Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski writes about how the Cavs lost their way
February 12, 2014Browns clean house again! – Scott Raab discusses – WFNY Podcast – 2014-02-12
February 12, 2014While We’re Waiting is a space on the WaitingForNextYear website where we share links every day. We’ve been doing it for about four years or so. Denny Mayo used to be much more amusing with his intros, if you recall. You know the drill: Email us with suggestions at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Harsh words about Joe Banner and his departed regime from this former Browns.com writer: “There’s a pattern here. The Browns have long had trouble figuring things out, and if it makes any sense, Haslam might be starting to figure that out. Now, if the Browns can just nail their two first-round picks, Haslam can be cleared of wrongdoing in the FBI investigation of his Pilot/Flying J companies and Farmer and Pettine can be on the same page in March, May, August and November, the Browns might just be able to eventually rejoin the ranks of the NFL living and competing again. Deep breath, Browns fans. With Farmer in charge, all of that (or at least some of that) has a better chance of happening.” [Zac Jackson/Fox Sports Ohio]
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Enjoyed this round-up of key questions about what’s next for the Browns and why fans should be confident in the new structure.[Gregg Rosenthal/NFL.com]
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More positive national words about removing Banner and Lombardi: “The Cleveland Browns’ latest shakeup might have looked like further evidence of dysfunction. In reality, it was an important step towards competency — if owner Jimmy Haslam can stay out of the way.” [Tom Pelissero/USA TODAY]
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But this very well-respected national writer was perhaps the most critical of the Browns on Twitter: “You know that feeling you have after you make a major move? You sit in your new place, exhausted, irritated, surrounded by boxes, and you think: ‘I am never, ever moving again.’ That’s what it’s like rooting for the Browns. Only the boxes never get unpacked. And the instant you begin to feel just slightly at ease, you have to move again.” [Joe Posnanski/NBC Sports]
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How much credit does Lombardi deserve? “Mike Lombardi is out as general manager after only one year with the Cleveland Browns. He came in with a terrible track record (something he owned in his press conference) and wanted to prove he could do the job. Lombardi was largely invisible and kept out of the media’s spotlight, which caused many to obsess about how hidden he was from the media. A year later, the Browns are in better shape and poised to be able to move forward as a franchise.” [Peter Smith/Dawg Pound Daily]
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My favorite thing about the Lombardi firing: I won’t see this humorous yet terrible Lombardi draft record chart fly around Twitter anymore. [Tony Mazur/Twitter]
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And a Patriots blog is already wondering whether Lombardi might make his return to work with Bill Belichick. [Richard Hill/Pats Pulpit]
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And now it’s back on to draft talk: “More and more, what has been on my mind with the 2014 draft is the worst case scenario for the Cleveland Browns. What is that exactly? The worst case in the front office’s mind would be if they don’t get a ‘franchise’ quarterback with the fourth pick in the first round. It has been more or less stated by the front office that everything they have done has been in preparation for the team to get a quarterback this year, and to go out and get one early.” [Jeff Ellis/Cleveland Sports Insiders]
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Love looking back at old trades and where they are now: “After seeing that the Indianapolis Colts signed David Sims earlier today, that got me to wondering — what ended up being the outcome of the trade between the Cleveland Browns and the Philadelphia Eagles two years ago? If you recall, Sims was a training camp stud at the safety position who fans thought was going to make the final roster. Instead, Tom Heckert traded Sims to the Eagles for a conditional draft pick.” [Chris Pokorny/Dawgs By Nature]
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Oh hey look, an entire trade deadline-related section on what’s possibly going on with the Cavs: “David Griffin has replaced Chris Grant as the Cavs’ GM, and the other 29 teams are calling to take Griffin’s temperature. The Cavs are likely still committed to chasing a playoff spot this season, but they sacrificed some valuable assets to acquire Luol Deng. If the Cavs think Deng is likely to bolt in free agency this summer, they have to be very careful sending out more future assets to bolster the current roster.” [Zach Lowe/Grantland]
