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.
THE story blowing up Twitter and Notre Dame- “There was no Lennay Kekua. Lennay Kekua did not meet Manti Te’o after the Stanford game in 2009. Lennay Kekua did not attend Stanford. Lennay Kekua never visited Manti Te’o in Hawaii. Lennay Kekua was not in a car accident. Lennay Kekua did not talk to Manti Te’o every night on the telephone. She was not diagnosed with cancer, did not spend time in the hospital, did not engage in a lengthy battle with leukemia. She never had a bone marrow transplant. She was not released from the hospital on Sept. 10, nor did Brian Te’o congratulate her for this over the telephone. She did not insist that Manti Te’o play in the Michigan State or Michigan games, and did not request he send white flowers to her funeral.” [Burke/Deadpsin]
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“If there is anyone in the wrong about how they handled this situation, it’s Kelly. Whether he volunteered to or not, he turned this into another “Decision,” and that doesn’t gel too good with me. He was reportedly still recruiting guys two days ago — doesn’t that lead you to believe he was staying at Oregon? He had the power to say, “yes” any time to an NFL team, and yet he stringed people along. Oregon already put out a job posting for their head coaching position. This guy could easily succeed, or he could fail like no other and immediately go crawling back to the college ranks as soon as possible. Until he proves something, he doesn’t need to be put on a pedestal.” [Pokorny/Dawgs by Nature]
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“Conclusion: The Cavs are really bad around the basket. Despite being 9th in attempts, they are last in field goal percentage. One might think that perhaps they are getting jobbed by the refs until one looks at their assist% which is dead last in the league. There is a correlation between assist percentage and field goal percentage around the rim. Most of the fact that the Cavs are so bad around the rim is not because they’re not getting foul calls, it’s because they’re not finding open guys near the basket. Furthermore, the Cavs aren’t excessively good at offensive rebounding. They’re 10th in the league with a rate of 29.4. Denver attempts 35 shots per game around the rim, has an offensive rebound rate at 32.47 (best in the league), and still shoots 66.8% at the rim (8th). Yes, there is a thought that the Cavs could be getting fouled, getting offensive rebounds, and then getting fouled again, but I think the more likely culprit is that unassisted forays to the rim are more likely to get blocked (The cavs are 4th worst in the league at getting their shot blocked, at a rate of 7.8%) and less likely to get foul calls.” [Smith/Cavs the Blog]
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The brightest future among the NBA cellar dwellers? “Cleveland is undoubtedly the pick here, for precisely the reasons you mentioned, Ben. Irving is as compelling a prospect as they come, and though the Cavs have a long way to go before they put together a playoff-worthy roster, they already have a handful of useful pieces to build around, and their cap outlook is unbelievably clean. There isn’t a single player under contract beyond this season who shouldn’t be, and no asset on the roster that could even remotely be considered overpaid beyond Luke Walton and his $6 million expiring contract. That gives GM Chris Grant the opportunity to pursue all manner of free-agent targets in his efforts to round out this roster, and just as important is the ability to take on extra salary in a potential trade. Teams under the cap wind up being the ultimate facilitators due to the salary-matching rules, leaving Cleveland in a position to pick up some quality picks or players in exchange for little to nothing. It’s up to Grant to leverage that opportunity into something tangible, but the Cavs have only $27.5 million on the books for next season — a total roster payout that should allow Grant to make some moves and retain that flexibility in the process.” [Golliver/The Point Forward]
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Finally, a hilarious video on lip-reading the NFL. [Youtube]
