Tyler Herro May Be the Future, But Also the Present

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You’d think people would be surprised that a 20 year old rookie is taking over playoff games against the best team in the NBA, but with Tyler Herro it’s no shock.

In the nine playoff games so far, he’s averaging 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game, as well as playing the most fourth quarter minutes on the team. He’s earned the respect and trust from his teammates and coaches the day he put on a Miami Heat uniform, but this playoff stretch has put him on another level.

If you take a look at his outstanding game five performance to close out the series against the Milwaukee Bucks, he pretty much took over. Superstar Jimmy Butler even took a step aside late in the game to let Tyler do what he does best. But that’s because Tyler Herro truly lives for these moments.

While many guys would probably hide in the corner in those situations, Tyler makes sure to go and get the ball at the top of the key, to put Miami in a position to make a play. And now that he’s added so many more dimensions to his offensive package, it makes him even more lethal.

Goran Dragic deserves some credit for the development of Tyler as well, since he’s added a bunch of Goran’s moves to his offensive play. This includes the patience on the pick and roll, the floater around the rim using the backboard, and even uses that off hand push off to his advantage that Goran has done is whole career.

If you take a look back at people’s perception of Tyler Herro early in the season, they’d probably start by saying he’s a natural scorer. Which he is, but if you asked every Heat player on the roster to describe  Herro, they’d name at least three things before speaking about his scoring.

Duncan Robinson spoke about the elite play of Tyler Herro in the postseason a couple days ago, which he said that his play-making abilities stand out to him more than his scoring. He also talked about his natural feel for the game, which he can read different situations in the game.

Herro has also put up similar numbers in his first six playoff games to Heat legend Dwyane Wade. And it seems as if Dwyane approves of Tyler’s outstanding play as of late.

He also has a beneficial match-up in the next round, with an expected Boston Celtics series. He’s played well against Boston this year, and that was when Marcus Smart was coming off of the bench to try and stop him. But with Gordon Hayward out and Marcus Smart entering the starting lineup, it just looks better and better for Tyler Herro. Miami will be looking to him throughout this series even more than the Milwaukee series, since there’s a clear advantage right there.

And now, here we are. The Eastern Conference Finals. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo leading the way, with Goran Dragic being the unstoppable offensive force that he is. But, now it’s indeed Tyler Herro time.

Tyler Herro may be the future of this Heat team, but his time is now. He doesn’t need a rookie of the year trophy to cap off his extended rookie season. He’d rather take the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and it’s closer than ever.

 

Brady Hawk can be found at @BradyHawk305. If you’d like to sponsor this or other content, reach out to FiveReasonsSports@gmail.com 

 

THE EXTRA YARD: Projecting the 2020 Miami Dolphins Season

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It’s a new year, and after a busy offseason expectations have been re-calibrated. Make no mistake this was a complete roster overhaul right down to jettisoning the “prospective” developmental quarterback Josh Rosen, in favor of a clearer hierarchy with the place holder in Ryan Fitzpatrick, and the QB of the future in waiting Tua Tagovailoa ready to take the reigns. A complete overhaul of the run game (which was historically inept), that came with a new 1-2 punch, a slew of interior linemen and two rookie tackles.

Now, we wait for the results.

So let’s examine what the national media thinks. Most seem to see this large influx of talent, via free agency, the draft, and just assume that — combined with the apparent demise of the New England Patriots — the rise of the Miami Dolphins is sure to come.

Others are just sold on Brian Flores, and why not?

The new coach’s roster last year was built to win no more than a game or two, and he won five, and were really close to winning two more (at Jets, home vs. Washington). The main reason the bandwagon has some passengers all of a sudden comes the exodus from Foxboro of the New England Patriots. Gone, is Tom Brady. There is no Gronk. They lost Kyle Van Noy and Ted Karras to division rival Miami. They had a league high eight opt outs, including top performers Marcus Cannon, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, and safety Patrick Chung. Make no mistake, this is a weakened Patriots squad, ready for the picking.

So let’s examine this Dolphins team.

You have to start with a philosophy. It seems to have built one, via their offseason acquisitions. They seemed to make a conscience effort to build a girthy and powerful offensive line, as they added an Offensive coordinator (Chan Gailey) that specializes in creating an interior run game based on power running.

They added one of the best one-cut backs in football, in Jordan Howard, and gave him a guy to spell him (Matt Breida), that can hit home runs from anywhere on the field. Solomon Kindley is “Jamie Nails” like, in that you have likely have not seen a man as big as Kindley move like he moves. Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras figure to be a decent double team combination to get their lead iso game going, and Robert Hunt is waiting in the wings, and will likely play a lot as a 6th offensive lineman till he takes over at right tackle. Arrow up on the run game.

How bout when they have to throw it? There is a quiet confidence in that building in Davie, that they might have replaced Laremy Tunsil, with one 1st round pick and banked the rest in the haul they received last offseason. Austin Jackson has been a pleasant surprise. The thinking at the time he was drafted, was that he was likely a developmental guy not ready to contribute. He will start at Left Tackle from day 1, prepared to defend Ryan Fitzpatrick’s blind side.

