The Miami Heat start their 2019-20 season with the most optimism in at least four years… and perhaps longer.

They have a real star, a streamlined roster and an intriguing group of young players.

What do some of the Five Reasons Sports Network contributors expect?

Zach Buckley (@ZBuckleyNBA): This Heat team has sneaky-good upside to climb as high as No. 3 in the East. Jimmy Butler might be my favorite surprise top-five MVP finisher, with a leap similar to (if a bit more subdued than) the one Paul George made last season. If Miami has a finalist for both Rookie of the Year (Tyler Herro) and Most Improved Player (Bam Adebayo or Justise Winslow), it could sneak its way into 50-win territory. My crystal ball sees the Heat riding a top-five defense to a 48-34 finish and the conference’s No. 4 seed.

Alejandro Villegas (@AlejandroVG32): The Miami Heat season is finally here and we’re all excited.  No more Hassan Whiteside whining (though now we have Dion Waiters filling up that role), and finally a superstar who needs to win now. Jimmy Butler is in his 30s already and there is no time to be wasting his time. So we’ll probably see his best version from the go, with a bunch of exciting young guys. I see the Miami Heat winning 50 games this season, with a solid defensive season and hopefully a set productive rotation (and Erik Spoelstra not trying to figure it out the entire season). Hopefully they make it to the East Conference semifinals at least.

Greg Sylvander (@LeftyLeif): The arrival of Jimmy Butler should do wonders for the scoring challenges this group faced in recent seasons. Just how big of a leap Bam Adebayo and Justise Winslow take in starting roles will be the crucial element in how far this team can go this season. If Tyler Herro is as good as advertised, it further elevates the trajectory in a big way. Having flexible depth that should allow the team to survive the occasional injury bug, and a combination of expiring contracts and young players to remain in position to execute a trade for another frontline player, I see 50 wins.

Paul Austria (@PaulAustria_): The addition of Jimmy Butler is enormous, especially when you consider that the Heat “culture” is what drew him in versus staying with a better contender in Philadelphia.  I’ve always felt like what Miami was lacking these past two years was a wing player that can create his own shot, aka a guy that can just “get buckets.” Now they have two in Butler and Herro. Winslow seems to be getting more and more confident playing point guard by the day and Adebayo as well. I think the addition of Meyers Leonard is slept on, but what ultimately will decide the success of the Heat this season will be how well they rebound, as they lost an elite rebounder in Hassan Whiteside. The cohesion the team showed in the preseason is absolutely noteworthy and a 52-30 record with a 4-5 seed in the playoffs is surely within reach for Spo and company.

Ethan Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick): Well, here we are, back to relevance. It seemed like everyone (but Dion Waiters and James Johnson) has been smiling since the summer. Erik Spoelstra has been freed from his major malcontent (Hassan Whiteside) and has interchangeable parts that he can deploy countless ways. The hype train may have gotten a little ahead of itself locally, but this is a good team with a chance to improve significantly after a rough early schedule stretch. Oh, and don’t rule out a trade prior to the deadline. I’ll conservatively say 47-35, which should be good for third or fourth in a shallow East.

Michael Sonbeek (@Dutchbeek): The Heat field a team that they haven’t had in a long time……a high upside young team. Adding Jimmy Butler to the mix should put an end to their recent mediocre streak — especially now that they have realized their mistakes from summers past and have begun to clean that up. I’ll say 48 wins and a second round loss, possibly better if Tyler Herro turns out to be legit.

David Friedman (@TacoBoutSports): As we move into a new era of Dwyane Wade-less Miami Heat basketball, the fresh faces of Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro have Heat fans feeling cocky once again. Butler oozes Heat culture and it feels as if it’s contagious in the locker room. Herro has gone from a “huh?” draft pick to someone that Heat fans view as untouchable. The Heat should continue to make moves during the season, maybe a little Philly cheese special, and will push for a top 4 seed. Let’s say 47-35 and a third spot.

