But Miami Hurricanes Basketball is back

The Miami Hurricanes basketball team is 3-0 on the season, and face Providence on Sunday for the championship of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in, you guessed it, Puerto Rico.

“Whoa man! Calm Down! Its Just a Preseason Tourney.”

Last season the Hurricanes were less than healthy. Actually, they would have been lucky if Coach Haith had another year of eligibility to waste last season. “Extra chins” would be the most minor of the ‘Canes injuries on the court. The one thing last season did, was give experience to young big men like Dwyane Collins. Collins is a beast of a power forward, but will only be helped this year by the return of 97th year senor Anthony “Glenn Sharpe” King. King had 7 blocks at the half in the first round against Marist, and copped another double-double yesterday against last season’s Cinderella: VCU.

I saw this team play in the season opener, the most glaring improvement is that Jack McClinton has learned to pass. I know, it’s hard to believe. He no longer will chuck up that ill-advised 45 foot three with 17 seconds left on the clock. Well, he’ll still do it, just not every time down the court. Even if he did, the Miami’s bigs would clean up the glass for McChucker. The Hurricanes have out-rebounded their opponents to the average of 14.7 boards a game.

The ACC press picked Miami to finish 12th (out of 12) in the conference. After the horrendous performance last year, how could you blame them? But with the front court rotation that is going to dominate over-hyped black holes like Tyler Handsborough, and great backcourt shooters like Adrian Thomas and Jack McClinton, the Hurricanes are going to make a nice run in the ACC this year. Go out and see a game, this team is fun to watch. Hey, you might even see some bikini-clad co-eds.

note: when I saw “The Beach” at the season opener, the section was a resounding disappointment. There was one portly chick in a chair… fully clothed (even chubby chasers couldn’t get some eye-love), and some dude in the lifeguard chair that WAS NOT CPR certified. After all the hype around the net that I propagated, you would think the athletic department would make the section bigger and promote it more. Hopefully it grows for conference play.

The Hurricanes play Providence for the Tip-Off title Sunday: 7:30 on ESPN2