Open Thread: Cavaliers at Indiana Pacers
April 13, 2009Cavaliers Top Pacers, Lock Up Top Record in NBA
April 14, 2009While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
Yea. What he said: “So, brass tacks — the Miami Heat are a middling, barely .500 squad that, at most, will provide some nice conference semi Bron-DWade action. They are not contenders, they do not matter on any broad scale for this year’s NBA. So the fact that DWade has meant so much to them doesn’t really make him all that valuable. Look at these teams like they’re companies. The Heat are not a Microsoft or even an Apple. They are a middle-rung software company with no real influence in the industry and staff of employees that probably couldn’t get an interview at any of the Silicon Valley heavyweights. Wade, its CEO, is brilliant and beyond essential for the company’s relative success, maybe even more essential than Steve Jobs is to Apple, but who, given the value and cachet of their companies, is the more valuable employee? Right. So please shut up with the Wade For MVP chants.” [Vincent Thomas/SLAM Online]
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Though only seven games in, could the Indians top the 2008 Browns in terms of a bigger disappointment? Is Cliff Lee actually Derek Anderson? [MidwestSports]
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Food for thought: “SLAM Online and Tom Ziller both had lists of the top 50 players in the NBA coming into this year. Only one Cavalier was on either list. On average, a playoff team, let alone a team with championship aspirations, should have two. Here’s a fun game; go through the top 4 teams in each conference, and, at the beginning of the season, count all the players you would have considered better than Mo Williams. For my little case study, let’s do the Suns, evening out Nash and James as the best players on each team. You can argue some of these, but before the year I’d say that all of these guys were held in higher regard than Mo: Amare, Shaq, Richardson, Barbosa, (Very arguable, but most, at gunpoint, before the year, would have said) Grant Hill.
That’s 5 guys. And the Suns didn’t even make the playoffs. Top-tier NBA teams just have a ridiculous amount of talent on them, period. And at the end of last season, the best player other than LeBron on this team was Delonte West, who was the third-string point guard for the Sonics.” [John Krolik/CTB]
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A note from the Browns: “Cleveland Browns General Manager George Kokinis will hold a pre-draft press conference this Thursday, April 16 at 12:30 p.m., in the Dino Lucarelli Media Room at the team’s training facility in Berea.” Who holds a pre-draft conference??
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And to get you to the 10 AM hour…
20 Comments
What’s sad, is that dunk is probably 10% what is capable of. Next year may be the first time i have watched the slam dunk contest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFv75Kno05I
Here would be his second round dunk
That first dunk wasn’t by ‘luck.’ He has it down pat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YONEhZ6zQM&NR=1
Why would you be upset that the browns are holding a press conference… its what everyone wants right? to know whats goin on.
Don’t think he mentioned being upset bobby, probably just confused as to the point of said press conference
What is he going to say? We’re going to draft so and so? Not a chance
Right. Not upset at all – and I apologize if that’s the tone that was penned. Er, typed.
I’ve just never heard of a team having a pre-draft press conference. Especially this one, who held absolutely ZERO press conferences to introduce any of their free agents.
The press Conference is to make the media happy. I fully expect to learn nothing new. I for one like the fact that the media knows nothing! Because when the media knows nothing it helps to keep other teams guessing…besides it’s fun trying to guess what they are going to do rather then be given the answers.
just last year bron was seen as having no supporting cast. at the beginning of the year bron was seen as having no supporting cast. now with the regular season in the books, the cavs have the best team in the nba and… he has a supporting cast!?
Z has always been a stellar player for this team (what is it 12 years now?). Andy really stepped up this year and Mo was just what the doctor ordered.
if people are gonna continue to use the wade has no supporting cast argurment to make his MVP case stronger (which i think has faded cuz bron has MVP locked UP) then the same applies to bron. the fact is however, he just makes everyone around him soooo much better, which is exaclty what the definintion of an MVP is in my book.
those dunks are sick … who else could put together a sick pre-game warm up highlight reel other than lebron?!?
I’m not sure that an empty, meaningless press conference will make the media “happy”, per se. It may placate them temporarily, but in the end I think it will end up being sort of a Belichick press con, containing no substance at all.
Regarding the Indians as a disappointment – last year’s team coming off their ALCS loss was a lot more disappointing. Sure, these guys have been a complete disaster, but we knew there were major question marks about this club, whereas last year the Tribe was basically the same team (which, of course, turned out to be the problem).
All that said, this current team makes me barf in my mouth.
Also, tWWL has a Cleveland poll up…
Most Heartbreaking:
Elway’s Drive
Jordon’s Shot
Mesa
I had to vote Mesa because I was a bit to young to really “get” the first two.
@ Swig – I would actually agree with your vote. I too was pretty young for the first two, even though I remember them, but I would vote for Mesa because that was the closest of the three for a Cleveland team winning a title.
its definitely mesa in game 7. Elway and the fumble were in the AFC championship game. “the shot” was round 1 of the playoffs. there are no guarantees after any of those games had we won. however, game 7 of the WS? thats it – get the save and its game over, we win. ugh!
Elway for me. Then the shot. I thought the Browns were in the Super Bowl after the Kosar-Brennan TD. I assumed the Cavs would advance after the Ehlo lay-up….. However I assumed Mesa would blow the save the whole time.
Swig, AMC, & Mike you are all dead on. The Tribe was right there, the champagne was ready, Elway & Jordan would have been distant memories (for a while anyways). I woke my girlfriend up, who fell asleep on the couch. “Wake up baby this is it! The curse will be over! We’ll name our first born Jose!” Then….Alou singles to left, Johnson rips one to right, Alou to third, Counsel sac fly, Aloutrots home, Save Blown. Then poor Charlie Nagy come sin the bottom of the 11th, loads the bases, and gives up the game winner. We never did concieve that child, went thru a bitter break up, and haven’t spoke until after the NBA AllStar break this season. Maybe the Cavaliers will be able to repair our broken souls.
@ #2 – See Fernandez, Rudy in this year’s dunk contest.
Damn Jay that is a depressing story. For me too it was blown save. I was living in South America at the time, on a mission for my church, where we are not allowed to watch tv or read the newspaper and stuff. The people I rented a place from had the Spanish ESPN at their house and so I got up in some weird hour to break the rules and watch my beloved Tribe win the Title. I damn near cried when Mesa blew the save. My brother and I had met Charles Nagy previously and really liked the guy, so that was almost worse, watching him load the bases and then give up the winner, when his arm was shot by then anyway.
I was very young in 1997 (9 years old) and I remember I had to go to bed in like, the 8th inning when we were winning, and I thought we had it wrapped up. The next morning my mom came in my room to wake me up, and I asked her if we had won, and she said no, and I burst into tears. So, that takes the cake, easily.
I am quite old enough to remember all of those. I’d have to say the blown World Series was the worst. Literally 3 outs away from winning it all. Next would be The Drive. The thing about the shot was that it was not even the conference championship. And it was the best player in the world beating you.