Regarding Ryan Fitzpatrick, rare is the situation where you can be confident in your aging, competent veteran QB, and know that there is likely an improvement waiting to take over on the bench (Tua). Chris Grier deserves some credit as of late, as well. After some nervous moments looking at this WR corps, Grier actively attempted to replace the opt outs of Albert Wilson/Allen Hurns, with the signing of Antonio Callaway and a trade for Lynn Bowden. The passing game powered by DeVante Parker and Preston Williams figures to be at the very least above league average, and if it’s coupled with a good run game, it should be enough to win more than you lose this season.

This team seems built to win games with defense, as here is where the most talent is concentrated. While depth is always a concern, that is true for every NFL team, except the very few that can boast multiple starter worthy players in their rotations. The Dolphins have that on two units on defense. The Defensive line is deep up front with 2nd year starter, (with a rededicated body) Christian Wilkins, steady producer Davon Godchaux, late season standout Zach Sieler, and promising rookie Raekwon Davis exhibiting that “1st round talent” all summer. On the outside, Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah are massive improvements over what they had there last year.

The linebacking group is solid with the intelligent, versatile Kyle Van Noy, an athletic dynamo in Jerome Baker, and physical thumper Elandon Roberts taking the Mike Backer duties. There are capable players behind them in Kamu Grugier-Hill and Andrew Van Ginkel.

The secondary is the strength of this team and boasts the third of what could be a legendary 1st round haul int he 2020 NFL draft. Noah Igbinoghene has the look of a budding star, and we already know that Xavien Howard and Byron Jones are among the very best at the position. Nik Needham was very good last year and figures to take a step forward, as he adds depth to an already deep unit. In Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, Kavon Frazier, and Brandon Jones, you have the best of all worlds, and a versatile playmaking group at safety. This is one of the best secondaries in the NFL. To complete the squad, the kicking game is in very good hands in Jason Sanders and Matt Haack.

So where are they going this year? How good, how many wins?

I see them as a team that is a “mile wide, but an inch deep.”

The Dolphins, in my estimation lack some depth to supplement that young talent. This will make the 2021 offseason a very important one. You can’t forecast injuries, so assuming health for the squad, the Dolphins should field a competitive, exciting young team this year. Their expectations should be in that 7 to 9 win range, so I will be the optimist, and say they sneak out out of the regular season with 9 wins, and a playoff berth, where I see them losing to the Houston Texans in the first round. Too much is going right for this Fins team, for Coach Flores and company to not take advantage of it.

 

Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) is one-third of the trio that does the Three Yards Per Carry (@3YardsPerCarry) podcast.

The Extra Yard: Five things to watch Dolphins vs Patriots

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We made it.

It has been a long and vigorous offseason following the Chiefs winning it all, but universally, we can all agree what a crazy year it has been and how happy we are to know that football is right around the corner. The lack of preseason was very missed by myself due to that being the time I spend the most analyzing the Dolphins and how all the new additions are syncing with the pieces we thought best to bring back for another year. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of our control, we will have to do with what we have been given.

Here are five things to watch in the Dolphins week one matchup versus the Patriots.

Offensive and Defensive Lines

The lack of preseason creates a couple of highly interesting dynamics. Primarily around lineups, rotations, and how many snaps will each player be allowed to play? With the first couple of weeks essentially being preseason games, the two groups that will most likely be affected will be the defensive and offensive lines.

From speaking and hearing Flores, starting three rookies makes him a bit queasy, but I doubt that the starting offensive line will handle 50+ snaps right out of the gate. This is the perfect time to throw the rookies in the fire and seeing what they have. Kindley has specifically stood out all camp, and keeping an eye on his development will be critical to this team’s success. The defensive line is another group that will have a lot of bodies rotating. How are Godchaux and Wilkins developing? How are our rookies gelling? Davis seems to be standing out. Can he put it all together live? Can the new additions of Ogbah and Shaq Lawson give this team the pass rush they desperately missed last year?

Running Backs and Wide Receivers 

Another pair of groups that I will be keeping a close eye on will be the Wr and Rb groups. How are the rotations going to play out for the wide receivers on this team? No Allen Hurns or Albert Wilson due to having them opt out of the year means that other receivers will have to step up, especially since Parker has been out of practice since mid-July. How much playing time can Jakeem, Ford, and Preston coming off an ACL injury handle? Will we be forced to run more 2 or 3 tight end sets due to the lack of Wr?

Speaking of Preston, the trade for Lyndon Bowden Jr (A new LBJ in Miami) affects not only our Wr rotation but hopefully will limit the need to use Preston and even Jakeem as returners. The Rb group is impressive because of how we ultimately end up approaching who takes the most carries. Will we go with the Patriots approach, which uses one Rb for a specific role, Laird could be our James White, Howard our Sony, and Breida as our change of pace back. We could also take the 49ers approach and roll out all three guys and let whoever has the hot hand run wild that afternoon on top of all that we need to keep a close eye on how all the moving pieces in the Oline will affect the run game.

How will no preseason affect the team’s play early on?

