Is Miami a championship contender?

Doubt it.

I got chance to watch Miami play at FSU tonight as I was working out. The only other game I saw them play was the 2nd half of their blow out of Duke. That was an impressive game as I remember thinking someone put some glue on the bottom of Duke's shoes. Duke just looked slow compared to a Miami team that ran circles around them.

Miami only has 3 losses, and unlike the Ole Miss team I shredded earlier this year they have some legit wins over Duke, Michigan State and at NC state. They are undefeated in the ACC which is probably the 3rd or 4th best conference depending on how you feel about the Big 12. Miami lead most of this game but FSU battled back to tie about half way through the 2nd half. Miami responded and took control of the game back, rebuilding a lead on some fine shooting by Barry Larkin's son Shane.

This is where my problem with Miami comes in. With 2 minutes left and Miami up 7, all they had to do was run some clock to shorten the game, but Scott their leading scorer decided to take an off the dribble step back 3 with 22 seconds on the shot clock. Scott is a senior, so he really doesn't have a good excuse for this. Stupid mistake, OK, lots of kids do that. Bo Ryan would have had that kid on the bench, but Miami plays a different way. On Miami's next possession Scott again got the ball but held the ball at the top for a good 7-8 seconds. Then he got a little opening and drove the ball into traffic in the lane and turned the ball over with 19 seconds on the shot clock. Another stupid mistake which lead to a FSU hoop and the lead cut to 3 now with 52 seconds still on the clock.

Still a pretty good situation for Miami, but for God sake run some clock. Miami's coach must have been peeved because he had Larkin take the ball up court this possession. Larkin rewarded him by crossing half court and immediately getting a shot up with 25 seconds left on the shot clock. He was bailed out when one of Miami's bigs got the rebound and got fouled. He made one free throw and when FSU missed on the next possession Miami salted this one away with free throws.

Even worse than the quick shots was the shot selection. FSU had 2 bigs foul out with about 3 minutes to go, and the 3rd big was on the bench with cramps. FSU was playing 5 guards the last 3 minutes, none of which is over 6'5". Miami had 2 bigs in the game including Reggie Johnson who was 5-5 on the day and weighs about 320 (imagine Derrek Nix when he was a freshman).

Miami may win a lot more games this year, but performances like that just don't impress me. Stupid play will come back to haunt them eventually, and probably in the games that mean the most.