OPINION: Basketball is often an individual sport, but the Miami Hurricanes only earned their first-ever Final 4 appearance by collectively holding together

KANSAS CITY – The togetherness sidebar of this Miami Hurricanes basketball team that is headed to the Final Four is a bit worn out now. Yes they love each other. Yes they have the most ridiculous team chemistry you might ever see no matter how much or how long you have paid attention to team sports.

But try anyway to imagine them persevering through what they did here Sunday night to get past Texas without the chemistry and character that they have developed this year.

Things were looking as bad as they could be well into the second half of their Elite 8 game against Texas. Miami trailed by 12 with 10:14 left to play at the T-Mobile Center.

The Hurricanes had run into a Texas team that was athletic and fast as they have proven that they are themselves. Nigel Pack was such a focus of the Longhorn defense that he could not get off three-point shots like he did Friday against Houston. Isaiah Wong, the ACC Player of the Year, had been held to a pedestrian six points. Miami’s defense had been so poor that Texas was shooting at around 55 percent, including seven more three pointers than Miami, or a 21-point edge behind the arc.

All these things happen and you just don’t win. At least 95 out of 100 times, you are going to lose. Your season is going to be so over.

But knowing these guys the way that we do, you just had a feeling that somewhere in the 10 minutes that were left on the clock that the Hurricanes could dig deep and put together a run. And that maybe if they could just get back in the game that Texas would start feeling some pressure and maybe some of those shots would stop falling.

And that’s exactly what happened. Four Jordan Miller free throws – he made 13 of 13 in the game – cut the lead to nine. A driving layup by Bensley Joseph cut it to eight. A Wong jumper and two Wooga Poplar free throws cut the lead to six. A pullup jumper by Poplar and a turnaround jumper by Wong cut the lead to four.

Texas called timeout.

The conversation in the Miami huddle turned comical.

“When you’re at a timeout, you need their attention, and the first thing that happens is I meet with my coaches to talk with them about what adjustments we need to make,” Coach Jim Larranaga said. “So we have a circle, these stools that the players sit on, five stools for the players, the guys that are in the game, and one stool for me.

“So when I was finished meeting with my coaches, I turned, and there were the five guys in the game, and Norchad is sitting in my chair telling them what to do.”

Poplar interrupted the story.

“Can you tell them what I told you? When I said look at the score,” Poplar said.

“Oh, so Wooga wants me to tell you how I tell the players all the time that when you’re in games, whether you’re ahead or behind, don’t play the score, play the game,” Larranaga said. “But we had come so far back, we were only down four, and I wanted the players to know, hey, now the game is really on the line. I said, look at the score. I think it was 72-68. I turned back to the team, and Wooga said, `we don’t play the score, we play the game.’”

They all burst into laughter. But that’s how it is with this team, always loving the moment no matter the situation. They were in trouble against Drake in the first round and battled their way out of it. They kept blowing leads against Houston until they no longer did. And now they were putting the finishing touches on a 9-0 run that tied the game with 5:26 left.

A year ago against Kansas they were 20 minutes from the Final Four when the Jayhawks caught fire like this and ran them out of the United Center in Chicago. Now they suddenly were five minutes of great basketball away from college basketball’s grandest stage.

The game kept going back and forth and remained tied at the 1:26 mark. And then it all fell into place as if it were fate.

Omier made two free throws to put Miami up by two. Wong made another two with 34 seconds left to put Miami up by four. Miller was fouled off a defensive rebound and made his two free throws to make the lead six with 23 seconds left.

And that was it. It was over. We had witnessed an absolutely amazing sequence of events that made history. Miami was a Final Four team.

The NCAA produced this stat just before tipoff. Of all the teams in the country who have played at least five NCAA Tournament games since 2019, Miami’s 6-1 record, now 7-1, was the best in the nation.

The Hurricanes seemed to have a edge in the coaching department with the veteran Larranaga on its bench and Texas being piloted by Rodney Terry, who only got the head job when head coach Chris Beard was arrested before the season when his fiancé called 911 and told police Beard had strangled, bit and hit her during a confrontation in his home.

Score one for Larranaga for featuring Miller our of the gate. Miller was attacking relentlessly the entire game. The Canes opened the floor for him on their first possession and Miller scored easily. Moments later he drove to his right for another basket and an ensuing free throw gave Miami a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the game.

But Texas showed its class by coming back fast, very similar to what Houston was able to do on Miami for a while in the Sweet 16. Norchad Omier committed his patented silly first half foul that seems to always limit his playing time early and Anthony Walker was summoned off the bench quickly. Walker got caught twice trying to do a bit too much on the offensive end. Bensley Joseph missed two free throws. Wong took a wild shot. And the Longhorns took advantage of those empty possessions to go on an 11-2 run and take the lead.

Miami was able to pull even twice, but Texas pretty much controlled the rest of the first half with remarkable shooting from the three-point line. Texas opened 7 of 13 from deep while on defense the Longhorns were doing a good job running Pack off the three-point line and Miami was just 2-3 in the first half, those extra points forming the main difference on the scoreboard as Texas took an eight-point lead into the half.

The bottom line was that Miami was getting carved up defensively and had to figure some things out at intermission. Texas also had a 15-2 edge in bench points to go along with its massive edge at the three-point line.

“I was like blown away by how fast they were,” Larranaga said. “Normally we’re the faster team when we take the court, not the biggest, but we’re normally the fastest. And I thought Texas showed that they’re every bit as fast, and maybe even a little faster than us, athletically.

