NBA – LeBron James mother arrested in Miami

This isn’t the first nor it will be the last time that Gloria James, the mother of the Miami Heat’s all-star player LeBron James makes the cover of the sporting world news. Nor is it the first time Just like it had happened back in 2006 in Akron Ohio, when she was arrested on charges of drunken driving, this time it was the Miami Beach police who took here into custody.

According to the police report, Gloria James assaulted Sorel Rockfeller, a valet worker at the Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. It seems as if Mrs. James first lost her patience and then her temper when she assaulted Mr. Rockfeller because he was taking too long to have her car delivered.

Once police arrived to the scene, they filled in the report and said that Mrs. James smelled like alcohol and that her eyes were bloodshot. Various witnesses supported the valet-worker’s story and consequently Mrs. James was taken to the police station.

Back in 2006, Gloria James’ case was taken to court and she pleaded no contest to reckless operation, speeding, disorderly conduct and physical control of a motor vehicle under the influence.  She was given a suspended sentence, fined and ordered to complete a drug and alcohol class after.

LeBron James took a couple of questions about this specific story, but didn’t go into much detail. He simply stated that he was a bit worried but that Mrs. James was fine and that this episode was a personal matter, something that shouldn’t distract him from his job-at-hand.

Perhaps a bigger issue for LeBron James and the Miami Heat is whether Dwayne Wade is going to be able to play today against the Charlotte Bobcats. Wade has been suffering lately with a deep-tissue bruise that has kept him off the courts. He is undergoing extensive physical therapy hoping that he’ll be ready to play tonight, if not, on Sunday when they play the Boston Celtics. Let’s not forget that the Heat is 0-3 against the Celtics this season.

NBA – Miami Heat defeat the Atlanta Hawks for 2nd seed in the East

The Miami Heat took advantage of the motivational boost that came from defeating the Boston Celtics on Sunday, and brought out their A-game to survive a come-from-behind rally via the Hawks bench, that almost cost them the game and the No.2 seed. Head coach Erick Spoelstra took a very different approach to this game.

While, as we covered on the previous entry, the Boston Celtics decided to rest all of its key players, giving up the No.2 seed to the Heat, in Miami, Spoelstra started and played to the end all of his stars. He was certainly looking for a way to secure the No. 2 seed behind the Chicago Bulls in the east.

It might be a little too early to make any predictions, on which coach took the better approach. Spolestra wanted to secure the seed and he has the advantage of counting on a team filled with young players. Doc Rivers, on the other hand, has to consider that most of his players are in the tail end of their careers. So yes, Spolestra avoided a match against the New York Knicks in the Playoffs, but those extra, somewhat unnecessary minutes played by LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade could affect them down the stretch.

LeBron James scored 34 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists while guiding the Heat to a 98-90 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Extra kudos must go to the Hawks who nearly rallied from a 20-point deficit while playing the fourth quarter with little-used bench players against three of the NBA’s best. And that should worry the Miami Heat just a bit. Yes, they were quite terrific against the Boston Celtics, but once we begin the playoffs, anything can, and usually does, happen.

Josh Smith scored 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists to lead the Hawks. With this defeat Atlanta has now lost a season-high five straight games, which is certainly not the way any team would like to close the season. Truth is, their first round playoff matchup with the Orlando Magic is not going to be easy, and the precedent they built last season doesn’t help their case either. The Magic wiped out the Hawks in four straight games a year ago in the Playoffs firs round.

It wasn’t an easy game for the Heat. Yes, they won, but like we mentioned before, the Hawks were heavily taking their chances while giving so many minutes to bench players. The Miami Heat appeared to had cracked the game by the time there where only 6 1/2 minutes left of the second quarter, hitting 11 of its last 14 shots.

Dwayne Wade handled most of the scoring load with 13 points — including 9 in a row — during a closing 25-15 run that turned a tight game into a 62-46 lead for the Heat by the halftime break. James and Bosh did the rest, combining for Miami’s other points during the spurt.

It is still uncertain what sort of performance the Heat are going to put together this postseason. Yes, they have clinched the no.2 seed in the Eastern Conference but we are talking about a team that underwent a mayor overhaul last summer, and that were struggling at 9-8 late in November. Yes, Miami got better, a lot better. But just over a month ago, they lost five in a row. Now Miami is heading to the playoffs with 14 wins in their last 17 games. That should make things interesting.

NBA – Chicago Bulls defeat Miami Heat

Yes, there are alot of fans out there who believe that the NBA games that really matter are those played during the Playoffs. Even though there is quite a strong argument in their favor, one could also sustain that some regular season games are quite significant. One of this significant games without a doubt was the 93-89 win of the Chicago Bulls over the Miami Heat.

