Sports Round-Up

NFL Draft

• The Irsays Colts should take RGIII but they're gonna take Luck.
• The/My Redskins should trade up to get RGIII at the second pick or stick with the 6th pick, take Morris Claiborne, and try to get Matt Flynn. I do not under any circumstances think that the Redskins should take Ryan Tanneyhill. I'm also not pumped about the Redskins taking Peyton Manning for a 2-year project that'll only end with one, maybe two playoff appearances, and no titles.
• Apparently there's some 346-pound guy that ran a 40-yard dash somewhere right below or above 5 seconds. Message to all mother's... Do not let your sons play quarterback. Encourage him to do something more lucrative and less painful, like becoming a baseball pitcher/player.
• Based on what I've seen on Sportscenter, RGIII had to have had a top-10 40-yard time out of everyone at the combine. And he's a quarterback. That's kind of awesome like the time when Mike Vick ran a 4.33 at the combine like he was chasing down some dogs (I can totally say that now by the way).

NBA Finals Prediction

This is going to sound super lame but barring injury the Heat will be in the Finals. In the West, I'm not sure OKC is a lock because Westbrook has a prima donna in him that comes out at the wrong times (see last years playoffs for an example). Dallas and San Antonio will not go quietly I'm sure and the Lakers and Clippers will also be in the mix as well. The sleeper out west is Memphis but I think they're the Atlanta Falcons of the NBA so I can't pick them. With all that said, I'm going to root for (and pick) a Dallas/Heat rematch, especially if the Mavs somehow land Deron Williams.

NASCAR



First, Danica Patrick was out there driving all weekend like she has a Virginia license. Crash after crash after crash, sheesh. Second, Juan Pablo Montoya almost blew himself up accidentally crashing into the Jet Dryer car (this could really have been a lot worse but it was still pretty bad). Third, in 54 years of having the Daytona 500 this is the FIRST time it's been rescheduled because of rain? Let me get this right... In 54 years an outdoor event in Florida had NEVER been rescheduled due to rain. I'd call that a miracle before the race even began. Last, why in the hell is the most popular race of the year the first race of the season? Wouldn't Nascar be better served by having more minority driveers making the Daytona 500 the final race of the "chase"? I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this and there has to be a better reason, I just don't know what that reason is. Someone please enlighten me.

Baseball

Ryan Braun should shut up and just play baseball. You failed the test bro but some technicality in the way the sample was handled got you over. Wipe your forehead, say "whewww", and move on and play ball. Now you're going to cause even more of a shytstorm by speaking out as if you were persecuted by MLB. You were persecuted by ESPN and other sports media outlets if anyone. You know, the same outlets that aired you're rebuttal speech when your suspension was revoked. Play ball and let your play do the talking. We'll see this year if your numbers drop like Brady Anderson's after he got off the juice. That'll really tell the story.

Golf

Tiger ain't got it no more. Plain-and-simple. I don't care about the Navy SEAL stuff (his dad was in the military so it makes sense for him to have an interest as well) and I don't care about all the different swing coaches and the new caddy. Tiger just doesn't have that fire anymore. Jack Nicklaus's record is safe [white people].

Norris Cole and why the Miami Heat fans had it right last night...

I'm sure I wasn't the only person last night that tuned in to the Celtics/Heat game. I really wanted to see if the Heat would come out at a blistering pace again like they did on Christmas against the Mavericks. And secondly, I wanted to see how Norris Cole played. And Mr. Cole did not disappoint late in the game. He showed poise, the ability to hit open jumpers, the ability to drive and finish/dish, and as a result the crowd in Miami starting chanting "M-V-P!" when he shot his free throws, lol.

The chants were blatantly premature of course but they do underscore something much more important and something that it seems Miami fans have figured out early this season. That is, that they need a much better point guard than they had last year!

With all that said you might be wondering who the hell is Norris Cole?

Well, Norris Cole is probably going to be the reason the Heat win or lose the NBA championship this year. Barring any major injuries this year Norris Cole may end up being more important to Miami than LeBron or Dwayne Wade.

