The Miami Heat Answer their Critics

Monday night, the Heat took a 2-0 hold of their first round playoff series versus hated rival New York Knicks. After winning Game 1 by 33 points, the Heat would not slow down yet only winning by a mere ten points, 104-94. Heading into the playoffs, the Heat have heard their fair share of doubts and concerns. Most media outlets supplied several reasons why the Heat will be unable to hoist up the Larry O'Brien trophy at the end of the season. Two games in, the Heat answer back.

Bench Scoring
No one doubts the brilliance of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, however everyone else is a mystery. The Heat have looked their best this season when their bench is productive. Two of the most important bench players, Mike Miller and Shane Battier, are averaging 10 and 9.5 points per game respectively after the first two games. Miller averaged 6.1 ppg and Battier averaged 4.8 ppg in the 2011-12 season, both well below their career averages.

Turnovers
Dwyane Wade admitted that for the Heat to be the most successful they need to protect the ball. Through the first two games, the Heat have turned it over a combined 22 times. In comparison, Miami has forced the Knicks into 37 turnovers so far this series.

Chris Bosh
The least respected player of the Big 3 (oftentimes called "The Big 2" as a slap in the face), Chris Bosh is considered the Wild Card for this team. He has been called the most important player that will key the Heat's success by Head Coach Erik Spoelstra. While relatively quiet in Game 1, Bosh shot 7-for-12 in Game 2 and got to the line eight times while netting 21 points.

3PT Defense
The Heat's 3-point defense is at times considered their Achilles Heel. They are fifth-worst in the league in 3pt percentage against. With the playoffs in the air, the Heat's defense has been nothing short of suffocating. New York has shot 12-for-36, 33.3% on the series. Only five teams in the league allowed less than 33.3% on the season.

"Clutch" Time
Although there was no opportunity for clutch time in Game 1 since the game was over by halftime, the Heat held on in clutch time in Game 2. From 1:37 left in the 3rd quarter, until 4:52 left in the 4th quarter, the Knicks made only one field goal. With the game largely in hand, the Heat still outscored New York 25-20 in the first eleven and a half minutes of the last quarter (NY added five points in garbage time in the last 30 seconds).

It has only been two games, but it is a great start to the postseason for the Miami Heat. They have won games by playing solid all-around team basketball. If they maintain this level of play for the next two months, expect them to parade down Biscayne Boulevard in late-June.

Useless Stat of the Day

The Miami Marlins look to wrap up the month of April on a strong note and split the series with the Diamondbacks today at 12:40 p.m. April has not been too kind to the Marlins. They are 8-13 with three blown saves, although they have also had three walk-off wins.

The Marlins are currently undefeated on Monday's this year. They are 1-0 with a win in the Phillies home opener to the 2012 season. Since then, the Fish have not played on a Monday until today.  Mark Buehrle takes the mound for the Marlins as the D-Backs counter with rookie Patrick Corbin, who will be making his MLB debut.

Useless Stat of the Day

This week, since Monday, April 23, all the South Florida Professional sports teams (Heat, Marlins Panthers) are win-less at 0-7.

The Miami Heat are 0-2 falling to the Celtics and Wizards, although without the Big 3.
The Miami Marlins are 0-3 on the week, getting swept by the New York Mets, with the help of Heath Bell. The Marlins are riding a five-game losing streak dating back to last Friday.
The Florida Panthers are 0-2 and eliminated from the NHL Playoffs after last night's 2OT loss to the Devils.

...and the Miami Dolphins drafted Ryan Tannehill. That is kind of like a loss.

Useless Stat of the Day

Winless in his last nine starts, dating back to last season, Josh Johnson, has not received more than 3 runs of support while on the mound for the Marlins. In those nine starts, JJ has gone 0-3 with six no decisions. Of the six no decisions, the Marlins are 4-2, finding no problem giving run support to the bullpen. JJ's ERA is a solid 3.18 in that span, lasting an average of 6.1 innings per start.

Tuesday night was a prime example of Josh Johnson as of late. Johnson left the game one out shy of completing 7 innings and leaving a man on first base. The bullpen walked the next three batters, allowing a run, which kindly gets awarded to JJ, while the Fish's offense only muster up one run in a 2-1 loss to the Mets.

Perhaps Josh Johnson should spend a little extra time in the batting cages so he can provide himself some offense.    

Useless Stat of the Night

The Miami Marlins fell in New York to the Mets 2-1 on Tuesday night. The Marlins have now scored 1 run or less in 6 of their 16 games and, subsequently, are 0-6 in those games.