Here is the thing: what really matters here is that the Bulls won over one of the strongest teams in the nation. For the second time this season. And yes, this time around the Miami Heat had all of its stars in the court. LeBron James was there, Dwayne Wade was there and even Chris Bosh was there. Well, sort of. Ok, as a matter of fact, Bosh was having one of his worst nights as a pro, but heck, he was there.

So perhaps that’s why it was such an important win for Derrick Rose and the Bulls. The last play of the game was a sweet definitive moment for Rose. Let’s face it, he is a talented player who does a great job on the field, but who’s numbers are certainly somewhat of a dissapointment. He was 9-for-24 with 5 boards and 6 assists for 26 points. Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.

Unless, you actually take a look at what he does on the field. Check out what he did on the last play: Loul Deng went to the far corner and stood outside the arch. Dwayne Wade was covering him. Rose had the ball and quickly swirved into the paint. Wade turned around and tried to double team Rose as he was been guard by LeBron James. And then it happened. Somehow Rose managed to clear the ball past two of the best active players in the league, and without missing a beat Deng shoot for the tiebreaking three-pointer that gave the Bulls the 4 point lead 18 seconds before the end. 

And it was over. Despite the efforts of Wade who scored 34 points and LeBron James who added 29 for Miami, the game was goint to go to the Bulls. Perhaps the weakest link was Chris Bosh. He missed 17 of 18 shots and had seven points with Joakim Noah doing a fantastic job guarding him most of the night.

NBA – New York Knicks defeat the Miami Heat at South Beach

Last week we said that the arrival of Carmelo Anthony to the locker-room of the Madison Square Garden might had been the best thing to happen to the Knicks since they chose Patrick Ewing as the No. 1 pick of the 1985 NBA Draft. All though Melo has only been in New York for a week and yes, it is quite too soon to make any powerful statements, it really seems as if we were right on target with that one.

The game was played down to the last second. LeBron James had the ball. He managed to pass by Carmelo Anthony, who was just transferred in a 15-player deal from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, but Amare Stoudemire was waiting for him, and LeBron couldn’t pass. For a big change, the Knicks were capable of holding off the Miami Heat on defense. Yes, that’s right, even Anthony who during the last 6 years as a pro had been somewhat allergic to taking on a defensive role, was involved to the fullest going one-on-one with James.

Chauncey Billups made the

NBA – San Antonio Spurs crush the Miami Heat

The Spurs point-guard, the talented Tony Parker, was expected to be out for a complete month after he suffered a calf injury last week. According to his head coach Greg Popovich, the Spurs French-star speedy comeback was due to a

NBA – Boston Celtics have the key to turn off the Miami Heat

It really seems as if the Boston Celtics know exactly what it takes to keep the Miami Heat under the radar. The Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo had a triple-double and Kevin Garnet came in with 19 points, 7 boards and 3 assists to guide the Celtics on a 85-82 come from behind win against the Miami Heat. In clutch time, the Heat took their chances and went for a three-point shot that would have sent the game into overtime. But surprise, surprise, it wasn’t Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh or LeBron James who took the shot, but Mike Miller who went for it and missed.

There are a couple of ways we could look at this situation. The Miami Heat has made a multimillion-dollar investment in signing in three of the hottest players in the league early in the season. The renovated team that included players of the caliber of Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James had a bit of an extended break in period but once all the mechanisms were working together and things got oiled up, the Miami Heat was capable of impressive wins over the strongest teams in the nation, including a Christmas Day win over the defending champions the LA Lakers.

But they have yet to know what it feels like to defeat the National Championship runner-up, the veteran-wise Boston Celtics. Here are the extra kicks: playing in the eastern conference the Celtics are expectedly the team that is going to dominate the Playoffs where they will probably face the Miami Heat (which is arguably the other strongest team in that conference). And that is where the situation takes an interesting turn.

Take a look at this: The Boston Celtics have won 12 of the last 13 games against the Miami, that is including a 4-1 series victory in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Yes that was before King James came over from Cleveland. But if you look back at that series you would realize that they then knocked LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers out in the next round. So sure, in the summer James made his move to Miami to join Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, but not muchas has changed: the Heat still haven’t been able to beat Boston.

Now, this is where it gets a bit scary for most Boston fans or at least those of us who have our high hopes, and made an early bet on the Celtics to go all the way: head coach Doc Rivers should really find a way to keep his squad healthy, as the Big Three, Paul Pierce, Ray Allan and Kevin Garnett, are all in the twilight of their careers and no matter how well they do in the regular season, it is all worthless if they are not as strong and as motivated as they are right now when the playoffs kickoff.

This was enough for the Celtics two snap a two game loss streak and maintain their healthy record of not losing three consecutive games so far this season. The Celtics will now play the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday and hitting the road to play Golden State, Denver, Los Angeles Clippers and Utah this upcoming week.