Typically, during the early part of camp and the first few games of preseason, defenses are usually ahead of the offense. This year will be crucial to see how long offenses take to really get in sync. Will the lack of offense the first few weeks and almost guaranteed injuries force people to admit and realize how much we need at least two preseason games? Defensively, have Wilkins, Baker, Rowe, and Bobby McCain developed enough to take the next step in 2020?  Have all the new additions in Van Noy, Ogbah, Lawson, and Jones, have enough time to learn the system and execute it at a high level?

Is Xavien Howard ready to play a full-16 game season?

Will Xavien missing the whole offseason recovering from COVID and the knee injury that ended his year, be able to play at the high level we expect from the start. How many games until he can play his usual allotment of snaps? Will the most expensive pair of Cb in the NFL live up to the billing?

Will Brian Flores’ team remain disciplined in year two?

One of the few bright spots last year, which we can give a tremendous amount of credit to Flores for, was the lack of penalties. The Dolphins last year finished as the 6th fewest penalized team in the NFL, due mainly to the focus Flores put on that part of the game, as well as the TNT wall from last training camp. The TNT wall did not happen this year due to the time crunch we had to get everyone ready to play week one. Can we expect to improve on one of our strong points from last year? Or are we doomed to revert to what we have grown accustomed to seeing?
Additionally, the players are not the only ones who I’m curious to see development and growth. How will Coach Flores and the staff build on last year? Can they work on situational football, starting the season strong, timeout, and challenge management? If they can improve on those while still maintaining the intense focus on penalties, we may finally have a coaching staff we can rely on.

EXTRA: When will Tua Tagovailoa become Miami’s starting QB of the future?

Finally, we couldn’t finish talking about the Dolphins without speaking or mentioning Tua– now, could we? How does he look holding the clipboard? Does the No. 1 look good on him? Will he wear a visor? No, but in all seriousness, do we get a chance to see Tua in blowouts even from the start of the season? Or will Fitz have a long leash because Tua will only be 11 months removed from a severe hip injury?

Not sure about you guys, but this year feels completely different. It feels like we have a path and a route to follow with us beefing up our Oline and drafting the face of the franchise. Let’s see what this year has in store, because I for one, cannot wait.

 

Tua Tagovailoa’s time as Dolphins savior will come

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Tua Tagovailoa wakes up every day with the same question.

Is he the lion or the gazelle?

It’s a saying that his grandfather passed down to him in his youth. The point of which is both the prey and predator do the same thing every day but only one is pursuing the other. To him, he is the predator pursuing his goals.

HIs goals were to play college football, win the national championship, get drafted to the NFL and become the starting quarterback leading his team to the Super Bowl. Half of those boxes have been checked but his time as the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins will have to wait. Head coach Brian Flores announced on Monday that veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick will begin the season as the starter, using the unusual, pandemic stricken offseason where there was no OTAs, minicamp or preseason games as reasonable justification.

The story of Tagovailoa’s destiny with the Dolphins began a year ago, when after another lackluster failed attempt to returned to the playoffs, owner Stephen Ross fired head coach Adam Gase and overhauled the front office. The team’s leadership now consisted of a black general manager and a black head coach, at a time when either of which are as rare as finding a Nintendo Switch on stock.

The Dolphins began the previous season trading away most of their veteran players, the last vestiges of the Gase era, and were set up to lose as many games as possible. The thought of 0-16 seemed realistic when they were outscored 102-10 in their first two games of the season.

The goal was clear, sacrifice the 2019 season to guarantee as high of a draft pick as possible to take Tagovailoa. This was the consensus with the team brass, media and fan base. In a bizarre, twilight zone reality, the fans were rooting for the home team to lose.

With Josh Rosen starting under center, the Dolphins were well on their way to 0-16 with 10 more games to go. It was almost as if he was brought in from Arizona to provide false hope while assuring offensive failure. Head coach Brian Flores and players had to constantly reject the notion of tanking.

It was only fitting that the Dolphins first win came against Gase’s new team, the New York Jets. The rise of Joe Burrow and LSU and Tagovailoa’s season ending hip injury in November made it so that the Dolphins could afford to win a few games and have a chance to claim their prize. Miami finished the season 5-11 after starting 0-7, which lead to the belief that the Dolphins have the right head coach for the job.

It all became worth it at the end when the Alabama quarterback with fifth overall pick of the NFL Draft. When Tagovailoa eventually becomes the starter, the Dolphins will be the only team in the NFL with a person of color at quarterback, head coach and general manager. The point of that, as Tagovailoa put it during his lone media session in August was “That whoever can get the job done for us, that’s who we are going to go with.”

Sports has an interesting way of converging timelines. When Tagovailoa was a freshman at Alabama, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill was winning the Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles. The two Hawaiians united in Davie during training camp, which helped provide Tagovailoa a sense of familiarity within the locker room.

Despite entering this season as a backup, Tagovailoa had a successful training camp. He proved that he’s healthy enough to play. He’s learning from Fitzpatrick, whom he called “a coach” and “a mentor on and off the field.”

Tagovailoa spent the entire training camp earning the respect of his teammates. Offensive tackle Ereck Flowers pointed to his improvement in the classroom. Offensive guard Jesse Davis said he noticed him being increasingly vocal and show more confidence with every week. Running back Jordan Howard said he couldn’t even tell that Tua even had a hip injury less than a year ago.

