Ben Tate is unhappy with current role in Browns’ running game
November 12, 2014All the Small Things: Kevin Love Keeping Defenders on His Hip
November 12, 2014Looking for any additional reasons to not believe Sam Smith’s “report” on Kevin Love potentially opting out of his deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers and signing with the Los Angeles Lakers? Look no further than the other 29 teams within the NBA who are apparently desperately rooting for the Wine and Gold’s ascension to the top to be an utter and complete failure.
In his latest BS Report, Bill Simmons had on Grantland.com’s Zach Lowe to discuss the lay of the NBA land, including the impending hike in the salary cap and the number of teams that will be vying for stars. At about the 20-minute mark, the two had this exchange.
Bill Simmons: I think another thing that’s happening right now is these teams that are hoping that Kevin Love—this Cavs thing is going to be a disaster and that Kevin Love will be in play this summer. And you’re seeing something that I actually predicted last week. You’re going to see teams start leaking stuff that’s not true—an intentional sabotage. We’ve already seen one article this week. ‘Lakers feel that they have a chance to get Love next summer.’ Oh, OK. really? You do? You think Love’s going to jump to your 6-76 team? I think some of these teams are going to float stuff out. Like if this Cavs situation—you know, let’s say they’re 16-11 and let’s say it’s a little rocky and you have a couple Kyrie and Dion Waiters-type, a couple more of those moments—all these teams are going to start leaking stuff that ‘it’s not what Love thought.’ This is stuff that’s going to happen, and how Cleveland handles that is going to be really interesting. And how Kevin Love handles it is going to be interesting. I think he’d be crazy to leave LeBron, but you know—you never know. There’s going to be 20 teams chasing him.
Zach Lowe: I don’t care what little nice things Kevin Love said on the day of the trade. He’s a free agent. There’s an incentive to be a free agent and then be a free agent again when the new TV deal kicks in. Stuff goes wrong. The Lakers of two years ago are the best example of that. Things look great on paper and then stuff goes wrong and people leave. I think Kevin Love will stay because I think the Cavs are going to be really, really good and figure it out. But it’s not—I get why everyone says, ‘Why are we talking about Kevin Love’s free agency already? Why are we talking about Kevin Durant’s free agency already?’ You know why? Because the whole league is talking about these issues. That’s what they’re concerned with; that’s what they’re planning for. … The story starts a year or two before. This is life in the NBA.
Simmons: We had a lot of people rooting against Miami in 2011 when they got together. It was for the karma reasons and the way it all played out. This Cavs thing is different because you have teams—and people working for those teams—really actively rooting for this Cavs thing to not go well because it puts the following people in play: Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. And everyone knows it. And for whatever reason, LeBron decides (GM LeBron, by the way because he is GM of that team), “You know what? Kyrie Irving is Steve Francis. This is a guy who can only succeed in basketball if he is the one succeeding; he does not approach a basketball game thinking to himself ‘how can I make everyone better, he’s just asking what’s the best situation for me?’ and I don’t want that. I’m not saying he’s going to come to that conclusion, but let’s say he does in January. Who’s sitting there waiting for him? The Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns are dying for that situation to happen. Same thing for the Spurs. And the Knicks. And the Lakers. … All of them are praying every night that this Cavs thing is going to be a disaster. So, I’m not trusting any story I read. Anonymous sources. Sources say. I just think it’s all BS and that’s the way the league works.
Simmons and Lowe discuss the Irving-to-Phoenix thing a bit further, but never touched on the item that makes the most sense: Eric Bledsoe and LeBron are boys and the Suns guard doesn’t dominate the ball and plays defense. But nevertheless, the story remains: There will be incredulous amounts of information thrown out to national writers and team-specific writers who also claim to cover the league. Lowe mentions that its the responsibility of these writers to vet out such nonsense, but at some point, it’s like asking a puppy to not go near that plate of food you’re about to leave on the coffee table.
Just like that dog’s owner who’s about to come back to scraps and a huge mess to clean up, Cavalier fans will be faced with these sort of reports over the course of the entire season. They’ll be published. They’ll be dissected. They’ll be misconstrued. But as Simmons said, it’s handling this sort of turbulence that will be the trick.
37 Comments
There are theories about why these stupid, baseless “reports” start (sabotage, media fuel, click bait, attention, blah blah)—but why they perpetuate (and somehow gain credence along the way) is another story.
When something like this comes across your desk as a media or blogger person, maybe you should round file it. Maybe you shouldn’t pass it on.
“Or maybe you shouldn’t bring me every little piece of trash you happen to pick up.”
-Fight Club
Simmons is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo smart why didn’t I think of that!
I go through cycles of loving and hating Simmons. At this moment, I love him for shedding some light on the garbage that’s being thrown out there (and also for taking on ESPN, because everyone always loves that).
