won 10 in a row to grab a wild-card spot.

Playoff format favorable

Considering there are three wild cards in each conference this season, there could be a lot at stake in that Jan. 9 encounter at Hard Rock Stadium if the Dolphins can get there at 9-7.

Too bad there are so many kill joys who dwell on whatever they wish Tagovailoa was — specifically Justin Herbert — rather than recognizing what he is becoming, which is looking better each week.

They brush off his performance against the Panthers — 27-of-31 (87.1 percent) for 230 yards and a passer rating of 108.5 — because most of the throws were short shots underneath the coverage. Some of the critics think passer rating is a bogus stat, so Tua gets no credit for that.

They can’t point to an ill-served interception this week, because Tua didn’t throw any.

Tau to Waddle winning combo

He did throw for a touchdown, and in my view it was his most impressive throw Sunday, an absolute dart into a tight spot to Jaylen Waddle for a 9-yard touchdown on third down to put Miami ahead to stay.

The Panthers aren’t a very good team, but they did come into Sunday with the top-rated passing defense in the league.

Most significant is the connection Tagovailoa is building with Waddle, who has 77 catches and is on pace for 109, which would be an NFL rookie record. While his season average is just under 10 yards per reception, Waddle averaged 15.2 yards against Carolina with nine catches for 137 yards.

Waddle said he’s been following the example of his former Alabama teammate.

“I think Tua grew as a player. I’m trying to grow as a player,” Waddle said. “Just learning what he do and his new knowledge and me going out there every week and learning something new and just putting it all together.”

Amazing stat: Since Tua returned from his rib injury in Week 6, Waddle has 50 receptions, most in the league during that span and second most in receiving yards with 528.

Dolphins still can’t run

Look, a lot of the Dolphins’ passing game is compensating for a lack of an effective running game. They averaged only 2.8 yards a carry Sunday, though newcomer Phillip Lindsay looked like a useful pickup in his first Dolphins test with 42 yards on 12 carries.

If your line can’t open holes and your running backs are limited, short passes are a logical option. Still, you need a quarterback to distribute the ball, like a good point guard, to a variety of receivers on time in space to keep moving the chains.

In three games since returning from his finger injury, Tagovailoa has done that with surgical efficiency. Beginning with the relief effort in the win over the Ravens, he is 62 of 77 (81 percent) for 661 yards, with three touchdowns and that one crappy interception against the Jets.

The key takeaway from those three games is the combination of growth Tua has shown and the reemergence of the Miami defense has yielded three wins by a combined margin of 42 points.

But let’s knock him because he didn’t hit Mack Hollins in stride on that long pass against the Jets that, oh by the way, did result in a 65-yard touchdown. And never mind that he’s operating without starting wide receivers DeVante Parker and Will Fuller.

****

Loading
Loading...

****

Tua thriving despite haters

Can’t recall a less objectionable player who has been as maligned as Tua, especially considering he wasn’t terrible even as he was going through growing pains at the toughest position in the most demanding sport.

Nonetheless, the hate continues to flow because, well, the Dolphins could have had Justin Herbert, who has the big arm and must certainly walk on water.

The possibility was that Herbert and Tagovailoa were both going to be very good NFL quarterbacks. We’re starting to see it now with Tua.

To me, the bigger talking point of this strange Dolphins season should be: Where was the defense we’re seeing the past few weeks during the 1-7 start?

This is the sort of freewheeling Flores defense that had a lot to do with the 2020 team going 10-6. That was MIA through the first half of the season.

On Sunday, they had five sacks, three interceptions and drove Cam Newton to the bench.

Rookies bolster Dolphins defense

So what changed? Maybe in part the speech coach Brian Flores gave after the seventh consecutive loss about believing in his players lit a fire. More tangible is the impact of rookies Jaelan Phillips, who had three sacks against Carolina, and safety Jevon Holland, who had an interception.