The reason being is that the Heat last year did not have a point guard that could do anything other than spot up for a jump shot. Sure Mario Chalmers had a couple drives to the basket here-and-there but between Chalmers, Mike Bibby, Carlos Arroyo, and Eddie House, please let me know which one of those guys could actually drive the lane well enough to: 1) create his own shot, or 2) dish out solid assists CONSISTENTLY. Go ahead, I'll wait.

All of those guys were pretty much stand-around, spot-up shooters. And most of them are streaky jump-shooters at that (Mr. House, I'm talking about you, mainly though). What that meant for other teams is that you could concentrate on figuring out how to stop LeBron and Dwayne Wade and live with jump shots from any of those guards mentioned and also Udonis Haslem (who has a pretty good set 15-17 foot jump shot by the way).

On top of not being able to create their own shots, none of these guys were defenders that could lock down a solid (let alone good) point guard from an opposing team during the playoffs. What that meant was that opposing point guards like Rondo and Derrick Rose and even Jason Kidd (to an extent) could all create their own shots if they needed to, or create shots for their teammates. Rose and Rondo are elite-level guards you won't stop them with just one guy on most nights but when they don't even have to think about their defender being able to stop them, that's a different story.

But this year it looks like Norris Cole might just change all that. Norris Cole was apparently a two-sport athlete in high school and a solid point guard in the Horizon League playing for Cleveland State. In his senior year he was named Horizon League Player of the Year AND Defensive Player of the Year and managed to drop 41 points on Youngstown State. You're gonna say, "The Horizon League, what's that?" But dropping 41 points as a division basketball player is not an easy task no matter what league or conference you're in. He was then drafted by Chicago, traded to the Timberwolves on draft day, and the Timberwolves eventually traded him to the Heat.

Cole appears to be a fairly decent jump-shooter spotting up and off the run. He also seems to have the ability to drive to the hoop and finish and/or dish depending on how the defense plays him. I use the words "seems" and "might" strategically here because there have only been two games so far to watch him play.  But he seems like he might have the potential to bring all the skills to the Heat at the point guard position offensively that none of those other guys could. And if he can bring it on the offensive end and manage to play solid defense (which will be a tall task against guys like Rondo and Rose), the Heat have got a REALLY good chance of winning the NBA championship.

NBA Finals... It's OVER!

I think LeBron's looking for someone to give him some heart.


I know I know, I predicted the Heat to take this series in 6 games. And I know there are two games left in MIami. But the Mavs only have to win one. They won't get the first one more likely than not but they're going to win this series. Dirk's gonna get his ring. Jason Kidd will get his ring, and Jason Terry won't look like a complete idiot for getting the championship trophy tattooed on himself.

This series is over simply because LeBron doesn't have the heart for it.

Unless Wade plays out of his mind for two straight games the Heat will not win this series. All the allegations about Rashard Lewis sleeping with his girl aside, I just don't think LeBron has the moxy or the killer instinct right now. He had in the Boston and Chicago series' but it looks like he's lost it. From a strictly basketball perspective, his jumper is now back to suspect status so he's reluctant to shoot the jumpshot too much and instead be a facilitator (which is made a much easier way for him to go when Wade's hot). But in Game 5 when Wade was out and LeBron was supposed to take over, he didn't. He played pretty much the same seemingly unengaged and uninspired basketball. That led me to believe that he just doesn't have "it". At least not right now.

I'm a big time LeBron fan and I think he a ton of talent and still more potential. He should be out there driving to the hole battering ram style like he normally does if his jumpshot isn't clicking. But he's not. He should know that if Wade is out, he's gotta score. It doesn't seem like he cares all that much. Whether it's on-courrt confidence or off-the-court issues, LeBron just doesn't have it right now and I don't think he will in the next two games. He'll probably play better, but if these games are close and the Heat need him, can they really count on him? I dunno. What I do know is that the Mavs can count on Dirk and if the Mavs can keep these games fast-paced and Barea and Jason Terry hit their open shots, they're going to win one of these last two games for sure.

The Heat are close to pulling it off, but I don't think they have it left in them without a fully functioning LeBron.

Prediction for NBA Finals Game 5

As I mentioned in my previous post, the pressure is now on Miami. Last game of a 3-game set in Dallas to tip the series in their favor before returning home. If Miami wins, they're primed to close-out this series at home in the next game. If Dallas wins, ALL THE PRESSURE is on Miami to keep themselves from being eliminated at home.