Even the Dolphins defense took notice. Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah noticed how much of a scrambling threat he is in practice. Cornerback Eric Rowe pointed to his arm strength as a factor that makes him a increasingly hard quarterback to defend.

Some quarterbacks were able to hit the ground running in the rookie year, and the best of them, such as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, took some time in the bench to learn. Tagovailoa’s time will come soon, and the Dolphins will soon find out whether it was all worth it.

 

Tony Capobianco is a lead photographer and sometimes writer for Five Reasons Sports Network.

Lionel Messi isn’t wrong, but he’s no saint

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This Friday was no news dump in sports, since Lionel Messi made the fútbol world shake by announcing that he is, in fact, staying with FC Barcelona while smartly taking back the narrative by granting an exclusive interview where he was able to put the blame on everybody but himself, especially Barcelona president and corruption investigation subject Josep María Bartomeu.

Messi tried to emulate Anthony Davis with an NBA-style, pre-free agency power move and he failed miserably at it, and he has no one but himself to blame.

All in all, what he ended up pulling was a media stunt that bought him an extra week of vacation missing only a few practices, no matches whatsoever and only hurt the ones that always end up getting hurt and then asked to forgive: The fans.

Manchester City and PSG were led on, Newell’s fans in his native Rosario made a massive caravan happen in order to try to convince him to come back to his original hometown…and then nothing happened. 

Let´s make this clear: Is Bartomeu a tool who should resign and absolutely deserves the scorn coming his way? Yes.

 Is the “It’s not June 10 anymore, so the end of season clause isn’t valid anymore” bullshit? Absolutely, Messi is right about that and he should be able to walk away as a free agent with no strings attached if he so wishes. 

Is Messi also being manipulative and trying to make it seem as if he is just an innocent bystander in the flaming car crash that is Barcelona after the humiliating 8-2 loss against eventual champion Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals? No doubt about it, in my mind. 

Just like when he said he would quit playing for Argentina in 2016 because he just couldn’t stand the thought of having lost three consecutive championship games. The media went nuts, fans clamored for him to reconsider, and then he came back as if nothing happened without missing a beat.

His main argument was that he didn’t want to take Barcelona – the club that he so loves and has played for his whole career, the one that saved him from desperation in Argentina to bring him glory – to court.

Oh, please, cry me a river, Lionel. What did you expect to happen when you sent scathing “burofaxes” (legally binding letters) to the Barcelona board of executives? Did you expect them to just willingly throw away their political futures as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue without a fight? 

Grow. Up. You are 33 years old, and if your dad and your brother didn’t see that coming then you should consider being advised by other people.

The press was “mean” to him with supposedly fake stories. He set up this whole public relations affair through the press, only sitting down to talk with his new coach once throughout the negotiations.

He also said that his wife and kids were distraught at the thought of leaving the city they have made their home for the past two decades, but that didn’t deter him from wanting to play for a more “competitive” team. So you wanted to bail at the first sign of adversity for your team in 15 years regardless of the cost? Got it.

Messi is not wrong to have felt manipulated and deceived by a technicality, but he also is no saint. 

This twisted marriage between a desperate team and an aging superstar will provide plenty of fodder for the tabloids from now until his contract expires in June of next year. 

If I was a betting man, however, I would put my money on him not going anywhere. He has shown not once, but twice in four years that his threats are empty. Barcelona fans deserve better than that from their all-time greatest player. 

This is Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo’s Time

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Prior to the series against the Milwaukee Bucks, many talked about different guys that would need to step up in order to win. A lot of people said that it’s going to lay on the shoulders of the supporting cast on this Heat team, since that’s Milwaukee’s weakness.

Well, that hasn’t entirely been the case. And Miami is still up 3-0.

They have gotten major contributions from Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder, and Tyler Herro. But at the end of the day, stars win you playoff games.

To start with Jimmy Butler, he began the series with an offensive display which led to scoring 40 points in game one. And as soon as the national media saw this, they jumped on it. Mostly since people don’t fully understand the player and personality of Jimmy Butler. But clearly Miami does.

Everyone, including the Milwaukee Bucks, began to say that they must stop Jimmy Butler with the ball in his hands. And evidently, this is exactly what Jimmy wanted them to think.

He’s clearly a guy that is capable of putting up a bunch of points, but he doesn’t feel that always translates to a Heat win. He is such an elite facilitator and passer, and since there are so many knock down shooters on this Heat roster, he’d rather play to his strengths. And well, that’s what he did in game two.

He pretty much gave the scoring reigns to his offensive co-pilot Goran Dragic, which was an easy decision since it seems that Goran just can’t have a bad game. And most of the reason Goran was able to do this so well, was because Jimmy was being watched. And once again, when it mattered most, Jimmy got the ball in his hands with four seconds left, which led to him getting fouled on a jump shot and Jimmy hitting the game-winning free throw.

Seems as if Giannis Antetokounmpo got in his own head a little bit in game two, after he saw all of social media’s comments about not guarding Jimmy Butler in game one. But do you know who is never mentally impacted by the outside and constantly stays absolutely locked in. Jimmy Butler.