Ricky J. Marc (@RickyJMarc): After finally acquiring that bridge star to move Miami into a new, post-Flash era, the Heat finally have direction again. Most players’ roles are going to be clear now, and Erik Spoelstra looks to be rejuvenated after a tough go at it these last few years. Jimmy Butler and the Heat look to be a attitudinal match made in Miami, and with the ever-improving Justise Winslow as the team’s future PG, Bam Adebayo as the team’s center of the future (now that Hassan Whiteside is finally gone), and Tyler Herro looking to be Miami’s starting SG of the future, this team looks good again. Expect a scrappy defensive squad that will look like a 55-win team on good nights and a 44-win team on bad ones. If there’s one thing to know, it’s that this team won’t give up at any point this season. They’ll make some noise this year, and could very well sneak into the Eastern Conference Finals if one of the East’s contenders aren’t careful. I think 48-34 sounds about right.

The Week 8 slate of college football in Miami felt like a famous quote from Charles Dickens’ novel “A Tale of Two Cities”.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

It was a tale of two kickers.

Miami played Georgia Tech at noon and FIU followed it up with the 7 p.m. nightcap against UTEP. The Panthers’ kicker made all three field goals and won 32-17. The Hurricanes missed all three field goals between Turner Davidson and Bubba Baxa and they lost in overtime, 28-21. 

There was once a time this season where FIU kicker Jose Borregales was in the same slump that the Miami kickers are currently in. Through the month of September, the junior make 2-of-6 field goals. He made all but one extra point and his kickoffs mostly end in a touchback.

Through the first three games of October, Borregales made a perfect 6-for-6 FG and missed only one extra point. Against UTEP, he connected on his longest field goal of the season from 46 yards out.

“[Jose Borregales is] kinda getting back into what we expected out of him after last year,” FIU head coach Butch Davis said, “perfect in extra points and field goals. I think every one of his kickoffs, into the wind or with the wind, were all touchbacks with the exception of one.”

“He’s extremely reliable, obviously great to have,” FIU quarterback James Morgan said. “We know that every time we go down there we’re getting points, which is awesome. We always try to score touchdowns but having him as a resource and somebody who is consistently making them for you is great.”

The Panthers have won all three games this month. The bye week separated the best of times with the worst of times. So how did the change of fortune come about?

“Coming back from the seasons I’ve had before and then starting the way I have this season,” Borregales said, “you got to step back, look at your technique and just get back to basics.”

Boregales could relate to the plight in Miami. Every kicker feels the same way when their kick doesn’t make it through the uprights. In football, kickers are viewed at like machines. They are expected to work all the time but the second they don’t, fans want to toss them out or take their frustration out on them first.

“It’s the worst feeling ever,” Borregales said. “You’re in a hole. You’re thinking to yourself like ‘damn, I suck now. Where am I going? What am I gonna do?’ To get out of that, you got to get back to the basics, watch film, ask coaches that know what’s going on. So I just went and sent my film out to kicking coaches. They watched it and told me what I was doing wrong and all that. So I just go back to practicing that, do the little things and I think it’s working now.

“As a kicker, I know instantaneously when I hit my A ball,” he said. “If it’s good, I don’t even have to look and if it’s not, it’s the worst feeling in the world.”

An argument could be made if Miami had this version of Borregales, the Hurricanes would be ranked and on top of the ACC Coastal. Instead, Baxa has made 5-of-10 field goals and missed two extra points and Davidson went from a perfect effort against Virginia to missing both field goals against Georgia Tech. 

“All we know how to do is to manage the situation,” Miami head coach Manny Diaz said. “We continue to coach the guys, we give them all the psychological help that we can afford them and, as I’ve said from when this first became an issue, they are who we have. We do not have free agency, and we just have to continue to press on.”

There’s only one other kicker that they haven’t used but that might change. Cam Price was warming up during overtime and looked to be ready to kick the extra point should the Hurricanes have scored. Whether or not he will have his chance this Saturday at Pittsburgh will hopefully be addressed before the plane takes off.

After committing an abomination to the game of football for most of this season, the ragtag Dolphins turned in a surprisingly entertaining effort Sunday at Buffalo.

The 31-21 loss was Miami’s best performance against a team with a winning record.

