I’ve cooled off a bit since the final buzzer. Took a walk. Cleared my head. Now let’s actually talk about what mattered.
Three Takeaways
1. Free throws cost Miami the game. Period.
If you read this site, you already know where I’m going. We’ve been screaming about free throws all season. They’re free points. No defense. Just make them.
Around the ten-minute mark, it was obvious this game was turning into a free-throw battle, and that’s the worst possible script when you’re playing a California team that came in as the best free-throw shooting team in the ACC. You can’t miss at the line and expect to survive. No excuses.
2. I didn’t hate the final shot.
Should Tre Donaldson have touched the ball? Maybe. But I’m not losing sleep over how it ended. Henderson got the look off a DHO fake, and yeah, it was contested but with five seconds left, you’re not drawing up a wide-open jumper. Sometimes it’s just about getting a shot, not the perfect one.
3. The game was there all night — and that’s the problem.
This is the frustrating part. They had control. Up eight at times. Playing well. Then it’s the same story, careless turnover, bad shot, slow getting back on defense, easy run-out the other way. Rinse, repeat.
Every game turns into a grind late. Nothing ever comes easy down the stretch. Until this team learns how to close without shooting itself in the foot, these kinds of losses are going to keep piling up.
And look, none of this comes from a place of quitting on this team. I love this group to death. That’s why losses like this sting the way they do. You see the potential. You see how close they are. That’s what makes the free throws, the turnovers, the late-game lapses, so frustrating. This team is right there. Clean it up, and these games flip the other way. That’s why this hurts.
Three Takeaways
1. Free throws cost Miami the game. Period.
If you read this site, you already know where I’m going. We’ve been screaming about free throws all season. They’re free points. No defense. Just make them.
Around the ten-minute mark, it was obvious this game was turning into a free-throw battle, and that’s the worst possible script when you’re playing a California team that came in as the best free-throw shooting team in the ACC. You can’t miss at the line and expect to survive. No excuses.
2. I didn’t hate the final shot.
Should Tre Donaldson have touched the ball? Maybe. But I’m not losing sleep over how it ended. Henderson got the look off a DHO fake, and yeah, it was contested but with five seconds left, you’re not drawing up a wide-open jumper. Sometimes it’s just about getting a shot, not the perfect one.
3. The game was there all night — and that’s the problem.
This is the frustrating part. They had control. Up eight at times. Playing well. Then it’s the same story, careless turnover, bad shot, slow getting back on defense, easy run-out the other way. Rinse, repeat.
Every game turns into a grind late. Nothing ever comes easy down the stretch. Until this team learns how to close without shooting itself in the foot, these kinds of losses are going to keep piling up.
And look, none of this comes from a place of quitting on this team. I love this group to death. That’s why losses like this sting the way they do. You see the potential. You see how close they are. That’s what makes the free throws, the turnovers, the late-game lapses, so frustrating. This team is right there. Clean it up, and these games flip the other way. That’s why this hurts.
