Posts Tagged ‘Miami Heat’

Miami Heat 100 Chicago Bulls 88

Posted: January 27, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Miami Heat came into Friday nights game on a five game winning streak. While the Chicago Bulls came in the game after blowing a late double digit lead in the final three minutes of there last game. The Bulls are also dealing with the post game interviews by Dwayne Wade and Jimmy Butler calling out the team and then Rajon Rondo calling out Wade and Butler on Instagram. Wade and Butler where held out of the starting line up as punishment over the interview comments as Rondo continued to come off the bench. In the end it all played out with the Heat picking up their 6th straight victory 100-88 over the Bulls.

After five ties the last being at 15 all early in the 1st quarter the Heat went on a 12-0 run to take a 27-15 lead with 4:20 left in the quarter. The Bulls where able to cut into the Miami lead a little bit and when Rajon Rondo hit the final basket of the quarter the Bulls had the lead under double digits at 33-24 after one quarter.

The Bulls were able to knock a couple of more points of the Miami lead and with the score 37-30 both teams struggle to get the next basket. There where four missed shots, three turnovers, two fouls and a full timeout before Paul Zipser hit a jump shot to end the drought. The Bulls came all the way back to tie the game at 40 all and then took the lead at 45-42 when Zipser hit a 3-pointer. The game stayed close as there where four more ties including at the end of the quarter as the game went into half time tied at 53 all.

The 3rd quarter started out even between the two teams. Miami found themselves up two points at 63-61 with 7:31 to play before going on a 14 to 6 run to take a 77-67 lead with 1:00 minute left in the quarter. Neither team was able to score in the final minute of the quarter and the Bulls managed just 14 points in the 3rd quarter. So the 3rd quarter ended with Miami up 77-67.

The Bulls scored 7 of the first 10 points in the 4th quarter to cut the Miami lead to 80-74. The Heat then scored seven straight points to build a double digit lead at 87-74. The Bulls where never able to get closer than 11 points which they did on three different occasions as Miami was able to extend there winning streak to six games with a 12 point 100-88 victory.

Miami’s Goran Dragic was the games high scorer with 26 points. Dragic also handed out a game high 11 assists. Willie Reed had 20 points while Dion Waiters scored 19 points. Wayne Ellington came off the Heat bench to score 14 points. James Johnson grabbed a game high 9 rebounds for Miami.

Dwayne Wade was the Bulls leading scorer coming off the bench to score 15 points. Taj Gibson and Paul Zipser each had 14 points for the Bulls. Rajon Rondo score 13 points and was the team leader in assists with 7 and rebounds with 7. Jimmy Butler had one of the worst nights of his NBA career, Butler went 1 for 13 from the field and split a pair of free throws managing to score just 3 points in the game.

This was the first game of a back to back for the Heat and the win improved there record to 17-30. Miami will return home and put there six game winning streak on the line as they host the 21-25 Detroit Pistons. The loss dropped the Bulls to 23-25. Chicago will get a day off before they host the 17-28 Philadelphia 76ers Sunday night.

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Chicago Bulls 105 Miami Heat 100

Posted: December 10, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls picked up there second win in a row Saturday night beating the Miami Heat 105-100. Win the improved the Bulls to 7-3 at home this season and 13-10 overall. This was the Heat’s 5th loss in a row as there record fell to 7-17 on the season.

The teams played a very even 1st quarter. Each team built a 4 point lead at one time just to watch the other come back. The teams where tied at 24 all with 1:31 left in the quarter. Nikola Mirotic hit a three pointer with 30 seconds left to give the Bulls a 29-25 ;lead, but Willie Reed tipped in a Josh Richardson miss for the last points of the quarter and make it 29-27 after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter played out a lot like the first as the teams stayed pretty even and the game was tied 7 times during the quarter. The Bulls did manage to take 4 point leads on two different occasions. Miami built it’s own 4 point lead with 1:32 to play, but the quarter ended with the Bulls scoring 6 of the final 8 points and the teams went into half time tied at 55.

Miami hit a 3-pointer to start the 3rd quarter, but the Bulls scored the next 8 points to take a 63-58 lead. The Bulls built there biggest lead of the game at 13 points three different times in the quarter. The last 13 point lead 77-64 was after a Taj Gibson jumper with 5:18 left to play. Miami was able to knock 5 points off the Bulls lead in the final 5 minutes of the quarter and the Heat went into the 4th quarter trailing 83-75.