Stuff happens in football, and it rarely follows a predictable course. The Dolphins opened with a win at New England that probably wouldn’t have gone their way without the late takeaway by Xavien Howard. Subsequently, Miami lost in overtime to the Raiders and on last-second field goals to the Jaguars and Falcons. So they weren’t getting blown out in many of the losses.

Teams evolve over the course of a season, upward or down. Lately it appears these Dolphins may be closer to the team they were expected to be. And Tua may turn out to be a competent, winning NFL quarterback after all.

The social media age has illuminated that people hate to wait for anything. This Dolphins team may just be the lesson that sometimes the wait is worth it.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

Quarter Season Takeaways from the Miami Heat’s Start

/0 Comments/in /by

Nineteen games into the season, with Chicago next, the Heat have shown they are a good team and now there is enough of a sample size to begin to draw some key takeaways on what they’ve shown thus far. The Heat are currently sitting at 12-7 while holding the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, boasting the leagues #4 Net Rating, but they have hit a rut lately, going 5-5 in their last 10 games. What is there to be excited about? What is there to be concerned about? Why haven’t some things looked the way we expected, hopefully this article can help answer some of those questions.

Bam Adebayo: Growing pains of turning into a “Flat-out scorer?”

Before the season began, Pat Riley was quoted saying “I think you might see a flat-out scorer this year” when asked about Bam Adebayo’s development. About a quarter into the season, Heat faithful have seen a flat-out increase of .3PPG. The lack of raw statistical scoring improvements have made it tough to see why Riley would make these comments before the season.. Let’s take a look into why the man with “no ceiling” is capping out at 19 PPG.

The first question to ask is: Is Bam Adebayo taking the same kind of shots?

The short answer to this question is yes, for the most part. As shown in the charts below, there is a larger percentage of layups, which directly correlates to a higher FG% and a higher FTr (one of the most underrated components of scoring) There is also nearly double the percentage of fadeaways, which can be a valuable tool, but are objectively inefficient shots that hurt more than they help the offense. Outside of these non-drastic changes, Adebayo is still a predominantly jump shot based player on offense, which is not surprising given the fact that he is an undersized center.

The second question to ask: Is Bam Adebayo creating his own shot more?

19 games in, the answer is yes, Adebayo has seen an increase from 34% of his made field goals being unassisted in 20-21’ to 40.5% of his made field goals being unassisted in 21-22’. The increase in self-creation is a pro that has come with its cons, as Adebayo’s FG% has decreased by 5.4% or in terms of totals, he’s missing about half a shot more per game than he would have last year.

The third question to ask: Why is Bam Adebayo not scoring more per game?

As simple as it sounds, Adebayo’s in a scoring slump. In today’s NBA it’s quite strange for a “non-shooter” to be in a slump but here we are. After comparing his 20-21′ FG efficiency to this year’s, research showed that Pull-up shooting is down from 40.9% to 28.9%, Catch-and-Shoot is down from 46.5% to 36.7%, and Layups are down from 57.8% to 52.1%. Factoring volume into the equation, Adebayo is missing out on acombined 1.5 PPG by underperforming on his easily repeatable efficiencies from the year prior. The overall increase of play-finishing as opposed to play-initiating that he has had to do has led to some faulty process (short-range pull-ups, increase in fadeaways) that should be limited moving forward, but these are the growing pains to a complete shifting of role for a star in the NBA.

Perhaps this won’t resonate with most Heat fans but a 24-year-old perennial DPOY candidate with above average stationary playmaking skills and a 20 to 21 PPG skill set that does not rely solely on the creation of others, sounds like the type of player any franchise would want to build around.

Duncan Robinson and Kyle Lowry: Is the shooting gone?

Going into the season, the expectation was that Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson would be the premier 3-point shooters, who could combine to take a Butler and Adebayo offense to an elite level. Through 19 games, that sentiment could not be further from reality. The duo is combining to shoot 32.2% from 3 on 15.2 3 point attempts a game. This 3-point mark is good for .96 PPP, the same efficiency at which Tobias Harris scores in Isolation, yikes.

