Trent Richardson says he may always have “lingering pain” in ribs
April 15, 2013
Scott Raab taking Ann Coulter to a Mets game, quitting nicotine, Josh Hamilton, Kyrie Irving and Tiger Woods – WFNY Podcast – 2013-04-15
April 15, 2013
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.
“It is just one small sign of how far Detroit’s fortunes have fallen: the birthplace of the mass-produced automobile, the city that gave us the infuriating, bumper-to-bumper commute, is now so sparsely populated that it doesn’t have a rush hour.
Dan Gilbert would like to change that. No, he’s not interested in a honking pileup of S.U.V.’s. Mr. Gilbert, 51, a Detroit native and the fantastically wealthy founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, wants to revive two square miles that were once the thrumming heart of this city. To do so, he has already spent roughly $1 billion acquiring nearly three million square feet of real estate, and is ready to close another deal, for the Greektown Casino-Hotel and nearby parking lots, that will add one million more square feet to his holdings.” [Segal/NY Times]
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I hate when opposing team fans take over one of our ballparks. But this may be too far– “Some Dodgers fans decided to splurge on seats at Chase Field’s Batters Box Suite behind home plate last night, an investment of more than $3,000. That kind of money doesn’t buy respect, though, as they learned when Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick demanded they change their clothes or seek seating elsewhere.” [Burke/Deadspin]
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“Kyrie Irving played a very ugly 19 minutes, picked up five fouls, and was unsurprisingly left on the bench for the rest of the game. Kyrie looked uninspired on both ends, but he faced bad luck on a few layup attempts. The rim was not Mr. Irving’s friend tonight. It isn’t hard to see that Kyrie has tired of the incessant losing, and that’s what worries me most about the Cavs’ end of season record. As analytically-minded fans, it may be easy to grasp the concept that a few awful seasons is crucial to small-market success in the NBA. But that may be harder for a young star to internalize. No one likes to lose, and another season of it would undoubtedly create an embittered Kyrie Irving.” [Socher/Cavs the Blog]
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“I’m no Whitfield but Miller’s feet looked calm in the pocket, his general mechanics looked fluid and he simply looked more comfortable in his knowledge of the offense and what he wanted to do with the ball. I thought his accuracy, especially on timing or catch-and-run type routes was strong. He hit receivers in the numbers on a couple crossing routes, allowing them to maintain full momentum and outrun linebackers to the sidelines. He looked sharp in the short passing game, leading running backs and receivers toward the hole created in the defense.
Beyond the physical, he seemed to be more vocal than last year. I saw him in the ear of receivers after plays and on the sidelines, he did a lot of talking to his line. As great a player as he is, he hasn’t been touted as an amazing leader by Urban but this looks like the year in which Miller takes that part of his game to the next level. Throw in his increased mental maturity with his freakish skills and I’m ready to proclaim him as the favorite to capture the Stiff Arm Trophy.” [Lauderback/Eleven Warriors]
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“Just as play-by-play man Tom Hamilton was setting the table during the seventh-inning stretch, we were ripped from Progressive Field by the 3 p.m. “news update” from WTAM’s weekend news staff. Believing a technician must have inadvertently flipped a switch and we would soon be back at the Tribe game, we hung in there only to be surprised by what we heard next – the pregame for the Cleveland Cavaliers game with Philadelphia.
What? Instead of letting fans listen to see if the Tribe could make a comeback (they couldn’t), WTAM gave Cleveland fans a hot, late-season match up between two teams that are a collective 46 games under .500 and a playing out the string to the NBA season. Maybe the Browns had the right idea when they decided to switch stations for the upcoming season.” [Moore/Red Right 88]
14 Comments
Antawn Jamison came through for the Cavs last night. Spurs looked like they might take control of the game and Jamison (then Meeks) made sure that didn’t happen.
CtB article shows why Scott won’t be here next year. Perception of tanking and the ensuing losses need a refresh/reboot and the easiest way to do it is with a new HC that comes with a new message. Only way I think Scott would have a chance at being safe is if the Cavs are planning on drafting Noel (aka tanking another year – he’s hurt until the allstar break).
and kudos to Gilbert (though the obvious financial incentives are there for him too).
Re Byron, can’t remember many coaches losing the ear of his players and subsequently getting it back without a locker room flush. The only young guy exerting effort is Tristan. Aside from your untouchable star’s mental checkout, look at Gee’s all-around horrifying box scores the last few games. Or contemplate the non-interest it takes for a 7-foot starting center, even a skinny one, to score zero points and get just 2 rebounds in 25 minutes. Somewhere Ryan Hollins is snorting.