NBA – Miami Heat might have finally gave us a true glimpse of their prowess

by Stephen Lars on Feb.07, 2011, under Basketball, Sports News

There has been a lot of speculation around the Miami Heat. It has been a very long while since a team has received so much media attention before the season had even started. When LeBron James made his announcement in the preseason saying that he was taking his talents to Miami, he not only became one of the most unlike figures in the professional sports but he also made the Miami Heat the No.1 pick in the odds to win the NBA Championship.

With LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade had finally received the backup that he needed to turn his Miami Heat into a team worthy of a NBA Championship ring. But as we have had a chance to see so far into the season, it takes far more then pure talent and one heck of a payroll to get a team going. Yes, player-by-player, the Miami Heat had the strongest team in the Nation. But, on the other hand, the Heat had been holding to an awful start just to move on to a somewhat disappointing 36-14 record in the regular season. Yes, the Heat is the No. 1 team in the Southeast. And yes, they are still working their way into the playoffs.

But beware: the Heat have lost both of its games, on the road and at home against their conference rivals the Boston Celtics; and as if that was not enough, quite frankly we have not yet been able to see the new big three really bringning on their A-game as a team. Yes, LeBron has had some amazing nights. Let’s not forget that just on Thursday James scored 51 points on the 104-100 win on the road against the Orlando Magic. And yes, Wade and Bosh had had a chance to show what they are really worth. But the Heat have yet to find their right combination on the court. The defense had been week, the bench was among the leagues weakest crew, and quite frankly, it didn’t really seemed as if they would survive long in the playoffs.

Until last night at Charlotte: Dwayne Wade and LeBron James where amazing as they guided the Heat into their first truly memorable game of the season. The Heat was a solid team, and that goes for both the offense (which is usually the case) and the defense (which has struggled a bit this season). For starters, Wade clinched his first triple-double since Miami’s championship season in 2006, with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. LeBron James was not too far away either with 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

And finally the bench began to work. For the first time in a while the Heat’s reserves gave signs of been alive. Eddie House and Mike Miller are putting together an impressive offensive squad. The pair combined to complete their first eight shots and finished 10-of-12 from the field, that is, including 7-of-8 shooting from the three-point range. If you add to that a very tought defense that managed to keep the Bobcats under the radar for almost seven minutes late into the 4th quarter, then you could have had a glimpse of what this team could really do down the stretch.

NBA – Miami Heat defeats the Charlotte Bobcats

by Stephen Lars on Jan.04, 2011, under Basketball, Sports News

Both LeBron James and Dwayne Wade put on an amazing game as they lead the Miami Heat to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-82 last night. James scored 38 points for his 10th game hitting 30 or more points this season while Dwayne wade scored 31 to complete his 9th game of the season reaching such high marks. This is not unusual for such a high caliber team that includes the talent of not only these two players but also that of the lean and powerful Chris Bosh.  What it is particularly interesting about this game is that this is the first time that both Wade and James hit the 30

NFL – Tom Brady insists on playing against the Miami Dolphin on Sunday

It seems as if the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots is taking way too many chances. Perhaps he doesn’t remember what happened to his teammate, Wes Walker, during last season’s meaningless regular season finales against the Houston Texans. Sure, the Patriots lost the game by 34-27, but their biggest lost was having to deal with Welker’s season ending injury.

At 13-2 for the regular season, the Patriots have already clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. So really, what is the point on risking key-players when there is nothing at stake? Head coach Bill Belichick has some sort of a minor dilemma this weekend. The Patriots really don’t need to play with its starters against the Miami Dolphins. And yet, since the Patriots hit their bye week after this Sunday, Belichick needs to ponder whether he wants to keep his players safe from injury or as physically and technically sharp as possible.

As of press-time the New England Patriots are a -4

NBA – Miami Heat and their defensive deficiencies

Rajon Rondo has not always been the easiest kid on the block to work with. He is known for having quite a temper, and at some extent, even having some issues with maturity. But the kid can play. He is currently the best point-guard in the nation, and if there is some argument about this, you should consider the sort of game he put on together against the Miami Heat last Thursday.

Rondo completed 16 assists against the new Big Three: LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. And that is when it becomes very evident that the Miami Heat are certainly struggling on their defensive end. The Miami Heat tried a variety of defensive maneuvers to try to keep Rondo from distributing precise plays throughout the game. They even took the job to put 260-pound LeBron James to guard him closely. And even then, that didn’t work.

Sure, LeBron like Kobe Bryant, are capable of getting Rondo on serious trouble, because of their very impressive wingspan. They are both taller and stronger compared to the fast paced point guard. But, Rondo is got one advantage. Specially when playing against the Heat. Sure, LeBron could turn things around and complicate Rondo’s game, but then, who is going to cover Ray Allen or Paul Pierce.