All the LeBron talk has been talked about too much if you ask me. If the Heat win the series no one will care about game 4. Even if LeBron has several more subpar games and Miami wins the series, NO ONE WILL CARE other than the so-called "experts".

Point blank, if Miami plays well in the 4th quarter, they have won these games. That'll be the difference in Game 5. And now that DeShawn Stevenson and Jason Terry have called LeBron out in consecutive games, I expect a BIG GAME from LeBron. I said that in my prediction for game 4 and I'm saying it again. Expect a LeBrubble (LeBron Triple Double), lol.

And as for that DirkFlu, I don't expect that to be a factor anymore. But I do suspect that the "legend" of Dirk will only grow with each game over the course of this series whether the Mavs win or lose.

Time to Play Miami Heat General Manager, Pat Riley

Now that LeBronapalooza is over it's going to be VERY interesting to see two things:

1. How the Cavaliers shape their roster.
2. How the Miami Heat fill their roster with 3 guys who should be getting max contract money.

The latter case is much more interesting in my opinion so I'll stick to that one.

LeWosh (LeBron + Wade + Bosh) should all be getting maximum salaries this year. But if they want to have a real shot at winning a championship, they'll ALL take salary cuts to enable the team to sign better players via free agency. There's a good amount of talent floating around via free agency this summer outside of the players we've all been hearing about over the past few months. If LeWosh really want to take this team to the promised land next season and for a couple seasons after that, they'll take pay cuts knowing that any money they lose in NBA contract money they will MORE THAN make up for via endorsements outside of basketball. I actually believe they could make a couple million dollars just off club appearances in South Florida alone.

All of what you're about to read is my guess at what the Heat could do with LeWosh's contracts and the available free agents right now to have a decent team for next season. I repeat, NEXT SEASON, not the next 2 or 3 seasons.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know exactly how much of a pay cut LeWosh would have to take in order for this to work but I know that this is a possibility.

Step 1: They ask all 3 stars to take a multi-million dollar pay cut this year. Maybe $5 million each, thereby freeing up $15 million to sign other solid players.

Step 2: I hate Duke and I can't stand this particular guy but...Pick up a shooter (JJ Reddick) at 2.8 million (he's already in Florida and he can come off the bench as sharp shooter when needed). That was really tough to suggest, some of you all will understand.

Step 3: Pick up a center (Ben Wallace) at $850K (defensively he may still be serviceable for a seson...maybe). The point is that they DON'T don't need an offensive center, just one that plays defense. Keep in mind they'll also have the Varnardo kid from Mississippi state who is a great shot blocker as insurance.

Step 4: Pick up Juwan Howard at $830K (I know what you're thinking, "He's still playing basketball?" Yes! He is, and he had a decent year last year, has a smart basketball IQ and could play a solid role for this team coming off the bench.)

Step 5: Make sure they sign DeSean Butler (solid back-up at the 2 and maybe even 3 depending on match-ups) and Dexter Pittman (a "project" type of Center like Bynum was/still is). Signing Varnado is also a part of this step as well. If I were the Heat GM I'd consider trading the rights to Pittman to another team that can provide a solid 3 that's a good role player (Matt Barnes anyone? He's out there with a $1.6 million dollar price tag).

If they took these five steps they'd have the following:

Starting 5: Chalmers, Wade, Bron, Bosh, Ben Wallace as starting five. Minus Ben Wallace this is a pretty friggin' good starting five. Especially if Chalmers has a Rondo-type of improvement over the next couple seasons.

Bench: Reddick (SG), Howard (PF), Butler (SG/SF), Varnado (C), Pittman (C)/Barnes (SG/SF). What they would be in dire need of would be a decent backup PG (dare I say Derek Fisher?) off the bench. Derek Fisher would actually be a REALLY good pick-up to instill some veteran leadership with a group of back-ups like this and to support LeWosh the same way he supported Kobe.

Again, this is just my $0.02. I'm not exactly sure how the money/contracts would have to work in order to facilitate all this but I think it makes sense and would give them a decent shot to at least make it to the Finals next season and still have some decent young players to keep around for another year or two if they want.