NBA – Blazers stun the Heat for their 7th straight win on the road

The Portland Trail Blazers are really working their way into clinching an NBA Playoffs berth. After this impressive run on the road the Blazers have left behind some of the strongest teams in the east coast, in what could easily be described as a late-season revival. Before this 7-game streak, the Trail Blazers had only won 7 of its 23 games played away from home. So yes, Portland is showing us its fiercest side and with this 105-96 win at South Beach the squad just gave another boost to the spiral downfall of the Miami Heat.

We have to be clear with this: things are once again getting ugly for the Miami Heat. First, head coach Erik Spoelstra said that some of his players had been shredding tears in the locker room after the team suffered a big loss against the Chicago Bulls. That even sparked up the rivalry between the Heat and the LA Lakers, when head coach Phil Jackson said in an interview that the NBA was for the big boys, and if there was going to be any crying, it shouldn’t be done in the locker room but in the toilet, where no one could see you.

Yes, it was a bit of a low-punch coming from Jackson and the Lakers, but they sort of had it coming. One way or another, this is also some sort of psychological blow against the Heat, who will face the Lakers on a heart-stopping game on Thursday.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and Gerald Wallace scored 22, with 9 boards and 2 steals, bringing in his best game since he joined the Blazers last month. The Heat went on to put one heck of an effort via Dwight Wade, who scored 38 points, 6 boards, 5 assists and 2 blocks but the Blazers kept their cool and managed to survive the game. Wallace and company sent Miami to its fifth straight loss overall and sixth in eight games since the All-Star break.

LeBron James finished with 31 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Miami Heat, who keeps braking records, although this are not some to be too proud of breaking. For starters consider that the Heat are the 12th team in NBA history to have a 12-game winning streak followed by a five-game losing streak in the same season. And they could even keep on climbing on that infamous list as Miami will have to face the NBA defending Champions, the LA Lakers on Thursday.

The Blazers’ bench outscored Miami’s 41-8. Yes, know the Miami Heat fans are the one’s crying after the game. Yes, the Heat is got Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, but they had to build a team from scraps after they invested three fourths of their budget on these three guys. On the other hand, we have to be clear about Portland’s bench: Wallace and Roy are not exactly ordinary bench players, having a combined 749 starts in 902 career appearances.

But still, Miami’s bench has been struggling of late anyway, and they are really going to have to bring on their A-game if they hope to turn this rout the other way around with a big win (a very needed win) against the Lakers Thursday night. Yes, we are aware of the fact that the Heat could lose all of its pending games and still make it to the Playoffs. But let’s get real with this: such an entrance into the Playoffs would be an utter disappointment. 

Can Chelsea finally grasp their holy grail?

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Early on in the Premier League season when Chelsea were cruising and looked set to win the Premier League at a canter, their manager Carlo Ancelotti made the frank admission that his side were more interested in winning the Champions League this season rather than enjoying another triumph in the Premier League.

However, since then, the Blues have begun to be labelled an aging side that is not able to perform at the level achieved in recent years, something that has left them badly struggling to stay in contention in the Premier League title race this season and the Champions League best odds now indicate this could be their best shot at glory.

Despite this, the Blues know that Premier League form and Champions League form are two very different things and that a good performance in Europe can easily undermine any favourites tag in an instant. With the Blues looking forward to a relatively easy first round tie in the knockout stages against Danish minnows FC Copenhagen, they know that their real test to win their first Champions League crown will come during the latter stages of the competition when they meet the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid and the Champions League predictions reflect this.

With the club’s owner Roman Abramovich having always stated that it is his desire to win big in Europe above all else, the Blues know that this may be the last time that several members of their squad are going to have a serious opportunity to win the famous competition. Add to this the fact that the final is at Wembley in London and you cannot argue that the Blues’ squad lacks the motivation required to finally end the record that says that no London club has ever won Europe’s top club competition.

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.

NFL – Dallas Cowboys have their first feel-good game of the season

The Dallas Cowboys made a few changes during the week. And it seemed as if that made all the difference. First, they got rid of head coach Wade Phillips, who had managed to bring the Cowboys to its second worst ever season start. At 7-1 and after 5 consecutive losses, it was time to make a change. And that’s when we must give it up for interim head coach Jason Garret. And that’s the start of the second change of the week. Garret managed to turn around this team and guide it to a very significant 33-20 victory in the road against the New York Giants.

On February 8, 2007, the Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, announced that Wade Phillips was coming to Dallas to become the new Head Coach. That year the Dallas Cowboys lost in the first playoffs game. On January 9th  2010, Wade Phillips lead the Cowboys to their first playoffs victory in the last 12 years. The Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild card round, thus earning Phillips’ first playoffs win.

Wade Phillips was expected to bring this team up and into another winning season. But he couldn’t.  A 45-7 lost at Green Bay was enough to set off the panic alarm at Jerry Jones’ office and Wade Phillips was fired.

Jerry Jones is well aware that this is not a complete makeover. There is still a very significant amount of work to be done with the team.  At 7-2, the Cowboys are still somewhat of a disappointment, and even though for the first time in a very long while the Cowboys played like a top-notch team, this latest win is no omen of better things to come.

Let’s be realistic with the expectations we can set upon this team. Yes, they defeated the Giants at home, and yes, they broke their 5 consecutive defeats streak, and sure, the Cowboys ended Eli Manninig’s and Co. 5 consecutive win record. But, if you kept a close eye at what happened in the previous  8 games, you can’t help but to notices that removing Wade Phillips was nothing but cleaning up the top of a iceberg.

Jon Kitna was 13 of 22 for 327 yards, three touchdown passes, one interception and one heck of a game. Kitna was able to complete a 13 yard touchdown passes for Dez Bryant, 71 yard pass to Felix Jones and a 24 yard missile to Miles Austin. In other words, Jon Kitna finally gave up a good game while replacing the injured Tony Romo.

Eli Manning had a good game, but it was just not enough to keep the Cowboys from taking over. Manning completed 33 of 48 for 373 yards, but the two interceptions he suffered, particularly the last one of the fourth period, took away the little chances the Giants had to make an impressive comeback in the fourth quarter.

The sun was finally shinning a bit for Jon Kitna. Depsite the two blackouts in the new 1.6$ billion stadium which deleayed the game for eleven minutes and left over 80,000 fans in complete darkness for a couple of seconds, Kitna won his first game as a starter since 2007. Thats what the NFL is all about.

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.