Kelly Linters

@flasportsbuzz @RMQuest12 With so many holes to fill across the roster, I understand wanting to draft a QB but they have dire needs elsewhere. Not sure that would be a strong start to this regime's first draft

@RMQuest12 Lol. They don't waste 30s on players they have zero interest in. That said, it would be a very surprising pick

Ty Simpson's 30 visit with the Dolphins, which obviously suggests some level of interest, is Miami's 8th confirmed 30 visit. Carson Beck visit does not count as a 30 because he attended school in S. Fla. All prominent Canes are spending time at Dolphins headquarters, either April 10 or another day that fits everyone's schedule.

@UFBarstool Sounds like Congdon and Rueben are coming back based on that

Bye Ollie 🥹

@Anthony_Chiang @Anthony_Chiang no matter how this season ends, Heat have a big decision to make with Norm (who will be FA) & Herro who will be on expiring contract. Who is more likely to return given what you have seen so far this season?

Taking questions for a new Heat mailbag. Tweet your questions in or email them to achiang@miamiherald.com.

@HeatvsHaters But you didn’t include the FG attempts my man. Bam was 1/9 from 3. He shouldn’t be shooting that man.

Look at the balance Powell - 19 points, 4 rebounds Herro - 18 points, 4 threes Adebayo - 17 points, 10 rebounds Larsson - 14 points, rebounds Jaquez - 14 points, 5 assists Ware - 13 points, 11 rebounds Wiggins - 12 points, 4 rebounds Mitchell - 11 points, 3 assists

@WillManso Hope JJJ is ok, that was a bad looking sprain

Man, the Heat needed that one. 5-game losing streak over. Miami had to get at least one game in Cleveland. Now it’s time to get greedy and try to get another one on Friday.

@sportsfanatic39 He shouldn’t be shooting 7+ 3 pointers a game. Just no. Absolutely not.

@KellyLinters22 I'm not making excues for him, but Spo doesn't try to get him easy buckets with pick & rolls

Heat's 21-point lead down to 10 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

@sportsfanatic39 @Anthony_Chiang I don’t think there is a max player like Bam when he is off, he is just so disgusting to watch. 2/13 I mean come on

@Anthony_Chiang So predictable with Spo

@flasportsbuzz To my understanding Herro will be on expiring contract next season unless they extend correct?

While finances and roster construction make keeping Herro and Powell (not just 1) challenging longterm, this could be final chance for 2024/25 all star guards to show they can be a winning starting tandem. Heat 3-5 when they start together; 5-10 when both available.

@WillManso I wonder what Heat will do next season with no fanduel. I miss the days of Sunshine Network back when life was simple lol

I really have no idea what MLB is doing, but making it very difficult and confusing to see your product doesn’t seem to be the way.

@sportsfanatic39 @WillManso So you’re OK with the nba tanking situation?!

@WillManso Rob Manfred is by far the worst Commissioner in Pro Sports.

@Giggitygatesz @OmarKelly destroying SFL?! The revenue & jobs he has brought into our region alone far pass anything we have ever seen. You notate his hires were failures, but everything he has touched has been a success here. He is a hands off owner that invests unlimited $ and every fan begs for that

@KellyLinters22 @OmarKelly It’s not his fault?!? Are you stupid? He hired failures over and over and over. The buck stops with the boss and he’s the boss. He is destroying South Florida through over development. He doesn’t have one dolphin logo at his home in Palm Beach. 🖕Steven Ross

Can Steve Ross return the Miami Dolphins back to glory? There’s been talk of him stepping back from the team, but let me explain why this isn’t ideal miamiherald.com/sports/spt-col…

@flasportsbuzz I think a lot of that has to do with the constant change to roles and lineup. Ware starts and then is a backup. Herro comes off bench then starts, Norm starts and then off bench. They just need to figure out a lineup and stick with it (health permitting)

From a big picture, I'll tell you what IMO is more important (or just as important) as next 10 game results. The guys who the Heat hope will get them a star in a trade this summer need to play better. Heat needs arrows going up on their non-Bam assets. Except for Larsson (and Jaquez), none of their arrows are going up, which is problematic for a team that won't tank.

@Giggitygatesz @OmarKelly This is clearly a show of naive you are in sports knowledge. What Ross has done for the dolphins and this community is second to none. It’s not his fault the people he hired made bad decisions or the players got hurt. The product the last 4 years has been fun to watch

@OmarKelly Ross should be run out of town. His destruction of the Dolphins pales in comparison to what he’s doing to South Florida

@AbelChris24 @flasportsbuzz Not really an accurate take. When Bam was out, Ware knew he was getting minutes and still played awful. Spo or not, he should want to sprint down the floor and compete. Hes also 0-13 on 3s the last few games.