 

To make matters even more disheartening, their struggles are coming largely on the easier type of 3 point shot: catch-and-shoot opportunities (C&S). Robinson is shooting 32.1% on a league-leading 7.2 C&S 3 point attempts a game, and Lowry is shooting 28.8% on 3.1 C&S 3 point attempts a game.

There are two ways to view this:

1. The Heat are doomed because now they have inefficient, high-volume shooting around two non-shooting stars and that will lead to an offensive implosion come playoff time.

OR

2. Math will do what math does and see Robinson and Lowry revert to their previous good-to-great 3 point shooting averages, catapulting the Heat’s 6th ranked offense into the top 3, cementing the Heat as one of few elite teams in the league.

Loading
Loading...

Tyler Herro: The Premier Shot Maker?

Tyler Herro’s breakout is without question the most important development of the Heat’s first quarter of the season. The leap to being a play-finishing jump shooter is one of the toughest leaps to make in the NBA, it is one that now all-star caliber players such as Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jaylen Brown, CJ McCollum and Zach Lavine have all made over the last few years. While it might be an overreaction to put Herro in this category after 18 games played, it is completely reasonable to place him on this kind of trajectory.

At 21 years old, Herro is currently averaging 21.8 PPG on 45/40/87 splits. While the raw statistics are great, the crux of Herro’s “leap” is the ability to create and make his shots at an incredibly high clip. Herro has progressively increased his % of unassisted shots each year of his career, starting at 39.3% in 19-20’, 44.6% in 20-21’ and now 59.6% in 21-22’.

Herro won’t dazzle by breaking a defender down off the dribble in isolation situations (6th percentile in Isolation) but he doesn’t particularly need to as he’s capable of rising up over a tough shot contest and getting to his spots without any wasted movement. The hardest shot to defend in all of basketball, the Pull-Up jumper, is one shot that the premier “scorers” in the league have in common.

Of the 13 players who take 9 or more Pull-Up jumpers a game, Tyler Herro has the 4th highest effective FG%, which weighs 3-point shots as 1.5 times more valuable than 2-point shots. Below is a bar chart to contextualize Herro’s leap as a pull-up shooter, and the players this puts him “in the conversation” with:

While Pull-Up shooting isn’t the only thing that Herro has going for him this season, this development of a reliable “tough shot maker” in the half court will go a long way towards the Heat hitting their ceiling as a team. The primary shot creator was a large question mark following the round one sweep against the Milwaukee Bucks, with Herro playing at this level, that question mark is slowly turning into one of the strengths of this Heat team.

Rebounding: Looks like an issue but is actually a strength?

Defensive possessions aren’t finished until the defense gets the rebound. An offensive possession isn’t finished until the defense gets the rebound. On paper, the Heat should be a very poor rebounding team, they often run lineups with Bam Adebayo (6’9) as their tallest player and starting lineup with an average height of 6’5.5. Despite the size disadvantage, the Heat have all the numbers of an elite rebounding team. The Heat are currently tied for 1st with the Utah Jazz at 53.1% total REB%, are 2nd in DREB% at 75.4% and are 6th in OREB% at 29.5%. A sizable upgrade from the Heat’s 22nd ranked rebounding last season. While some of the Heat’s flaws may come to light as the season goes on, finding a strength in such a consistent aspect of the game will help raise the floor of this team on a game-to-game basis.

The formula for the Heat should be to win the rebounding battle every night, and if the beginning of the season is any indicator, that formula correlates directly to winning. The Heat are 12-2 in games where they win the rebounding battle, with both losses being decided by 3 points.

While rebounds aren’t the first thing most point to on the box score after a win or a loss, it’s a way for the Heat to win around the margins, which is crucial for a team that is not as physically or offensively gifted as most others around the league.

Rim Pressure: Where does it come from?

