2011 NBA Playoffs: Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Preview.
Here it is folks. This one is for all the bragging rights. Anything and everything that the Miami Heat have done up to this point means absolutely nothing. Not their record, not their bad start, not their strong finish, not even their struggles with putting away the Sixers in the first round.
If the Heat want to be taken seriously (and silence some of their critics), they have to prove themselves in the playoffs. To quote the great Ric Flair, “to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
But if the Heat want to beat the Celtics, they are going to have to do it while the Celtics are red hot (no pun intended).
Boston just swept the New York Knicks in 4 games, and they seem to have their “mojo” back. Their timing couldn’t have been any better, seeing as how they were coming under harsh criticism for their terrible finish, and really staggered into the playoffs. Trading Kendrick Perkins almost collectively did them in as a team.
Nothing like an under-manned Knicks team to help change the attitude in Boston right?
THE CASE FOR THE HEAT
- The one saving grace for the Heat is that they will have home court advantage.
- The Heat can also say that their core players are younger than the Celtics core players.
- The Heat know that other than the Celtics’s big 3, Boston doesn’t really trust their supporting players. Just ask Garnett if he trusts Nenad Kristic to set a pick or make a shot.
THE CASE FOR THE CELTICS
- Matchups; Doc Rivers is going to take advantage of the matchups between Ray Allen vs. Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo vs. any freakin’ body that’s put in front of him (either Mike Bibby or Mario Chalmers).
- Jermaine O’Neal: He showed signs of making a playoff impact against the Knicks as his shot blocking and defense gave the team a lift in the first two games of the series. He will be a force.
- THE X FACTOR; Shaq. Shaquille O’Neal is rumored to return in this series vs. the Heat. I don’t expect him to be much of a force, but the psychological intimidation it provides could be a big one.
The return of MMA Mondays. UFC 129 fight matchups- Couture vs. Machida/ GSP vs. Shields
Here it is folks, the return of my MMA Mondays section of my blog. My apologies for keeping you in wait for so long, but my timing couldn’t be any better. With less than 5 days away until UFC 129, there is much to preview. The fight card is stacked to say the least. It brings you 3 fights that could be headliners and are definitely fan favorites.
Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick is sure to be a fun fight to watch. Although Hominick is no slouch on the ground, look for Jose Aldo’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to overpower Hominick. I have Aldo getting submission of the night honors in the 2nd round
Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson is also going to be an all out brawl. Henderson needs to prove himself worthy of mention among the top fighters in the sport after a disappointing loss to Anthony Pettis’s ninja skills, better known as the kick heard round the world. Observe exhibit A.
Now we get to the good stuff.
LYOTO MACHIDA vs. RANDY COUTURE
Ladies and gents, if you aren’t pumped for this fight, quite frankly you aren’t a fan of the sport. Randy Couture has said on many occasions that Machida is a puzzle that he’d like to solve and that’s an understatement. If you’ve never seen Machida fight before in your life, the best way to describe it is to say he has a strategic assault.
It’s like a Jack in the box; you know it’s going to jump at you sooner or later, but you don’t know when and you never see it coming.
Most fighters like to lean forward and throw lazy jabs at you, followed by a timed flurry of fists. Not Machida. He actually leans back, waits for the opening, and by the time you know what hits you, Bruce Buffer is announcing his KO victory.
Couture though is an expert at picking you apart. He does one of two things very well; He can either beat you at your own game or he can dissect you and find a weakness that no one previously knew about. Just ask Tim Sylvia or Chuck Lidell.
The milestone for Couture, if he can win, will be that 20th victory. That’s a nice round number to retire to, don’t you think?
I hate going against Couture, especially since this is likely Couture’s last fight ever, but I think Machida is on his way back to the top. I predict Machida wins a decision over Couture.
And the main event of the night will feature
JAKE SHIELDS VS. Georges St. Pierre
Have you ever been in gym class as a little kid and played dodgeball? Did you ever think that you were the best at dodgeball in your class but there was always another kid from another class that swore he could beat you? My apologies if this analogy failed miserably but that’s kind of what this fight is like.
Jake Shields has been fighting for a lifetime it seems, and he has not lost a fight with anyone in 6 years.
GSP is an MMA Veteran and has been fighting since he was a young teen.
This is a tale of the irresistable force meeting the immovable object.