And finally in game three, he played half the game as he did in game one and half the game as he did in game two. That’s what makes Jimmy Butler so intriguing as a player. He seemed as if he couldn’t get an offensive rhythm, since he was 1 of 3 mid-way through the third quarter. Then he turned it on once again, proving the world that he’s not a pure scorer. But he’s an important scorer. He’s able to read a situation so well, that he knows what is needed at different points of the game.

And now to Bam Adebayo. Since Jimmy went on that late run in game three, Bam hasn’t gotten much recognition. But he should.

Bam scored 20 points on 88% shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds against the defensive player of the year in Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s been talked about all season that Bam Adebayo has the ability to be an offensive force, but he needs to realize it. And well, it seemed as if he realized it yesterday.

That’s not even discussing his defensive impact guarding Giannis throughout the series, including when he stripped the ball from Giannis in game three, which proved to be a substantial play in the game.

Either way, Bam doesn’t care if he gets credit or gets recognition, he just wants to win. He knows what it’s like to have doubters, since many didn’t even know his name coming into this season, and now he’s a second option on a team heading towards the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo weren’t looked at as the ideal duo heading into this postseason by many, since many didn’t think their offensive package was big enough. Well, that proved wrong when Jimmy and Bam scored 27 of the 40 fourth quarter points in game three, which ultimately close the game out to beat Milwaukee.

This is because, once again, stars win you playoff games.

Jimmy Butler. Bam Adebayo. This is your time. Go get what’s yours.

 

Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) is the youngest contributor in the Five Reasons Sports Network, and a frequent guest on Five on the Floor and #FloorsYours. If you want to sponsor this or any other content on the Five Reasons Sports Network, contact skolnick@fivereasonssports.com 

Bubble Life: 5 Ways To Upgrade Your Home Sports Viewing

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It’s sort of fascinating to look back a few months and remember that professional sports seemed to be totally out of the question because of the coronavirus. Now, not so very long after that point, we’re seeing sports in jeopardy for an entirely different reason. As our recent piece on the Milwaukee Bucks’ strike pointed out, the NBA has paused not because of COVID, but in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The Bucks’ decision led to a playoff-wide pause, and even caused stoppages in other sports ranging from tennis, to baseball, to hockey. After all this time it was yet another incident of violent racial injustice — not the deadly pandemic — that stopped sports.

This is an issue that demands attention, and the hope is that the actions of athletes across sports will give rise to more awareness and more action by those with influence. Putting aside the main issue though, this stoppage in play sheds light — in a roundabout way — on the fact that sports bubbles were working. The fact that something else halted league action makes you stop and realize just how well the NBA and other leagues had done to set up scenarios that allowed them to continue.

Moving forward, there’s no reason that this can’t continue to be the case. We know the NBA is hard at work on figuring out its 2020-21 plans; the MLB is considering playoff bubble scenarios; and leagues that get less coverage, like the WNBA and MLS, have proven effective at handling the crisis as well. What’s less clear though, is when fans will be able to attend games again. While we see the occasional report about the NFL hoping to have fans, or NBA owners angling for partial attendance early in 2021, there’s really no indication that we’ll be able to go to games anytime soon. It wouldn’t be a surprise, really, if the idea is basically off the table until 2022.

With that in mind, then, and to have a little bit of fun in the midst of a tough time for sports, we did some thinking about how to upgrade a home viewing experience. If you’re a big fan — be it of the Heat, the Dolphins, or any other team — you may as well take this time to turn your home into the best substitute it can be for the stadium or arena.

1 – Invest in a Perfect TV

Yes, a TV is a pretty major investment. It’ll probably cost you more than a few games’ worth of tickets (though not necessarily). But it will also last for years, and if sports are a big part of your life, it’ll be worth every penny. The right TV, particularly these days, will show games in astounding clarity, be they in the NBA’s Orlando bubble, an empty Hard Rock Stadium, or anywhere else. Truth be told, there are plenty of incredible televisions to choose from, and you can get an excellent one for under $1,000. For pure quality though, the LG C9 OLED TV listed on Seattle Times might be our pick for the best sports TV out there. The picture is just off the charts (and will pick up that bright, interesting staging for NBA bubble games very nicely).

2 – Take Advantage of Seating

One thing that’s better about home viewing than going to a game live is that you have more control over your comfort. So, why not take advantage of the idea and ramp up your seating situation? Granted, most of us get sort of attached to our chairs and couches, particularly in the living room or den areas in which we watch games. You may have a perfectly broken in couch you’re not interested in replacing. If so, fair enough! But if you’re exploring ways to make home sports viewing more satisfying, a new, comfy couch or chair certainly can’t hurt.

3 – Explore New Speakers

One of the things you really miss when you can’t attend live sporting events, beyond just the viewing, is the atmosphere. You can’t replicate it entirely at home, but you can do a lot to enrich the experience by making sure the audio quality is as strong as possible.