The Miami Heat have turned into a jump shooting team this season, primarily due to the personnel on the roster. Jimmy Butler (13.3 Drives/G) is one of the NBA’s best at getting to the rim, Tyler Herro (10.4 Drives/G) is finding some downhill juice primarily from attacking switches on to Bigs and by playing with pace in pick and roll, outside of that, it’s anybody’s guess as to who on the Heat will be getting themselves to the rim. The easy finger to point is at Kyle Lowry, who started the season being virtually allergic to the rim, but has ramped up his rim pressure recently and become the Heat’s 3rd cog in the rim pressure attack at 7.9 drives/G over the last 8 games. Even with this incremental improvement, the Heat rank 29th in drives (36.1) and 28th in Restricted Area attempts (21.4) on the season.

While rim pressure isn’t the end-all be-all for this offense, having an added layer to the offense could make the offense harder to guard, forcing more rotations and likely resulting in either an open shot, a higher percentage attempt or free throws.

 

As shown in the graph above, there is less emphasis on rim pressure when the Heat lose games. Some of this is due to opposing switching schemes and the Heat not really having anyone who provides an advantage against a team with multiple strong, rangy, athletic, and switchable defenders (ala Boston Celtics); however, the majority of this is simply the Heat taking their foot off the gas pedal and deciding to turn a game into a shootout as opposed to the peak level of basketball they know they are capable of.

Outside of Tyler Herro and PJ Tucker, this team has been objectively bad at shooting the basketball, yet they continue to rely on shooting the ball down the stretch of games rather than imposing their will near the rim. This is both a mentality and a personnel issue which cannot be solved unless: Adebayo is able to get comfortable taking larger and slower or smaller and weaker defenders to the cup more often, or Victor Oladipo comes back and is able to provide some facsimile of his 13.5 drives a game that he gave the Houston Rockets in his 20 games with the franchise last season.

*More frequent and well-timed off-ball cuts from Herro, Lowry, Robinson, Martin and others could also be an in-house fix.

Of all the concerns that this team may have, rim pressure is the one that might be the hardest to fix. While Oladipo should be a welcome boost that all of Heat Nation is rooting for, it would not be wise to rely upon someone, who has played in 52 games since January 2019, to solve arguably the one fatal flaw with the offense.

 

Everything Tradeshows is a one-stop-shop for trade show exhibit rentals and custom exhibit display purchase solutions to companies of all sizes.

Visit them at EverythingTradeShows or call 954-791-8882

 

****

Loading
Loading...

Road to the Orange Bowl: The College Football Rankings finally get interesting

/1 Comment/in , /by

It took a while but the College Football Playoff committee finally put Cincinnati among the final four in their latest rankings.

All it took was Oregon losing big to Utah and falling out of the top ten to make that happen. The Bearcats rode their reputation built last year and their victory over No. 6 Notre Dame this year the No. 2 spot in the AP poll prior to the committee beginning their official ranking and knocking them and the rest of the American Athletic Conference down a peg.

The Bearcats have two more games against East Carolina and the inevitable matchup with Houston for the AAC title. At this point for Cincinnati, it’s a matter of, “don’t mess this up and you’re in.”

Both Cincinnati and Houston are undefeated in conference play and will be joining the Big 12 next year. The recent rankings should worry Cincinnati about the future, considering that the Bearcats are joining a conference that has been deemed irrelevant by the committee despite three teams in the top 10 and the prospect of back-to-back Bedlam deciding the conference title.

Cincinnati potentially making the playoffs is a long time coming. Since the turn of the 21st century, all of those sympathetic of the Group of Five conferences wanted was a fair opportunity. If there was a team like Boise State in the mid to late 2000’s, Cincinnati in 2009 or even Central Florida (another future Big 12 member) in 2017 that have been dominate and perfect entering bowl season, they deserve a chance to prove themselves and play for the ultimate prize.

However, the college football system, which has long been separated from the NCAA structure, starts every season automatically disqualifying half of the country. From the BCS computers to the roundtable of Stugotz that make up the CFP committee, it seemed like there was always this glass ceiling for those teams.