As an outlet who strives to provide our readers with what fans are talking about, we will always (seriously: always) share reports written by national scribes when they’re about our team. Within said post, we will often provide our thoughts or add more light as to why fans should or shouldn’t feel a certain way, but we will always post them. Never once have we given “credence” to any of that report—in fact, we’ve done nothing but tell fans why they shouldn’t worry about it. How you guys choose to react to it is your call, but if fans are talking about something (good or bad) on the radio or Twitter or Facebook or Reddit, we want to make sure we provide the chance to talk about it here as well. That will never change.
https://skepticalteacher.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/conspiracy.jpg
I can respect on some level that you’re just reporting national news or “reports” but think that not filtering out any old national garbage fuels the problems. As a reader, I love what you guys do, but as a reader, I do think it’s fair to raise issues. One thing that happens in these garbage situations is that people actually discuss the merits of said garbage, and because there’s discussion, it’s substantively now a “thing” rather than a piece of silliness that blew in. And then the thing gains momentum.
There’s a little guy in Chicago who throws out some trash, and what your reporting and everybody else’s reporting does is give this thing some media weight. Yesterday, on my FB feed, this was “trending.” That was wonderful.
So, if you choose not to filter, like it or not, you’re in some way part of the problem.
And meanwhile, a little troll in Chicago is happy, Cavs fans are irked or angsty, and Love & the Cavs have to deal with the fabricated problem.
“As a reader, I love what you guys do, but as a reader, I do think it’s fair to raise issues.”
Completely fair.
I’d counter with the fact that Sam Smith is far from “a little guy in Chicago.” If it were some random website or Twitter feed, no—it would not make the pages of this site. But a long-time scribe like Smith (author of plenty of books, in the journalism Hall of Fame at Ball State, etc.) publishing work on an NBA-chartered website, is going to get some burn. Things only gain momentum when cooler heads don’t prevail. We dispelled this immediately; the readers did the same. The only people getting upset about this are those who see the headline across their Twitter/Facebook feeds and do not read the pieces before commenting.
I think we do a great job of vetting/screening. Could it be better? Sure. But there are plenty of other things, like the ‘twirling mustache’ bit, that never even made it to draft status let alone reviewed and published.
Clearly these three can’t co-exist!
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ooooh, great point about Bledsoe with Klutch and more importantly how he could fit this roster better! i love Kyrie, but I think there is definite value in a guy who’s just as dangerous offensively, but rarely let’s the ball stick to him, can play off the ball, AND defend!? but Kyrie is still only 22, and knows the whole world is watching, so let’s see if dude steps up. otherwise PHX probably would love a seat filler like Kyrie.
his ripping of mike golic last week is another item that has his power ranking trending up.
he’s still a douche, so why should he be right on this one? like Craig wrote, no one knows what Love’s gonna do, but the more we win, and hopefully at least NBA Finals, it would be tough for Love to face the music for bailing.
I love how Simmons forcefully debunks the myth of Love leaving (and all of the other fantasies), and then quietly, from the subterfuge of his own refuting, plants the seeds of the new myth of Lebron believing that “Kyrie is Steve Francis.” Classic rope-a-dope. Nice one, Billy Boy.
^100%. it’s not called the B.S Report for nothin
Bledsoe may play D but Kyrie Irving is a top-5 offensive player in this league. What he did to the Pelicans was unique, singular, and devastating. No other player in the league can match what he can do with the ball. His all-around game isn’t as good as, say, Lillard’s, but he can not be stopped on offense. You don’t trade those players – you find someone else to come in and play D.
you’re missing the point. we don’t need him to be “score-first” we have Bron, Love and others for that. yes, we need him to score when it’s in the flow of the offense, but the ball typically sticks with Kyrie, and that’s not going to fly. so either he picks it up, or Bron will have him shipped out. and that’s not even counting his defensive inefficiencies thus far. again he’s only 22 and has room for improvement. But Bledsoe is as solid as they come, and will only be 25 next month.
You put the food on the table but I decide what to eat. I appreciate that.
and getting Golic to publicly apologize. I have never been a fan of Simmons, in fact, i have always been a very vocal detractor, but he’s growing on my lately as his cojones seem to grow.
Kyrie is 20th in free throw attempts. he ain’t top-5 offensive player in the league. he got a lot of shots last year because the Cavs didn’t have many other viable options to score. he shot only 43% last year, on 17.5 shots a game, basically as much as Bron shot a game, yet Bron put up 7 more points a game. I love Kyrie, but he’s barely Top 15 offensive overall. Top 5 scoring PG for sure, but overall efficiency and offensive player, no way.
as i said above, Bledsoe can’t hold Kyrie’s jock offensively. He isn’t even close. His 2.3 career OWS is nowhere near Kyrie’s 12.8 (despite Bledsoe playing 30% more games). And just forget about the stats and watch the guys play. Nobody in the league would deal Kyrie for Bledsoe straight up except for Ryan McDonough.
i am not comparing him to LeBron James. You would make anyone in league history this side of Magic Johnson look pedestrian next to LeBron.
slightly lower PER, but higher shooting percentage, and significantly better defensively and +/-. i agree that we shouldn’t do the deal straight up, maybe throw in a draft pick or 2, but you’ve got to be kidding me to think that Bron wouldn’t ship him if he isn’t stepping up to the plate. might as well flip him for his high Q factor and ability to fill the seats. again, this is all only if he doesn’t step it up and earn Bron’s trust, and not sneak out the locker room without speaking to the press after a bad game. i’m sure Bron would expect his client Bledsoe to toe the party line.