This is particularly helpful given that some of the leagues are using artificial crowd noise and music to make things sound a little more like they ordinarily would. Here, as with TVs, there are a lot of options on the market, and most modern speakers will sound pretty terrific. But the the home electronics on Adorama features the Sonos Beam Soundbar which is described as good as it gets when it comes to soundbars — and at a pretty reasonable price. It will take the audio coming through your TV and project it as immersive surround sound that — if it’s not too cliché to say — really brings the game to you.

4 – Set Up Your Streaming

Streaming makes for tough decisions these days. While many have broken away from cable in favor of more specialized, customizable alternatives, there are discrepancies between services that make it important to choose carefully.

For a sports fan though, the choices are somewhat simpler. Now is the time to sit down and compare options, and determine what will give you the most access to the sports you love. First, go through services, from full-fledged cable alternatives like YouTube TV, to league-specific services like MLB TV. Then, make sure that whatever you’re using to stream to your TV — Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, etc. — supports the services you depend on. Once you work all of this out, you’ll have access to everything you want and more.

5 – Consider A New Grill

Finally, let’s be honest: If you’re missing the stadium or ballpark, you’re probably missing the food. We all love our favorite sporting event foods, and while we can’t replicate them at home (you just can’t ever get that exact flavor…), we can certainly cook up some tasty alternatives. So, if you’re really concerned about the full experience of watching your favorite sports at home, we’d recommend considering a new grill also. The Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill reviewed here is among the popular favorites for 2020, and we have no reason to disagree with the choice. It’s appealing for its significant amount of cooking space and lack of unnecessary extras, and it’ll certainly help you cook up whatever you like for the next game.

As we noted above, the sports world and sports fans have more serious things to be concerned with right now. Leagues have justifiably stopped action in a widespread demand for racial justice, and it’s a decision true fans should all support. Looking to the long term though, and a near future of at-home sports viewing, these are a few fun ways to upgrade the altered fan experience.

Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores discusses his experience with social injustice.

Pressure Point: This Miami Dolphins season is not just about football

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This football season is about a lot more than football. The stakes are much more complex than vying for the playoffs.

For South Florida, that was underscored last week when the Miami Dolphins began a practice with a 20-minute discussion on the field about racial injustice in the wake of the police shooting of yet another Black man — Jacob Blake, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Unlike some teams which canceled practice for a couple of days, the Dolphins elected to continue doing their jobs while adding their voices to a societal issue long overdue in coming to the forefront in this country.

“We spoke as a team. We understand there’s a lot of things that are not where they need to be right now. It pains us,” said Dolphins coach Brian Flores, a Black man of Honduran descent who grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one of the roughest parts of New York City.

“I lived this. I grew up in this era. I’ve had guns pointed at me by police officers. This is not something I take lightly. We need change. That’s where I’m at on that situation.”

Best guess on the Dolphins season-opening roster

Football, a sport dominated by Black players, finds itself smack at the crossroad of the national divide regarding racial issues and the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted minorities in the United States.

The movement Colin Kaepernick started four years ago in protest of police brutality, which drew major pushback and cost him his job as an NFL quarterback, now drives the conversation throughout America’s sports leagues.

The NFL season is less than two weeks away — the Dolphins open Sept. 13 at New England — and the discussion surrounding the team is a disparate salad of roster competition, politics and public health concerns.

All Tua needs is time

In a normal year, all of the focus around the Dolphins would be on roster battles and the depth chart, such as the status of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

A year ago “Tank for Tua” was the alliterative obsession of Dolphins fans and media in the belief that if the team lost enough it might have a chance to draft the would-be savoir quarterback from Hawaii by way of Alabama.

Remarkably, it happened. The Dolphins, two decades into their search for the next Dan Marino, ended up with Tagovailoa.

Curiously, there were rumblings of concern on social media when Tua received mixed reviews in the first two weeks of training camp and had an unimpressive performance in Saturday’s scrimmage while running with the first team in the absence of veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose mother tragically passed away earlier in the day.

That’s so Dolphins.

But astute fans understand there is no rush with Tagovailoa — that’s why Fitzpatrick is here this year — and there is no sense in rushing to judgment during training camp. The important take on Tua right now is he is showing the mobility to suggest the major hip injury is mostly behind him, though Flores said Tuesday he is being cautious with the rookie and his health history is still a determining factor in when he’ll play.

That Tua’s talent will reach its zenith is more predictable than most questions in this season of uncertainty shrouded by a pandemic.

And it’s not just NFL football.

Views on the Raekwon McMillan trade

Politicizing football

Football has been turned into a political football in matters of the nation’s health, national politics and the national anthem.

We have a president, whose approach to the COVID-19 crisis has been to mostly ignore it in the belief it will eventually go away, bellowing that it would be “a tragic mistake” if college football doesn’t go ahead with the season.

Curiously, his call for colleges to play ball singled out the Big Ten, which coincidentally plays in Midwest swing states that are vital to his reelection chances.

The premise is that youth and overall health of young athletes will help them avoid the most serious symptoms of the coronavirus.

Nonetheless, the athletic department of Iowa, a Big Ten school, announced Monday it is pausing workouts for all sports until after Labor Day following a major surge in coronavirus cases. The department reported 93 positive results out of 815 COVID-19 tests taken between last Monday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, a group of eight Nebraska football players filed a lawsuit against the Big Ten seeking to invalidate the conference’s postponement of the fall football season.

