Quote: Byron Scott on Halftime Adjustments
January 17, 2012Positional Revolution Heads to Cleveland
January 17, 2012While 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
Wow. Making the case for Dwight Howard to the Cavaliers- “From a basketball perspective, it’s the perfect situation. And, while I realize much of the preceding’s accuracy depends on your evaluations of the players involved — i.e. How good are the young Cavs, really? — I’d like you to know this: Because of my briefly aforementioned conscience/an overwhelming fear of failure stemming perhaps from graduating college with an acting degree, publishing on an ESPN subsidiary at least forces me to temper my enthusiasm for all things Cleveland somewhat in the hope that I can write reasonably informative articles/maintain my current state of employment. For periods of time, I can be a semi-responsible faux-journalist. Along those lines…
Kyrie Irving, while just 19, might be the best pick-and-roll prospect to enter the league since you, Dwight Howard (pandering just a touch there…). I don’t believe I’m overstating that. KI comes off the screen at such a funky pace that he can almost walk a guy right to the rim, and he’s already exceedingly comfortable with his midrange jumper. This was a major strength at Duke, and he’s been re-getting the hang of it pretty early at the NBA level. And Dwight, what Kyrie’s doing now, he’s doing while working with Andy Varejao (who, again, you’re going to love and is actually a remarkably effective P&R partner…but also operates about 3-4 feet lower than you do). Remember when everyone thought it would be awesome to team you up with Chris Paul? Well, I’m thinking of something similar but with healthier knees. Kyrie is good, and by this time next year, Kyrie’s going to be better.” [Braun/Cavs the Blog]
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“With all due respect to the things that the Missouri Valley, the WCC and the CAA have accomplished, they can’t count Butler has a member of their league. All the Bulldogs have done is go to back-to-back national title games. No big deal. What made their second trip to the title game all the more impressive isn’t that they made the run as an eight seed; cinderella stories are a dime-a-dozen in the NCAA Tournament, and given the Madness of March in 2011, Brad Stevens didn’t even half to pull an upset in the Final Four for the right to take on UConn on the best Monday night of the season.
No, what made that trip incredible is that they were able to do it despite losing a first round NBA Draft pick in Gordon Hayward. Horizon League teams aren’t supposed to have players that get guaranteed contracts in the NBA, let alone have enough talent on the roster to remain relevant after that kind of personnel loss. It looks like Butler gave their blueprint to Cleveland State.” [Dauster/Ballin’ is a Habit]
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Not Cleveland related, but pretty surprising- “With a sputtering economy and local governments mired in financial crisis, the Chicago Cubs can’t afford to renovate Wrigley Field like they want to — or like they really need to. It’s simply not a good time for the Ricketts ownership to be asking the city of Chicago, or heaven forbid the state of Illinois, for assistance with bonds and whatnot.
So the Cubs are doing a little bit here and there to nudge Wrigley into the 21st century as she approaches her 100th birthday in 2014. During the team’s fan convention over the weekend, the Cubs announced they would be converting seating in right field into a premium patio area that will resemble neighborhood rooftops. They’re also putting in a 75-foot long LED scoreboard just above the ivy, though not one big enough for video.
Newfangled stuff in Wrigley Field? Say it ain’t so!In all honesty, it needs to be so, to maximize revenue streams (i.e., make as much money as possible.) The team rebuilt the iconic bleachers before the 2006 season, and this time they’re removing a section of seats near the right-field foul pole. So, the new patio won’t be for the common folk. Cubs team president Crane Kenney used the word “client” when describing who he expects to use the new section, which will hold 150 fans.” [Brown/Big League Stew] Related: My Tour of Wrigley
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Thinking back on OSU’s loss to Florida. No, the other one. “While this year’s BCS finale wasn’t the same flavor of outright slaughter Florida unloaded on Ohio State in Glendale, it delivered two very similar lessons: 1) Listening to everyone telling you how great you are for several months destroys adrenalin, while 2) listening to everyone telling you how disrespected you are fosters it.” [Ramzy/Eleven Warriors]
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Good pictures from the Frozen Diamond Face-off [Cleveland Sports Torture]
10 Comments
Dwight Howard to the Cavs? This is gonna be great! Combine that with Peyton Manning coming to the Browns, and we’ll be rolling in championships.
P.S. This guy I know in the real estate biz says that Prince Fielder just bought a house in Strongsville.
I agree Dwight Howard should come to the Cavs.
The likelihood of Dwight Howard coming to the Cavs is the same as the odds of Quetzalcoatl actually arriving on December 31, 2012.
It’s fun to think about (I’m from Cleveland, so thinking about the ‘end of days’ is considered humorous) but also incredibly silly.
What’s more likely? He goes to the Mavs or the Nets or even the Clippers.
Dwight Howard comes to cleveland and does what lebron could not. “Light this place up like Las Vegas”
How ironic would that be to get Howard? Slim to none but hey, we can dream. If the Cavaliers bring in a couple more young guys that just might be the lure needed.
that’s funny. though, I do stick by my assertion that the Pacers are the most logical place for Dwight if the only concern was basketball (both for the Pacers w/ Dwight and what the Magic could get for him – Hibbert, Paul George, George Hill would be 3 great young pieces to add to what they have now)
Is there any chance he could sign with Chicago? Just curious. Seems like most of the same arguments would work, and they’re currently the far superior team.
signing Boozer took the cap room from having it to sign Dwight straight-up.
now, they could potentially trade w/ Orlando in the season to get the larry bird exception rules to apply. not sure how much the Magic like their assets though.
Back when we heard about the ability to drop a player without the salary counting against us, I mentioned we’d have plenty of space for this as a joke. But really they are under or very close to the cap now I believe, and Jamison’s hefty contract expires this year. We could throw the max at Dwight if they can really sell the basketball reasons behind it. Im not too up-to-date with the salary situation, but I believe that still leaves enough money to bring in another player next year or wait another year and add to it. Incredible the salary flexibility we could have the next few years, espescially if we hit our top pick this year.
O, but I do agree fat chance this happens. The NBA isnt about actual basketball or what makes basketball sense.