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Anthony Bennett might have had his best game ever yesterday. But he’s still the leader in several statistical Anti-Awards at the midseason point: “To date the number one overall pick in last year’s draft is shooting 30.1% from the field, giving him an enormous margin over players like Alexey Shved, John Lucas and Kirk Hinrich. To put his shooting struggles in context, last year’s winner of this award, Ricky Rubio, finished the year shooting 36.0%. I’m sure this was not the award Bennett was hoping to win heading into the season, but shiny recognition is shiny recognition and he’s already threatening to lap the field.” [Ian Levy/Hickory-High]
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Are you a baseball attendance nerd like me? Check out this detailed post on attendance trends since 1950. [Scott Lindholm/Beyond The Box Score]
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Would changing the qualifying offer rules benefit both teams and players? The Indians certainly are in an odd quandary with Ubaldo Jimenez right now: “So, in thinking about potential alternatives to the qualifying offer system, I wonder if perhaps a very small tweak to the rules could actually produce a large change in how the system operates, and resolve perhaps the primary sticking point for the players. That change? Remove the expiration date from the qualifying offer itself.” [Dave Cameron/FanGraphs]
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And finally, not sure if you’ve been following this Sloan Sports Analytics Conference story, but statistician Michael Lopez shares an update about his research paper submission process. [StatsbyLopez]
24 Comments
In case anyone was wondering (which, I can understand if you’re not) Peter King also weighed in (get it? I kill me!) about this, and apparently he is upset for his pal Lombardi as well. Sigh…remember when Peter King used to be a good writer and not a reactionary sheep in search of clickbait?
Jason La Canfora was inconsolable yesterday over the firing of Lombardi.
He was actually sobbing like a little girl at the keyboard while he wrote his “Haslam Is A Big Meanie” reaction piece.
It was really hard to read. lol
he was always a writer that had deep personal connections throughout the league and it bled into his writing. it used to be to his benefit since he had a ton of time between writings. now that he has to put out so much more information and write immediately, it has naturally caused him to be more reactionary through it. his biggest asset (emotional but thoughtful writing) has turned into his biggest weakness (emotional writing with no time for thoughtfulness).
it was an easy read. i have it bookmarked. hilarious piece and I sent it to a few friends marked “Onion Article on Browns Move.” Noone questioned the subject, so I eventually had to tell them it was a real article from a supposedly respected national writer.
anytime you can incorporate the Onion, you are a winner.
By the by, the latest PFT rumor is that “Brandon Weeden wants out”, a friend of mine on Twitter actually thought THAT was an Onion article
Jacob, I saw you on TV last night.
Sounds like someone’s angling for the franchise tag…..
You aren’t getting it, Brandon.
In other news, the Onion is mad at Cleveland sports for making it tougher to come up with ridiculous news that could never actually happen in real life.
I think he is merely assuming that he won’t have to pay for movers if he announces his intentions. I hear there’s already an army of fans that dropped their pitchforks so they could help him carry boxes. Somebody better slip the driver a hundey to make sure he ends up in Pittsburgh though.
The Cavs are getting fun. It might be too little too late, but at least they’re watchable again! I was feeling bitter handing over that theoretical check for NBA League Pass every month. The team is finally playing some defense and SHARING THE BALL on offense. Anthony Bennett finally showed his potential, hitting jump shots without fading backwards and either finishing at the rim or drawing a foul. He had a powerful And-1 over DeMarcus Cousins, who cried and whined the entire game.
Also, my man-crush on Matthew Dellavedova is getting worse. Did anybody see what happened at the end of the 3rd quarter? If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I absolutely HATE Dion Waiters ISOs at the end of a quarter. I really, really despise them because he rarely makes the right decision and the Cavs don’t get a score. This time, Delly came up and said something to him, Waiters reluctantly gave him the ball, Delly waited for Waiters to get to the corner, and then Waiters did a backdoor cut to the rim where Delly hit him with a perfect pass for a reverse layup. It was so gratifying… there’s zero chance Mike Brown every draws up a play that works that well. Delly either invented it on the spot or worked it out with Dion beforehand, they ran it, and it worked. Man-crush levels are dangerously high.
that is one reason I pay my whole bill up front. pay it and don’t think about the amount I paid to watch (or not watch in some cases).