Had UCF been given a chance to play in the playoff in 2018 instead of an Alabama team that didn’t even play for the SEC title, maybe the Knights wouldn’t felt the need to rebel and thumb their nose at the dismissing system and declare themselves national champions by going undefeated and beating the team that beat Alabama.

Intriguing matchups

The matchups this week and next week are as interesting as ever. Finally, Ohio State vs. Michigan with high stakes. Loser loses out of a chance at the Big Ten title game and the playoff. The Iron Bowl at Auburn, which usually spells trouble for an Alabama team that can’t afford another loss. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State face off in Bedlam with Big 12 title implications and this time, the Cowboys are the higher ranked team.

And of course, Miami with a chance to finish the season with a winning conference record when the Hurricanes face a Duke team that is winless in the ACC.

And don’t forget Florida Atlantic, losers of three straight, battling Middle Tennessee with bowl eligibility on the line. The last time the Owls didn’t make a bowl game was in 2018, when they were a three-point loss against Charlotte away from accomplishing the goal.

And most importantly, FIU goes to Southern Miss with one more shot at a C-USA win and a chance to send Butch Davis off right.

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Eyes on Adam Silver after LeBron, Stewart Scrap

/0 Comments/in , /by

The NBA needs to show it still has some balls. LeBron James lost his self-control Sunday night in Detroit and delivered one of the most vicious blows seen on an NBA court since Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly Ron, elbowed James Harden over nine years ago. 

 

Isaiah Stewart, a 20-year-old sophomore in the league, was the recipient of James’ brutality.  The strike left a gash above Stewart’s right eye and an understandable appetite to settle the score.  

 

Stewart was physically hurt by a man large and strong enough to leave a regular person comatose had they been the victim. 

 

When it happened, LA was down 12 points with over nine minutes left in the third quarter.  James and Stewart were battling for positioning as Jerami Grant attempted his second free throw.  Then bang.

 

James turned around, appearing instantly remorseful, but it was too late.  Stewart saw red and rushed after the Lakers star three times, unable to get close enough.

 

*****

Loading
Loading...

*****

 

It was one of the rare instances in modern NBA times in which a player wanted to throw hands.  James was fortunate the court was crowded with players and coaches from both teams, as well as refs and police, in between him and the young man he assaulted. 

 

What could have happened if James connected a few inches to the side and hit Stewart’s temple?  Possibly, a concussion or, even worse, permanent brain damage.  Hopefully, it’s something commissioner Adam Silver factors into his disciplinary ruling.

 

Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA

 

James deserves all of the blame because he was cruel.   There is no chance this is news if he doesn’t forget how to act like a professional by attacking someone 16 years younger than him.  Stewart repeatedly going after James did not look good either.  But it isn’t fair to him for the league to expect him to compose himself when such a massive man could have broken his face.

 

Anger in such circumstances is a perfectly reasonable reaction.  Stewart should not get suspended for more than a game, and it would look odd if he does.  On Nov. 10, the NBA gave a slap on the wrist to MVP Nikola Jokic, suspending him a game for elbowing Markieff Morris in the back.  

 

 

James should get a minimum of five games, but Silver barely held Jokic accountable with his penalty.  It made the league look soft on disciplining those with status.  The same mistake should not be made twice in less than two weeks.

 

It was a sad look for the NBA.  The Pistons public address announcer had to tell fans not to approach the floor.  It was a sour reminder of Malice at the Palace, despite not getting close to the level of destruction that was caused 17 years ago.

Tua Tagovailoa celebrates after the Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 24-17.

Pressure Point: Wins can’t mask limitations of Dolphins offense

/0 Comments/in , /by

If the Miami Dolphins’ offense was dealt in a card game and I could keep or discard any of the cards, I’d hold on to three.

That would be Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki and Tua Tagovailoa. I’d take my chances on being able to draw better replacements for the rest.

