What's wrong with the Miami Heat?

What's wrong with the Miami Heat? That's the question that everyone is asking these days. The answer is simple. Time. Time is this teams best friend. It's November and championships are won in June?

There are a lot of people who are disappointed with the start for this team but it's not how you start but how you finish. There are somethings that need to be done different and I am sure they will be by the all star break. This team can have and probably will have 20 losses this season and still finish 60-22. The NBA season is s marathon and these guys will figure it out.

The second game against the Magic was actually a pretty good game for the heat. They played with great intensity and competed the entire game. If the heat bring the same intensity every night they will beat 95% of the teams in the league. The Magic were at home and played as hard as I have seen them play since the overtime win against Cleveland in the Eastern conference finals and the Heat were right there in the game.

What I think the Heat will get from the past three games is the need to speed up the tempo. Offensive rebounds have hurt them in a number of games but they have to use the athleticism of Lebron and Wade as an advantage.

I am going to predict that once the Heat figure things out they will break the consecutive games streak. When they go on a 5 game winning streak they will take that out to 20+ games.

The Right take on Lebron and Miami.

This is the best take that I have seen on the whole Lebron to Miami and the decision. I could not have said it better and no one can argue with the point made.

Is Lebron the King of all Sports?

I have been doing a lot of thinking over this summer and the sports figure that has been in the news more than any other without killing someone or having 30 mistresses come out of the wood works is Lebron James. He has no doubt taking a hit in his popularity with some people but he has kept the NBA in the news more so than the Lakers winning back to back titles.

Why is Lebron such a draw? The decision some 10 million people watched and everyone has had an opinion on Lebron taking his talents to south beach. He has had his jersey burned in Cleveland former NBA players and hall of famers calling him a punk and a billionaire pronouncing a curse on him. With all of that he still turns the meter when it comes to interest.

Everyone was waiting for the summer of 2010 and it was talked about throughout last season because the best athlete in a generation was becoming a free agent. The expectation was for Lebron to join the Knicks and make the big market Knicks relevant again. Lebron had other plans and isn't this much more exciting than him going to New York or staying in Cleveland? This was brilliant!

Lebron maybe one of the smartest athletes of all time as well. He told Wade, Bosh, and Melo to sign 3 year extensions so they would have the upper hand instead of taking 5 year deals and be stuck. Wade and Bosh followed Lebron but Melo decided to take the guaranteed money. Now Melo is trapped for now and will have to go where the Nuggets send him or play out the year and have his freedom next year.

Lebron knew that at the end of the three years he would be able to team up with one of these stars but the most important thing was he would be in control of the balance of power in the NBA. Not a team president or an owner but a player determining which team would win championships over the next 5-6 years.

People can kid themselves all they want but it's Lebron's league like it or not. Every team in the NBA wanted Lebron but now he's a loser and a quitter? Where ever he went by himself that team automatically became a contender. People can kid themselves all they want with the it's Dwayne Wades team if they want but how can it be Wade's team when it's Lebron's league. That's something to think about.

I say long live the King! If he goes on to win 5,6,7 rings with the heat I think his influence and wiliness to use his power would have had a bigger impact on the NBA than Michael Jordan.

What do we know after week 3 in the NFL?

Ok folks it's the NFL season and we have almost completed three weeks and what do we know? Well I will share with you 10 things you can take from the first three weeks of the season.

1) The best team in the league right now is no doubt the Pittsburgh Steelers. At some point people will have to start giving Mike Tomlin some credit. The Steelers are playing great.

2) Dallas will not go 0-16. The other news is I don't think Dallas will make the playoffs and will finish 8-8 this season.

3) The best team in the NFC is the Green Bay Packers and I expect them to go 13-3 this season and have the number one seed in the NFC.

4) The top 5 teams in the AFC after the Steelers you have the Colts, Jets, Ravens, and Patriots in this order.

5) The top 5 teams in the NFC are the Packers, Saints, Eagles, Vikings, and Bears. Wow can you believe three teams from the NFC north.

6) The Tennessee Titans are a very dangerous team if they take care of the football. I am impressed with their defense and against lesser teams the offense is too much. Against good teams they have enough on D to stay in every game.

7) I am going to say Kansas City is in and San Diego is out of the playoffs. I think KC will win the west.

8) Michael Vick is not coming back down to earth. Some people are waiting for Vicks return to earth but he's a different guy in a different system and he's willing to be taught at this point in his career. Vick will easily win come back player of the year.