And that’s when the real struggle begins. The heat has to come to an understanding on this simple issue. They don’t have a solid defense. The team is far from it. They have struggled with the past 3 teams when it comes to covering the paint. The Jazz and the Hornets have put over 50 points each on the paint. And sure, even if they covered the Celtics, and kept them on the low 30’s from the paint, the Heat couldn’t control Allen and Pierce from the perimeter.

The new Big Three are in need of a change in perspective.  At 5-4 they are in need of a serious overhaul, or at least figure out how to stop been a team filled with 3 NBA superstars, and become a team capable of winning the championship.

NBA – Miami Heat defeat the Detroit Piston in Preseason Opener

by Stephen Lars on Oct.09, 2010, under Football, Sports News

Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, finally had their so awaited debut with the Miami Heat. So much had been said about James’ decision to leave behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and take his talents over to Miami, that one couldn’t help but to wonder how the whole thing was going to work out. Where the three players going to be able to put aside the stardom and the big ego’s and actually perform well as a team? Who was going to take the decisive shot? Are all the expectations real, could the Miami Heat really be a candidate to win the NBA Championship?

The big three were on the court for a little over 3 minutes, since early in the game, in a defensive play, Dwayne Wade grab his hamstring and limped off the court. He strained his right hamstring and was soon taken over to the locker room. Head coach, Erick Spoelstra came out to say it wasn’t serious, but one thing if for certain. We are not going to be taking part of the next couple preseason games.

Still, the Miami Heat made it all look easy as they defeated the Detroit Piston 105-89 in the first preseason game for both teams. The stadium filled in with fans expecting to see the big three. By the third quarter, most of the fans where gone. There was no coming back for the piston.

The start was almost flawless for the Miami Heat, had it not been for Wade’s injury. Still, LeBron James began to show his teammates how easy he can make things look like once he is in the field. Bosh, for instance, had 20 points in 8-for-13 shooting, and was key in the rebound department. James, who has been the dominant force in the league during the regular season, recorded 18 points.

Ben Gordon lead the Detroit Pistons with 17 points, but it was still not enough to keep the Heat from taking a 20 point advantage by halftime. James began the game with his little ritual. The big clapping of hands, the white cloud: the repetition of a ritual. But one couldn’t help but to notice that it was all very different.

NFL – New York Jets take last minute win over the Miami Dolphins

The New York Jets second year quarterback, Mark Sanchez is finding his way into the top of the league. This is his second game in a row with 3 touchdown passes and if he can keep up his numbers, he might be able to lead the Jets into the postseason.

As of press time, the Jets are in a three-way tie for the AFC East with the Dolphins and the Patriots with a 2-1 record each.  At the beginning of the season, the sports commentators had talked about the very rough calendar that the Jets would have to face in their first three weeks. Well, they have come out with a 2-1 record and a very important 31-23 win over the Dolphins on Sunday.

Now considering that earlier this week Braylon Edwards was stopped for driving under the influence, it wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that he really came a long way and proved that he is deserved a little slack. Anyhow, regardless where you stand in regards to his irresponsibility, he had one heck of a game against the Miami Dolphins.

He began the game in somewhat of a temporarily disfavor, but he sure enough had his stuff together and began to shine on his own. Braylon Edwards opened the game with a 67 yard run for touchdown after a beautiful pass from Mark Sanchez.

He would then, towards the end of the game, secure a second big catch in the game. The Jets where on their third try and still had 10 more yards to go. There was little over two minutes left on the game. The Jets had to find a way to score and then defend their advantage to the end. And then he completed a 20 yarder to keep alive the touchdown drive that made it 31-23 for the Jets, after a 1 yard run by LaDainian Tomlinson.

Now, Sanchez is out there. Is he as good as they say? Well, maybe. He is still young, but he could turn into one of those few big names. So far, he has recorded 5 straight regular season games without an interception, and those three touchdown-passes in a two game streak could keep on going. His team needs him to bring on the best  he’s got.

The Jets have the offensive prowess to be among the best in their conference. What is a bit uncertain is how their defense can stand up to bigger, faster teams. If the Jets secondary can get their act together like they did in this game, there are fairly good chances that they are going to keep on with their winning streak.

The Jets will hit the road once again and face the Buffalo Bills. As of press time, the Jets are a -5 point favorite on the spread. The total for wagering  on the over under has been set at 37. Keep an eye-out for any significant changes on this NFL betting line during the week.

The Miami Dolphins are in need of a revamp, and their next game against the Miami Dolphins is a key game. It’s going to be the Monday night game, and if things stay as expected it is going to be a close one. As of press time, the Patriots are the favorite by -1 point on the spread. It should be one very interesting game.