The Bulls built the lead back to 10 points at 89-79, Miami went on a 14 to 6 run and found themselves down by just 2 points at 95-93 with 4:56 left in the game. The Bulls where able to get the lead back to 5 at 101-96, but Miami next 4 points and this time trailed by just 1 point at 101-100. Miami didn’t score again in the game and Jimmy Butler went 4 of 4 from the free throw line down the stretch to give the Bulls a 105-100 win.

Jimmy Butler went 15 of 16 from the free throw line on his way to a game high 31 points. Dwayne Wade added 28 points while Taj Gibson was the only other Bulls player to reach double figures in points with 13. Robin Lopez grabbed a game high 10 rebounds while Rajon Rondo handed out a team high 6 assists.

Goran Dragic led the Heat with 21 points and also handed out a game high 11 assists. Hasan Whiteside scored 20 and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 8. Three players came off the Miami bench to score in double figures led by Tyler Johnson with 15 points. Josh Richardson added 11 points while Derrick Williams scored 10 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with 8.

Chicago returns to action Tuesday night as the host their former head coach Tom Thibodeau and the 6-17 Minnesota Timberwolves. Miami will try to snap there 5 game losing streak Monday night when they return home to face the 9-13 Washington Wizards.

Chicago Bulls 98 Miami Heat 95

Posted: November 11, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Rajon Rondo made 3 of 4 free throws with 8 seconds left in the game to give the Bulls a 98-95 victory over the Miami Heat. The Bulls needed Rondo’s free throws because Josh Richardson hit a 25-foot jumper as time expired to make the final score what it was. If Rondo hadn’t made his free throws the game would’ve been headed to overtime. The Bulls improved to 5-4 with the win while the loss dropped Miami’s record to 2-5.

The Heat scored the first 8 point of the game grabbing an 8-0 lead. A Dwayne Wade dunked evened the game at 12 all. From there on in the teams where even as the Bulls took a 1-point lead after the 1st quarter at 23-22.

Miami took the lead right at the start of the 2nd quarter on a Justise Winslow 3-pointer. After talking the lead Miami was able to stretch it to 7 points. Two Nikola Mirotic free throws gave the Bulls a 1-point lead at 35-34. Miami outscored Chicago the rest of the quarter by 1 point 19 to 18 and the teams went into half time tied at 53 apiece.

Neither team played very well in the 3rd quarter. The teams swapped the lead 7 times I the quarter before ending in a 70 all tie headed into the final quarter. Each team managed just 17 points in the 3rd quarter.

The Bulls built a 5-point lead at 81-76 with 7:39 left in the game only to see the Heat score come right back and toe the game at 82 all.  The Bulls then built the lead to 6 points with 4 minutes to play. The Heat was never able to tie the game again, but they did cut it to 2 points with 13 seconds left. Wade then hit two free throws to make it 96-92 and then Rondo hit his 3 of 4 free throws to get the Bulls to 98. Then again Richardson 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Miami 95 points for the game.

Four of the five Bulls starters scored in double figures led by Jimmy Butler who tied for the game high scorer with 20 points. Robin Lopez and Rajon Rondo had 16 points each. Rondo also had a team high 12 rebounds and handed out 6 assists which tied for the game high. Dwayne Wade had 13 points while Doug McDermott (13 points) and Nikola Mirotic (10 points) came off the Bulls bench to score in double figures. The Bulls starters played big minutes in this second of a back to back games scheduling. Butler and Lopez played 38 minutes each while Rondo played 37 minutes and Wade played 32.

The Heat was led by Hasan Whiteside who tied Butler with 20 points, but also grabbed a game high 20 rebounds. Dion Waiters had 16 points while Justise Winslow added 15 points. Waiters and Winslow tied Rondo for the game lead in assists as they both handed out 6 of them. Josh Richardson came off the Miami bench to score 16 points and Tyler Johnson also came off the Miami bench to score 14 points.

The 5-4 Bulls head home for a Saturday night match up with the 2-5 Washington Wizards. Miami (2-5) get to stay at home as they’ll host the Utah Jazz in a Saturday night match up.

How was your week

Posted: December 26, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, fantasy, football, sports, Uncategorized
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How much of the NBA on Christmas day did you watch? While I didn’t see an entire game start to finish I did see parts of all 5 games and almost all of the 2nd and 3rd games. I’d be very impressed if you watch every minute of every game. I believe that was a little over 11 hours of NBA basketball.

