Archive for June 15th, 2012

WATERCOOLER CHAT: HEAT HANG, NKEMDICHE TO CLEMSON, BOBCATS SEARCHING

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, it was Game 2 of the Finals between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Thunder rallied back in Game 1 to take a 1-0 lead, but you can bet that the Heat would be ready for them in Game 2.  So ready in fact that they completely caught the Thunder off-guard in the 1st quarter, pulling out to a 20-5 lead.  They kept the margin pretty significant all the way until halftime, where they headed to the locker room up 11.  In the third quarter, the Thunder were able to chip away at the lead a bit, but still trailed by 13 going into the 4th.  And, of course, that’s when the Thunder really decided to turn it on!  Kevin Durant caught fire and had an electric 32 point night.  They even pulled the game within 2 points with under a minute to play.  But, the night belonged to LeBron James.  He came up clutch in the 4th (silencing his critics), and had his own 32 points to help the Heat hang on for the road win.  Now, the series is tied at 1 game a piece, with Game 3 in Miami on Sunday.  Miami 100, OKC 96.

In some coaching news out of the NBA, the Charlotte Bobcats are in search of new leadership.  Recently, they had spoken to former, successful Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan about taking the position.  This would be a welcome challenge for Sloan who built the Jazz into the competitive team that they are.  But Thursday, Sloan officially backed out of the coaching position.  This came as a shock, considering he was a leading candidate.  The other candidates are Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw (who most thought would take over for the Lakers before they chose Mike Brown).  And they also liked former Missouri coach Quinn Snyder (now currently with the Lakers).  With Sloan out of the running, it’s likely that the Bobcats will go with Shaw to give the team a fresh new, young outlook.  Plus, the Bobcats have the #2 pick in the draft, who will certainly become a big rebuilding piece for them.

FOOTBALL

Elsewhere in college football, the #1 recruit in the country, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, finally selected his school.  He had offers from top SEC schools including Alabama and LSU, but finally decided on… Clemson?  Yep, Clemson.  Now, don’t scoff, Clemson had one of the most exciting offenses last season, especially due to their dynamic wide receiver Sammy Watkins.  But their defense was lacking.  This was most evident when they lost their big bowl game to West Virginia by about 40 points.  Immediately following that game, Clemson fired their defensive coordinator, and vowed to start rebuilding their defense right away!  So, the addition of Nkemdiche is a fantastic start to a program looking for more big things (and possibly a National Championship) in 2012.

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