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Sports Agenda for Tuesday (5/15/12)

Big Story:
Bosh is out indefinitely, the Pirates stifle the Marlins, no seriously, the Thunder opened up a CAN on the Lakers, but the Heat are in MAJOR trouble.

Quote of the Day:
"As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round," –Ben Hogan

Miami Heat: (vs. Indiana, 7:00 p.m. TNT)
Let me just cut to the chase, this Heat team will NOT win the NBA Finals without Chris Bosh.
I'm sorry to say that, but it's the truth.
It would require LeBron and Wade to put together a Herculean effort that I'm not sure both of them, as great as they are, can pull off.
You're going to see it tonight as Indiana is going to go to Hibbert and West all night long and Make Miami foul them.
I'm not as concerned about West, because LeBron can take him out or Haslem can at least keep him under control.
Hibbert, that's another ball game as now, he doesn't have to come to the outside to challenge Bosh's shot.
What that means is that he can clog the lane, along with West, because Bosh isn't there to pull them out to respect his jumpshot.
In other words, Wade and LeBron's ability to drive the lane is going to be severely curtailed if Indiana plays the gaps right.
I love this Heat team and think LeBron has played at a level that no one since Michael Jordan can touch.
Here's what has to happen without Bosh in the lineup.
Rio, Miller, and Battier HAVE to hit their shots, period, end of story.
If Miller and Battier struggle, this team is in deep trouble.
If one or the other can get going, that will extend the Pacers defense and open up some lanes for LeBron and Wade.
It's going to be tough going though if Miller and Battier continue their epic failures on the offensive end during the playoffs.
It'd also be nice to see Haslem be able to go for 10-15 points by hitting some mid-range jumpers.
This is why I said earlier, the Heat team without Bosh will struggle mightily.
Now, that said, LeBron and Wade should be able to carry them through to the next round on their talent alone.
Especially if Wade can dial it up a level.
But past that, it could be trouble ahead against the Celtics.
If the Heat can hang on for long enough, perhaps Bosh can come back and have his Willis Reed moment in the playoffs.

Los Angeles Lakers:
There's no way to sugar coat it, so let's just state the obvious…the Lakers' arse is grass and the Thunder are the lawnmower.
I'd like to find a way to make this better than it seems, but when you're blown out by 29, you're most likely destination is going to be a long summer vacation.
Seriously, OKC handled Bryant easily, who is WAAAAY past his prime.
I am beginning to seriously think the Lakers may get swept in this series too.
It wasn't even that close, course giving up nearly 40 points in the third quarter can tend to do that to you.
The sad part for LA is that they shot 44 percent from 3 and 87 percent from the free throw line and still couldn't hang with the Thunder.
I know this is sacrilege for Lakers fans, but they need to start executing the post-Kobe plan sooner, rather than later.
He's had a good career, but with looming luxury tax provisions, the Lakers will have to start doing something soon.
Well, other than getting smoked by the Thunder.

Marlins: (vs. Pittsburgh, 7:10 p.m. first pitch)
Wait, they lost to the Pirates?
THE PIRATES?
That's like losing to FAU in football.
That's like getting spanked in prime time ratings by NBC.
I don't know what to make of this Marlins team.
They love to fall behind early and try to come back late.
That's not going to cut it for a championship team.
Still, they are 10-3 in the month of May and if they can win tonight, will finish the home stand with a 3-2 record before heading to Atlanta and Cleveland.
The Marlins play two in Atlanta starting Wednesday and then play three against Cleveland over the weekend.
First things first, knock off the Pirates tonight.
Josh Johnson heads to the hill tonight for the Marlins, which used to be great news, but now is DANGER.
He's still looking for his first win and this will be his eighth start of the season.
How bad has Johnson been?
In his last three games, he's 0-1 in 15 innings pitched with an ERA of 7.80
Yikes.
Not exactly the stuff you're looking for from your staff ace, huh?
Don't know what is bothering him, but he has no movement on the ball and I'm beginning to wonder if last year's injury hasn't gotten into his head.
The Fish have to do something with him or it could be big problems going forward.

Follow me on Twitter @timkephart33

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