Sports Agenda For Wednesday (5/25/11) Hump Day Edition
Big Story:
Series. Over.
For those of you who didn't stay up late to watch the Heat win; what's wrong with you?! You missed one heckuva game and missed seeing LeBron James continue his ascent towards an NBA title.
If you listened to the comments after the game from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah…wait, you gotta keep reading for that.
Plus, the Fish head west to San Francisco and stalk the Giants.
On to the agenda!
Heat: (next game – Thursday, Game 5, in Chicago, 8:30 p.m, TNT)
I'm stoked about this series because I finally get out from under a bet I lost picking college football games last year with CBS4 Sports' Jason Parker.
So thanks Heat!
But, if you watched the fourth quarter and overtime of last night's game, you saw two things.
First, you saw the Heat play like the superstars they are, never giving up in a close game and going after everything on the court. They were the superior team in talent and it showed during crunch time. Forget about Chicago being deeper, it was about the Heat having better players.
The other thing you saw was what it looked like for LeBron the last 7 years. Derrick Rose is a one-man team and you can't win a title in the NBA as a one-man team. Jordan couldn't do it, Magic couldn't do it, Bird couldn't do it, LeBron couldn't do it. That's why LeBron came to the Heat to join up with Wade and Bosh. You have to have a complete team and the Bulls simply don't have that right now.
Let's face it, when Kyle Korver is having to guard LeBron or D-Wade, it's a complete mismatch in favor of the Heat. Korver is still trying to get his feet under him after LeBron ran him over in Game 3.
If you listened to sports talk radio in Chicago this morning, which I perused for a few minutes, all you'll hear about is that Miami won the game with the help of the referees.
Newsflash to Bulls fans: if your guys settle for jumpers, they're not going to the line. Heat fans saw that at the beginning of the season and now LeBron and Wade are slashing and burning defenses. Miami will get to the line with their speed and movement. If you settle for outside shots, don't expect to get to the free throw line.
As David Schuster on CBSChicago wrote, "Derrick rose could not do anything when LeBron James guarded him late and almost looked intimidated by James."
Well said Mr. Schuster, well said.
Just as big of a part of the win as the Big Three last night was the play of Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers. Miller gave the Heat 26 minutes and scored 12 points and tied for the team lead with 9 rebounds. Chalmers gave the Heat 9 points and 4 steals during 20 minutes of play.
That's what makes the Heat so dangerous now. They can bring in Haslem, Miller, and occasionally Chalmers and get 10 or 20 points off the bench. Combined with the energy Haslem, Miller, and Joel Anthony bring and it's easy to see how the Heat are firing on all cylinders now.
The Bulls were gassed at the end of the game last night. Boozer, Deng, Noah, and Rose played at least 44 minutes with Boozer playing 49. But Boozer, who wanted max dollars in the off season had to be taken out of the game at times because he's a defensive liability. When was the last time you saw Bosh come out of the game because of defense?
Derrick Rose was also simply awful from the field. He was 8-27 and 1-9 from behind the three-point line. Thirty percent from the field ain't gonna cut it against this Heat team.
And even though Wade struggled, when crunch time hit, he was on his game.
When he blocked the shot in overtime, then dove for the ball along with LeBron, the cameras from TNT flashed to Pat Riley in the stands with a grin from ear-to-ear on his face.
He was thinking: "Yeah, I did this." "I was co-executive of the year?" "Suck it Jerry West." "I'm that damn good."
Now, the series shifts back to Chicago for Game 5. The way the Heat are playing right now, I won't be surprised if they go in and close out the series in Chicago. The Bulls are broken and know they can't win this series against this Heat team.
And just in case you were thinking it's possible to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Conference Finals, don't.
The last team that did it was the 1981 Boston Celtics, and trust me, Larry Bird ain't coming in to the game for the Bulls.
Dallas, here we come.
Marlins: (@ San Francisco Giants, 10:15 p.m. Fox Sports Florida)
Chris Volstad has quite an act to follow on Wednesday when he takes to the mound in San Francisco.
Tuesday night, Ricky Nolasco continued to tear up the National League notching his 4th win of the season against no losses. Nolasco gave up run on 7 hits, struck out 5 in 8.1 innings. Leo Nunez came in with 1 out in the ninth and notched his 18th save of the season.
Plus, Mike Stanton hit a bomb to dead center in the 4th inning to help spark the Marlins.
Gaby Sanchez continues to just hit out of his mind this season as he had three hits and kept his average at .326 for the season. But, Hanley Ramirez continues to struggle from the plate. He struck out twice and left two men on base. He's hitting just .215 for the season and may need to be dropped in the batting order.
The Fish will go against Bumgarner for the Giants. He's 1-6 on the season and has an ERA of 3.71.
First pitch is 10:15 p.m.
NFL update:
Quick note, a rumor is starting to fly that Rush Limbaugh wants to buy the Minnesota Vikings and move them to Los Angeles.
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Limbaugh is still persona non grata in the NFL from his various comments over the years. Roger Goodell would fight his bid behind the scenes.
But, don't be surprised if the Vikings do move to Los Angeles some time soon.
Oh yeah, congrats to Hines Ward. First for not breaking his partner's neck and second for winning Dancing With The Stars.