Jake Shields is a fighter that has established his dominance from his days at Strikeforce and trains with the most dominant fight camp in MMA (Cesar Gracie). He’s beaten Dan Henderson, Yushin Okami, and Carlos Condit.
Georges St. Pierre has an excellent fight camp as well, and like Shields trains year round to make sure he is the best fighter when he steps into the Octagon. Even GSP has said that a fighter that trains the way he does is sure to be a dangerous one. Especially when you add Shields’s BJJ into the mix.
My prediction for this fight;
It doesn’t look like Jake Shields has any holes in his game. His BJJ is superior (perhaps not to GSP’s but still) to most of his opponents. However, if you saw Shields’s last fight versus Martin Kampmann he looked a little flat. It was his debut fight in the UFC, and everyone was expecting a beast that was going to roll over Kampmann, and it didn’t happen. Shields won, but it wasn’t impressive.
GSP will win this fight via decision and will keep his belt.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of MMA Mondays. It’s good to be back folks.
Knicks Game 4 Live Blog
It has been a series of heartbreak for the New York Knicks
After grinding out two extremely close losses in Boston, the Knicks returned home with what looked to be a sense of optimism, only to have one of their worst possible performances.
Whether it was the health of two of the three Big 3 or a young team taking tough losses too much to heart, the Knicks simply didn’t show up on Friday night, and today they are getting outcoached, outplayed, and outmatched by the Celtics. Toney Douglas played inconsistently all season and is just 1-6 today. You know you are playing absolutely awful if Roger Mason Jr. is stealing your minutes. Spike Lee looks absolutely devastated. He is the only one of the stars that I feel moderately bad for. Melo’s supporting cast is 5-27 and look more than prepared to stay at home.
I hate saying that Amar’e has become a part of the “supporting cast” but that is how he is playing. There is only one player playing like a star for the Knicks right now.
…Stay tuned as I will give my full critique on this game when it’s over. The way things look now we might have to wait for next year.
Fighter Spotlight: Jason “Mayhem” Miller back in the UFC
Jason “Mayhem” Miller is an MMA Veteran middleweight fighter, specializing in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai. He trains at Team Quest in Temecula, California and has trained extensively with such greats Randy Couture, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Marc Laimon, to name a few. Mayhem regularly co-hosts “Mayhem Mondays” on the Jason Ellis show which can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio and hosts a show called “Bully Beatdown” on MTV. His professional record is an impressive 23-6-0 and has fought the who’s who of MMA such as Japanese Legend Kazushi Sakuraba, Frank Trig, Georges St. Pierre, and Tim Stout.
With all this going on for Miller, someone was sure to take notice eventually. Well, someone did; mmaweekly.com reports that the always colorful and animated Miller has signed a new multi-fight deal to make his return to the UFC.
Here’s my thoughts on Miller;
At first glance, you might not like Mayhem Miller because of his “out there” personality and his showboating ways. In fact, I was one of those people that really didn’t like him. I mean if you were a young fighter and walked around with a chip on your shoulder, always laughing and being over the top, you probably wouldn’t make too many fans either. Then I realized something; he’s not young anymore. He’s a veteran fighter, who takes his job seriously, but has fun while doing it. Actually if you think about it, why wouldn’t you? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at Miller here beating up on another veteran (some would even say legend), Kazushi Sakuraba.
And here is Jason Miller talking about the fight versus Sakuraba.
Jason “Mayhem” Miller is a rare breed indeed, and if you ask me he’s earned his ticket back to the UFC. Dare I say he’s ready for another shot at the top fighters in the sport. Heck, I consider him one of the top fighters already and it’s time for everyone else to realize that.
Just a quick note on…
HEART…
People ask me all the time, why am I a fan of MMA? What’s so special about it? I’ve answered this question about 50 different ways but it’s always the same; Heart. No other fighting sport can embody the true heart of a champion the way Frankie Edgar did. I always wished that I could take a specific fight and show non viewers what I meant. If there was ever a fight that could physically demonstrate what “heart” is, it’s this one right here. Pure nuts and guts ladies and gents. I know it’s early, but this fight is my pick for fight of the year.
Pretty soon I’ll be doing bios on MMA fighters that have upcoming fights for the average (or uneducated) fight fan, but consider this a teaser and the blueprint for most MMA fighters, especially champions. Enjoy.