The day started with the Miami Heat getting a 94-88 win in overtime over the New Orleans Pelicans. Looking at the box score for this game Miami was good in the 1st and 3rd quarters while New Orleans was the better team in the 2nd and 4th quarter. I guess it makes sense that overtime was the 5th quarter; so Miami picked up the win. Dwayne Wade led the Heat in scoring with 30 points.Hassan Whiteside grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Heat while Goran Dragic’s 6 assists where a team high. Anthony Davis led New Orleans in scoring with 29 points and rebounds with 15 while playing 50 minutes in the game. Tyreke Evans led the Pelicans in assists with 7.

The second game of the day saw the Chicago Bulls beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-96. I got to see all of this game except for the first 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter. The Bulls scored the first 11 points of the game and they seemed to control most of the action. The Bulls would build a lead and then Oklahoma City would make a run. The Thunder made a big run at the Bulls in the 4th quarter, but Chicago was able to hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 23 points. Pau Gasol led the Bulls in rebounds with 13 and assists with 6 to go along with his 21 points. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 29 points while Enes Kanter grabbed a team high 13 rebounds. Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City with  8 assists while adding 26 points.

While I think most people thought the 3rd game a finals rematch between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors was looked at as the marquee match up. It didn’t really live up to the hype or any offensive predictions everyone made about the game. Golden State did pick up a 6-point victory 89-83. The Warriors looked good coming out of the gate and took a 9 point lead. Then Stephen Curry went to the locker room with either a foot or a calf issue and things started to go Cleveland’s way. Curry came out of the locker room to return to the game just as the television announcers where saying it would be a good idea if he didn’t return to the game. While Curry helped the Warriors to the victory it was Draymond Green who was the Warriors star. Green led Golden State in scoring with 22 points; he also grabbed a team high 15 rebounds and tied Curry for the team lead in assists with 7. LeBron James was the Cavaliers leading scorer with 25 points. Kevin Love grabbed 18 rebounds to lead Cleveland and Love also had a team high 4 assists. Part of the Cavaliers issues in the game was the fact that Love and Kyrie Irving where a combined 9 for 31 on the night and 0 for 11 from behind the 3-point line.

The 4th game of the night saw the Houston Rockets surprise the San Antonio Spurs 88-84. The Rockets where able to build a consistent lead of about 8 points; so San Antonio started to employ the “Hack-a Player” method.  The Player of choice was Dwight Howard who went 3 of 8 from the free throw line and helped keep San Antonio in the game. Even though Howard had issues at the free throw line the Spurs couldn’t convert those misses into points and the Rockets held on for the win. James Harden led the Rockets with 20; Harden also handed out a team high 9 assists while Howard grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Houston. Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio in scoring with 20 points and assists with 4. Tim Duncan hauled down 11 rebounds to lead the Spurs.The win pushed the Rockets over .500 at 16-15. It was San Antonio’s (25-6) 6th loss of the season all on the road.

The night in the NBA wrapped up with the Los Angeles Clippers cruising to a 94-84 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers might’ve had a larger margin of victory, but a 9 point 4th quarter along with the Lakers putting up 27 4th quarter points cut the winning margin to 10 points. Chris Paul led the Clippers in scoring with 23 points. DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Clippers. Blake Griffin was the Clippers leader in assists with 7 and grabbed 12 rebounds as well. D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers in scoring with 16 points.Julius Randle had 8 rebounds to lead the Lakers. Russell and Randle came off the Lakers bench. Kobe Bryant and Jordan Clarkson tied for the team lead in assists with 3 apiece. I know everyone is going to want to know how Bryant did. Kobe was 4 of 10 shooting on the night, but made 3 of the 5 3-point shots he took. Bryant had a poor night at the free throw line making just 1 of 4 attempts. Bryant did grab 3 rebounds; had 2 steals and committed 3 turnovers.

Did you like the Christmas day scheduling? It was interesting that the two worst teams record wise from the Western Conference the Lakers and the Pelicans where in the game line up. The Lakers are 5-25, but of course they have Kobe Bryant and it’s his farewell season. The Pelicans are 9-20, but they have an up and coming superstar in Anthony Davis. Otherwise we saw the top 4 teams in the Western Conference along with the 7th team in the standings. From the Eastern Conference we got to see the #1, #3 and #5 teams record wise. Was their a team or a player that you would’ve wanted to see play and which team would you take out?