By staying in the game until the Bills sealed it in the final two minutes with a rare return of an onsides kick for a touchdown by Mincah Hyde, the Dolphins gained a measure of respectability.

And yes, by losing they kept pace with the Bengals, the other winless team, in the race for the first draft pick.

That is the ongoing consolation for long-suffering Dolphins fans that are banking on a path to a brighter future through a handful of high draft picks in the next couple of years.

Who’s worth keeping?

Using those three first-round draft picks in 2020 for the right quarterback — hopefully Tua Tagovailoa — and a couple other immediate contributors will make the Dolphins better next year. But so much is needed to build this stripped-down roster back up.

The main focal point during the interminable march through an otherwise pointless season is for players worth keeping who may contribute when the talent level rises.

Two that stood out Sunday were running back Mark Walton and tight end Mike Gesicki.

Walton, in his second start, averaged 4.7 yards on 14 carries, totaling 66 yards. Like fellow former Miami Hurricane Frank Gore, who had 55 yards on 11 carries for Buffalo, Walton has the knack for popping through holes and the drive to keeping gaining yardage after contact.

The difference was evident when Kenyan Drake (six carries for 21 yards) had the ball. Drake is fast and shifty, which makes him effective as a receiver. But he doesn’t provide the impetus for a tough ground game.

The contrast with Walton’s ability as a ball carrier makes it understandable why the Dolphins are reportedly trying to trade Drake to enhance their cache of draft picks.

Second-year improvement

Meanwhile, Gesicki, the 2018 second-round pick who disappointed as a rookie, is emerging as a potentially vital component in the offense. Gesicki had his most productive day as a pro with four catches (on four targets) for 41 yards, and he made use of his rangy frame and athleticism that was touted when he arrived from Penn State.

Another 28-yard completion to Gesicki was wiped out by a holding call on tackle J’Marcus Webb.

Some encouraging performances

There were other positives to point to in the Dolphins nearly pulling an upset on the road against the Bills, who are now 5-1.

Rookie wide receiver Preston Williams continues to stand out with productivity — Sunday with six catches for 82 yards. And inconsistency — his fumble in the fourth quarter led to a touchdown that extended the Bills’ lead to 10 points.

DeVante Parker, the long under-achieving 2015 first-round pick, had five catches and showed tenacity in turning one into a touchdown.

Honorable mention to the much-maligned offensive line that provided some positive push for the running game against a tough Bills d-line and allowed only one sack, on a razzle-dazzle play with receiver Albert Wilson looking to pass.

Some designed rollouts and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s ability to escape rushers and get rid of the ball quickly helped him avoid being sacked. The line had Evan Boehm at center in place of injured veteran Daniel Kilgore and Shaq Calhoun in Boehm’s spot at right guard.

On defense, Raekwon McMillan continued to provide solid play at linebacker, with a team-high six tackles including one for loss. Taco Charlton and Vince Biegel had sacks.

The overall performance of the defensive was commendable considering that veteran defensive backs Reshad Jones and Xavien Howard were both out with injuries and rookie defensive tackle Christian Wilkins got ejected for throwing punches on the second play.

The game was actually fun to watch, especially the childlike joy that 36-year-old Fitzpatrick played with in the return to the site of the most distinguished period of his career when he was the Bills quarterback for 55 games (53 starts) from 2009-12.

Fitzpatrick’s 11-yard scramble for a touchdown, punctuated by lowering his shoulder and bowling his way into the end zone, stands out as the highlight play of the season so far for Miami. It brought the Dolphins to within three points with 1:45 remaining before Hyde’s runback snuffed out hope.

It was also Fitzpatrick who threw the interception near the Bills’ goal line that turned the game around. The Dolphins were on the verge of extending a 14-9 lead after pulling off a successful fake field goal.

That’s Fitzpatrick’s career in a nutshell: moments of gritty brilliance offset by gut-wrenching mistakes.

It is also what happens to bad teams: They find a way to lose even while giving an inspired effort against a superior opponent.

The challenge of this season is for coach Brian Flores and staff to develop some players on this roster who can help alter that equation when reinforcements arrive next season via the draft and free agency.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

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