“I think what occurs in the excitement of the game, I think we got in a little bit of a hurry. We made some miscues on fast breaks that we normally finish, and we got into a situation where we couldn’t really stop them. So we trailed by eight at the half. They pushed the lead up to 13. We called a timeout and I said to them, `we just need to calm down and play better.’ There’s no big secret in this. We’re very good but we’ve got to play very good.”

It was a productive time out for Miami. The Longhorns had been shooting at a ridiculous pace. At the TV timeout at the 11:06 mark of the second half, Miami was shooting at 62.9 percent and losing by 12 because Texas was also shooting 58.1 percent with seven more three-pointers.

“Our defense dramatically improved,” Larranaga said. “Our rebounding improved. And once we get stops, we really can score the ball. So we went on a run offensively, defensively, and that completely turned the game around. When it got to be 75-75, we’ve been in so many close games this year, I felt very comfortable and confident these guys will pull us through.”

And they did as expected.

“Give Miami a lot of credit. They continued to play,” Texas Coach Rodney Terry said. “They played well down the stretch, and they made some plays to win the ballgame.

“Miami really started trying to get downhill. They started putting their heads down, going one-on-one a little bit, tried to spread us out. And really did a good job of getting into the paint and getting to the foul line. They made 28 free throws and had 32 foul shots. They did a good job of really attacking the paint.”

Wong, a key player in the Miami comeback, credited the regular season battles in the ACC for hardening Miami’s game for these kind of situations.

“I would just say I thank the ACC for preparing us for these types of games,” Wong said. “Just coming in, every game we played in the ACC was always a close game. It’s always a shot to win. I feel like coming into March, we’d been in those types of situations, and we played good.

“We weren’t afraid or scared of any situation. We just stuck together and played together throughout the game. I would just say I appreciate the ACC for the competition.”

Friday night against Houston, it was Pack who busted out for 26 points after Wong had 27 against Indiana in Round 2. Two days later it was Miller, who Larranaga has preached is the most underappreciated player in the country to anybody who would listen, who had 27 points on perfect seven-for-seven shooting from the field and 13 for 13 at the free throw line.

“He’s good at everything,” Larranaga said. “In the summertime, he had a 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in practices. Seven to one. That’s ridiculous. That’s better than any point guard I know. He can rebound. He defends all different-sized guys. Today he was switching ball screens at the end and keeping the guy in front of him.

“Last week he guarded Indiana’s center Trayce Jackson-Davis, did a fantastic job on him. He can shoot the three. He’s great at driving. Straight line drive, dribble drives. He makes all of his free throws. He is a great, great player. Simple.”

Basketball is such an individual sport at many levels. But Miami truly is headed to the Final Four because of the team that it is as evidenced by all of its key guys sharing the heavy lifting in this Final Four run. This accomplishment is not a fluke by any means. The Hurricanes were clearly the best team in the ACC this year and that usually bodes well in March Madness.

“Chemistry is hugely important,” Larranaga said. “You want your players to really bond on the court, off the court. And I’ll tell you, last summer when our two transfers, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier, came into the gym. Nijel just bonded with Zay like right away. Zay loved having him. They played great together. They both could really score the ball and just enjoyed it.

“Norchad, his personality is just amazing. You can’t help but fall in love with the guy. He smiles all the time. We had a team dinner one night, and everybody had to say where they were from and everything. So when it came Norchad’s turn, they said, well, how did you end up here? He said, `I come from Nicaragua, and I got to Mexico, and then I walked across the river.’ And everybody looked, oh, my God, this guy came into the country by — and then he just started laughing. And he said, hey, I’m just joking. (Laughter). So that’s his personality.

“You look at a guy like — Isaiah Wong is the ACC Player of the Year for a reason, and Wooga Poplar, his trajectory is so high right now. His defense on (Sir’ Jabari) Rice was, I’d say at the highest level I’ve seen in college basketball because Rice can really score. He’s got a fantastic shot fake, and normally everybody jumps for it. Wooga wouldn’t let him catch it. He fought over every screen. He boxed him out. He got some rebounds.

“Between Nijel, Wooga, and Zay, we’ve got a tremendous backcourt. And you look at our 4/5 position with Jordan, who’s exceptional, and we’ve got the best rebounder in the country with Norchad.”

That’s five pretty good players, something opponents have a tough time matching when Hurricane heads are into the game. There were a few aberrations like the loss at Georgia Tech and the blown 25-point lead against FSU. But for the most part, Miami has been consistently good this season.

“Have I complimented you guys enough?,” Larranaga joked. “Okay, good.”

Miller chimed in.

“What I’m most proud of is the will and the togetherness of this team. I don’t think we’ve been down that much at a halftime in a very long time. I can’t remember,” Miller said. “We just all bought into staying together, keeping that hope alive. And the way we just willed this one through, I think everybody played really well, and I think it really shows the poise of this squad.”

Seventeen years earlier to the day, Larranaga had led George Mason to the Final Four. That accomplishment was a massive reason he got the Miami job in the ACC.

“It’s the same exhilaration, just the jubilant attitude, the effort, because you just love when your players accomplish a goal they set out before the season,” Larranaga said. “I’m a great believer in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

“The first habit is be proactive playing ahead. So always talking to the guys about planning, visualizing, seeing yourself being successful. But habit two is begin with the end in mind. And what we said the first day of practice, we’ve got to start visualizing right now what we want to accomplish and be working toward that every single day. And that’s what these guys have done.”

Now they are looking at seven more days of work.

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