Three consecutive wins, including 24-17 over the lowly (2-8) New York Jets on Sunday, didn’t change what has been evident all season about the limitations of Miami’s offense.

Sure, give the o-line credit for not allowing a sack against the Jets. And for opening some holes on the clock-killing drive in the final minutes.

Yes, a team averaging a league-worst 73.6 yards a game rushing coming into Sunday did net 115 yards (albeit on 3.5 yards a carry).

It doesn’t impress me much coming against a defense that was allowing 32.9 points a game, by far the worst in the league.

The win did keep alive the pipe dream that the Dolphins can somehow turn a 1-7 start to playoff potential. That .500 is a realistic possibility in the next few weeks is more a reflection of the next three weaklings on the schedule than any major strides made by the offense.

The defense has gotten its act together lately. The offense remains highly flawed, and that was on display again Sunday.

Long TD a rarity

The lack of any semblance of a power running game is a major handicap. Consequently, in short-yardage situations the Dolphins resort to trickery and the tedious Wildcat, which rarely delivers.

The passing game is almost exclusively underneath the coverage because the line can’t be counted on to hold off the rush to allow receivers to get deeper.

The exception was when Tagovailoa dodged pressure and took advantage of a Jets busted coverage for a mighty heave to Mack Hollins. The 65-yard touchdown pass was the longest of Tua’s career.

A TV camera captured the surprise on the face of co-offensive coordinator George Godsey in the press box.

Aside from that play, the Dolphins averaged 8 yards on their other 26 completions.

Keep in mind, the Jets started four rookies in the secondary. Last week Buffalo’s Josh Allen went deep on them all day in a 45-17 romp, completing 6 of 8 throws longer than 20 yards. The Bills had two receivers with more than 100 yards and five averaged more than 10 yards a catch.

On Sunday, Miami’s leading receiver Waddle (who has 4.2 speed) had eight catches but only 65 net yards. The Jets’ Elijah Moore had eight receptions for 141 yards.

Tua has ups, downs

The Dolphins are surviving on the short-passing game and they were very efficient with it Sunday.

Tagovailoa followed up his good work in the win over the Ravens by completing 27 of 33 (82 percent) for 273 yards, two touchdowns with one interception and a 108.7 rating.

Those numbers merit more respect than Tua will receive for his performance.

It was another positive step for the second-year quarterback, but it won’t quiet his critics and win over his detractors.

One reason is that Tua’s misplays tend to be glaring. Latest example, after directing a masterful scripted opening touchdown drive, he made a cringe-worthy overthrow for an interception that led to a Jets touchdown.

The bigger reason is that a team so long in quest of a franchise quarterback so badly wanted a special talent. Tua hasn’t shown to possess that skill level in comparison to the elite quarterbacks in the league.

Impressive in second half

Aside from the pick, Tua was very good at what he does well, especially in the second half when he threw both touchdown passes and led Miami to 17 points.

On the decisive touchdown drive, he was 8 for 8 for 68 yards, capped by a pinpoint 5-yard TD toss to Myles Gaskin while under pressure on third-and-goal.

His best throw of the day was the earlier third-and-7 conversion to Waddle just beyond the sticks to keep that drive alive.

Later, Tagovailoa made the sort of play that drives his critics nuts, holding the ball too long for a sack that would have taken the Dolphins out of field goal range. A questionable defensive holding call down field on the play bailed him out and Dolphins went on to get the field goal to seal the win.

Scrutiny of Tua will continue, most notably by Dolphins officials who have six more games to decide whether to keep their trust in him or seek an alternative in the offseason, be it controversial Deshaun Watson or someone else.

A surprising ray of playoff hope

The best Tua can do is keep getting the most out of a limited offense and chalking up Dubs in playoff pursuit.

Strange as it feels to say that after the dreadful start, there isn’t an unwinnable game the rest of the way, including the Patriots in the finale at home.