When the Marlins score 5 or more runs, they are 7-1. They are 0-8 when failing to reach 5 runs scored.  

Useless Stat of the Day

Monday, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, will announce his retirement after playing 21 seasons on 6 different teams. More than half his career was spent behind the plate for the Texas Rangers. The 14-time All-Star won the AL MVP in 1999 and collected 7 Silver Slugger and 13 Gold Glove Awards.

Rodriguez spent one season (2003) with the Florida Marlins. In that one season, Pudge won more postseason series' (3) with the Fish than the rest of his career combined (2). In '03, Pudge won his first and only World Series with the Marlins.

Useless Stat of the Day

Thursday night, the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls 83-72. These two teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the East and are expected to clash in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls played without Derrick Rose and the Miami Heat held out Chris Bosh from last night's showdown.

Chris Bosh has always been considered the wild card for the Heat's success. Many believe that Chris Bosh needs to be a scoring and rebounding threat for the Heat to win the title. Although Bosh did not play last night, his impact versus the Bulls is noticeable. 

Defensively, Bosh shuts down the Bulls mid-range game. This season, when Bosh is on the court, the Bulls shoot 29% from the distance outside the paint and inside the arc. In that same range, the Bulls shoot 47% with Bosh on the bench. Bosh's presence on the court accounts for an 18% difference defensively. 

Marlins Report: Two Weeks Later

The Miami Marlins have anticipated the start of this season and the opening their very own ballpark for nearly a decade. Heading into the off season, the usually stingy management decided to open their wallets and invest in a new coach and some new talent to make the 2012 season more exciting. Opening day came and went, and the Marlins found themselves near the bottom of the NL East with a manager suspended half their games for his controversial comments.

Two weeks into the season and the Marlins are not where they thought they would be. With a 5-6 record, they are in last place in their division (even though that same record would be good for 2nd place in the Central). Their offense has been stagnant, newly acquired closer, Heath Bell, has blown two saves, and Josh Johnson has looked like anything but an ace. Despite their shortcomings, their have been some bright spots for the Fish.

Surprises

• Emilio Bonifacio leads the Marlins with a .341  average and a .449 on-base percentage. He's also tied for the most stolen bases in the majors with seven.
• Omar Infante has more home runs (4) than Hanley Ramirez, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gaby Sanchez combined (3, all by Ramirez). He leads the club with nine of his thirteen hits being extra base hits.
• The Marlins Bullpen has been superb (aside for the closing woes). Steve Cishek, Chad Gaudin, and Randy Choate have allowed a combined zero earned runs in 16 innings pitched. The Bullpen has accounted for three of the five wins.

Room for Improvement

• Giancarlo Stanton is doing his best Albert Pujols impression and is homer-less in his 40 plate appearances.
• Gaby Sanchez is batting a mere .200. Last season Gaby averaged 5.9 at bats/strikeout. Already this season, he has struck out 11 times and is averaging 3.6 at bats/strikeout.
• Josh Johnson allowed 21 hits and 9 earned runs in his first two starts. He did not allow his 21st hit and 9th earned run until his seventh start in the 2011. JJ settled down Tuesday night against the Cubs, lasting seven innings pitched and allowing only two earned runs.

The Marlins are in no position to panic, things have started to come together as of late. They are one blown save away from having a 4-game winning streak. With the end of the starting rotation looking solid, it is only a matter of time for front end to sharpen up. Only thing to say here: 151 games left.

Useless Stat of the Day

Ozzie Guillen makes his return tonight after serving his suspension, in Marlins Park as the Fish host the Cubs.

Guillen led the Marlins to a record of 2-3 before being suspended for five games. With Joey Cora managing the club, the Marlins also went 2-3. Heath Bell decided not to play favorites either and blew a save that took a win away from Carlos Zambrano under both managers.

Useless Stat of the Day

Tuesday, Josh Johnson takes on Ryan Dempster as the Marlins (4-6) host the Cubs (3-7). JJ has not pitched against the Cubs since August 15, 2008, where he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings pitched in a losing effort.

In his first two starts of the 2012 season, Josh Johnson has allowed a combined 21 hits and 9 earned runs. Last season, Johnson did not allow his 21st hit and 9th earned run until his 7th start on the year on May 5th. With an ERA of 8.38, Johnson's ERA has not been this high since June 29, 2007, after his 3rd start of the 2007 season (10.97).

Useless Stat of the Day

Tonight, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat take on the Chicago Bulls at 8:00 pm at the United Center.

In their only other visit to his hometown this season, Dwyane Wade scored a season high 36 points while making a season high 16 field goals. Wade averages 22.4 PPG vs. the Bulls in his career, almost three points lower than his career average.