9) The Jets are for real and all of the people who are hoping they will implode can forget that. Mark Sanchez is starting to figure things out and that's not good for the rest of the league.

10}I am calling the Super Bowl in week 3. The Super Bowl will feature Pittsburgh vs Green Bay. I have two dark horse picks as well Titans vs Eagles.

The Decision by Lebron James

The truth about Lebron doesn't set well with a lot of NBA people. He is being criticized for excercising his right as a free agent. I, like some people wanted him to go to Chicago but what is he doing that has not already been done?

Jordan played with two hall of famers Pippin and Rodman. Magic played with two hall of famers Kareem and Worthy. Birds played with a bunch of hall of famers Johnson, Parrish, and McHale. Kobe played with a hall of famer Shaq in his prime and Gasol who will be a hall of famer and should have been MVP of the 2010 finals.

So what's the big deal with Lebron playing with one hall of famer and an all star? Lebron is held to a higher standard because he is truly something different. In the playoffs this year he lead the team in points, assist, rebounds, block shots and steals. He has decided to go to a team where he doesn't have to do all of these things for his team to have a chance to win.

The easy cop out for Lebron would have been to stay in Cleveland where he could always have an excuse if the team didn't make it all the way and still he would be worshipped. Instead he made the hard decision to go a lead a team with two all stars and one superstar to a championship. Now he's the most hated player in Cleveland and many other people have lost respect because he is going to where he has the best chance to win.

When do you get criticized for going to the place where you have the best opportunity to win? A Rod, Sabattha, Brett Favre, Shaq to the Lakers, the big three in Boston, Randy Moss to New England. This happens all the time in sports but why is Lebron Villified when he excercises that same right? The truth, Lebron is maybe better than any of the others we have seen so we want more from him than any other player in sports history.

He will probably win 7 or 8 championships before it's all said and done. Then the argument can be had for who is the greatest of all time. He will be in that conversation. For all of those who said it's Wade's team they are right until Lebron leads them in points, assists, and blocks and win a finals MVP. He will still be the best player in the league no matter who is on his team. Shaq went to LA and won three finals MVP's with Kobe Bryant already on the Lakers. Lebron will still be the King even with Dwayne Wade on his team.

Remember Lebron didn't just join a team that was in the finals last year. This same Dwayne Wade team has not been out of the first round since they won a title with Shaq averaging 18 and 10. Remember Lebron has never lost a playoff series in the first round. Lebron's rookie year is the last year of a Lebron James team having a losing record. Wade can't say that and neither can Kobe. The rest of my take is in the Video.

Lebron is the Ultimate X factor. Skip and Barkley dead wrong.

The haters will hate but what Lebron did against Chicago is exactly what he should have done.
That's make them feel like no matter how good they play he is still the X factor. Anyone including Barkely who would criticize Lebron for taking over the game is foolishness.

The NBA post All Star predictions the Cavs will be Kings!

This article will take a look at some pre-season predictions about the NBA season. Included in this article will be a look at articles written in the pre-season and at the 25-30 game mark. There are some things that have come true.

The main forecast was Cleveland winning not only the east but the NBA championship in 2010. During the pre-season there was a lot of talk about Shaq not fitting in Cleveland. The word on the street was the ego's would not be able to coexist. The other false hood was Shaq would hurt Lebron's numbers because he would clog the lane. Take a look at what was written by the truth in sports by MRJ during the pre-season.

Sunday, October 4, 2009
Lebron,Kobe, Shaq Duncan the truth about the NBA season 2009-2010
Look for Lebron to have the best statistical season of his career and look for Shaq to be extremely productive in his limited minutes.

Tim Duncan and the Spurs will represent the west this season. They will be too much for the Ron Artest Lakers. San Antonio has really reloaded and with Duncan motivated and Ginolbli healthy this team knows how to get it done in June.

Getting Richard Jefferson was a hugh move that will pay big dividens for the Spurs come playoff time. RJ is a legitimate 20 point scorer and great team mate. Antonio McDyess is a big deal for the Spurs as well. He plays D, rebounds and will hit open baseline jumpers. When you add those guys to a healthy Spurs roster you have a title contender.

The up and coming teams who will make the playoffs that did not last year are the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma in the west. In the east the Charlotte Bobcats will make their first playoff appearence.


There you have it folks. I will write more about the Lakers, Bobcats, and Memphis in my next basketball post.

The San Antonio part of this may come to bare but it's not looking good right now but everything else is totally on point. One thing I will stick with is the Lakers will not come out of the west.