Four of the remaining games are a Hard Rock Stadium. The next four opponents — Panthers, Giants, Jets (again) and Saints — are a combined 15-25.
All they have to do is keep bucking long odds behind an offense of Tua, Waddle, Gesicki and a fistful of potential discards.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

 

*****

Everything Tradeshows is a one-stop-shop for trade show exhibit rentals and custom exhibit display purchase solutions to companies of all sizes.

Visit them at EverythingTradeShows or call 954-791-8882

Miami Hurricanes

Miami Hurricanes Free to Dream As Last Vestiges of Lethargy Wash Away

/0 Comments/in , /by

Blake James walked off the field in Tallahassee, the victim of his own hubris, the physical manifestation of the University of Miami’s collective lack of ambition.

The Hurricanes’ original sin was the overreaction to the Nevin Shapiro scandal. That reporting and the subsequent uninformed, hysterical media coverage resulted in a series of panicky, ill-advised moves that set the tone for a decade of futility.

The program had gone through several years of struggle at that time (following the 2010 season), so it did not mark the point where the school stopped winning.

What the scandal did, instead, was of far greater consequence, setting in course a series of events that still haunt this school today.

That moment was the moment when Miami stopped believing in the Dream of Miami. 

This was a program that was built on hubris, bravado, and unwavering belief in self combined with talent and an unquenchable thirst for excellence.

In 2010, the Miami Hurricanes went 7-5, losing the final game to South Florida in overtime. Randy Shannon was dismissed. 7-5 is fine at some schools, but this is Miami, and at Miami you win championships.

That offseason, the Shapiro Scandal happened.

In 2011, Miami finished 6-6. In the final game of the season, as the Hurricanes were getting throttled at home by a (at the time 3-8) 4-8 Boston College team, they announced a contract extension for Al Golden, adding on to an existing contract that cumulatively kept him employed until February 2021.

In one year, the standard went from 7-5 being fireable to 6-6 being extension worthy. From there, it was a downward slope into the abyss.

That was the shift, away from a relentless pursuit of winning, and toward status quo maintenance.

How does someone unqualified become Athletic Director?

How did the person in charge of ticket sales all of a sudden find himself running the Athletic Department?

Simple. By 2013, the Goldenization of Miami Athletics was complete. The focus had shifted from winning to excuse making, from championship results to mediocrity.

Remember the cloud? What exactly was that again? The school was so high on their own supply that when Miami was essentially cleared of wrongdoing with only minor penalties as a result of the Shapiro scandal, Golden hilariously claimed, with full support of the administration, that the week in which they were cleared was so challenging that they almost lost to a poor Wake Forest team.

Enter Blake James.

After Shawn Eichorst left for Nebraska, James was chosen to be Interim Athletic Director, satisfying the main criteria of being the first person Donna Shalala saw when she walked into the Hecht Athletic Center. And it was that decision that would lead to nearly a decade of half-baked, cynical, expenditure cutting moves that saw Miami languish as one of the worst athletic programs in the ACC. 

Blake James was not a likely choice to lead an athletic department, but he was a convenient vehicle for what Miami’s administrators new priorities were. Manny Diaz famously started calling the program “The New Miami” but in reality “The New Miami” started with the hiring of Blake James.

His hiring was the shift away from an athletic department and towards a marketing scheme, intent on convincing the public at-large that winning was priority one while behind-the-scenes the dedication was to cost control. The decision was made that on balance, rather than the risk spending big and perhaps still not winning big, it was preferable to run things on the cheap, knowing that doing so would all but eliminate the possibility of winning.  

James was the willing face of this strategy, the alleged great fundraiser who never seemed to have the ability or will to spend the money he was purportedly so brilliant at raising. He was so committed to perpetuating this status quo fraud on the South Florida community that he tried to keep Al Golden employed after Clemson’s 58-0 devastation of Golden’s Hurricanes, only to be forced to backtrack 24 hours later. That was a bridge too far. Not the idea that he would keep Al Golden forever, which was his desire. But he couldn’t sell that concept publicly and keep the delusion going, so Golden went.

