Two years ago, the Hurricanes suffered a blowout, neutral-site loss to Alabama but bounced back in conference play and went on to reach the first Elite Eight in program history.
No. 24 Miami (7-2) is in a similar situation now, coming off a 27-point rout against Colorado and needing to regroup with three games left before ACC play begins after New Year’s Day. UM has a chance to get back on the right track with a home game against La Salle at noon on Saturday.
“It’s part of both short memory, trying to forget about it, but at the same time, we have to look back on what we didn’t do and what we have to do to get better,” freshman Kyshawn George said.
A major issue in Miami’s latest loss was turnovers. The Hurricanes gave the Buffaloes the ball 15 times in their defeat. Miami is tied for 255th nationally with 13.6 turnovers per game.
“The easiest way to reduce turnovers is just less dribbling,” sophomore Christian Watson said. “Guys kind of tend to turn the ball over more when they just have heir head down, dribbling, and not really playing as a team and sharing the ball. I feel like our main key (is) we have a lot of guys that can score in our starting five, and especially off the bench, too. Our main key to success is just moving the ball, and that’s going to really help us limit our turnover.”
To combat the issue, Miami coach Jim Larrañaga issued a practice edict: Do not dribble more than two times without passing or shooting. He also used a drill called TOBE: Turnover Ball Elimination. There are 12 basketballs on the rack for practice, Larrañaga said, and they eliminate a ball each time they turn it over. If they turn the ball over 12 times, the players have to run for the rest of practice. When they ran that drill, the team had just four turnovers.
“Our starters really need to reduce their turnovers by not dribbling so much,” Larrañaga said. “We’ve emphasized It in practice. We actually now have a rule: only two dribbles and then either shoot it or pass it. Now will that convert over to the games? Hopefully.”
The Hurricanes also want to work on their defense, particularly from their young, bench players. Miami currently ranks 118th in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to basketball analytics website Kenpom.com.
“It’s a little bit discouraging not to see progress by this point in December,” Larrañaga said. “We’re not taking even little steps forward. We’re kind of just stuck with our defense being very inconsistent.”
The Hurricanes will try to take the lessons from their loss to Colorado, correct the issues in their next few games against non-conference opponents and restart ACC play with a bang against Clemson on Jan. 3.
“We met as a team, and I emphasized to them how important it is to learn,” Larrañaga said. “You’ve got to improve. You just can’t take a beating like that and not learn why it happened.”