Our week in NFL picks started off well on Thursday night as we all had the Oakland raiders to win, but it wasn’t easy. The Raiders needed overtime to beat the San Diego Chargers 23-20. We’ve got another Saturday night NFL game as the 1st place Washington Redskins look to wrap up the vaunted NFC East as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the 2nd place Eagles. A win by the Redskins would make them 8-7 and would drop the eagles to 6-9 knocking them out of any playoff spot. If the Redskins do get a win tonight the only thing standing in there way of winning the NFC East would the 6=8 New York Giants. The Giants are featured on Sunday Night Football this week as they play the Minnesota Vikings. Things are lining up for the Redskins to win their division and they might even have a winning record on top of that. Pick wise for us Schaumburg Stu and I like Washington to win, but Dan the Man thinks that Philadelphia gets the win and keeps there playoff hopes alive. As always I can’t tell you who Mr. Fantasy is going with in tonight’s game as he’ll let me know right before kickoff.

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This Old Stub: Miami!

Posted: October 27, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, sports
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It has been a long time since I did one of these, you remember, This Old Stub. Obviously, I took that from good ole Bob Villa, i’m sure I just dated myself with that reference. Either way like all great tales, it starts with a reflection…Christmas 2013. The months preceding, my wife would periodically text me questions about sports but the one that stood out was when she asked me, what my favorite teams were and players on that team. So, in true Fanatic tradition, I threw out there: Carmelo Anthony, Joakim Noah, Brandon Marshall, Adrian Peterson, Adrian Gonzalez, Buster Posey, Patrick Kane and even Jonathan Quick. Christmas Eve comes and she decided to let me open my gift…I tear through the jingle bell paper and rip the top off the box, through the white tissue paper I see black and what looks to be red and orange? Confused I pull out a Dwayne Wade T-shirt and a snapback. If you read my previous blog from a couple years ago, Fitted Hats are bettter than Snapbacks, you’d know, I do not wear snapbacks at all, ever. She then looks at me, “There’s more.” I pull out an envelope with a homemade ticket that says Heat vs Pistons but we live in Chicago. That is when I discover that my gift is seeing the Miami Heat live and in color in Miami! To top it off it’s a work trip for her so am I going solo? Nope her 19 year old nephew is meeting us in Miami and going with me. Flash forward, we arrive in Miami and are put up in a plush resort with two pools and a private beach. Oh yeah, and golfing. Apparently, Dan Marino was at this resort once for a golf outing. It is Super Bowl Sunday and her company threw a Super Bowl Party! Yeah!!! Yea I wasnt all that excited about it because you know how those things go. Nobody is there to watch the game…Theyre just their for the food and social aspect. Me, I’m there to watch Peyton Manning win a Super Bowl. Not only that, here at Sports Time Radio, we make predictions each year on who will the Super Bowl. I chose Denver to go all the way, while Big Jack picked Seattle. I really wanted to see Denver win so that the Big Jack would have to buy me a Tshirt. Mind you, my wife made me buy her a Seahawks T because she likes their colors better. Once the game was over and the party wound down, I snatched up as many of the pennants I could off the tables to take as “souvenirs.”

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Monday morning, my wife is gone for work and my nephew, Justin and I go to the mall for lunch and hit the beach. Which if I had known, we’d be by a mall I would have waited to get my New Era 5950 Miami Heat Fitted Cap size 7 & 5/8 (In case you want to send me one). She returned the snapback because I would not ever ever ever wear it. Back to the hotel to shower and change, the concierge clapped for a taxi and $50 later we were in Miami, for $150 i could have had a car pick us up and wait for us but I saved the $50 for Heat merchandise. As we walk up to the American Airlines Arena, we see a bus pull into the garage, from what Justin could make out it was the Pistons but we were too late plus security wouldnt let us approach the bus. So, we take our pics in front of the stadium and wait out front for the doors to open. As we people watch, all walks of life are here to see the Heat and some of these people are very interesting like the 2 grown men in matching Addias polyester jump suits. We even met a die hard Seahawks fan from Canada, Eh. He really said Eh.

