Sports Agenda For Monday (6/6/11)
T-Minus 2 Games Before Miami Can Celebrate An NBA Championship
Big Story:
The city of Miami takes a collective sigh of relief after that game. It was a classic Finals game going back and forth and back and forth, with the Heat managing to pull out a victory off of a Chris Bosh jum…wait, Chris Bosh? He showed up! I kid, but as I've said from the beginning of the series, he really needs to step up more to put the Heat over the top of the Mavericks.
The Marlins are starting to look like, well, um, the Marlins. And, there's hope in the NFL…well, not much.
Let's hit this agenda like a Dirk Nowitzki free throw.
Heat: (Game 4, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., ABC)
Watching that game last night was enough to make you reach for the Tums.
It was interesting to watch the two teams go at it through much of the game. But I'll be honest, when I saw Dallas comeback to tie the score, I fully expected the Heat to let another one slip away.
But I was wrong.
First D-Wade hit a key shot and then after the score was tied at 86 by Nowitzki, Chris Bosh hit what turned out to be the game winning shot off a nice pass from LeBron and screen from Udonis Haslem. The screen held Nowitzki up just long enough to get the shot up and Bosh nailed it.
That's great news for the Heat as Bosh has been struggling against Tyson Chandler throughout the series.
D-Wade scored 29 and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. Bosh was held off the boards only managing 3 in nearly 38 minutes of action.
But let's get this out of the way, LeBron played well. He scored 17 points, but more importantly he served as a distributor on the offense, dishing out 9 assists. But he was also phenomenal on the defensive end, as Shawn Marion, DeShawn Stevenson, Jason Terry, and Peja Stojakovic all combined for 30 points.
And, LeBron absolutely humiliated Gregg Doyel of sportsline.com who asked one of the dumbest questions I've heard since Super Bowl media day.
If you noticed as well, Mario Chalmers again came up big in the biggest games.
He's done this going back to his days at Kansas. Trust me, as a Mizzou grad, I've seen it up close and personal as he would torch the Tigers more often than not.
He'll never be an all-star, but he can hit the big shot when you need it. Just ask Derrick Rose and John Calipari.
I think the Game 2 loss at home, especially how they lost down the stretch, may have been just the wakeup call this Heat team needed.
They were feeling it after Game 1 and until they choked like John Edwards on the truth, I'm not sure how they'd be during last night's game.
I think the loss refocused the team and I don't expect this thing to go past 5-6 games. I think the Heat can win it in Dallas if they want, and for the city of Miami's sake, that might be the best thing to happen.
I will take this opportunity to take a smack at the referees.
C'mon man, I've seen home-cooking but that was brutal. From Dirk running over Bosh to Tyson Chandler throwing Wade to the floor, it was rough. Look, it's the playoffs it's going to be physical, but then to call ticky-tack loose ball fouls for the Mavs, yeah, that was brutal. A 2-1 free throw advantage for the Mavs when they don't' have the drivers and slashers the Heat has, GUH!
Looking ahead to Game 4, I think the Heat are going to stick to their gameplan, but I think D-Wade is going to light a fire under LeBron and Bosh to take it strong to the basket and not hesitate on their shots, well, mainly Bosh is hesitant. Just keep playing the type of game they have all year and bring another championship home to Miami.
Speaking of team's with multiple championships….
Marlins: (vs. Brewers, 7:10 p.m., For Sports Florida)
Well, the Marlins didn't fall further behind the Phillies with their 6-5 loss on Sunday, but they are losing ground to the Atlanta Braves, who are now just 0.5 game back of the Fish. After playing well through April and most of May, the Marlins have reverted to their old selves again and have not won a game in the month of June.
In fact, the Marlins have only won one game dating back to May 29. Yikes.
Hanley Ramirez is headed to the DL, which would normally be big news, but given the fact that he is hitting just above the Mendoza line, isn't that big of a deal for the Marlins lineup.
What they are missing is Josh Johnson. J-Squared is still struggling with his shoulder injury, but the Fish hope to have him back soon. They won't rush him, too much invested in him, but the team desperately needs him back.
The Marlins are in the middle of a long home stretch and next play the Braves and Diamondbacks in the friendly confines of Sun Life Stadium.
NFL Update:
Quick and painless here.
Both sides are negotiating, so that's a plus. On the down side, the lawyers are talking and blowing things up. Seriously, if both sides want a fair deal, throw out the lawyers and come to an agreement.
The whole thing could be settled in a week.
What neither side realizes is that the longer it stays in court, the more the lawyers get paid and get free advertising. If the lockout ended at the end of the week and both sides dropped their respective suits, football would be back and the only people getting stiffed would be the attorneys.
So again, how exactly is this a bad thing?