May 25, 2013

While We’re Waiting… Dion’s big game and some incredible sportsmanship

February 26, 2013 by 14 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.

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“In the post game interview, Byron Scott mentioned that the Cavs were told to switch every single pick at the end. The Miami play was designed so that LeBron and Bosh both came up to the top of the key and Wade could go off either screen. It put mass confusion into the defense. On the first iteration, Wade paused and went left off Jame’s pick. LeBron cut to the hole and Bosh’s man, Speights, went with LeBron. Waiters and Gee went with Wade. Bosh was wide open, and when Speights tried to recover, Bosh hit LeBron under the bucket, but he missed it. The Heat rebounded and ran it again. So on the first try, if the coach said to switch, Waiters screwed up and didn’t switch. He should’ve rolled with LeBron. On the second iteration, Gee probably didn’t switch because Waiters didn’t do what he was supposed to do the time before, so Waiters was forced to chase from way behind. The worst part? The fact that no one fouled Wade with twenty four seconds left in a two point game on a dunk attempt… That’s losing basketball.

It’s tough to know whether “blame” lies with the player or the coach in this situation. One can blame the coach for not calling plays that are effective, but if the players can’t execute the plays he calls, it’s hard to blame him, and certainly “switch every pick” is not an overly complicated defensive strategy. Defensively, the blame probably falls with the players, but that three man play with Battier and Chalmers at the corners is probably as brutally and elegantly effective of a play as there is in basketball, given that the players Miami has fit into it like Swiss made gears. That play is the Kobayashi Maru for NBA defenses. I’d love to see the Cavs run a version of it.” [Smith/Cavs the Blog]

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For your NFL draft fix, the LB measurables. [Draft Browns.com]

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“I understand the importance of advance statistics. I value them as much as the next guy and consider Daryl Morey my favorite general manager in the league because of his belief in and success with managing his team by the numbers. My Instagram profile picture features me and my guy Morey, in fact, because of all those reasons.

But even in saying as much, it’s also not hypocritical to then be totally and completely encouraged by the potential of a guy like Dion Waiters who is currently learning what a good shot is in the NBA as a rookie. Waiters has that swag you can’t teach. He believes that he belongs on the same court with Dwyane Wade right now and is not waiting for approval from anyone on that.” [Bowers/Stepien Rules]

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I think I’m allergic to something in this video. When I watch it my eyes get all watery.

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Finally, Alex Rodriguez’ foundation gave away 1% of it’s proceeds to actual charity. Oof. [The Big Lead]

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  • JNeids

    Good thing I was chopping some onions while watching that video…

  • mgbode

    “$90 to a Little League Baseball club in Miami”

    I gave $250 to Little League Baseball this year. I apparently “make it rain” better than A-Rod.

  • mgbode

    and, overall, alot of the athletes are not fully to blame for not meeting the minimum % (that was self-defined by the BG in the first place). however, examples like A-Rod (where only 1% are actually donated and he has had a steady income and playing career) are well deserved of scorn.

    overall, I do think that it’s self-serving for athletes to put their own name on the foundations instead of collaborating into bigger enterprises to cut down on the overhead along with getting some good expertise to run things.

    If I was in the field, then I would try to start things either “per school” or “per conference for the smaller ones” Give the athletes a sense of unity to their alumni status and other athletes from their school (and likely a job for some alumni), it’d help with recruiting, and it’d put athletes together with expertise to make sure their philanthropy efforts are well-served.

  • mgbode

    amazing how nice it is to see kids make good choices.

  • Garry_Owen

    I was, er, ah, drinking coffee when that video made me cry.

    /obviously not understanding how this meme works

  • typo

    Darn allergies

  • porckchop

    Its actually not self-defined by the BG. Charities considered highly effective by non-profit watchdog groups (such as charitywatch) don’t spend more than 25% of contributions on overhead. The Globe’s low number of 65% is actually a little generous to be considered an “effective” nonprofit. The Globe article uses Josh Beckett as an example. Would you feel good handing $1000 dollars to Becketts charity knowing that $630 dollars of your money would go to the expenditures of those running the charity?
    I kind of feel like a lot of these athlete charities fall victim to the same thing as other athlete businesses. Shady friends and “business” partners working in unqualified positions making money for themselves off of the athletes name.

  • humboldt

    Oh for crying out loud ;)

    Geez, what a great story. Love seeing people rise to the moment – much respect for the opposing player who inbounded the ball.

  • Harv 21

    Totally agree with Brendan about Dion: it’s the swag that might make him special.

    Without it, Damon Jones is Trajan Langdon, Sam Cassell is Mo Williams, Manu Ginobli is Sasha Pavlovic. When we get back to the playoffs, we’ll have two guys who want to take the pressure shots.

  • porckchop

    As a parent I spend probably too much time worrying about how kids are going to treat my daughter when they realize she is “different”. Its nice to hear about the kids who realize different isn’t that big of a deal. Thanks

  • mgbode

    and Beckett was a terrible example because they used the year he was traded and they admitted that they lost out on donations because he was traded so close to their main fundraising event.

    now, many of these other events, I completely agree. And, it’s not all people being shady. I’ll bet a huge portion is the athlete wanting to have a big golf weekend at a posh resort as a fundraiser without realizing that the money they have to put in isn’t going to be nearly worth the money they make out of it (or they don’t care).

    Carmelo deserves alot of praise because he mostly uses his as a way of donating to causes he cares about and doesn’t worry much about fundraising. Sounds like a good idea with little overhead.

  • Foghorn Leghorn

    This “basketball manager turned player in the final game” story has run through the media several times over the past few years. Admittedly, its lost a little of the charm that came with that first report about the autistic kid who made like 6 3-pointers to end the game, but if it makes a special needs kid, who has dedicated an entire season to helping out his classmates as a basketball manager, happy? Im all for it. You can tell me the same scripted newsreel all day.

  • Steve

    “Manu Ginobli is Sasha Pavlovic”

    That is ridiculous.

  • mgbode

    yeah, he had a good thing going but he just had to go too far. happens to the best of us.