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Finally, the doors are open, as we get passed security, we are handed little mini poms, which Justin turned down…never turn down a free gift with no catch! Plus I love free gifts. Our tickets were up top, where the real fans sit. I say that because before attending this game, I did not know that it is Miami tradition to show up late and leave early. I can’t imagine what season tickets cost but I would want to get my money’s worth. When I got home, the first thing Big Jack asked me was, “Did the Heat fans show up late and leave early?” Hence, when I learned of this “tradition.” From where we sat, you could see all the action and as a plus we were on the stationery camera for TV, so the introductions were done facing us. Even though we were all the up top, you could still feel the Heat from the fire they used during the Heat’s introductions. Entertaining as it was designed to be as well as the whole experience surrounding the game. They had a DJ, which I thought was unique. He played music through the breaks which included a dance by the Heat Girls. This is where I discovered the “referee’s timeout.” But hey if a referee’s timeout is just going to bring out the Heat dancers, I’m not objecting. My favorite part was towards the end of the game, the hype crew came up to our section. These are generally the same guys that were warming up with the Heat before the game. They brought up the Big LeBron head and the letters H E A T. I was write by the T. They are the ones that get the crowd chanting “Let’s Go Heat!” & “Defense!” I have to be honest I turned into a little kid. If I was on TV or not, I don’t know but It was for lack of a better word, AWESOME! As I write this, LeBron has left for Cleveland, seemingly taking the Heat out the finals, I still recommend going to see the Heat at the American Airlines Arena. If you’re in Miami, just go there for any event. That place is amazing. Miami is truly an international city and it showed from the food they served. Now I am not sure if your ticket restricts you to your level but I saw everything from hot dogs to a Hibachi Grill. We ended up with the cheapest thing we could find $15 Sirloin Burgers, We spent so much time looking at everything, we ended up there. There were tons of different souvenirs, I settled on a Back to Back Championship T-shirt. How can you go wrong with Championship anything. If I lived in Miami, I may have wasted my money on the giant heads of the different players.

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Basketball is such a fast paced game, it’s difficult to break it down like you can with the MLB. The game went as any game does and being in Miami, there were some calls that went the Heat’s way. Big Jack and I have discussed how NBA refs can determine the outcome of the game with there calls by their mood. It’s not right but it happens and to be fair, Ive seen calls against the Heat on the road because it was the Heat. It was a great time, the Heat won, I was given a free pom pom from the Heat, got a championship Tshirt. It was a great time, I would definitely go back, and with Pat Riley I don’t think the Heat are out of the West just yet. Now, I’d really like to see them win, with out James. If you’re in Miami, Go! but for the next time I’m there it will be at Marlins game. I have to see that crazy bright green stadium.

How was your Week? 5/17/14

Posted: June 2, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, hockey, sports, Uncategorized
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We’re down to the conference finals in the NHL and the NBA playoffs. Last night, the Los Angeles Kings where the last team to make the conference finals with a 6 – 2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings advance to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western conference finals. It’s a match up that features the last two Stanley Cup winners. The Eastern conference finals starts this afternoon with the New York Rangers vs. the Montreal Canadians. Chicago and Montreal have home ice advantage for the conference finals series. As you know from listening to the show we live in the Chicago suburbs; so I’d like to see the Blackhawks come out of the West. How about a Chicago/New York Stanley Cup final? I’m sure the NHL would love to see a match up like that with two big market teams in the Stanley Cup finals. In the NBA conference finals I think everyone got the match ups they expected. In the Eastern conference it’s the Miami Heat vs. the Indiana Pacers. Even after all there ups and downs the Pacers got by the Washington Wizards to make the conference finals. Miami has looked like the best team by far in the Eastern conference, but don’t forget the Indiana has the #1 seed and has home court advantage in this series. A lot of experts think home court won’t matter, but you never know and Indiana has it. The Western conference final feature the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder had struggled finding its way to the finals while the Spurs have been by far the best team in the Western conference playoffs. With the way the playoffs have played out so far it looks like more and more we’re going to get a rematch from last season and will see the Heat vs. the Spurs in the NBA finals. I’d like to see the Spurs win one more title before Tim Duncan’s career ends, but Miami is going to be tough to beat for any team. While I don’t like the way that Miami has went about winning their titles you can’t argue with their results. LeBron James seems to be understanding that he needs to take over with Dwayne Wade no longer being the player he once was. Chris Bosh used to be a top NBA player, but since going to Miami he has had big outputs every once in a while he’s not the top player he once was. The Spurs have their fair share of top NBA talent in Duncan and point guard Tony Parker. I’m not sure if Manu Ginobili is still a top NBA player, but he hits big shots and knows how to fill his role in the Spurs offense. Of course there is no guarantee at all that the NBA finals will have the Spurs or the Heat in them, but they look like the best two teams playing right now.

