LeBron’s Thanks To Cleveland Is A Start
August 9, 2010Eric Mangini Will Tolerate Players Using Twitter…For Now
August 10, 2010While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com
“Cleveland’s “Big Three” will be far better than Toronto (Bargnani, Johnson, DeRozan), Indiana (Granger, Murphy, Hibbert), New Jersey (Harris, Lopez, Favors), and Detroit (Gordon, Villaneueva, Hamilton). Furthermore, a Cavaliers team lead by [Mo] Williams, [Antawn] Jamison, and [Anderson] Varejao will likely be comparable to the rest of the East. Milwaukee (Jennings, Maggette, Bogut), Charlotte (Jackson, Wallace, Augustin), New York (Stoudemire, Felton, Gallinari), Washington (Wall, Arenas, Blatche), and Philadelphia (Iguodola, Turner, Brand) all have similar “Big Threes” in the fact that there is not proven superstar on any of these teams (we haven’t seen how Stoudemire functions without Nash yet).” [Cleveland’s Hope]
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People think Cavs fans need to “get over” LeBron James? Mike Bianchi is still criticizing Shaquille O’Neal…15 years later. [Eric Freeman/The Baseline]
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Craig’s secret weapon… “After missing nearly a week of camp due to a groin injury, RB/FB Peyton Hillis returned to the practice field, meaning there’s a good chance he’ll see action this Saturday against the Green Bay Packers. Hillis reportedly picked up right where he left off, plowing thrown DB Chris Chancellor on a run play. Dawg Scooper notes that he beat linebackers down the sideline twice for touchdown, including one instance in which he out-ran LB Matt Roth.” [Dawgs by Nature]
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What if the Cavaliers had landed Carmelo Anthony back in 2003? [Bill Livingston]
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And finally, the argument you knew was coming: “Does Kenny Lofton belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame? With a career batting average of .299, with 130 home runs and 781 RBI, with 2,428 hits to go along with 622 stolen bases…and with that glove…I would say that, unequivocally, absolutely, and without hesitation Lofton belongs in Cooperstown. Not exactly an objective opinion, but the numbers, I do believe, for a man who had no hint of scandal in his career, no PEDs to “help” him, speak for themselves.” [Rich Bauer/SB Nation]
15 Comments
Safe to say he’d go in with Chief Wahoo on his cap?
I loved watching Kenny Lofton play as much as the next Indians fan, and I hate to sound like an ESPN talking head, but I worry that Kenny will be left out on the grounds that the hall of fame is reserved for the best of the best…not the really good.
That being said, I think fielding is VERY underrated in the baseball world. If there is a cultural shift that makes an allowance for high-level fielding players with slightly lower hitting numbers, then Kenny and Omar should, hypothetically, both make the hall.
Lofton deserves to be in the HoF.
I don’t consider Antawn part of the Cavs big three. He has spoken out in favor of #6 and said he hopes #6 wins a ring.. WOW!
And Andy has been pretty quiet about the #6 thing. #6 made Andy’s career. So unless Andy proves he wants to be a Cavs not just a teammate of #6, Andy isn’t part of MY big three either.
Give me Boobie, Mo and Uh.. Well nobody else has spoken out in favor of Cleveland. So, I’ll stack Boobie on top of Sessions shoulders. Then my big three would be a 7’0″ Boobie Gibson, MoGotti, and JJ Hickson.
If the Wizard of Oz made the Hall of Fame on defense alone, so should Omar. But Kenny was a solid contributor in all aspects of the game. A leadoff hitter with 130 homeruns is kind of a big deal.
Like others, I am very intrigued by the Browns backfield. Hillis’ size and receiving ability will be a nice addition. I just hope Daboll is creative enough to use them all effectively.
@Matty
I dunno, I don’t require the current Cavalier players to feel the same way about James as the fans do. I just require them to play hard for the name on the front of the jersey. When the article talks about Cleveland’s “Big Three” it’s talking about it’s three biggest difference-makers, not the three players that feel as jilted as the fans.
I read that Livingston piece this morning – what a waste of an article. Knowing what we know now, I would LOVE to go back 7 years and have the ping pong balls fall a different way and land us either ‘Melo or D-Wade (and I don’t like Wade). But even if they did and we didn’t get the chance to rent that #1 pick for 7 years, there’s zero chance he would voluntarily come to Cleveland.
The suggestion that our medium three can compete in the east is laughable. We need to move Jamison out of respect for him and Mo should want to go too but he’s welcome here if he indeed wants to stay. We need 2-3 years, 2 big draft picks, and a good handful of trades and FA signings before we’re good again (e.g. the current Bulls). Mo, Jamison, and Andy are not a big three.
As for Lofton, his hit total is a bit low to be automatic but he’s top 75 in runs scored and taking away Ricky, he’s right there in the group of top base stealers, number wise and he was an all time great leadoff guy. Factor in his glove and his triples numbers and he’s got a case to make. It may take him a while but he should get serious consideration.
Will be in the minority here: Lofton is a borderline case for the HOF, but mostly because from about ’93-’99 he was so offensively dominant in the way his speed and base running messed with pitchers and triggered so many big innings and easy wins. His defense was somewhat overrated. His great track-down ability won all those gold gloves, but his defense was compromised by a so-so arm and consistently throwing to the wrong base. With a man on first and a single up the middle, he regularly went for the hero play and threw late and weakly to third, permitting the batter take second. Can stil see Hargrove and Manuel fuming in the dugout after those, he gave up a lot of runs that way. For my money, someone like Torii Hunter is a far more fundamentally sound and a much better centerfielder than Lofton ever was.
“He has spoken out in favor of #6 and said he hopes #6 wins a ring.. WOW!”
Jamison has never uttered a foul word about anyone. I wouldn’t expect him to start now. It’s not as though Jamison would dump the excellent character he’s been known for his entire college and pro career now, when he’s 34 years old.
Re: Lofton – he doesn’t belong in the hall of fame. The kind of guys that get in as base stealers and athletic outfielders stole 100 bases a season and usually batted higher as well.
As for Vizquel, he had the misfortune to play at a time when shortstop wasn’t a defensive position anymore. He may be as good a fielder as Ozzie was, but Ozzie was on the high end for a shortstop in his era offensively.
I love Kenny, but I don’t think he’s HOF material. If you have to debate whether or not a guy deserves to be there, then they probably don’t. Kenny is still one of the best of the 90s, but just not quite HOF. Maybe if he had 3000 hits.
Omar on the other hand is a no doubter. Guy was arguably the best defensive SS ever, and had better offensive numbers than Ozzie. No doubt about it, he’s in.
I would like to see Kenny in the HOF (he was one of the best lead-off men of the 90’s)…but, I’m afraid that’s because I’m a biased Indians fan. Plus, he played in the middle of the “juiced-man” era, so I don’t think he’d get as much attention as some of the big-time sluggers from his generation.
My take on the Cavs big 3: First off, Andy is a thoroughly underrated player. All the stats guys put him as the second-best Cav in the last 2 seasons and one of the very good players in the NBA (seriously). He doesn’t score much, but he finds ways to give his team a win. Plus he had a 100% 3-pt pct last season (look it up).
As far as our top scorer goes, I have no idea who will fall into that role. On any given night, I could see Jamison, Hickson, Parker, Moon, or Gibson going off for a bunch. I know that I’d rather have Williams holding the ball at the top of the key than our former small forward, because at the very least he wouldn’t just stand there with it.
@Chris
I’m not saying Jamison should bash #6
But, Jamison is a competitor and he will be playing against the Heat twice next season. I would just like Jamison to NOT wish #6 well. Just don’t say anything at all.