The Miami Heat have lost four games in a row, and included in that was a 30 point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night and their third loss of the season to the Bulls on Sunday. Of course with this latest losing streak Erick Spoelstra being back on the hot seat is once again the topic of discussion. Spoelstra has to be tired of being blamed every time this Miami Heat team fails to perform up to expectations, you have three all-star players in Bosh, James, and Wade which should mean that the need for coaching is diminished. How much did Mike Brown coach Lebron in Cleveland? Probably not much, and Spoelstra took this team to the playoffs last year with much less on the roster than he has now, so that means the “Big 3” still have not learned how to play together with the cast of players they have put together around them.
The Orlando Magic’s star center Dwight Howard has been suspended one game by the NBA because he picked up his 16th technical foul versus the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. Howard actually leads the NBA in technical fouls this season which brings up memories of Rasheed Wallace who seemed to lead the league in technical fouls every year. Howard will miss Monday’s game against the Portland Trailblazers, which is probably the wrong team for the Magic to miss their big man. Maybe this is part of Dwight Howard’s new attitude where he says he is going to stop being a nice guy and have a meaner demeanor, but he needs to cut back on the technical fouls it’s only hurting his team.
The North Carolina Tar Heels captured the regular season ACC title by beating the Duke Blue Devils 81 – 67, and will now be the #1 seed in the ACC tournament. It is the Tar Heels 28th regular season ACC title, and probably one of the sweetest wins for the Tar Heels after they lost a big lead against Duke earlier in the season. Nolan Smith was game for the Blue Devils putting in 30 points, but the Tar Heels were too much for the Blue Devils. It’s a huge turn around for the Tar Heels after a disappointing season last year where they finished under .500 in ACC play, now this team looks like the North Carolina teams we are used to seeing in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels are now in the running for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament depending on how they do in the ACC tournament, while the Blue Devils have to figure out why their play has declined in recent weeks.
The NFL and Players association agreed to a seven day extension for labor talks, they took the weekend off for a break and will get started on Monday morning trying to hammer out a new CBA. Many feel this is a positive sign that the two sides will reach an agreement before Friday, and the fact that the players union still has the option to decertify and take this fight to court is one of the reasons for this new found cooperation. The fact that they have a federal mediator helping to keep these talks civil has helped as well, the media blackout imposed by the mediator George Cohen has kept details from leaking out that could cause unnecessary consternation on both sides. When a deal is finally reached both sides will have made concessions to their original stance, all parties involved know the devastating ramifications that missing football games would cause.
This is a sad story, but one that deserves to be mentioned. Moments after hitting the game-winning basket in overtime to give his Fennville Middle School (Michigan) varsity basketball team a 57-55 victory over Bridgman, Wes Leonard collapsed on the court. A parent at the game immediately began performing CPR on Wes, who was rushed to a hospital by emergency responders. They continued to administer CPR on the 16-year-old freshman, but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at 10:40 pm Thursday night. An autopsy has since revealed that Leonard died from “cardiac arrest due to dilated cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart).” This obviously is not the first time this has happened, and it’s a sad reminder that life can be taken from you at any time. Our thoughts and prayers are with Wes Leonard’s family.
