While We’re Waiting… Cavs Streak Snapped, Thad Lewis’s Payday, and Scott Raab’s Rant

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. 

Scott’s rotations drive me nuts and I can’t tell if they’re purposefully bad or not. “With a young team, it’s often hard to say when they lose whether they got outplayed or outcoached.  I can’t imagine the play coming out of the timeout in the late 4th was a 31 foot KI jump shot.  It’s hard to say whether Byron called K-Iso, and Irving was feeling it, or whether Kyrie just never waited for the play.  But the ball sure is sticking.  One coaching thing I notice is that the Cavs are very bad at closing out quarters.  At the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters, the Cavs let players get all the way down the court and get good looks at the basket, including a Jeff Teague layup to end the 1st with only 8 second left on the inbound.  They need to watch film of Indiana who aggressively traps the ball-handler at the end of quarters, and forces them to the sideline, making it difficult to advance the ball and get off a good shot in limited time.  The way teams end quarters lead to point differentials that are not insignificant throughout the season.  In addition, though Waiters didn’t lose his starting job to Chucky Miles when Dion came back from his ankle injury, Casspi got a case of the green apple splatters and hasn’t been off the bench since (no pun intended).  This is the kind of double standard that really annoys me with Scott.  Some players have very short leashes, and some players get all the opportunities in the world.  To call coach Scott’s rotations arbitrary would be kind.” [Nate Smith/Cavs: The Blog].

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You always forget how different the game checks are for the practice squad folks. “He made a better living than most men his age while on the practice team, about $6,000 a week times 16, including the bye week.

His paycheck for this week, though, will be $27,352.94, based on one-17th of $465,000, the minimum annual salary due players of his experience.

An extra 27 grand would work wonders for most people awaiting their post-holiday credit-card bills. In Lewis’ case, he got the raise and the thrill of calling his mom in Miami on Christmas Day with the news of his promotion.

Lewis is grateful for his opportunity, even though plenty of people around him fear for his safety, and for any chance of putting on a good show.

He has been around, having spent the 2010 season as a rookie on the Rams’ practice squad. He spent all of 2011 on the Browns’ regular roster. He was a practice-squad guy this year only because the Browns wanted to open a regular roster spot by carrying only two quarterbacks.” [Steve Doerschuk/Canton Rep].

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These are some pretty sweet Ohio State basketball .gifs [Land-Grant Holy Land].

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I disagree with both the rant and the idea that Cleveland sports are at a low point. “As frustrating as it is, it’s all true. The Cleveland sports situation was unbelievably, as bad as it has been in the past, at it’s lowest point. Unfortunately, it takes a rant like Scott Raab’s to make people notice. I’ve been saying this for a while, that it has recently been the worst it’s ever been, but I haven’t the following to gain traction. Scott Raab does, and he’s exactly right.

Fortunately for you, the reader, I am more hopeful and optimistic than Mr. Raab. The night is the darkest before the sun comes up. You can see the outer linings of the sun beginning to rise up over the Cleveland horizon. Things are horrible right now. Every team sucks, and no one is close to competing. The media is fluffy, protecting the players and coaches rather than looking at their production, and the fans are more ornery than ever. The pieces are in place, however. The faces of the future of Cleveland are set. Trent Richardson, Kyrie Irving, Nick Swisher. Jimmy Haslam, Dan Gilbert, Terry Francona. These are going to be the guys leading Cleveland back into business. Mediocrity is no longer acceptable.

Growing pains will happen. It sucks to watch, it sucks to feel, it sucks to listen to. That’s what’s happening with the Cavs, and eventually it will happen with the Browns, and maybe even the Tribe.” [Hayden Grove/More than a Fan]

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Checking in with Tribe prospect LeVon Washington. “Washington doesn’t need to replicate “Linsanity” though. He has his own catch phrase: “Wash Time.”

The phrase originated as Washington was in the car on his way to the movies. He says he tweeted the phrase, and it caught on. 1,897 Twitter followers later, several Cleveland fans have taken it to heart, creating a formidable fanbase for Washington.

Regardless, Washington has taken a leave of absence from Twitter. He says his comeback to Twitter may accompany his comeback on the diamond.

“You’ve got to be doing something more than what I have done,” he said. “I don’t need to be tweeting right now. Maybe when I’m satisfied, I’ll get back on Twitter.”

Until then, it’s nonstop work.

“Off days, I like to pine tar my bat up,”  he said. “I like to go out there and shag, I like to run sprints. That’s what I do for fun.”” [Stephanie Metzger/Indians Prospect Insider].