Dellavedova has been showing himself to be an overall fringe rotational player lately though. I like him, hope that he solidifies himself as a rotational guy, but I don’t think he’ll ever be anything more.
I don’t agree… I think he’s a solid rotational player right now, and remember, he’s still a rookie. He will almost certainly continue to improve with playing time. He’s important for the Cavs since he gives them some sorely needed defensive intensity, he moves the ball on offense, and the team is 3.1 points per 100 possessions better than the opposing team when he’s on the court.
🙂
His defense makes him worthwhile as a rotation player, you can see he gets under peoples’ skin. He was getting shoved and elbowed after plays for being pesky. That said, I don’t think he’s good enough at ball handling or scoring to be considered a “solid” rotation player yet.
I hope you’re right and he continues to develop, but right now I think he’s situational only i.e., bring him in to hold a lead in the final minutes.
That stats show that he’s actually been more useful to the Cavs’ offense when he’s in than their defense, particularly because he makes smart passes and moves the ball. When he does shoot, which isn’t often, he’s got a solid eFG of 54%. What I like best about him is that he’s just an extremely smart player. Look at his shot selection… he basically doesn’t shoot anything that’s not a 3-pointer or a drive to the hoop. He talks constantly and acts like a coach on the floor. Whether he’s handling the ball more as a PG or playing off ball, doesn’t really matter to me… the Cavs are a better team when he gets regular minutes rather than minutes that are situational.
Wow, his +/- on offense is better than I would have expected. Also, per 82games’ Top 20 5-man Units, Delly is the only guy in every single one.
I agree about coaching on the floor, and would also add that he is always standing/cheering on the bench as well.
I think the 5-man floor units you’re looking at are the ones on Delly’s page… he’s going to be in all of those. But even so, I just like how he projects as a 3-and-D guy who can handle the ball on occasion. I think Mike Brown has him miscast a bit as the teams’ PG-stopper, but I suppose he’s only filling that defensive role because Irving and Jack have been so bad in it. I like him more defensively when he’s hounding the wings… like in the game against the Heat, he was sticking like glue to Ray Allen as he worked around those screens and was really frustrating him. Allen went 3-9 in that game and wanted to punch Delly in the face.
Ah yes. On the team page, he doesn’t show up until #10. Good thing this inter-net is just a passing fad anyways, and I don’t have to learn how to use it properly.
And yeah, last night he was switching all over the place and up in everyone’s face, guard or otherwise. Love the effort.
I think he can get there, but he isn’t there yet. This chart demonstrates how much he helps to some degree:
http://www.82games.com/1314/1314CLE1.HTM
But, I do realize that he gets saddled with the bench units alot of the time, which hurts him in such numbers. This chart is more fair to him if you look at WS/48 on the team:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2014.html
He’s got great ast%, decent 3pt% (and over 50% of his shots from there), but turns the ball over too much and is bad at FG%.
the good thing is that if he comes off as one of the guys who will achieve his ceiling because he is so willing to work on the court (and so I naturally assume off the court as well).
I wish playing defense with that kind of intensity was seen as “cool”… I swear it seems like that is why so many players don’t do it. It just doesn’t look cool to be all up in someone’s space waving your arms around and looking panicked.
Right. By no means do I think his ceiling is high. I’d just be shocked if he is not a player who has a long career as a bench guy. He’s got a lot of Kirk Hinrich in him.
I would love for him to get to Hinrich-status. I think he needs a better handle/drive to get there though. Hinrich was great at setting up teammates because he could not only pass (Delly is good here), but could drive into lanes and see the floor extremely well.
That is a good guy for the coaching staff to be showing Delly tape of though. Nice one.
if flailing around and looking panicked is cool, then you can call me Dean Martin 🙂
I do, when you’re not listening. You don’t need an even more inflated sense of self worth.