Sports Agenda for Wednesday (5/30/12)
Big Story:
The Marlins are channeling their inner Al Davis and just keep winning baby…all the way into a tie for second place in the NL EAST. Plus, the Heat are prepared for Game 2, or are they?
Quote of the Day:
"A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain." – Robert Frost
Miami Heat: (vs. Boston Celtics, 8:30 p.m.)
So the Heat take the court for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight and look to go up 2-0 in the series.
The Celtics have questions across the lineup, but especially the health of Ray Allen.
He's normally a dead-eye shooter, but after he injured his ankle; he's been unable to throw the ball near the hoop.
He's even struggling mightily at the free throw line.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers toyed with the idea of sitting Allen out of Game 2, but the Celtics desperately need him to hit open jumpers from the outside.
The Celtics mirror the Heat in some ways.
The C's like to get the ball inside and then kick out to open shooters.
The Heat are collapsing down inside and daring Allen to beat them and so far he hasn't been able to help.
That turns the Celtics offense one-dimensional with KG, Rondo, and Paul Pierce being the guys to stop.
Rivers said he wanted Rondo to stop thinking so much and just attack.
That's a good idea early, but if the Heat put Wade and James on him in the second-half, it seriously limits his opportunities due to the size disparity.
For the Heat, the formula is simple:
Ride LeBron and Wade and pray the others can make open jumpers.
I did like seeing Battier and Miller take it inside the 3-point line Monday night and hit some jumpers inside as well.
The Heat haven't looked like the miss Chris Bosh right now, but they'd still love to get him back.
I'll say this right now.
The Heat can get to the NBA Finals without Bosh.
But I don't think they can win the NBA Finals without him.
He'll have missed a couple of weeks by next week and so far, his progress has reportedly been extremely slow.
With the San Antonio Spurs likely waiting for the Heat if they move on, they need Bosh.
Otherwise, Tim Duncan, my favorite player since he entered the league, could run wild on the Heat.
First things first, the Heat need to take a 2-0 lead tonight at the AAA.
Miami Marlins: (vs. Washington Nationals, 7:10 p.m.)
Man it's been fun watching the Marlins this month.
They won their 20th game last night and if they win again tonight, they'll be a half-game out of first place in the NL East.
Wow.
And let's face it, if they can ever get Josh Johnson back on track again, this team could be deadly down the stretch.
Last night, it was Anibal Sanchez tossing 7 strong innings with 5 strikeouts and only one run allowed to pace the Marlins.
Add in Heath Bell with another successful save and maybe he's starting to come around.
Hanley Ramirez powered the lineup with a homer and a double in 3 at-bats. He also contributed a stolen base in the victory.
I really wish someone could figure out what Buck's problem is at the plate. He's hitting .160 for the season….YIKES!
Luckily, he's a pretty good defensive catcher.
Stanton raised his average to .298 last night and is second on the team in hitting, tied for first in runs, leads the team in homers and RBI's.
I don't want him up too soon, but he's playing at an incredibly high level right now.
So are the Marlins overall.
Tonight they will send out Johnson to see if he can complete the sweep of the first-place Nationals.
Johnson is 2-3 on the season with a 4.87 ERA and opponents are hitting .313 against him.
He'll need a strong outing against the Nats or they'll tattoo him.
Dolphins/Hard Knocks:
I almost forgot to mention the Fins new TV show appearance.
I'm torn honestly whether it's a good thing or a bad thing.
It's a great thing if they devote a lot of air time to Mrs. Ryan Tannehill.
But, with a brand new head coach, quarterback battle, and so forth, I can't help but wonder if maybe the Fins bit off more than they should have.
I understand why they did it.
But at the same time, they should probably have worked on winning first to draw fan interest rather than this route.
Still, hopefully HBO will illuminate some of the thinking that goes into Ireland's thinking.
We'll also see how much of a hand Ross has with the team.
If nothing else, it should be entertaining.
Follow me on Twitter @timkephart33