Useless Stat of the [Night]

The Miami Marlins are currently 0-2 when playing on national television. They fell 4-1 to the Cardinals on Opening Night and fell 7-1 Wednesday night to the hands of Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies. In both games Josh Johnson collected the loss while the team scores only one run in each.

The Marlins are 2-2 in all other games. Thankfully for Marlins fans, the Fish don't have many more nationally televised games for the season. The next one coming on May 12th when the Marlins host the New York Mets.

Useless Stat of the Day

Many people and media outlets are making a big deal of the Heat's recent slump (if you even consider going 13-8 being in a slump), however a crucial factor has been missing during said "slump". Mike Miller returned to the Heat lineup Sunday night against the Pistons after missing the previous 15 games due to an ankle sprain on March 10th versus Indiana.

With Mike Miller on the floor, the Miami Heat are 24-5. That is a win percentage of .828, higher than the Heat's .727 win percentage throughout the entire season.

Without Miller, the Heat are 16-10, a mere win percentage (by Heat standards) of .615.

Detroit Tigers Dominate Opening Weekend

Three quick games into the 2012 MLB Season and the Detroit Tigers have already displayed signs of dominance. Sitting atop the relatively thin AL Central division with a 3-0 record, the Tigers swept the opening series against the Red Sox and they are the team with the most runs (26), most RBI's (24), most home runs (7), highest batting average (.345), and highest slugging percentage (.593) in the majors. Of the top fifteen players in OPS (on-base plus slugging), four of them are Detroit Tigers (Cabrera, Avila, Jackson, Fielder).

Last season, the Tigers offense was fourth in the majors in runs scored. That potent offense just got more powerful with the off-season acquisition if Prince Fielder. Prince is already helping out his new ball club with 2 home runs, 3 RBI's, and a .417 batting average.

In three quick games the Tigers have proven:

• They have the best offense in the big leagues. See above. 
• You can't count ever count them out. The Tigers faced a multi-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th as well as in the bottom of the 11th and still came back to win Sunday afternoon. 
• The best pitcher in the whole world is a Tiger. Cy Young winner and AL MVP, Justin Verlander pitched a gem in shutting down the Red Sox and allowing only two hits and no runs in 8 innings on Opening Day to show that he has not lost a step.

The Detroit Tigers should walk away with the AL Central without much of a fight. They might even clinch before the All-Star break. The only concern with this team is the pitching staff. Aside from Verlander, they need to prove the rest of the starters and the bullpen are capable and will not become a liability on the team. Who knows, maybe even a sub-par staff and bullpen won't matter if they keep putting up 9 runs a game. 

Look for this team to make a run to break some offensive records and seriously contend for a championship. 

Useless Stat of the Day

After getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays to open the 2012 MLB Season, the New York Yankees sit at the bottom of the AL East (alongside the Boston Red Sox). The New York Yankees are currently amid a 7-game regular season losing streak dating back to last September, as well as a 7-game losing streak to the Tampa Bay Rays. Time to panic?

...maybe not.

The Yankess visit the Orioles (3-0) Monday night at 7:05 pm with Ivan Nova on the hill. They don't play the Rays again until May 8th in New York.

Useless Stat of the Day

The Florida Panthers clinched a playoff berth on Thursday night, despite losing 4-2 to the Washington Capitals, thanks to a loss and elimination of the Buffalo Sabres from playoff contention.
It was their first playoff berth since 2000.

Panthers Claw Out Of Obscurity

There are now only six teams in the four major sports that have gone longer than the Panthers without a postseason bid.

	League
Buffalo Bills	NFL
Baltimore Orioles	MLB
Kansas City Royals	MLB
Pittsburgh Pirates	MLB
Toronto Blue Jays	MLB
Washington Nationals	MLB

  -- The Associated Press

Useless Stat of the Day

For today's useless stat, we're going to revisit one of the first useless stats, the Miami Heat's Back In Black success. Wednesday night's match up against the Thunder was not originally selected at the beginning of the season as a Back In Black game, however it was later penciled in due to the implications and hype of this game.

Miami HEAT "Back In Black"
1/19 vs. Lakers	W 98-87
1/29 vs. Bulls	W 97-93
2/19 vs. Magic	W 90-78
2/23 vs. Knicks	W 102-88
3/29 vs. Mavericks	W 106-85
4/4 vs. Thunder	W 98-93
4/10 vs. Celtics

Including last night, the Heat are now 6-0 in their all-black jerseys, winning by an average margin of 11.2 points per game. Although the Heat have played all of these games on their home court, the strength of schedule in these promotional games is an impressive .633.

