Yes, the Mets aren’t very good this year. A doubleheader sweep in Atlanta today brought them all the way to 13 games under .500. We keep hearing that the future is bright, and today’s games made a convincing case.

Both of the Mets’ young pitching phenoms started today, and Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler combined to allow 3 runs on 7 hits in 13 innings, while striking out 20.

Harvey (6-1) threw six no-hit innings before Jason Heyward’s infield single leading off the seventh. He struck out 13 Atlanta batters, but tired in the eighth inning. He left with the bases loaded and nobody out, and LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Rice allowed all three inherited runners to score.

Fortunately, the Mets had built a 4-0 lead, and Bobby Parnell came in to nail down a difficult 4-out save to preserve the win.

23-year old Zach Wheeler made his debut in the nightcap, after going 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 13 starts at Triple-A Las Vegas. Wheeler’s command was spotty, as he walked 5 batters in 6 innings, but was able to wriggle out of several jams– he stranded 8 runners, including 4 in scoring position. Wheeler struck out 7, and left with a 2-0 lead when light-hitting catcher Anthony Recker clubbed a 2-run homer off of losing pitcher Paul Maholm.

The Mets scored four times in the eighth off of the Braves’ bullpen, and Wheeler came away with his first major league win.

With two young potential aces at the top of their rotation, the Mets may finally be relevant in the New York sports scene again. Perhaps Harvey and Wheeler can anchor the Mets’ rotation like Seaver and Koosman, or Gooden and Darling.

The Miami Heat’s season was in the hands of Chris Bosh and Ray Allen, and the Heat’s third and fourth bananas delivered.

Miami was trailing 95-92 in the closing seconds of regulation when Chris Bosh rebounded a LeBron James miss, and kicked it out to Ray Allen for a right-corner three that tied the game. Tony Parker missed a tough fadeaway at the buzzer, and the game went into overtime.

Bosh and Allen made key plays in the extra period, with Bosh blocking two shots in the final 32 seconds, and Allen stripping Manu Ginobili as he drove the lane, and then making a pair of free throws on the other end to give the Heat a 103-100 win.

The Spurs held a 75-65 lead after three quarters, but LeBron James scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, including a huge three-pointer with 20 seconds left, to lead Miami’s comeback.

San Antonio seemed to have their fifth championship in the Tim Duncan era sewn up, when James committed turnovers on consecutive plays in the final minute. But Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard each split a pair of free throws, allowing the Heat to erase a 5-point deficit in the final 28 seconds.

San Antonio failed to score over the final 2:42 of overtime, with Tony Parker missing two shots, and Manu Ginobili (9 points, 8 turnovers) coughing it up twice.

After Ray Allen’s free throws gave the Heat a 103-100 lead with 1.9 seconds left, Danny Green’s desperation three from the right corner was blocked by Chris Bosh.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made several questionable decisions down the stretch. He started the fourth quarter with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both on the bench, which allowed the Heat to climb back into the game. Duncan was on the bench for the Spurs’ final two defensive possessions in regulation, both of which resulted in offensive rebounds leading to three-point makes. And Parker sat for the final 30 seconds of overtime.

LeBron James led Miami with 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. Mario Chalmers added 20 points. For the Spurs, Tim Duncan had 30 points and 17 rebounds, and Kawhi Leonard had 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The championship will be decided Thursday night in Miami.

The Cyclones’ home opener on Tuesday night was rained out, preventing their on-field tribute to Hurricane Sandy victims. The players were in special uniforms for the game, with the names of areas affected by the storm on the back, and signed as many autogaphs as they could.

The Brooklyn Cyclones will open their 13th season on Tuesday night against the Staten Island Yankees. This is the latest sign that Coney Island is over the wrath of Hurricane Sandy last October.

MCU Park suffered millions of dollars in damages, mostly to the first floor. “Renovations have been completed on the front office, locker rooms, ticket office, catering areas, and dugouts, while a completely remodeled team store will be unveiled closer to opening day,” the Cyclones said in a press release, adding the stadium will “look like new.” The Brooklyn Baseball Gallery was also renovated.

The biggest change to MCU Park will be the field surface. The natural grass field, a staple of the stadium since its inception in 2001, was severly damaged by the storm. The salt, chemicals, and other pollutants from the ocean left the grass comtaminated and unplayable. In its place is FieldTurf, and the “specially designed baseball turf has the look and feel of traditional sod, but is optimally designed for durability and severe weather,” said the team in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE Photo Gallery of the Renovated MCU Park:

Through the first four games of the Finals, Manu Ginobili had scored only 30 points and shot 10-of-29. Gregg Popovich gambled on his 35-year old reserve guard having something left in the tank, and inserted him into the starting lineup for Game Five.

Ginobili responded with 24 points and 10 assists, including several highlight finishes around the basket, as the Spurs cruised to a 114-104 win, and took a 3-2 series lead.

San Antonio also got 26 points from Tony Parker, 24 points and six more threes from Danny Green, and 17 points and 12 rebounds from Tim Duncan.

Green has made 25 threes in the first five games of this series, which is already an NBA Finals record.

Miami never led in this one, though they made it interesting. The Spurs opened a 17-point lead in the second quarter, but Miami responded with a 12-0 run. San Antonio led 61-52 at the half, with Tony Parker scoring on a driving layup with less than half a second on the clock.

The Heat closed within a point, at 75-74, late in the third quarter, but the Spurs responded with a three from Danny Green and then put the game away with a 21-2 run, which included 9 points from Ginobili.

This remained true to the pattern of this series, where in four of the five games, one team has used a big second-half run to knock out the other.