I was happy to see Michael Sam get drafted. He was picked by the St. Louis Rams in the 7th round of the NFL draft. It was a good landing spot for Sam as he played his college football at the University of Missouri and he’ll try to make the jump to the pro’s in the same state. Some people had issues with the fact that Sam and his boyfriend kissed a few times on television after he was drafted. It caught me off guard at first, but then I realized that it’s no different from any other draft pick kissing his girlfriend after he’s selected. The one negative that I had heard was the planned reality show that the Oprah Winfrey Network was going to do. I heard a report late last night that the show has been postponed and I think that’s in Sam’s best interest. The last thing a rookie 7th round pick needs is a camera following him around while he’s trying to make a team. Sam has an uphill battle to just make the team and the last thing he need was a show bases around that.

A lot of baseball talk on yesterday’s show, It Snowed Here Today, with Mr. Fantasy. A player that came up and is off to a hot start is Troy Tulowitzki. With about 25% of the baseball season in the books Tulowitzki leads the national League in batting average at .389, is tied for the league lead in home runs with 11 and is 2nd in RBI’s with 33. Now I’m not saying that Tulowitzki is going to win a triple crown, but I wondering if this is the season he stays healthy and we see the kind of numbers he can put up. I think a lot of baseball people have wondered the same thing. What do you think; is this the year Tulowitzki stays healthy?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.

So how was your week?

03/15/14 How was your Week?

Posted: March 15, 2014 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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NFL free agency kicked off this week. Did your team sign a player you wanted them to? I woke up this morning (Saturday) to find out the Julius Peppers signed with the Green Bay Packers. When it comes to the years on these deals they don’t really matter; it’s the guaranteed money that’s important. The Denver Broncos signed the most well-known names this week. They added safety T.J. Ward, cornerback Aqib Talib and linebacker DeMarcus Ware. As Denver tries to build a defense to go with that #1 offense that went to the Super Bowl last season. Cleveland filled Ward’s spot by signing hard-hitting safety Donte Whitner and also added linebacker Karlos Dansby. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and new head coach Lovie Smith made a big splash in free agency this week. The Buccaneers added quarterback Josh McCown, defensive end Michael Johnson, cornerback Alterraun Verner, defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, center Evan Dietrich-Smith, plus tackle Anthony Collins. While Tampa Bay was bringing in all these new free agents they released cornerback Darrelle Revis after one season with the team. Revis went on to sign with the New England Patriots. Don’t panic if your favorite team hasn’t signed a free agent yet; their are still plenty of players on the open market. Does your team need a pass rusher? How about Brian Orakpo. Does your team need some help in the defensive backfield? How about two guys with the same last name. Antonio Cromartie and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are available. Michael Vick is still a free agent if your team needs a quarterback with a bit of an injury history. Ben Tate is probably the #1 running back on the free agent market, but he comes with an injury history as well. If your team can’t find the player they want in free agency maybe they could make a trade. There where three made this week and the San Francisco 49ers were involved in two of them. The 49ers sent a 6th round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for quarterback Blaine Gabbert and then the 49ers sent a 2015 conditional 7th round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins for Jonathan Martin. Yes that Jonathan Martin; he’s going to play for his old college football coach Jim Harbaugh. Martin won’t be asked to start for the 49ers and Harbaugh should be able to give him some protection from any bullying or any type of locker room hazing that might go on. Martin can play both tackle spots and should be a solid back up for the 49ers. In the other trade this week the Philadelphia Eagles sent a 5th round draft pick to the New Orleans Saints for running back Darren Sproles; who seems to be tailor-made for a Chip Kelly offense. Sproles is a good back up for LeShon McCoy and I’m sure jumped way up all the fantasy boards looking at next season all ready.

