Archive for November 19th, 2009

WATERCOOLER CHAT: HAWKS ON FIRE, CAVS CONFUSED, RUSSELL BENCHED

BASKETBALL

At the outset of the NBA season, the top 3 teams in the East were determined to be Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando.  Nobody knew where they would be after 3 weeks of play, but nobody would have imagined that not one of them would be in first place.  That distinction belongs to the Atlanta Hawks.  They are on fire this year, winning their last 5 games, and looked to take on another top team in the East:  Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat.  Wade wasn’t much of a factor though, putting up only 15 points.  In fact, last year’s #2 pick Michael Beasley led the Heat in scoring with 21 points.  The Hawks on the other hand looked fantastic, doing a number of alley-oop slams.  Their star was Joe Johnson with 30 points on the evening.  That’s 6 wins in a row.   Watch out for the high-flying Hawks!  Atlanta 105, Miami 90.

Elsewhere in the NBA, LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers simply look confused.  They’re not bad, but they’re not that good either.  LeBron seems to be their only offensive weapon, begging the question:  “Why didn’t they get him some serious help this off-season?”  Instead they got him an aging, out-of-shape center in Shaquille O’ Neal.  The Cavs took on the Wizards last night, and were up for a while behind LeBron’s 34 point night, but a resurging Wizards team came back strong.  They had Antwan Jamison back, one of their top 3 players, and he finished the game with 31 points. Wizards win!  Washington 108, Cleveland 91.

FOOTBALL

JaMarcus RussellFinally, it looks like the Oakland Raiders are bailing on their former #1 overall pick, JaMarcus Russell.  Russell was drafted in 2007 to be the Raiders’ savior.  But since starting, he has been atrocious.  Overthrowing receivers, and constantly getting sacked.  He’s being revealed as more of a college all-star than a NFL QB with keen offensive awareness.  Now, after starting the whole season, he’s being sent to the bench in favor of Bruce Gradkowski.  Gradkowski certainly isn’t an upgrade, but the Raiders are desperate for ANY offense.  And Russell wasn’t making that happen.  We’ll see how this experiment works out.

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