May 21, 2013

While We’re Waiting… Kyrie Irving a Cause for Excitement, and Tribe Making a Tough Call

January 16, 2012 by 22 Comments

While 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.

This-> “There is reason for excitement in Cleveland. It’s been eleven games, sure, but Kyrie Irving is coming into his own right before our eyes. Every night he plays with more and more confidence. He’s scored 20+ points in his last 4 games. It’s likely that he’ll hit some rough patches but as it stands now, he has the 5th highest rookie PER of all time. Ahead of him? Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Walter Davis, and Chris Paul. (h/t to @docrostov for that stat) Try to fathom this: he’s the best player for an NBA team at nineteen years old. What were you doing when you were nineteen?” [Kaczmarek/Hardwood Paroxysm]

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“If in fact the Indians are making a decision between the two players, it is a tough decision they have to make. The way things are looking they will likely sign one of these two players, but the question is who and which one is the best fit? Both are are solid to above average defenders, so evaluating their defense is moot as both will provide a defensive boost at first base the Indians need. It is the offense that will be the separator and determines which player fits best.

Most of the focus is on adding a power bat, but the Indians also need guys that can consistently put the bat on the ball and be productive. The Indians were actually in the middle of the pack in power last season as their 154 home runs ranked them 16th in MLB, and their .714 OPS was 18th in the league. But the Indians struck out 1269 times which was 5th worst in the entire league and was the highest total in franchise history.” [Tony/Indians Prospect Insider]

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“Remember when we spoke glowingly of how dominant the defensive line should be next year? That’s good because if the linebackers perform in 2012 like they did during the 2011 season, the line will once again be carrying the load in terms of run-support and pressuring opposing quarterbacks with a linebacker corps that is atypical for an Ohio State team in that is somewhat serviceable, but nothing near spectacular.” [Jason/Eleven Warriors]

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“Seven months later, nobody in Cleveland is questioning whether the Cavs made the right choice on Kyrie Irving with the top pick. Nobody is seeing DeSagana Diop when they look at Tristan Thompson. But three weeks into the season many are coming to realize there was more to this draft than some had predicted. The Cavaliers’ trip out West was evidence of that. In Utah, Enes Kanter has been one of the top rookie rebounders and Alec Burks has been quietly efficient in a limited role. In Phoenix, Markieff Morris is shaping up as one of the more astute picks at No. 13 with his blend of size and perimeter shooting.

Cleveland State product Norris Cole is making an impact for the Miami Heat as a late first rounder and even Isaiah Thomas — the 60th and last drafted player, chosen by Sacramento — is getting nearly 14 minutes per night.” [Reed/Cleveland.com]

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O-H… [Qrazy Qarl]

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  • Jack

    Don’t forget Kawhi Leonard…

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    Hmm…the San Francisco 49ers were 5-11 last year.  They fired their coach because that’s not enough wins, of course.

    So, they hire Harbaugh.  And, what does he do with essentially the same team that just went 5-11?  He leads them (and, I mean leads) to 13-3 and a bid for the Super Bowl.  All in one year.

    Did anyone see how Vernon Davis hugged his coach after the game-winner?  Why did he do that, because he loathes him?  Harbaugh inspires confidence and passion in his players; he makes them want to be better and to succeed.  Do any of you really think that “I’ll see you Wedneday” type approach does the same for our team? 

    Shurmur wouldn’t be a ball boy under that coach.  I didn’t need any more proof to make my point, but now its starting to get silly.

  • Max

    anyone out there have any freaking clue at all how Jeff Fisher, who got his job sometime Friday already has his OC, while the Browns are…uh…well…they are..um… WHAT THE HELL ARE THE BROWNS DOING?!?

  • Myke

    San Fran already had a TON of talent! With a terrible head coach. Patrick Willis, Navarro Bowman, Justin Smith, drafting Aldon Smith. On Offense they have 7 1st rounders starting. You bring in Harbaugh who has head coaching experience and is pretty good and now you have a good team. People picked San Fran to win the Super Bowl last year but Singletary was garbage. Stop comparing them to the Browns. Our Talent Level isn’t even close to them and Pat Shurmer was a 1st year head coach at any level.

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    Making money off the fans.  That’s what they are doing.  And, its working.

  • Max

    I know most folks give you a hard time on this board. Much of the time when you are calling out the Browns front office or the horrendous coaching, I actually agree with you. But are you serious? Last year (2010) everyone thought the 49ers would win the NFC west in a walk and easily make the playoffs. Instead, they imploded and the Seahawks were the first 7-9 playoff team in history.

    The talent level on the 49ers is vastly superior to the talent level on the Browns. To try and compare them is disingenuous at best. The situations are incomparable. Trying to make that comparison detracts from your otherwise cogent points about how Shurmur is overmatched, and Holmgren has made mistakes. 

    I agree with you, Shurmur maybe should not have gotten the job. They DEFINITELY should have made him hire an OC on his first day here. However, he’s not going anywhere (at least for one more season). Instead of trying to move the Rock of Gibraltlar, the order of the day should be to try as hard as possible to put everyone in a more favorable situation, vis a vis winning football games.

  • Harv 21

    a month into the season and your teenage PG looks increasingly smooth running the offense and scores 20+ in 4 straight games while playing barely 30 minutes a game. He will certainly get schooled soon as he faces some great ones but yep, it’s officially safe to fall in love.

    Also, congrats to whomever came up with ”Tigger” as a  nickname for TT. Very apt.

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    “Pat Shurmer was a 1st year head coach at any level.” 

    Yes, that’s the POINT.  He should never be given the job of leading a team with mediocre talent (at best) as his first assignment.  Its too much for a lame-brain like Shurmur. 

