Haith wants Miami to get tougher

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- After using the same word 15 times within a five-minute postgame interview, Miami coach Frank Haith stopped and apologized.

"I know, I keep saying tough," Haith said.

His Hurricanes may as well get used to it because Haith will almost certainly use the word with them plenty more times in the coming days.

Haith simply didn't see much that he liked Sunday night, when Miami (7-3) lost its Atlantic Coast Conference opener at home to Clemson, 91-72. It was Miami's second-worst home loss since 1997, the Hurricanes' 22 turnovers matched their most in a game since Haith took over in Coral Gables five seasons ago, and the 12-for-26 performance from the foul line only added to the misery.

"It was just the basic stuff," Haith said. "Missed free throws. Turning the ball over. Missed block-outs, just the basic things. We've got to get tougher as a basketball team, no question. There's no good loss, but sometimes you need to get your butt whupped like we did. It was an eye-opener for us and we've got to get our guys back on track."

The Hurricanes made the second round of the NCAA tournament a season ago and entered this year widely expected to be firmly entrenched in the national polls, but so far, they're just not looking like a team ready to bust into the college game's highest echelon.

"Like coach said, it comes down to being tough," guard Jack McClinton said.

Oh, that's exactly what Haith said, in plenty of ways.

First, he held an impromptu team meeting to get that point across immediately after Sunday night's game, and his new favorite word was probably still echoing off the walls of that locker room Monday morning.

And then in his postgame meeting with reporters, as McClinton and teammate James Dews sat on either side of their coach and silently nodded their heads in agreement, Haith offered phrases like this:

-- "They were tougher than we were."

-- "It's all about being tougher."

-- "We got out-toughed."

Haith isn't being mysterious about what he wants and if last season was an indication, he can sink his points in, too.

Miami won its first 12 games last season, then ran into trouble, losing seven of its next 10 contests to fall squarely on the NCAA bubble. At that point, Haith challenged -- you guessed it -- his team's toughness, just in time for back-to-back road wins at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech that saved the season and provided a springboard into the round of 32 of the NCAAs.

"We're going to build off this," Haith said. "No doubt about it."

Miami doesn't play again until Saturday when it visits former Big East rival St. John's. After that, the Hurricanes return home for games against North Florida (Dec. 31), North Carolina Central (Jan. 3) and Florida Atlantic (Jan. 5).

Combined record entering Monday of those three schools was a mere 6-28. North Carolina Central takes Division I basketball's worst record so far this year -- 0-13, a mark it shares with Mississippi Valley State -- into Duquesne on Monday night.

So there's still plenty of time, and likely plenty of opportunities, for the Hurricanes to get their toughness level back to the level Haith would find acceptable.

"That's what we've got to do," Dews said. "We've got to take it on ourselves to get tougher, every single one of us. And that's how you become a better team."

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