GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It's FRIDAY, MAY 17. Rolling Stones rescheduled tour date at Hard Rock Stadium is Saturday, August 31, it was announced today. 2) Find a link to my latest Back In My Day video (Birthday Wishes) on Twitter @gregcote. 3) It's Le Batard in New York Week in America! Live stage show Saturday night at Gramercy Theatre. Sold out. 4) It's always football season, so it's always the right time to buy our 'Fins At 50' book for the Dolfans in your life. Learn more or buy on Amazon. 5) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Hot Button Top 10, Dolphins pushing all right buttons & more. Also, join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook and Instagram.
Zion's power, right and options to defy lottery: Chances are Duke's Zion Williamson will end up a New Orleans Pelican, after they unexpectedly won the right to draft him No. 1 overall next month in this week's draft lottery. But Williamson has options to fight the system. We explore in our latest column. Please visit Zion Williamson's Power To Defy Lottery.
ESPN'S POST-LOTTERY MOCK DRAFT GUESS FOR HEAT: And with the 13th pick in the NBA Draft in June, the Miami Heat select ... Oregon center Bol Bol. That's according to a new ESPN post- lottery mock draft today. If true, the Heat will soon have a Bol Bol to match the Marlins' Victor Victor. Bol (pictured) is a 7-2, 222-pound Sudanese beanpole aged 19, and of course the son of Manute Bol. He played in only nine games for Oregon last season, averaging 21 point and 9.6 rebounds. ESPN's explanation for its Bol-to-Heat guess: "Bol brings much-needed 3-point shooting and rim protection. He's a top-five talent in this draft, finding himself this low due to a season-ending foot injury, which is certainly a concern. Miami has a clogged salary sheet and very little star power to show for it, making this an important draft. A rebuild might be around the corner, considering this aging roster and the limited options for improvement in the short term. With that in mind, positional fit might not be as important as sheer talent and upside, which could cause the team to look at a younger prospect like Bol, who wasn't able to show the full extent of their abilities during the season. Bol might not be an ideal fit with this team's culture, considering the questions about his approach to the game, but there is little doubt that his talent looked worthy of a much higher selection than the late lottery before he broke his foot in December." My take: I think better fits and therefore better guesses might be, say, USC guard Kevin Porter Jr. or Indiana forward Romeo Langford. Bol would tempt if that foot checks out fine, but does a roster with Hassan Whiteside and Bam Adebayo wanna be thinking center?
NBA DRAFT LOTTERY NIGHT: HEAT GO LUCKLESS -- AGAIN -- BUT KNICKS BIG LOSERS: Miami had the 13th pick in the draft going into the lottery and stayed there, getting no help from the ping pong balls once again. This was the Heat's 11th time in the lottery. Miami has now stayed put five times and gone down six times, not once improving its lot. Big losers: New York Knicks, who thought they'd get the No. 1 pick and generational star Zion Williamson but wound up with the third pick and not Zion Williamson ..... Original post: In my newest column I'm having a little fun with the Miami Heat's loonngg odds in Tuesday night's NBA draft lottery, determining who picks where in the June draft. Miami is set to select 13th overall and likely will stay right around there. But! There is a 1 percent mathematical chance -- one in 100 -- that the Heat will draw the No. 1 overall pick (a.k.a Duke's Zion Williamson). It is 3.4% likely Miami will get a top-three pick. Do you believe in miracles? Why not dream! Take a flight of fancy with me. In the column I outline why the Heat is overdue some lottery luck. I list all the ways sports is often so kind to longshots and adept at delivering major upsets. And I detail how it isn't impossible for the lottery 1 percenters to luck into No. 1. It has happened before. Pictured right, straight outta your dreams: Zion Williamson in a Heat uniform. To read the column, please visit Dreaming Of a Heat Lottery Night Miracle.
Other most recent columns: All The Ways Dolphins Are Finally Headed Right / Inter Miami's Demolition Ceremony Begins Frantic Race To The Finish / Maximum Security's Disqualification Is Kentucky Derby's Ultimate Stain / Brady Is As Brady As Ever / Marlins Losing Big Now, But A Future Is Emerging / Welcome to the New America, Lexi Thompson / Rosen Has Chance To Turn A Good Dolphins Draft Great.
THE LIST: DOLPHINS' TOP INTERCEPTORS: Miami this week signed cornerback Xavien Howard to a lucrative contact extension through 2024. How his career interception numbers compare to the Dolphins' top five in career picks. IPG refers to interceptions per game:
Player Ints/Gm IPG Years
Jake Scott 35/84 .417 1970-75
Dick Anderson 34/121 .281 1968-77
Sam Madison 31/138 .225 1997-05
Glenn Blackwood 29/118 .246 1979-87
Patrick Surtain 29/108 .269 1998-04
Xavien Howard 11/35 .314 2016-present
Select other recent columns: Dolphins Land Big Prize in Wilkins / Everything Aligning for Dolphins to Land Tagovailoa in '20 / Oh To Be Hated Again! Lean Times For Miami Sports / Why Tiger's Masters Triumph Is About So Much More Than Golf / In Joel Quenneville, Panthers Get Their Riley, Their Shula / Dwyane Wade Trilogy: The Last Star: Post-Wade, Miami Sports Is Bereft, Wade Fittingly Goes Out A Winner And A 30-point Star and Thank You, Dwyane Wade, Miami's G.O.A.T. / Why Tannehill's Legacy Probably Isn't What You Think / Case For Kaepernick's Comeback As A Dolphin / Transgender-Athlete Firestorm A Necessary Debate / Across the Rio Grande to the PGA Tour / From Dark and Empty to Top Of the World: Dan Le Batard at 50.
APSE-HONORED WORK: The Associated Press Sports Editors 2018 writing awards ranked us a Top 10 national sports columnist in the major-outlet category. Thanks, APSE. Here are the five nominated columns that earned the honor: At Doral, an annual tradition since 1962 is replaced by silence, and by what's missing / Marlins' Jose Fernandez statue is divisive yet has a chance to serve a greater purpose / NFL has moral obligation to help Buonicontis and Kiicks while it limits future suffering / What led to El Clasico Miami began with Joe Robbie's unlikely, accidental love of soccer / With 59 home runs, Stanton still had a magic season. Just hope this wasn't goodbye.
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Twitter @gregcote
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