The next scheduled Back In Black game is set for next Tuesday, April 10 as the Heat try to avenge Sunday's loss to the Celtics. 

Anybody know the theme of this year's playoffs yet?

Big Night in Miami

Many Miami sports fans have waited for April 4, 2012 for quite some time. Marlins fans have been waiting years, while Heat fans have been waiting months (perhaps more intensely in the past ten days). The rest of the country took note as the Marlins Opening Night aired on ESPN and the "Finals Preview" aired simultaneously on ESPN2.

The night began in Marlins ballpark while the team put on a spectacle to debut the new park for the team with a new name and new uniforms. They flashed the homerun feature, they introduced the player with showgirls, and they brought in the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. If you stopped watching right after Josh Johnson threw out the first strike in the ballpark to thousands of flashing camera bulbs, then you would not have been happier. Perhaps the Marlins forgot that they actually had to play a baseball game after the festivities. The defending champs, even without Albert Pujols, showed they are champs for a reason. Kyle Lohse shut down the Marlins as the Cards cruised to a 4-1 win to open the MLB season on the western hemisphere.

There was still a basketball game to be played. In a game considered by many to be a preview of the NBA Finals, the Heat and Thunder both brought their "A" game. This game was physical and had a definite playoff atmosphere. LeBron James and Kevin Durant seemed to be playing 1-on-1 for much of the game as they fought to prove who is worthy of the coveted MVP award. LeBron led the way with 34 points and 10 assists as the Heat avenged their loss to the Thunder last week with a 98-93 win. If this match-up does end up being the NBA Finals, the country will be satisfied.

Let's not forget the Florida Panthers are 1 point away from clinching their first playoff berth in 11 years.

....and did the Dolphins just draft another Offensive Lineman?

Useless Stat of the Day

On Wednesday night, the Miami Marlins open their new ballpark against the defending Champion, St. Louis Cardinals at 7:00 on ESPN.

In the past five seasons, the defending World Series Champion is 1-4 on Opening Day. When the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006, they also lost their Opening Day game in 2007 6-1 against the New York Mets. 

Useless Stat of the Day

On Tuesday night, the Miami Heat take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the AmericanAirlines Arena.

Chris Bosh, while he has been struggling of late, should be excited to play this game. Bosh shoots 60% from the floor on Tuesdays, as well as 67% from behind the arc, his highest percentages of any day of the week. He averages 21.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in the ten Tuesday games of the season.

If useless stats mean anything, expect Chris Bosh to have a solid game tonight.

Marlins Park Review

Over the past two days, the Miami Marlins opened up their new stadium for a pair of games against the New York Yankees. After seeing the ballpark with my own eyes only one word came to mind: Beautiful.

I have been attending Marlins games since before I can even remember. All of which coming in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Land Shark/Sun Life Stadium. Although it was a football stadium, it was the only stadium I had witnessed baseball in for most of my life and I was used to it.

After visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore, I saw what a real baseball stadium is supposed to look like and how beautiful it can be. The Marlins Park reminded me of the awe that captured me when entering Oriole Park. This is how baseball is meant to be played.

The retractable roof was a must for this stadium and it was perfectly executed. I entered the ballpark with the roof closed and the temperature inside was perfect. Prior to the start of the game the roof was opened yet I did not feel one degree warmer or cooler. In the hot summer days, as well as rainy days, the air conditioning and roof will make watching games in South Florida bearable.  

Next, the concourse level is open. As you walk around the park or wait in line in the concession stands, you can always view the field, contrary to their previous home. The open area makes more for a homey feel. It is more inviting and makes the fans always feel a part of the action.

Even if you get upper deck seats, you still have great seats. every seat in the building has the feeling that you are right on top of the field. The multiple decks are pressed up and sit right atop the field. You may sit a little higher but you are still right on the field, much closer than you would be in Sun Life (or whatever they decide to call it now).

Most importantly, the ballpark is great because of the team on the diamond. The Miami Marlins is a young and extremely exciting team to watch. With the additions of characters like Ozzie Guillen and Carlos Zambrano, and the signings of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell, and along with all the players back from last year, this team has enormous potential. Fans want to see a team that wins and this team should do plenty of that.

Useless Stat of the Day

In Sunday afternoons 91-72 loss to the Celtics, the Miami Heat outscored the Boston Celtics by 11 points with LeBron James on the bench.

Useless Stat of the Day

This year's Men's Division I Basketball Championship marks the first time since 2009 that the Butler Bulldogs are not playing in the game.