It’s getting close to playoff time in the NBA and the Miami Heat seems to be in a bit of a funk. The Heat lost last night (Friday) to the Denver Nuggets and the Heat have dropped five of their last six games. I don’t think Miami cares if they end up with the #1 seed in the Eastern conference. One expert mentioned that the Heat are on “cruise” control. Miami has dropped a couple of games to conference opponents Brooklyn and Chicago. A lot of talk seems to think that Brooklyn is the team if there is one that could get by the Heat in the playoffs. The Nets do have Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but how much do the veteran players have left fun a playoff run. Garnett has played limited minutes this season and has taken games off just to be ready for the playoffs. Some where lost in all of this are the Indiana Pacers who right now are the #1 seed in the Eastern conference. You’d think the Pacers would be the team to knock off the Heat this season, but they’ve seem to have gone unnoticed these last few weeks. The Pacers where in a bit of a slump, but have seemed to came out of it with victories over Boston and Philadelphia. While the Celtics and the 76ers aren’t playoff teams they’re still on your schedule and you need to win those games. In the end will anyone be surprised if it comes down to the Heat against the Pacers in the Eastern conference finals. In other big NBA news Phil Jackson has agreed to a five year contract to become President of the New York Knicks. Jackson won 2 championships as a player with the Knicks. Jackson was also the head coach for 11 championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson has no front office experience; so you have to wonder if he’s the guy to turn the Knicks around. Jackson is scheduled to be introduced by the Knicks on Tuesday and you have to wonder if Mike Woodson’s job is in trouble. Jackson is an advocate of the triangle offense and no one knows if that will suit Carmelo Anthony’s game. Of course even more of a question is will Anthony still be with the Knicks next season. Jackson has his hands full with fixing the Knicks. The Knicks don’t have a 1st round draft pick and they don’t have any money to bring in a top-notch free agent. This will be a monstrous test for Phil Jackson and if he can find a way to turn this Knicks team around or at this point just become a contender he’ll ensure his legacy in New York forever.

Baseball season is getting close. Mr. Fantasy and I have our first fantasy in eight days, but I know there are some people who have already had there drafts. I hope in one of these drafts you didn’t end up with Atlanta Braves pitcher Kris Medlen. Medlen left his spring training start last week with elbow pain and during his examination they found a torn ligament in his pitching elbow. Medlen will under go a 2nd “Tommy John” surgery and be out for the entire 2014 season. That’s one of the reasons I’ve never been a big fan of those early fantasy drafts. Drafting can sometimes be the best part of a fantasy season, but when you do them that early you can lose guys like Medlen before the season even starts. Hopefully soon will get a Mr. Fantasy draft list for you to follow.

So how was your week?

You can listen to Dan the Man, Mr. Fantasy and I on http://www.blogtalkradio.com and http://www.ultimatesportstalk.com

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11/02/13 How was your Week?

Posted: November 2, 2013 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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The Boston Red Sox are World Series champions. I have to tell the truth I thought the St. Louis Cardinals would end up winning that series. In game 6 Michael Wacha showed that he was a rookie with very limited playoff experience. I thought that the Cardinals would break out and start hitting, but the Red Sox pitching shut them down. John Lackey had a big comeback season and series. Lackey has clinched 2 World series for 2 different teams. As a rookie Lackey got the win in the World Series clinching game for the Angels. I don’t know if they where being called The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim yet or if they where still the California Angeles. Sorry I got a little side tracked there. David Ortiz was the M.V.P. of the World Series; while some experts where pushing for Clay Bucholtz to win the award. I believe they made the right choice as Ortiz put up numbers that only 2 people have done better than in a World Series. After the way Ortiz played in the World Series and with winning the M.V.P., talk started on if he will make the baseball Hall of Fame when his career is over. I don’t really know where I stand on this but I’ve heard everything from he’ll be a first ballot hall of famer to he won’t get in because he didn’t play defense. The Red Sox went from worst to first and now the talk starts on if they’ll repeat in 2014.

So which one of you had the Miami Heat starting the season 1 – 2. I know it’s very early in the season but I’m a little surprised the Heat have dropped 2 consecutive games. I really thought the Heat might struggle opening night against the Chicago Bulls but they handled the Bulls easily 107 – 95. They turned around the next night and lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 114 – 110 and then last night lost to the Brooklyn Nets 101 – 100. Now I don’t think anyone would be surprised if at the end of the playoffs in 2014 the Heat are raising the trophy again. It just shows how odd and long the NBA season can be.

Every Sunday morning Dan the Man, Mr. Fantasy and I make are picks for that weeks NFL games and have we had a rough year. We finally had a better week in Week 8. Dan the Man and I where 9 – 3 while Mr. Fantasy went 8 – 4. For the season Dan the Man and I are 70 – 42 while Mr. Fantasy is trailing at 65 – 48. It just seems like it’s been a tough year for us to pick games. We’ll be on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. to make our picks again and talk about the week in fantasy football. I guess will see how this week goes for us.

So how was your week?

You can follow me on @Burketime