2013 summer movie extravaganza with Brian Spaeth – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-01
May 1, 2013Indians 6, Phillies 0: Bauer & The Raburn Show Help Tribe to Fourth Straight Win
May 2, 2013While 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 wrote a long-form piece over at SB Nation on pre-game handshake rituals. Good stuff as always– “The origin of the term dap is rooted in mystery, but is universally understood among NBA brethren to be a greeting that, regardless of setting, doubles as a sign of respect. Word-of-mouth history suggests that the term, an acronym for “dignity and pride,” was first introduced by African-American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Conversely, overwrought critics have recently offered that the dap is a sign of the deconstruction of formal Western culture, erasing the more formal — and far more obligatory and meaningless — handshake. A dap can be as simple as the mutual knocking of a fist or as complicated as a series of hand-to-hand gestures coupled with moves rooted in pop culture significance. Whatever the mechanics, and however animated the moves, the dap is rarely spontaneous. It is predetermined, orchestrated and usually executed flawlessly by the men who, for the next 48 minutes, hope to reach the same level of perfection on the basketball court.” [Sargent/SB Nation]
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“Irrelevant Week at first was a low-key event — “We were just goofing around in Newport Beach with the guy,” Fitch says — but it’s now a multiday parade of activity with buy-in from the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses that have helped raise more than $1 million for charity through tickets for the Lowsman Banquet and other events.
The week begins with the Arrival Party, which Fitch refers to as “the showering of gifts.”
“He gets hundreds of gifts from the community,” she says. They have included clothes, food, trip tickets, golf clubs, luggage and a puppy to signify Mr. Irrelevant’s underdog status.” [Williams/ESPN Playbook]
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New rule changes for college football next season. No more hashtags painted on the field. Also take notice Oregon- “New in 2013: Jersey numerals must be of a color that itself is clearly in distinct contrast with the color of the jersey, irrespective of any border around the number.” [PDF]
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“So who makes sense for the Cavaliers? The easiest place to find one of these guys might be the Draft. Otto Porter and Victor Oladipo both project in most analysts eyes as above average defenders in the league, and both enjoyed some success shooting from distance in college this year. There are caveats with both; neither are naturally gifted shooters, and when they get to the NBA and things speed up and the line moves back, there is reason to believe that there will be some adjustment time before they become proficient shooters. Oladipo might be a little short on height to guard some small forwards, and Porter may lack the lateral quickness to check all but a few shooting guards. In other words, while I think both have outstanding potential as “3 and D” wings (and perhaps much more) expecting it next season might be unfair. If I had to choose between the two at this point I would lean towards Oladipo; I think his strength and athleticism will allow him more flexibility in guarding NBA wings.” [Zavac/Fear the Sword]
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“Santana exited April with the highest average in the Major Leagues and the highest average in a season’s first month by an Indians catcher in team history. His 1.198 OPS also led baseball and marked the fourth-highest OPS for an Indians hitter in March/April in franchise history. … Reynolds’ eight homers and 22 RBIs are both the most for an Indians hitter in the season’s first month since Juan Gonzalez had eight RBIs and 26 RBIs in April 2001.” [Bastian/MLB.com]
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“Oladipo’s athleticism when in transition makes him stand out, and when he has any momentum at all going he can be very hard to stop. His offense is sketchy, as he can be turnover prone and not the most reliable as a ball handler – but the kid is a workhorse, and is getting better by the minute. Because of his strength, speed and finishing ability near the basket Oladipo is best used on offense coming off cuts. His jump shot is improving, and he can knock down his fair share of threes (shot 44% last season at Indiana) but he won’t be relied on as a scorer, nor should he be, as a rookie.
You take this kid and from day one he will make you better. His work ethic and intensity will be contagious (unless he ends up in Charlotte), and I’m sure he will love the opportunity to do battle with the Wade’s and Hardens of the world. The ideal landing spot for him would probably be (gulp) the Pistons. To me, it’s a natural fit.” [O’Leary/Stepien Rules]
12 Comments
Wait a minute, I don’t get this. Why is a regular handshake “far more obligatory and meaningless” than a dap? I’d like an explanation for this observation.
Oladipo is the SG version of MKG. The only problem with that is teams rely more on the SG to actually shoot. If his shooting continues to improve/hold, then he’ll be a good pick. But, he doesn’t have great form and there are worries it’ll drop in the NBA.
Stepein Rules is getting pretty ridiculous for a guy who will only play 1/2 a season next year and cannot play offense yet:
“I’d argue that there are only five NBA centers right now I’d rather have
than Noel for the next 3-6 years. And even then, five might be pushing
it.”