Miami had one comeback left in them, but a moving screen called on LeBron James negated a Ray Allen three that would have cut the Spurs’ lead to 8 points with 2:23 remaining. A few plays later, James was blocked at the rim by Tim Duncan, and failed to get back on defense, allowing Danny Green to get open for his sixth and final three of the game, which gave the Spurs a 114-101 lead, and caused both coaches to empty their benches.

The Heat were led by Dwyane Wade (25 points, 10 assists) and LeBron (25 points, 8 assists). Ray Allen added 21 points off the bench.

Miami’s problem was on the defensive end, where they allowed the Spurs to shoot 60%, and couldn’t protect the basket or the three-point line. The Heat inserted Mike Miller into the starting lineup for Game Four to improve their offensive spacing, but Miller and key reserve Ray Allen are both defensive liabilites.

The series returns to Miami on Tuesday night, and the Spurs only have to win once in Miami to take the championship.

The Brooklynettes held open auditions on Saturday at LIU Brooklyn, and the prospective dancers leanred a lot of choreography and went through a tough elimination process.

The Brooklynettes’ audition process:

Learning a dance routine:

The Brooklynettes dance team held open auditions on Saturday for the 2013-14 season, and nearly 500 dancers competed. They learned the entensive routines, while only the elite remained as the day went on. This photo gallery documents the process. 

Nets Head Coach Jason Kidd has reached out to Lawrence Frank about joining his staff as the lead assistant coach. Kidd said in a radio interview on Friday that “the invitation is out there, so it’s up to him.”

Lawrence Frank.

This is a natural, as Kidd and Frank formed a good team in their time with the New Jersey Nets. When Kidd arrived for the 2001-02 season, Frank was the assistant to Head Coach Byron Scott and, two years later, was promoted to head coach based on how much Kidd liked him. They made the playoffs in the four years that Frank was head coach with Kidd, but could not get past the second round of the playoffs.

Frank was the Nets coach until the 2009-10 season, when an 0-16 start forced his dismissal. He moved on to be the lead assistant to Doc Rivers in Boston in 2010-11 before becoming Detroit Pistons head coach the past two seasons.

Frank knows defense, and that will complement Kidd, who will be tasked with forming an offensive scheme that will best fit Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Gerald Wallace, who never knew what his role was throughout the season.

Kidd talks about Frank at Thursday’s press conference: 

With the hiring of Alain Vigneault as the new head coach of the Rangers, a lot of us can breathe a sigh of relief that The Captain, Mark Messier, will not be the head coach. I have nothing against Messier, but feel that he isn’t head coach material and hope to be proven wrong someday.

Much like when Wayne Gretzky was behind the bench for the Phoenix Coyotes, I feel that Messier would do the same and just be a great name behind the bench, something to which the Brooklyn Nets think will work for them with Jason Kidd. Many of the people I have spoken to about the idea of Messier coaching were negative, but the idea of him being the next general manager seems to be a better fit. After all, when Messier came to the Rangers, he brought a lot of his guys from Edmonton that made the 1994 Rangers. The man knows how to structure a team and be a leader, though coaching requires great leadership, I for one think that he would be better suited putting the pieces together.

Alain Vigneault.

Vigneault has finally been ran out of town in Vancouver after an impressive seven seasons, but most times when they were first in the conference or the league, they blanked the bed in the playoffs. The Canucks finished first in their division every year except once, when they finished fifth. Given that the Canucks were swept out in the first round, it’s just something that Vancouver has done time after time. They’re good enough to make it to the party but break a heel on the dance floor long before Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” is played.

I think that Vigneault will fit well for the Rangers since he knows how to get to the top and stay there as he did with the Sedin twins, who by the way if you ask if they want ice cream, they both say yes. Vigneault’s coaching style apparently works since for the last seven years Vancouver has been the tour de force in the Western Conference. Yet we must also look at Vancouver’s playoff short comings and we will have to simply wait to see if it was the players or the coaching in the playoffs.

Reggie Bullock

6’7”, 205 lbs

UNC, Jr, Small Forward

Reggie Bullock is not an exciting pick by any means. You’re probably looking at a bigger, somewhat more skilled Keith Bogans. But that’s not a bad thing to have. Bullock is a guy who does little things, a defense-and-threes glue guy, and should fit in with whatever direction the Jason Kidd Nets go in for 2014.

The most attractive thing about Bullock is that he can really shoot the three. Bullock was 88-202 (43.6%) from downtown last year. He’s not one of those pure-shooter types who can knock down any shot from anywhere, but he can make the open three. The Nets need that.

More than half of his shot attempts, in three years of college, were threes. He isn’t much of a threat to create his own offense.

Last season, he had 101 assists and only 43 turnovers, so he can pass (a little), and understands team basketball a good deal better than MarShon Brooks.

He’s a decent rebounder, maybe a little better than average at the small forward. More importantly, he’s shown some intriguing defensive instincts, and might be able to guard multiple positions in the NBA. He’s probably a little too slow to defend most 2-guards, but he should be able to handle his own position, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he could play a little bit of small-ball power forward.

Another player I liken him to is the Warriors’ Draymond Green. Bullock is about 20-25 pounds lighter, and it seems like he’ll be less of an offensive zero. But Green, despite shooting a ghastly .327/.209 as a rookie, gave the Warriors quality defensive minutes all year long.

Again, there’s nothing exciting about this pick. Bullock is 22 years old, and therefore isn’t likely to have very much untapped potential. But, picking at #22, as a team that aspires to deep playoff runs, it’s logical for the Nets to find someone who can step in and play rotation minutes right away. That’s Reggie Bullock.

Video, courtesy of Posting and Toasting. (Yes, the Knicks could also use a guy like this.)

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