The Cavs started slow with a 2-2 starts and the pundits and Cavs haters were ready to declare the Cavs dead and the the Shaq trade a big mistake.
Check out what was written at that time.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The NBA is here it's early but the Lebron and Kobe show has started

. The season when Ben Wallace, Delonte, and Joe Smith came over it took a while for them to gel but when they did they came within a basket of upsetting the mighty Celtics in game seven of the playoffs. Shaq did what you want Shaq to do at this stage. Get 10 rebounds and 10-15 points most nights you will want 15. If this continues to happen the Cavs will win it all.

Then you have the Christmas day massacre. I know it's the regular season and the game doesn't mean anything but how many people pointed out how Cleveland played against the top teams in the league last year in the regular season. Those numbers were inflated because Cleveland lost went 0-2 to the Lakers and 1-2 to the Magic but split with Boston 2-2. The thing that people failed to realize is this Cleveland team pre Jamison trade is about twice better than last year's version.

Every player on Clevelands team is better this year except Z. Plus the additions can play defense against larger wing players and the big cactus can control the middle. It's good for Cleveland that some of the talking heads are still thinking this is the team from last year because of a similar record and positioning. Folks this team is scary good. Before Jamison! Check out the post back in December.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Cleveland is the Team to Beat and will be crowned 2010 NBA Champions.

I said it in my preseason pick and break down of the NBA season 2009-2010 and I am going to reinterate that point now. Cleveland is the team to beat in the NBA this season. Things are going pretty much just as I wrote then that Cleveland would have some challenges out of the gate but would come around once this team gets use to playing together.

After Cleveland started off with a couple of losses a lot of haters and pundits were asking the question if the Shaq trade was hurting the Cavs. This was about one of the craziest questions I have seen in sports. You can get Shaq on your team in a trade for Ben Wallace and Shasa ? Anyone who asked that question should be banned from commenting on anything related to sports.

Mike Brown is a better coach than most people will give him credit for and this Cleveland team will not start playing their collective best until after the allstar break. They have been playing well of late and have beat some pretty good teams including: Orlando, LA, Miami, Dallas, Portland, Houston, Phoenix, and Atlanta.

Mike Brown is starting to find his rotation and Mo Williams is finding out how to be a consistent 20 point scorer on this team. On the defensive end Cleveland has stepped their defensive game up and the new guys are learning how to play Cleveland team defence.

They are asking Shaq to match up when a team has strong bigs like LA, Orlando and Boston. They only need 10-15 points and 7-10 rebounds a game from Shaq in about 22 minutes of play during the regular season. I expect his minutes to go up to about 27-30 in the playoffs and him a Z seeing some court time together against bigger line ups.

Parker and Moon are defending perimeter players just as they were brought in to do. Parker is shooting the 3 better than anyone in the league and Mo Williams and Gibson are not far behind. The bench is learning how to run offence with Lebron out of the game. This is the only weak spot right now but that has improved over the last 8 games.

I have seen Cleveland and Boston live this year and when the Celtics are on their game their ball movement is impeccable but they are not playing with the same intensity on defence as years past. They still have one of the best points allowed and Cleveland is close behind them.

Where Cleveland takes the rest of the league is their bench and their bench will be even better by playoff time because Leon Powe will be with the team.

Lebron is the X factor and if this team doesn't win it all I would be shocked. He can make up for any holes on this team and there are very few.

Write it down the King will be crowned in June 2010 NBA champion!

I am going to end this with something for the rest of the league to think about. The Cavs new starting line up. Lebron, Mo, Jamison,Hickson, Shaq. Some people say they need a shooting guard but that's more or less Mo Williams Role. Lebron will be running more point forward with Jamison on the team and Williams spotting up for 3's. The bench Parker, West, Moon, Verajo, Gibson, and Z in 30 and Leon Powe! They still have Williams and Green as young up and comers.

Folks here it is my final perdiction. Lebron has a team for the first time. They will not have a playoff game including the finals that will go past 5 games with the Cavs winning it all.

As you can see I am not afraid to put it out there and in writing.

The Lakers, Cowboys and Skip Bayless the most overrated in sports.

How about those Cowboys! It's amazing when media hype is confused with being good. The Cowboys was not one of the top teams in the NFC and it showed with their beat down by the Vikes.

The other most overrated team in sports is the LA Lakers! Another team that the media is promoting but they have beat sub .500 teams at home to run up there record. They were beat down on Christmas day by the Cavs and will be humbled again in a couple of days.

