Miller admits to an "ass whooping" but highlights team strengths like ball security and rebounding, while also acknowledging the defense needs work.
The start of the Sean Miller era at Texas has been as expected -- up and down. The program as a whole is going through a rebuild after a rough last two seasons under former head coach Rodney Terry.
But that doesn't excuse the mauling it received from Virginia at home on Wednesday night.
“Of the games I’ve coached in, that may be the biggest ass whooping that I’ve taken," Miller said Friday on Longhorn Weekly. "When you consider the game being at home, from start to finish, they were clearly the more dominant and better team."
However, Miller's not letting that loss cloud over the positives he's seen thus far. One of those positives is the Longhorns' ability to take care of the basketball. Texas ranks tied for 33rd in the NCAA in turnovers per game, averaging just under 10.
Even in their blowout loss to the Cavaliers, the Longhorns still only committed seven turnovers. So while Texas may be losing, at least it's not beating itself.
"Seven turnovers is something we'll take any day of the week, that had nothing to do with our demise," Miller said.
Another thing Miller praised was his team's overall physicality. The Longhorns have been a good rebounding team this season, ranking tied for 24th in the nation in rebounds per game with 41.
Transfers Matas Vokietaitis, Lassina Traore, and transfer guard Dailyn Swain have played a huge role in this aspect, as the team's three leading rebounders.
The added physicality has also helped Texas attack the basket more, leading to lots of free throws. The Longhorns' 29 free throws per game rank tied for 10th in college basketball.
"We've been a physical team, we've gotten second shots... we defensive rebound, and we keep the other team off the offensive glass, that's a really important statistic as well," Miller said.
But Miller still can't quite get over Texas' defensive issues at the moment.
"It's like a roof leaking; we have to just patch one at a time," he said. "When we improve on that side, I think a lot of other good things can follow."
Overall, he knows there's a lot to work on, but he also preaches patience, knowing that it takes time to gel, not only with new players, but with a completely new coaching staff.
"We're far from a finished product simply because we haven't been together long enough," Miller said. "Each week that goes by, that becomes less and less of a thing... every time that we have a chance to play a game, we have a great opportunity to grow."