 

*****

Loading
Loading...

*****

 

The Final, Inescapable Blunder

We can point to the absurdity of the Manny Diaz hire as the final, massive blunder that eventually lead to Blake James’ downfall, but ironically, it was the one thing he “did” right that set those wheels in motion.

Georgia’s firing of Mark Richt meant there was a well-qualified, alum of the school that was willing to take the job. And with someone like Richt at the helm, the administration’s lack of ambition became a footnote. 

When Miami needed money for the Indoor Practice Facility, Richt donated a million dollars from his own salary. He did not need the money having made so much at Georgia. And on the field, in 3 seasons, he had the Canes only 10-win season since 2003 and their only bowl win since 2006. While his final season wasn’t the best, he laid a foundation upon which a competent coach would have expanded the program.

And when Richt retired at the end of the 2018 season, he gave his Alma Mater one last gift. He did not take the money he was contractually entitled to.

So here was Blake James, with a bankroll, and a program that was overall healthy. He could have hired anyone. So what does someone who is in a station well above his ability, handed an opportunity that should never have come his way, do when presented with this gift?

He pays it forward, of course. Without conducting a head coaching search, James ran to Manny Diaz, and in 6 hours, Diaz was Miami’s head coach, and along with James, cut a fitting pair of unqualified, inexplicably hired people doubling down on Miami’s plan to maintain their low cost, mediocre approach. 

It’s hard to know why James hired Diaz.

Was it because he is that poor an evaluator of coaches that he didn’t realize Diaz did not have the demeanor, experience, or disposition to take on the monumental task of building upon Richt’s Foundation?

Was it because he was cheaper than a more qualified coach would have been?

Was it because he knew Diaz was someone that would not rock the boat?

Surely it wasn’t because Diaz laid out a firm, convincing vision for how he planned to return the program to a nationally competitive level, since the hiring process was so rushed that there was no time for that.

Whatever the reason, it was the final act of incompetence for Blake James. Sometimes, occasionally, unqualified people can sustain and even thrive by employing inside-the-box thinking. Best practices and standards developed over time by trailblazers can be borrowed by followers, much like the difference between a chef and a cook, with the chef inventing the recipe, and innovating, and the cook following the recipe. 

The market had spoken, the box so to speak. Manny Diaz’s level was Temple. Had James stayed inside-the-box and just hired any coach that a major program would have hired, he would probably still be employed despite his shortcoming.

But small thinking leads to small decisions, and he zigged when everyone else would have zagged, choosing to pay a buyout to bring back Miami’s unqualified, former defensive coordinator. Thinking outside the box is for qualified people, and James needed the box. 

At that point, the clock was ticking because in addition to a disastrous hire, Richt had raised the bar. There was no longer any patience for prolonged mediocrity.

 

The Dam Bursts

Finally, after years of intentional indifference, the house of cards collapsed this week.

A loss to the worst Florida State team anyone can remember was the symbolic end, but the die had been cast long before that. This was an athletic program, far beyond football, that was not only struggling but was aimless.

Miami’s athletics had no soul. It was just there, existing, with no goals, no ambition. A car stuck in neutral, trying to convince us that they were in 6th gear, one time actually using the slogan “Full Speed Ahead.”

And as the life was slowly squeezed out of Hecht, it was suicide, not murder. It wasn’t a scandal, it wasn’t the pandemic, it wasn’t external forces plaguing the school, it was an intentional strategy designed to spend as little money as possible to make the mendacious slogans viable, to traffic in hope. 

In Miami, we’re familiar with scams, and this one finally came to end on Monday.

Jimmy Johnson once said, “Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a person as if he were where he could be and should be, and he will become what he could be and should be.”

After a decade of small-time thinking, Miami is finally choosing to break status quo, to not settle for what is, but to focus on what could and should be. 

And for a dejected, dormant, yet still prideful community, it was a change a long time coming.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003