Even if he lives up to his billing, there is no way I see him cracking the top8 centers in the next 3 seasons. He won’t be 100% for whatever he plays his rookie year, then he’ll have to learn how to play offense.
1. Marc Gasol
2. Dwight Howard (that’s right, below Marc)
3. Serge Ibaka
4. Tim Duncan (though argument can be made he should be off if we go all the way to 6 years)
5. Roy Hibbert
6. Al Horford
7. Anthony Davis
8. Andre Drummond (projecting, but he plays both ends at least)
Then, there are a bunch of other pretty useful players who will be tough to break above:
Anderson Varejao (when healthy – and age is a factor), Noah, Nikola Vucevic, Al Jefferson (he only plays one end, but it’s the other one)
Then you have the defense-only guys Noel will have to jump:
Asik
Nene
Jordan
Faried
Larry Sanders
And the offense-only guys to argue:
Cousins (I would love to see Cousins+Noel duo though)
Monroe
Kanter (we’ll see what happens with actual consistent minutes though)
And a couple other enigma guys:
McGee
Nene
Gortat
Bogut
Hawes
Okafor
Hickson
Koufos
Blatche
And let’s not forget who many thought was the 2nd best Center coming into the year:
Andrew Bynum
Horford’s low. I would have made a case for putting him 3 given the 3-6 year timeframe.
Man the comment section of that FTS post was atrocious. First FTS talks about flipping the Lakers pick for Ariza (which I thought was crazy, but maybe I’m low-balling Ariza’s value given how atrocious he was for HOU, and I really wasn’t paying attention to WAS over the last half of the season.)
Then in the comments people are wondering if we could get Danny Granger for our 2nd 1st rounder and two 2nd rounders. Umm, no, there’s no chance Indiana would go for something like that.
Thoughts on Len vs. Noel?
When they played head-to-head last year to open the season:
MIN REB (O/D) FG-A FT-A ST TO BLK PTS
Len 32 12 (7/5) 10-18 3-4 0 0 4 23
Noel 26 9 (2/7) 2-6 0-3 2 0 3 4
Looks like Len was more well-rounded, although he is a year older. I don’t like the pick though, because it keeps the SF slot “open”, which would keep rumors alive. Nasty rumors.
if you go 6yr, then I’d remove Duncan (already removed Garnett).
I still don’t know that I would want Horford over Ibaka or Hibbert. But, I would entertain any particular ranking of those 3 guys + Davis + Drummond
Len killed Noel (which begs the question on how well Noel will do with stronger 5s in the NBA). But, did Maryland not utilize him in other games because he wasn’t assertive enough or because they couldn’t figure out how to do it?
I see Len as a possible Hibbert-style 5 in the NBA. Obviously, I see that as a good thing. But, that is his ceiling, not sure he can actually get there.
(and I’m only worried about getting BPA with our first pick. McLemore better be on the table, Oladipo, and everyone else. Just get the BPA)
also, Jamaal Franklin w/ #19 (though I suspect he’ll be gone as more people realize how good he is) – though, if we want Franklin at #19, then another SG at our first is problematic. Oh well, BPA first pick, then react with 2nd pick.
if Indiana just wants out from under his contract (possible), then I could actually see them accepting such a deal. Moreso if Glenn Robinson III was there for the exchange as well (stupid GRIII for going back).
Man, I’d kill to make that deal (although, I’m not sure what the cap ramifications would be for us, would that totally put us in cap jail moving forward? I spose, even if you could probably find a Varejao for 1st rounder type deal in another year if he stays healthy… knock on wood)
As a selfish college baskeball fan, I’ll be interested to see how GRIII does as an offensive focal point next season. He felt like a super athletic offensive rebound/putback/no other offensive skills guy this year.
we’d actually be quite fine. he only has 1 more year on his contract at $14mil.
the problem is that you then need to decide to re-up him for a similar amount (which then will eventually put a strain on your cap room as youngsters get bigger contracts) or let him go (while Indiana keeps those 3 draft picks and they potentially blossom).
Jeez. One year. I’m in the boat with everyone saying now’s the time to flip some of our young assets (or picks) into a solid (all-star) veteran. But man, there’s going to be a lot of second-guessing with this next move. Unless something falls in our laps, I doubt there’s going to be a clear-cut obvious move.
I still wish we had been able to flip Varejao and Waiters for Harden.
My current pipe dream is that we win the lottery and flip the #1, TT, and one of our second rounders for Kevin Love.