Sports Update Monday: Miami Heat Look To Defend Title In 2012-13
After countless doubts from the media and a growing number of “Heat Haters”, the Miami Heat experiment paid off last season with the team winning an NBA Championship in a definitive series against the favorited Oklahoma City Thunder. Lebron James, being at the forefront of all the Heat’s criticism, managed to lead the Heat to their second NBA Title and his very first NBA Finals MVP. After all is said and done, many critics feel like one title is not enough for the talented Heat, so this year they look to defend their championship and try and win it again.
The Heat’s core nucleus returns this year and is starving for another ring. The Heat also have added some talented offensive weapons to this year’s team, by signing former Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen and former Magic and Wizards swingman Rashard Lewis. These two additions will surely compliment Miami’s marquee players like Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Also, many of the team’s role players will return to assist the Heat this year, such as Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers.
The Heat, who are a high favorite to win the Eastern Conference, will face some very difficult Western Conference teams this season, such as last year’s Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder and the newly re-designed Los Angeles Lakers, featuring a “Big 3” of their own (Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard).
There’s no doubt critics still have no faith in the Heat winning a title, even after last year’s impressive playoff run. However, I feel the Heat’s offseason additions and post-season experience gives them a huge advantage over any other team in the league. There’s no telling what will unfold this year for Miami, but I suppose time will soon tell. The Heat kick-off their season opener next Tuesday (October 30th) against the Boston Celtics.
In Other Sports News
– The Miami Dolphins were off from competition yesterday on their bye week. The Dolphins schedule resumes next Sunday against the AFC East rival New York Jets. The Dolphins (3-3) look to avenge a bitter OT loss against the Jets (3-4) earlier this season.
– The Miami Hurricanes were beaten by longtime rival Florida State 33-20 on Saturday night. The Seminoles took advantage of an inexperienced and injured Hurricanes team, despite being down 10 points early.
– The Florida Gators remained undefeated against 7th ranked South Carolina, by winning 44-11 at “The Swamp” last Saturday. They look to continue their run to the SEC Championship and BCS title game next week against 10th ranked Georgia.
– In MLB postseason news, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants face-off tonight in a pivotal Game 7 of the NLCS. The winner of tonight’s game will play the AL champion Detroit Tigers, who recently just swept the New York Yankees in the ALCS.