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.
Wow. Honest admission. Great interview- “ESPN.com’s John Hollinger is very high on Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, who by many measures performed about as well last season as any teenager in league history. But in his Cavaliers season preview (Insider), Hollinger also noted that Irving’s defense was a “horrifying flaming train wreck.” Irving’s response in his TrueHoop TV debut was interesting. Noting he was out of shape, he makes a rare confession for a professional athlete: “Honestly,” says Irving, “I was pretty horrible on defense.” [Abbott/ESPN True Hoop]
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“There’s blood in the water in Philly now. That goes for, if to a lesser degree, Kansas City, San Diego and Cleveland too. And if history is any guide, the list will only grow from here on out.
Since seven coaches have been axed in-season the past two years alone, it’s a safe assumption at least a couple clubs will pull the plug sometime between now and the end of the season. Whether that’s the right move is up for interpretation. Which is why, on Monday, I got on the horn with a half-dozen decision-makers who’ve been there to come up with some things to remember if your team is considering dropping the hammer ahead of schedule. [Breer/NFL.com]
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“For all intents and purposes, the only thing the Browns’ front office did this offseason defensively was improve one of the defensive end positions with two players (Frostee Rucker and Juqua Parker). The Browns lost DT Phil Taylor and LB Chris Gocong to injury before the start of the season, and we knew a suspension was looming for CB Joe Haden. The safety position was a question mark after the team chose not to re-sign Mike Adams. During the season, DT Ahtyba Rubin, LB Scott Fujita, and CB Dimitri Patterson have missed a significant amount of time to injury.
When you consider all of those factors, it can’t be much of a surprise that the Browns’ defense has not been as good as it was a year ago. They aren’t doing much better against the run, and they aren’t doing nearly as well against the pass.” [Pokorny/Dawgs By Nature]
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“Let’s just get this out there straightaway; looking at the Indians organization, I simply don’t see how the 25-man roster could be massaged into a playoff contender prior to the 2013 season. Even in the relatively weak AL Central, the Indians simply do not have the pitching necessary to make it to the playoffs, let alone make some noise if they get there. IF Masterson regains his 2011 form, IF Ubaldo isn’t a complete disaster, IF Carrasco comes back healthy and effective and IF Kluber and McAllister can stay healthy and develop into innings-eaters in the back of the rotation, then the Indians could contend. Those are five pretty big “IFS,” to say the least. To count on all five of those guys just isn’t realistic.” [Ciammaichella/The DiaTribe]
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Finally, WFNY friend Vince G. gets a guest post on Uni-Watch interviewing the Cavs about the alternate uniform process- “UW: Has Dan Gilbert ever shot down one of your proposals? Seems like a pretty hands-on guy with nary a worry about speaking his mind. Then again, he likes Comic Sans, so maybe he just likes anything.
TM: No, he and the league have been very supportive. We just say to ourselves, “What would the fans be interested in?” and give it a whirl. Ultimately, Dan’s organizations are very collaborative, and he provides a very good runway for his creative people to create. Basically it’s, “Why can’t we?” and “Why wouldn’t you?” All of the uniforms have done really well.” [Grzegorek/UniWatch]