    Even with all the talent the 49ers had, they were 5-11 last year.  It took a competent coach to take a talented team to the conference championship game.

    It took a crap coach with a mediocre team to win one less game in 2011 for Cleveland. 

    The facts don’t lie.

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    For starters, I am consistent and that won’t change.  It won’t change because I am not some fair-weather fan who loves the flavor of the year (this year, it is patience, and all its environs) as the reasoning behind our failures on the field.

    Why am I given a hard time?  Because no one likes to stare at the abyss; no one likes to see a turd on the field and think it is because the owner/manager of the team could give a rat’s behind.

    The 49ers’ talent level alone was superb, you say.  They went 5-11, I say.  Perhaps they are more talented than the Browns, but it could also be the case that their talent alone was only fully realized under a competent coach. 

    If I was your manager and I knew you excelled at typing but were terrible on the phones with customers, what would I do, as a competent manager?  Put you in a position that involved less time talking and more time data-entering. 

    We don’t have that sound, reasonable logic on the Browns. We have hand offs to Alex Smith.  9 guys on the field, et al.  True talent is wasted when it is never utilized.  We will likely never know how talented our Browns are with this idiot because he will likely never change and hence hr will never put them in their proper positions to excel/give them the proper plays/support to excel.

  • Max

    you are right, and it reminds me that that is exactly what my Father (from Detroit) used to say about the Lion. He always said he never got too wrapped up in the Lions because the Ford family didn’t care about putting the best possible product on the field, so long as the ledgers were in the black every year.

    I feel very much the exact same way about the Browns, and have ever since Randy took over

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    For starters, I am consistent and that won’t change.  It won’t change because I am not some fair-weather fan who loves the flavor of the year (this year, it is patience, and all its environs) as the reasoning behind our failures on the field.

    Why am I given a hard time?  Because no one likes to stare at the abyss; no one likes to see a turd on the field and think it is because the owner/manager of the team could give a rat’s behind.

    The 49ers’ talent level alone was superb, you say.  They went 5-11, I say.  Perhaps they are more talented than the Browns, but it could also be the case that their talent alone was only fully realized under a competent coach. 

    If I was your manager and I knew you excelled at typing but were terrible on the phones with customers, what would I do, as a competent manager?  Put you in a position that involved less time talking and more time data-entering. 

    We don’t have that sound, reasonable logic on the Browns. We have hand offs to Alex Smith.  9 guys on the field, et al.  True talent is wasted when it is never utilized.  We will likely never know how talented our Browns are with this idiot because he will likely never change and hence hr will never put them in their proper positions to excel/give them the proper plays/support to excel.

  • Max

    who said superb? I said vastly superior.  I don’t think that’s really even a question. I know a real coach would be able to put any players he has in a situation where wins are more attainable.
    My first favorite football player was Jim Harbaugh. When he threw that pass to Greg Kolesar to beat Ohio in 1985, I was hooked forever. I REALLY wanted Harbaugh to come to Ann Arbor. I don’t think there is anyone on this board who likes Jim Harbaugh as much as I do.

    That being said, if he came in and coached the Browns this past season, 7-9 would have been the absolute ceiling.

  • Max

    Im right there with you. I just know that no matter how mad I get it’s really not going to change. Even if I stop buying tickets, sweatshirts, $8 beers, etc., they are still going to make money. The new NFL tv contracts are going to be about $6 billion per year, so pretty soon, the fans in the seats will matter even less. We can have walkouts, rallies, whatever, it won’t matter. The TV money makes the fans even more negligible.

    Holmgren is trying to field a winner. Who knows if he’s up to the task. I am absolutely sick of being a training grounds for the NFL. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t hire ANYONE who hasn’t already done the job they were being considered for at another location. If it were up to me, I’d have gotten Jeff Fisher LAST year. If it were up to me, I would have know in 2010 that the lockout was coming, so if the Mangini cord was going to be cut, that it had to be done right away, because only a lunatic hires a new coaching staff when they know there will be no offseason OTA’s mini-camps etc (and EVRYONE knew there was going to be a lockout)

    It’s not up to me. They don’t care about me. They don’t care about us. The sooner you make peach with that, the sooner you can enjoy things, or tune it out when it becomes unbearable (like pretty much 79% of the games since 1990)

  • Tron

    I was thinking the same thing! I see all these report updates of new OC being hired etc and all I can wonder is “how long have the browns been sitting on their hands?” I mean COME ON!

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    Amen, brother.  You said it. 

    People here will tell you that Fisher didn’t want to come here (they all know him personally, apparently) and that we never had a shot at anyone good because its Cleveland.  How we landed Holmgren is beyond their ability to explain away, so they will choose to ignore it.

    But yeah, we are the voices of discontent.  And there are way more of us than there are of Holmgren’s boot-lickers.  Don’t fret, be strong in the face of adversity.  Peacefully protest this garbage.

  • Max

    I just realized your new avatar is Voltron. That is awesome

  • Anonymous

    Pena or Kotchman?  Morton’s fork or Catch-22?

    Blah.  Sometimes* being a fan of a mid-market team is a real drag.

    [* Nearly always]

  • http://twitter.com/oribiasi oribiasi

    DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE. 

    And of the Browns.

    And of the truth.

    If they wreck the Voltron reboot I’m going to weep.

  • Jay

    Regarding Kyrie Irving, the stats don’t lie. He’s playing tremendous basketball as a rookie and I REALLY look forward to watching him the next 7-10 years. Wht I like more than his game is his maturity. He seems beyond his years in that regard. I’m very pleased with the young fella.

  • Mark

    Yup. You said it brother.

  • Anonymous

    I remember saying that LBJ was mature and well grounded when he first arrived.  Only time will tell…….

  • Jay

    That is very true. You just deflated my balloon….