Skip Bayless is the most overrated sports personality ever. How he can keep a job and know as little as he does about his craft is amazing.

There will be two upsets this weekend. Cards and Jets win!

I am going to keep this weeks picks short and sweet. Last week I went 2-2 which is terrible for me but I did call the upset of the week with the Ravens over Patriots pick.

So this week I am picking two upsets. The Cards will out score the Saints. You never bet against Kurt Warner in the playoffs. I will probably have to do that next week when they face the Vikings. So with that being said you gather I am picking the Vikings over the Cowboys. That's not my upset pick even though everyone and there sister are on the Cowboys band wagon.

My other upset pick is the Jets going into San Diego and stunning the red hot Chargers. I will probably be the only one on the web talking about sports with this pick but talk to me after the game. If I have to say so myself I am one of the best at picking upsets.

Baltimore will play well but the Colts have been there and done that. They will win this game by seven probably and move on to the championship game of the AFC.

My picks again Ari 38 NO 34  Min 30 Dal 24 NYJ 20 SD 17  Ind 21 Bal 17

Let the games begin!

The Wildcard rematch bowl let the playoffs begin and my picks

Well it has all come down to a weekend of rematches in the NFL. This is a good time to be a sports fan and there will be some great games this weekend. I am going to give you my picks for the weekend and why. There are only 4 games and I will go at least 3-1 if not 4-0.

It takes a lot of wisdom and a keen knowledge of sports psychology as well to pick these games right each and every week. The past two weeks I have been on vacation and so I didn't do my picks but for the season my picks were about 75% right.

Let's take a look at the first game the Jets and the Bengals. The Jets made this team look like a bunch of high schoolers the way they dismantled the Bengals. This week will be totally different the Bengals will be able to run and throw the ball. The Jets are going to have to ask Sanchez to make some big plays for them and he will end up with at least two picks in this game. The Bengals will win 21-10

What do you know here's another game where the team that lost last week was shut out. Philly did what they could early and then decided to shut things down. You will see a lot more of Michael Vick than you saw in the regular season. McNabb will be sharp and Jackson will have at least two big scores. Dallas will not perform up to par under the pressure and Romo will have 3 turnovers. The Eagles will win 31-14

This is the only game this weekend that is not a rematch from last week. The Patriots are not the Patriots of old and niether are the Ravens. What I feel the difference will be in this game is Baltimores ability to move the ball against the Patriots defense. The Ravens will get pressure on Brady and Joe Flacco and Derrick Mason will have big days. This is the upset of the weekend. The Ravens will win 20-17 giving Brady his first home playoff loss.

Rematch number 3. A lot of people are on the Packers band wagon and they have played very well in the second half of the season. Watch this game closely because it will look nothing like last week. Kurt Warner will be Kurt Warner and the Cardinals will win this game 34-20. Arizona's defense believe it or not will be the difference and will have 5 sacks on Rodgers.

Ok there you have it. I am putting myself out there and my credibilty is on the line. Either I will look like the genius I am or a fool. Until the Divisional round God Bless!

The Bobcats have found their missing confidence

The Bobcats are looking more and more like the playoff team that the fans in Carolina have been hoping for. There is a method to the Bobcats madness. How can a team that had only won one game on the road come up with back to back victories against winning teams on the road?

The second of those back to back road wins was against a Cavaliers team that had only lost 4 games at home out of about 60 home games over the past year and a half. These wins on the road are the type of wins that will give the Bobcats what Stephen Jackson said they have been missing and that's swagger on the road. A change of mindset where they expect to win on the road and expect things to go well when they travel.

That confidence also spilled over into a win against Chicago who have been playing well and had an opportunity to win a close game but the Bobcats closed the game out. It was good to see the Bobcats score the way they did but they gave up way too many points for a team that plays superior defence. With all that being said they came away with the win and are now on a three game winning streak.

If the Bobcats can go .500 on the road the rest of the season and continue to win about 70-75% of their home games they will be a lock for the 6th or 7th spot in the East. The Bobcats are starting to understand what it takes to win night in and night out and will be rewarded with their first playoff appearence at the end of this season.

Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are the perfect one two punch. If Felton can continue to give them 10-15 a night and if the center and power forward position can give them 15-20 points a game combined this team will be a tough out even for some of the higher ranked teams in the playoffs.

Larry Brown's hand print is on this team and they are looking like a  Larry Brown coached team.