Sports Agenda For Wednesday (4/13/11)
Big Story:
If you ever wanted to know if the Heat's bench is any good, tonight's the night for you! There will be no reason to see the Big 3 in action, so they will likely sit out tonight's game against the Raptors. It's a meaningless game and you don't want to risk injury to any of the stars. So we'll see scrubs versus the Raptors. We might even see a Dexter Pittman sighting tonight…it's rarer than seeing WSVN put on a non-sensationalized story.
Elsewhere, the Marlins lost, the Draft winds are blowing, and yeah, it's slowing down right now in the world of sports thanks to the freaking NFL lockout.
Heat: (@ Toronto Raptors 7:05 p.m. Sun Sports)
Well, if you see LeBron, Wade, and Bosh on the court tonight, I'll be shocked. The Heat's Three Kings are ready for the playoffs, so all that's needed is to get the bench players a little action tonight.
My guess is you'll see a starting lineup that looks something like Mario Chalmers, Eddie House, James Jones, Juwan Howard and Zydruans Ilgauskas, or something like that. Mike Bibby shouldn't play either so that should clear the way for Pittman to get into the game. I'm curious to see him next year to see if he actually develops. If he keeps his weight down, he should be a big body to bang away down low along with UD.
Meanwhile, all focus turns to the Philadelphia 76ers now. The 76ers have a fairly balanced attack. Elton Brand leads the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds per game. But, Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young, and Jodie Meeks are all scoring in double figures for the season. The team has an average assist to turnover ratio of 23 – 13 and are being outrebounded by their opponents 42.6 to 41.8.
Still, if LeBron every wanted to shut the critics up, it starts this weekend. If he and the Heat come out firing on all cylinders and quickly dispose of the 76ers, then the real challenge begins with the winner of the Boston-New York series. I've been going back and forth, but something tells me that New York might take that series in 6-7 games. Boston may turn it on as the playoffs start, but I think missing Kendrick Perkins is going to really haunt the C's.
Also, don't sleep on the Orlando Magic. They gave the Bulls everything they could handle the other night and didn't have big Dwight Howard in the lineup. Assuming Howard stays out of foul trouble, they will be a very tough out in the playoffs and could easily take out the Bulls along the way.
Marlins: (@ Atlanta Braves, 7:05 p.m. Fox Sports)
Ouch, that's quite a way to get your keister whipped. The Marlins wanted to come into Atlanta and play well against former manager Fredi Gonzalez. It would have helped if Chris Volstad had decided to pitch. Instead, Volstad served up more cheese than Kraft.
Volstad was rocked for 5 earned runs on 8 hits, 2 of those were home runs. Volstad didn't make it through the fifth inning before mercifully being pulled. The bullpen came in an pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. The bullpen threw just 38 pitches, 23 of which were strikes.
(Side note: the attendance last night was 13,865. For the Braves, that deserves a GUH!)
Tonight will be the best game to watch in the series. It will be aces wild when Marlins number 1 starter Josh Johnson takes the mound against Braves number 1 starter Tim Hudson. Hudson has been pitching lights out for the last few years and Johnson has really come into his own over the last 2 years as well.
Hudson is 2-0 this season while Johnson is 1-0. They both have ERA's between 1.84 and 2.13. Needless to say, it should be a heckuva matchup between ace pitchers.
I'm also interested to see if Hanley Ramirez is healthy and whether or not he has his head completely in the game, which I've questioned over the last year.
Dolphins:
All is quiet on the Dolphins front, but that's not stopping anyone from speculating, including me.
The buzz going around right now amongst fans is to draft Ryan Mallett at number 15 in the first round of the draft. Some say he's a headcase that has serious questions off the field.
While I'm not privy to all the information teams collect, Mallet does have some intriguing upside. There aren't many 6'6 3/4" quarterbacks in the NFL who have a rifle attached as a right arm. He's SLOW, but last time I saw Dan Marino, it's not like he was blazing a 40-yard-dash. Mallett played in a pro-type system for Bobby Petrino at Arkansas and lit up the scoreboard.
But, he also struggled with pressure. Alabama figured this out and became a big thorn in his side. His footwork is okay, but I'd like to see him improve his pocket mobility a little. He doesn't need to scramble, but I'd be interested to see a reel of how he stepped up in the pocket or moved around in the pocket when pressure was coming towards him.
Honestly, there aren't a lot of really good options at number 15, given the Dolphins needs. Don't start with drafting a wide receiver. Unless A.J. Green or Julio Jones are there at 15, which they won't, there's not a receiver worth picking there. PERIOD!
