Rzepcynski in, Pestano Out – here is why
July 31, 2013Indians 7, White Sox 4: Bench Bunch delivers again as Tribe takes sixth straight
July 31, 2013While We’re Waiting is the daily morning link roundup that WFNY has been serving up for breakfast for the last several years. We hope you enjoy the following recent collection of yummy and nutritious Cleveland sports-related articles. Anything else to add? Email us at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
“After seeing Romeo Crennel fail to convert the Browns years ago into a good 3-4 defense, I was skeptical of this year’s switch to a 3-4. Former general manager Tom Heckert spent two years trying to stock a 4-3 scheme. Well, I’m buying this conversion because of three key moves. Banner spent $2 million a year to bring in Ray Horton as the defensive coordinator. I can’t tell you how much he’s grown as a coach. He coordinated the Arizona Cardinals’ defense for two years, bringing in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ blitzing scheme. He is building a scheme that should be good at stopping the run, in part because of two key additions — Desmond Bryant at defensive end and Paul Kruger at linebacker.” [Clayton/ESPN]
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“The “if they stay healthy” caveat is one that I’ve seen saved for the 2013-14 Cleveland Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving has had random little injury issues while Anderson Varejao and Andrew Bynum have been wearing suits more often than team uniforms. But I think it’s worth noting that the Wizards have their own health issues as well. Nene has battled foot injuries over the past few seasons. Bradley Beal is dealing with a stress injury in his leg, something you really don’t want to see in a young player. Martell Webster has had back surgery and John Wall missed a bunch of games last year due to a stress injury in his knee.” [Kaczmarek/Fear the Sword]
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“DON’T BE SURPRISED. Things fall apart. It’s physics, really. People on the outside see only the final collapse: the drunken photo, the fight outside a bar, the angry tweet. They never see the slow decay, because that happens in private. This erosion is now the most prominent thing in Johnny Manziel’s life, because it digs into every part of him, erasing and molding, shaping who he will become. Will he grow to understand and manage it? Or will he crumble, becoming a trivia answer or a cautionary tale? This season will bring the answer. He’s 20. He doesn’t even fully exist yet, a work in progress. Two opposing forces compete for influence in that journey: on one side, the values handed down by his parents and the man he’d like to become; on the other, there’s everything that’s happened to him in the past year.” [Thompson/ESPN]
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“But the development has been uneven almost across the board. This is why there is a school of NBA executives — perhaps 20 percent of the people I’ve discussed this with over the last 10 months — who insisted, even before the Harden trade, that they’d have kept Harden over Ibaka. And that was the choice Oklahoma City made, even if Ibaka’s lower market value — both as a free agent signing and as a trade piece — helped drive that choice. (This is different than asking whether the Thunder should have waited through last season to trade Harden, but we’ve beaten that one to death.)
Harden is a rarer talent, these folks say, and the Thunder would have been more dangerous with three perimeter stars and a rotating cast of Carl Landry or Brandon Bass–type big men around the usual minimum-level cheapies.” [Lowe/Grantland]
16 Comments
also: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources–red-sox-to-acquire-jake-peavy-in-three-team-trade-034633817.html
it really bugs me that the Tigers were able to solidify their SS slot with the help of a division rival (White Sox) and playoff rival (Red Sox). so much for hoping to get a boost if/when Peralta is suspended.
Iglesias is worse than advertised, though. His numbers seem impressive, but he’ll drop off significantly soon enough.
I agree that he likely will not keep up what he has been doing (his minor league numbers don’t support what he is doing). But, the Tigers just got a very good defensive SS that is team controlled until 2019 when their biggest need was potentially a SS.
Great piece about Manziel. Cold-eyed, fair and devoid of typical player profile cliches. But fair or not, it’s kind of brutal to make a 20 year old the subject of this analysis. At 20, the clay is still pretty soft and wet for most of us.
FTS – a good article that pretty much is in line with how I think about those teams as well. I’m not quite as bullish on the Hawks chances but it’s close enough. Between the Wizards, Cavs, Pistons, and Raptors for the last 2 playoff spots seems about right (depending on other team injuries).
as I read the article, I thought this was the entire point of it. he is only 20, the clay of who he will become is still soft and forming, and all that has happened to him over the past year can mold that clay more than he may end up liking.
basically, it’s the young celebrity syndrome. very few child actors, performers are able to handle the celebrity and continue to develop as they grow older. it is difficult. Manziel hopefully is old enough and has a strong enough family structure in place to overcome it, but there are things in the story that show why he’s making it tough on himself (and I would have a tough time with this part myself):
“All day, he watched television as people ripped or defended him.”
“Johnny spent a lot of time defending himself online.”
That is just not healthy. And, again, I would have a tough time not doing that if it was me (especially 20yo me).
I seriously doubt losing Peralta would have had that much of an adverse effect on the Tigers lineup despite what J-honny has done this season.
On the brighter side I got my Peavy after all as the BoSox stole him!
Best thing ever done for him was when his coach wouldn’t allow him to speak to the media. Ever since that changed Manziel has demonstrated why 20 year olds are in fact immature.
Detroit swapping Knight for Jennings was a great move. Look out for Motown this season.
Jennings has certainly played better than Knight. I’m just wondering where they are going to get their shooting. Love C-P, but he’s a mid-range guy (or was in college). So, if it’s Jennings, C-P, J-Smooth, Monroe, Drummond as a starting and/or closing unit, then who is outside the 3pt line?
Also, it will be interesting to see if Josh & Andre can make up the defense that the other 3 lack (C-P just because he’s a rookie). They are good enough that they potentially can.
They are an interesting team to watch though for sure.
the guy has a 3.2WAR in less than 2/3 the season. he matters.
The WAR is skewed because Detroit really had no option as a replacement, now they do, which you commented on earlier. That being said J-honny wasn’t going to be the difference for Detroit and a championship.
2 words: Daniel Gibson. But seriously all they need is a guy who shoots with Jennings and Smith there won’t be much left. Detroit will be interesting for sure if they play Monroe and Drummond together they won’t have to worry about defense. Smith is smiling at that thought.
you think Monroe is good at defense?
Not as good as he should be for his size but he’s still young too. He’s the yin to Drummond’s yang Monroe = offense, Drummond = defense. Plus Josh Smith can play defense when he wants to don’t forget.
Cribb’s notes courtesy of SI.com:
http://mmqb.si.com/2013/07/31/josh-cribbs-oakland-raiders-10-things/?sct=hp_bf1_a3&eref=sihp
Note: Khaleesi belongs to $hamrock her fourth dragon!