They are part of a growing #WeWantToPlay movement that prominent college players have joined in response to the Big Ten, Pac-12 and several other conferences delaying their seasons.

NFL season like no other

The NFL ditched the preseason but is proceeding hell-bent on starting the regular season on time. It won’t be business as usual, though. The Dolphins are among few teams planning to allow any fans at games, limited to 13,000 at least initially.

Notably, they won’t have to contend with a hostile crowd at Gillette Stadium in the opener. The Patriots won’t have fans at games, at least through September.

That won’t be the only unusual look NFL stadiums this fall. The league announced this week that end zones will be inscribed this season with two slogans: “It Takes All Of Us” on one end line, “End Racism” on the other as  part of its social justice awareness initiatives. The league will also allow similar visuals on helmets and caps.

But, if teams are able to keep COVID-19 at bay — and that remains a notable if — there will be the mundane matters of football to bring some sense of normalcy to autumn.

For Dolphins fans, the question of when to take the wraps off Tua will receive most attention. Of greater consequence to the local football product will be the verdict on all the other newcomers, draft picks and veteran free agents, who were brought in to upgrade an ineffective offensive line and a porous defense.

In the bigger picture, the season will be about a lot more than that. As well it should be.

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

THE EXTRA YARD: Best Guess on Miami Dolphins 53

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Due to the restrictive nature of the NFL reporting rules this year, I cannot offer detailed analysis, but I can give an educated guess as to who makes the final 53 for the Dolphins, mixed with a heavy does of my opinion on who should, make the final roster.

QUARTERBACKS (3)
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Rosen

A predictable group, except for those that thought they might trade Rosen and just go with 2 guys, but in the COVID19 era, 3 QB’s could be an important component for every NFL roster.

RUNNINGBACKS (5)
Jordan Howard, Matt Breida, Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin, Chandler Cox

Kalen Ballage was traded…then returned, was not a factor to figure in a “rotation”. Never mind, this unit was pretty set in stone. Everybody knew when they were acquired, who the 1-2 punch would be. Need a fullback, and the rest is best in show.



WIDE RECEIVERS (6)
DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Jakeem Grant, Isaiah Ford, Mack Hollins, Malcolm Perry

This “was” the deepest unit on the Dolphins. You got to feel pretty good about the “top two” but the opt outs of Albert Wilson and Alen Hurns hurt the depth. Mack Hollins has emerged as a contributor, Ford is steady and Perry was acquired to play. Jakeem Grant is a top return man, capable of the big play. Tough decisions in this group.

TIGHT ENDS (3)
Mike Gesicki, Adam Shaheen, Durham Smythe

A pretty quiet Dolphins unit all camp. Some miscommunications throughout, as well Chan Gailey’s propensity to use 4 WR sets, to go along with keeping a Fullback, means they likely keep 3?

OFFENSIVE LINE (8)
Austin Jackson, Ereck Flowers, Ted Karras, Jesse Davis, Robert Hunt, Julien Davenport, Michael Dieter, Solomon Kindley

Three rookies figured to make it, but nobody had all three as possible top contributors. The unit has looked light years better than expected so far in camp, and Ereck Flowers has been their leader in spirit and in play. Karras has been a steady influence as well. The fear comes if/when you take an injury. This is the thinnest of units on the team.

DEFENSIVE LINE (7)
Christian Wilkins, Davon Godchaux, Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Raekwon Davis, Zach Sieler, Jason Stowbridge

I wanted to keep Tyshun Render, but it was a numbers game with the linebackers, and that group won out. Jason Stowbridge has not been a world beater in camp, but there is an investment there, so he sticks? The top of the rotation (six) is as easy to figure as any other group, other than quarterback.

LINEBACKERS (7)
Jerome Baker, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Andrew Van Ginkel, Trent Harris, Sam Eguavoen

The Raekwon McMillan trade revealed much of the thinking on this unit, and the pecking order is clear. Van Ginkel is necessary in the absence of Vince Biegel (out for year),and Trent Harris is now much needed depth. Grugier-Hill is the possible Special Teams captain.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (11)
Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, Noah Igbinoghene, Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, Brandon Jones, Nik Needham, Clayton Fejedelem, Tae Hayes, Kavon Frazier, Deatrick Nichols

The Top eight are predictable because of the investments made, and Fejedelem being a Special teams ace. Kavon Frazier sticks as a box safety thumper. Tae Hayes is decent in man to man, and has considerable ball skills. Deatrick Nichols is a fighter, and full effort guy that has the look of many of the guys that have come through here before, under this regime.

SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
PK: Jason Sanders
P: Matt Haack
LS: Blake Ferguson

No surprise here, it’s been telegraphed all camp, these three are the Place Kicker, Punter, and Long Snapper for the 2020 Miami Dolphins.


Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) is one-third of the trio that does the Three Yards Per Carry (@3YardsPerCarry) podcast.

For Dangerous Miami Heat, the Time is Now… and Beyond

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There aren’t many speakers in sports over the past half-century who can rival Pat Riley in eloquence, especially when he has a mission statement to share and some time to prepare. So it was odd, and a little alarming, at the conclusion of the disappointing 2018-19 season when — on his heels after two years of uncharacteristic personnel errors — he seemingly mangled the message.