Suddenly annoyed at myself for my Lakers fixation. We’re going to invent
a hundred draft scenarios, but his history indicates Grant may very well do
something nobody expects, taking a guy that was projected to be there
later. This will be Grant’s third draft. If he’s a good personnel guy it should be clear in preseason next year that the Cavs have acquired the foundation to take off. If it’s not clear, we may have to conclude that Grant’s an overly cautious exec with a very idiosyncratic way of evaluating talent who’s better at amassing picks than converting them into prime talent.
And he was a part of the Atlanta front office that took Marvin Williams over Chris Paul when the Hawks had a crying need for a PG.
At least with TT last year you could see flashes of potential. I haven’t seen much out of Zeller that he will be anything but a backup center, a la Chris Mihm.
I won’t blame Grant for being part of another FO that made a mistake. For all we know his input was limited, ignored or overruled. Just think 3 drafts is a fair sample size in any sport. He’s had high picks and multiple picks, and he’s correctly said that there is talent available in every draft.
Magic number is 1!
but Magic’s number was 32 🙂
(go Memphis!)
“better at amassing picks than converting them into prime talent”
people were starting to say that about Daryl Morey last offseason. then he turned some of those picks and recent picks into James Harden. having assets and flexibility is better than not having them.
I would think that Dan and Chris first has to be confident that they can find and hire a coach that’s better than Byron Scott. if they’re not confident, then they might as well keep him since he’s the best that they got right now. No need to bring in a new coach if he will delay the rebuilding process by another few years, or if he turns out to be another Randy Wittman wannabe.
Speaking of Noel’s disposition, how offen do the Cavs draft a player that was unavailable until much later in the season, or next season?
I disagree on Byron. If they feel he has lost the team and/or is the wrong coach, then you fire him. Start the process of finding the right guy.
well, ok. But then you have to turn them into Harden. Will Grant do that? Can he do that? The more I think about the special quality of the losing/quitting going on right now, the lack of obvious star potential to complement Kyrie, the lack of any team identity/strength under Byron, and the Kyrie contract timetable, the more I think this upcoming draft/FA period is endgame for the Grant regime.
Grant has to cash in right now. Forget the “2014 Return!” fantasy. Right now. Because Gilbert won’t sit still, having lucked into another first overall pick/franchise player, and watch that guy walk again because the other pieces aren’t in place. Including the coach. The pieces have to be flesh and blood inside the Q in 2013-2014 so Gilbert can say to Kyrie: “You see what we’re doing here – we’re going to challenge for a ring with you or the players you’ll bring in a trade. Which is it?”
the thing with Irving is that I’m not worried about him walking after
his rookie deal. the only way it would be feasible is for him to sign
the 1yr qualifying offer to avoid RFA. it would mean taking less money on that UFA deal AND telling the entire city and franchise that you are leaving. it has never been done before and for good reason.
the challenge is figuring out how and when to utilize your assets. and honestly, there is a large amount of luck involved.
if Morey would have been able to snag Bynum last offseason, then he would be painted a fool right now. instead, he “missed out” on Bynum, which lucked himself into Harden.
the same could be said of Grant. he could have pushed his assets to the middle of the table last year for Bynum and be stuck with nothing right now (actually worse than nothing — Philly is in the toughest situation of any team in the NBA including Sacramento). it’s important that when you make that push for a player that you don’t guess incorrectly.
Well, only a few days left until we find out if he was the right coach or not. Still I wouldn’t be surprised if Scott did a Bill Belichick on us (that is, get fired from a Cleveland team, only to get hired and win a championship on another team, in the future).
Just throwing this link out because it seems similar to where we’re talking about:
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2013/04/brad_sellers_former_nba_player.html
Back to work I go.
Don’t know what not “feasible” means in your context. I said before LeBron left that money is The Decider in the NBA and we could offer more money. I think we’re in a new era now for young stars who are nationally marketed. There would be zero marketing fallout for Kyrie if he left a grinding pit of relentless losing and he’s gonna make his contract money.
I would be worried that it will be time for Kyrie and his agent to take survey of the future in his third year. Players want to win, and certainly don’t want to be somewhere where there’s no discernible direction and the team flat out quits. You’re going on about Houston- Houston didn’t do a nuclear flattening to the fans and and team morale post-Yao Ming. You can’t win 20 – 30 games/year in this way 4 straight years without consequences all around. The NBA fanbase in Cleveland just isn’t that loyal, and there is no winning team culture for players to grab on to. Huge year for Grant. Huge decisions on players, huge decision on the coach.
because he’s a RFA, not an UFA.
no star RFA has left his team. Not Lebron, not Melo, not Love (who was reportedly not happy with Twolves), not anyone who was offered a MAX deal. It will likely happen at some point, but it takes that star telling his team that he’s leaving a year before he does and there’s nothing they can do about it (aka refusing to take a MAX deal and signing the qualifying offer)
and I do agree that we need to have some type of push for progress. I just am seeing a potential path that eludes it (drafting Noel and a poor overall UFA class).