Ware is just frustrated. Spo just clowning with his minutes. If Spo tells Ware, we are going to ride with you no matter what, I guarantee you Ware will play hard, like he was doing earlier in the year. Guy gets pulled as soon as he makes a mistake. Yet Rozier got a million chances.

Spo, after practice and before taking flight to Ohio today, again implored his team to rise to "the moment of truth" defensively against these better teams they've been facing. Donovan Mitchell and James Harden now await in a two-game set, as Miami tries to end loss streak at 5.

@AbelChris24 @flasportsbuzz Ware has been absolutely awful and doesn’t even jog back on defense. No matter the talent it doesn’t matter if you don’t play hard or even care. The guy is just going through the motions.

The solution has been there the entire time. For this specific roster, the players that need the most minutes are Bam, Ware and Jaime. Why? Because they are the hardest players to score against. They need to play all 3 together 35+ minutes a game, an opponent will likely not score more than 110 points. Heat average scoring 120 points per game. @MiamiHEAT @IraHeatBeat

@AllKindsWeather This team constantly played their butts off. I reject that sentiment. You seem to forget none of these players were 5 star recruits. They often times were the less talented team on court. They gave it everything the last 2 years. WCJ was a diff maker, they lacked that this year

I’m not even interested in talking about the missed rotation on the game winning three or the final drive from Lee. You can crucify the players (and the coaches) all you want for that last 8.9 seconds. The fact of the matter is this team danced too close to the edge of the cliff too many times in the NCAA Tournament these past two years, and without Clayton to save them, they finally fell off. It makes for great memories when you win. I’ll cherish that 2025 natty run forever. The constant comebacks were part of what made it so special. But it’s not sustainable long term. Let this be a lesson to all Gator teams that follow. The first half of a game matters, too. You’re not invincible and you just cannot take huge stretches of games off and assume you’ll come back in the end. It’s not always magically gonna work out each time until the end of time. The price of that lesson was the death of one of the most enjoyable teams in Gator basketball history.

@AllKindsWeather I think you might be overreacting here. Not sure that half swing even made contact with Cogs

How is Alex Condon in any way to be blamed for being the victim of battery? Do tell me…

@AllKindsWeather @GatorDiamondPod With all due respect, that is not at all how regional sites are decided. The top 16 national seeds always host on their stadium. So it’s more about rankings/seeding after conference play finishes than anything else. For instance the SEC had 8 host sites in 2025 but only 4 in 2022

Before we fully turn our attention to hoops: this game is HUGE for 🐊⚾️. As I laid out on the last @GatorDiamondPod, the recipe for an SEC team to host a Regional is very simple. •Win all five home series + win 1/5 by sweep •Do NOT get swept on the road + win 1/5 road series That gets you to 17-13 in the league. And that will guarantee you a Regional host spot every single time, given how powerful this conference is. If things break right you may even host a Super Regional with that record. Getting swept on the road completely undoes the progress to filling out that formula you got with the sweep of South Carolina. We’ve got a 4-0 lead in the fifth in Tuscaloosa, can we hold on?

@WillManso Canes and Gators in Indy?! See you there Will!

Shelton Henderson has insane hops. Canes not backing down to Purdue. Gotta keep up this energy. But so far, so good.

@TrDeveaux @AllKindsWeather You’re probably right it’s a little cynical. Just don’t think people should be taking too much from a 2 minute conversation with someone and posting about it. A lot of us are tired of hearing about the “excitement and positivity”. Just want to see him improve the product on field

@KellyLinters22 @AllKindsWeather This is a very odd and cynical take on a positive encounter with the new coach.

I didn’t talk to Jon Sumrall for too long. Mostly because a bunch of people wanted pictures with him. I really just wanted to talk to the guy off camera and get to know him. Here’s what I’ll say. Obviously he’s been PR trained. Part of that is knowing there are cameras on you even when you don’t know it. Still though, one can be *somewhat* more authentic and genuine when there’s no camera in your face than when you can see the device that’s recoding you. This guy was exactly the same guy as he was in every interview I’ve ever seen. I went back and watched old interviews at Tulane, Troy, and even one back as the Kentucky DC. The personality is identical. The energy is raw, pure, and real. I asked completely non-football related questions— how he liked Gainesville, his favorite local places to eat, how his family liked adapting to the new setting— and he was truly thrilled to be talking about those things, like nobody had ever asked them before. And yet, that is precisely the same enthusiasm he talks about football with. Granted, it was maybe a 2-3 minute conversation, but this man comes off as someone who truly is honored to rep this logo. Time will tell, of course, and we’ve all certainly been burned by the optimism of the new novelty before. But I’m really hopeful that this is the man to bring Gator football back to where it belongs.