“There’s no obstacles,” the Miami Heat president said. “Well, there are tons of them, but there’s none. So we’ll try to get past them if we can to add more to the team, if that’s a possibility.”

It wasn’t enough the sort of slogan you stitch a shirt for…..

Or was it?

Peering back now, one Jimmy Butler acquisition, one Tyler Herro drafting, one Bam Adebayo ascension, one Duncan Robinson breakout, one Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala addition, one global pandemic and one Bubble resumption later, it sounds like the most sage thing the septuagenarian has ever said. It’s almost as if he knew the Heat would be here now, in the second round against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, again relevant, again attractive, again the franchise every other one fears because of its combination of continuity, geography, history and dare we say, culture.

It all makes me think of something a Heat executive told me at summer league, a full July ago, as Herro, Robinson and Kendrick Nunn were offering a sample of what was to come, the product of an organizational transformation bent on development and opportunity for the overlooked. “We have been in several building stages under Pat,” the executive said over breakfast. “This is another. We are better positioned than most believe we are. But some things have to pan out.”

And what hasn’t? Butler? Better fit, better leader, better playmaker than anyone expected. Adebayo? An All-Star before anyone expected. Herro? Who anticipated he’d be so confident so soon? Goran Dragic? More left than anyone thought. Robinson? As Heat broadcaster and former guard John Crotty said on Five on the Floor this week when asked if he’d ever seen a player come from so far from nowhere, in all his decades in the NBA: “No, no. I haven’t. Have you?”

No.

Not close.

And so here we are, on the final day of August, usually the deadest of all NBA months, and the Heat — believed to have the “bleakest future in the NBA” by the best of all NBA writers, Zach Lowe, not long ago — are suddenly a national darling. They are a threat at least a season before they should be, but that’s not the story.

The story is this is the floor.

This arrow points north again, way north. The Heat have the best collection of young talent, attractive contracts, proven management and elite coaching of any team in the league, with only the Toronto Raptors comparable, and Toronto has more offseason decisions to make, how to handle expiring contracts Fred Van Vleet or Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka, all integral to this season’s success. Miami has free agents too, but the capacity to keep them all if they choose, at least for one season, or move on with others — like the uber-gifted, uber-secret KZ Okpala — training in wait.

And of course, they have a plan again.

A real plan. Not a sign middling players to long-term, restrictive deals plan.

Before Thanksgiving, prior to this sentiment becoming widely popular, I tweeted this:

I didn’t generate this sentiment entirely on my own.

It was presented to some in the organization and — though tampering rules prevented full disclosure — it was obvious this was intentional.

It was obvious that Giannis Antetokounmpo was LeBron James 2.0.

You remember LeBron before he took his talents to South Beach? Playing in an unglamorous, chilly market? Winning two MVPs but unable to attract another prime superstar, not Chris Bosh, not Amare Stoudemire, just elderly Shaq and fading Antawn Jamison and a limited shooter named Mo Williams? Giving it nearly a decade to work, entering the second half of his 20s, weary of hearing how he couldn’t get to the top when he wasn’t surrounded by top talent? Seeing a friend (Dwyane Wade) who had thrived in the Heat program? Who had won big in the Heat program?

Sound similar to what may happen now?

It did to some Heat officials.

So here we are.

Heat vs. Bucks.

The series the Heat wanted, and not just because they believe it to be winnable, with many of the matchups in their favor, particularly if Eric Bledsoe scuffles in big moments like he did last postseason, if some of the Bucks’ older bodies break down, if Khris Middleton (call him “swingman Mo Williams”) shrinks on the stage as he has at times.

They wanted it so Giannis can see up close.

See what he can have, and what he can be.

Here. In Miami.

See his training buddy, Bam Adebayo — with whom he shares an agent and a mentality — and what he can offer as a defensive complement.

See Jimmy Butler take some of the leadership and media burden off his shoulders, someone who will stick up for his teammates time and time again, so long as they work like him.

See the shooting, so much shooting, young shooting, from Herro to Robinson and beyond.

See how the consistently innovative Erik Spoelstra beats the notoriously stubborn Mike Budenholzer to adjustments.

See what Riley has built, after building and rebuilding and rebuilding again, almost for sport, rarely in doubt.

So this isn’t just a chance to beat Giannis. It is a chance to court him. Riley isn’t putting off retiring in Malibu for Oladipo. He isn’t waiting to turn over the reins to others to reach the second round. This is taking this franchise to the top again, in what would be his greatest trick, because so many wrote him off.

Washed Riley, they said.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps he was just getting wet to spear another orca.

“There are obstacles… but there are none.” 

Everything this season is already a win.

Now, for Riley and his Heat, there is suddenly nothing to lose. And they will only lose two games this series on their way to the Eastern Conference finals, stretching a remarkable comeback story deep into September and making a certain superstar start thinking more about starting again somewhere else, south.

 

Ethan J. Skolnick has covered the Miami Heat since 1996, and is now the CEO and Lead Content Editor for Five Reasons Sports Network.