“Kyrie is 20th in free throw attempts.”
Is that how you measure how good an offensive player you have? If so, Irving would be better than:
Kevin Love at 26th
Steph Curry at 27
LaMarcus Aldridge at 33
Derek Rose at 41
Carmelo Anthony at 45
D Wade at 46
(and…Eric Bledsoe at 43)
But, of course, Tony Wroten is getting to the line 8.3 times per game (more than Kobe, and good for 7th in the league) so he must be awesome.
what is Kyrie’s shooting percentage?? how many guys are better him on that list???
he’s shooting 43% on the season, the exact same he shot last year. he was a volume shooter, and low assists, so it’s not like he’s this offensive juggernaut. yet at least, he has the talent to do so, but how long of a leash will Bron give him? especially if he doesn’t pick it up on creating for his teammates, and more importantly making stops on the other end.
you need to evaluate Kyrie on this season. It’s too early to start now. He finally has a team around him. Do you think that many guys could average a bunch of assists playing with the guys Irving has played with over the past years? I think his numbers will be stunning once this season ends.
All of this rings true. Seems to me that the Cavs have an excellent chance of surviving the noise intact because LeBron has always gotten along with all kinds of teammates. Even if Love has a prickly personality and Kyrie has an outsized ego, it’s nothing LeBron hasn’t charmed before.
But on another note I’m waiting to see LeBron actually make eye contact with and relate to the coach during games. Kind of feels like this early season is a time when LeBron is making sure everyone gets the new pecking order.
You mean as his contract comes up and is trying to scare espn into a big it get another network to do the same. Funny the parallel to the nba stuff.
Crap and stupid crap at that … slow news day but WFNY is better than this …
Well I don’t know about Smith’s credentials or him being a “must discuss” on what he says, but I get your overall point.
The fact is what he said is/was provocative, and all the media gladly bit. Whether commenters proved or disproved his silliness (or others’ garbage) isn’t the point. It was there, and it had its desired effect. The media and WFNY picked it up and played with it for a while, and that’s your prerogative.
Just throwing my two cents in that you’re feeding the troll and also part of a click bait world that seems a bit undignified. I say it because I like the site and its integrity. Carry on, sir, and thanks for listening.
Better than shedding light on why a rumor is nonsense? OK then.
Yes Scott it is .. when you shed light on crap .. you give it importance it does not deserve. This isn’t a rumor, this is the Internet trying to get hits on a site … if you guys can’t distinguish this as journalists, what does it say about you and WFNY
You really have to watch what you wish for. This all started even before the Carlos Boozer debacle. It’s amazing how Shaq played for us in comparison to how he played for the Celtics!!! Lebron looks oddly shaky in a couple years of playoff games and then goes to South Beach. How many decades have past and the Cavs just couldn’t seem to hold on to or draft dominant big men? Last year we had Spencer Hawes and Tyler Zeller. Not bruisers, but they did have interesting skill sets. Hawes should have been wined and dined IMMEDIATELY after last season, he would have given Lebron, J. Parker or Wiggins a great “5” to play off of. Alex Kirk and Brendan Haywood are not ready for prime time and won’t get minutes while T. Thompson and Andy will be hit and miss at best. Now we have Lebron who seems to quietly be a nightmare for coach Blatt and instead of getting quality, cheap BIGS, we got J. Jones, Mike Miller and Marion. These faces and Andy V. might make the “king” comfortable, but won’t win any RINGS. Lebron and Love will be great if we can keep them for more then 1 year. But I do wonder what J. Parker and S. Hawes would have been like, with a cast around them by GM Griffin and not Lebron.
It’s things like this that are going to make it that much sweeter when the Cavs figure this thing out and start steamrolling over people. Which they can start doing like any day now. Seriously, no need to wait there guys.
So…..did you see the Boston game? I’m feeling good about my top-5 comment.
ya dude, obviously great to see him get hot these past 4 games, now let’s hope he keeps it up, as his previous 85 games or so he shot 43%.. but if he keeps shooting above 50%, which seems to me to be a basic requirement of being a Top 5 offensive player then that would be great. but up till now, he’s far from Top 5 overall offensive player in the NBA, no shot
again, like i said, he’s gotta improve otherwise he’s gonna get shipped. so ya, give him the season, maybe even next season, but if he doesn’t pick it up, GM Lebron will ship him. let’s just see if Kyrie steps up to the challenge, i hope he does.
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