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.

Hoyas (And Others) Might Not Have Finishing Kick

By Robert Ferringo

Guard play dominates college basketball. You need quality guards if you want to be a threat for any championship or title; this is not news.

This year there is no team in the country with a better backcourt than Georgetown. Their trio of Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Jason Clark is the best in the business and no one can match the overall skill, talent, experience and overall ability. They combine to average 44 of the teams 76 points and they are the key cogs in the No. 3 most efficient offense in the country. Clark and Freeman are both shooting over 50 percent from the field and the trio combines to shoot 40 percent from 3-point land and nearly 80 percent from the free throw line.

That triumvirate has helped the Hoyas become a staple of the Top 25 this year, topping out at No. 9 in the country just three weeks ago. This success comes after most bobbleheads were predicting their demise due to the premature departure of stud center Greg Monroe. They are presently lost in the shuffle of an extraordinary Big East conference but this team could be dangerous come March.

However, that is if coach John Thompson doesn’t burn out the motor on this smooth machine.

I noticed back in the nonconference portion of the schedule that Thompson was not doing a good job of resting and protecting his backcourt. I felt like there were several times this year where Thompson could have gone a little deeper in the bench in some blowout games. But now that conference play is in full swing opportunities to rest his go-to guys are going to be few and far between.

Chris Wright is presently No. 11 in the Big East with 35.1 minutes played per game. Freeman (34.7) and Clark (31.7) are not far behind. Only two other players average over 20 minutes per game.

I am very curious as to how the Hoyas are going to perform at the window down the stretch. They started the year as one of the best bets in the nation, going 9-2 against the spread in their first 11 games. However, a five-game ATS losing streak ensued as this team stumbled to just a 1-4 straight up start to Big East play.

As we head down the home stretch I think that this team is going to wear down a bit. (And I have no idea how they are going to last more than a couple days at the Big East Tournament.) I would keep a very close eye on the minutes played of these three guards. If they become a close-but-not-good-enough team, barely missing covering some college basketball spreads late in the year, I would attributed it to some

NFL – The League might suspend players for helmet-to-helmet hits

Football, as played in the United States, is one of the most violent and aggressive sports on the planet. Perhaps, excluding the Martial Arts and boxing, only Rugby comes anywhere close to the sort of hits that players exposed themselves to in every game.

The danger is out there. Liability-wise, football players are among the most prone to injury players in the professional athlete world. Although there has been a very significant improvement in terms of regulation and plain simple understanding that professional careers are at risk at every play, there is still a long way to go in making this game as safe for the players at it is entertaining for the fans.

This morning, NFL vice president of football operations, Ray Anderson has stated that the NFL is working its way to formulate new rules that would start suspending players for extremely dangerous helmet-to-helmet hits like the ones we saw this last Sunday.

Of course, it will be NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who’s final word would decide if these sort of sanctions are taken into practice in the next following weeks. The NFL commissioner and the delegates will have to take a work with the professional football players’ union in order to take make this new adjustment. As of press time, the NFL has limit itself to fine players for their dangerous hits.

And yet, we all know that such measures are not the answer as despite the considerable amounts involved in the fines, these guys are extremely wealthy athletes who don’t seem to mind too much when it comes to hitting and paying cash. Now, may the new rule pass, and then they would have to deal with suspension. That’s a whole different story.

Let’s just take a look at what happened this Sunday. The Atlanta Falcons’ Dunta Robinson hit the Philadelphia Eagles’ DeSean Jackson with extreme aggressiveness. The hit knocked them out of the game. Reports on Jackson condition are still uncertain but there are rumors that there might be a bit of a head injury and some degree of concussion.

On the other hand, 6 feet, 242 lbs. Linebacker James Harrison from the Pittsburgh Stealers sidelined two players from the Cleveland Browns with head injuries. They better start suspending players, because this guys are making at least a couple million dollars a year, and a $10,000 fine is really not making a difference.