NFL free agency, Cavaliers playoff run and more – WFNY Podcast – 2015-03-16
March 17, 2015Don’t trust the computers on Ohio State in the NCAA tournament: WFNY Stats & Info
March 17, 2015Happy Tuesday WFNY!
Well, it’s as happy as we can possibly make it after another brutal loss to the Miami Heat last night, anyway. It’s funny, though, for as much grief as fans seem to give Kevin Love, these last two games have illustrated that Love is, indeed, an integral part of this team. Look, when you play with two other All-Stars who have the ball in their hands and have the ability to create for themselves, your game is going to be different. It was always inevitable that Love’s numbers would decline from what they were when he was the focal point of the offense in Minnesota. In Cleveland, with Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Love is always going to be the third option no matter how skilled and gifted he is on offense.
So I don’t understand the fans’ consternation. What kind of numbers were they expecting from Love? The Cavaliers have the best starting lineup in the entire NBA. When everyone is healthy and playing, the vast majority of the losses they incur are not Kevin Love’s fault. At all. The lack of consistent bench production continues to be this team’s Achilles’ heel. Yet every time I peek at Twitter, I see yet another debate about Kevin Love (and thus, by default, Andrew Wiggins).
Here’s a secret that’s not a secret at all. If Andrew Wiggins was still on the Cavaliers, he would not be putting up the same kind of numbers he is in Minnesota. He would basically be taking Iman Shumpert’s role on this team. That’s not to downplay Wiggins’ ability. He is showing that he has the tools to be a great NBA player. But he had no role on this team, really, other than perimeter defender.
As for Love, where would the Cavaliers’ offense be without Love’s spacing opening up the lane for LeBron and Kyrie to operate? Does anyone remember how miserable life was for Kyrie last season when the team’s spacing was atrocious and opponents would just pack the lane? And where would the Cavaliers be without Love’s rebounding and passing abilities? Kevin Love is a tremendous basketball player and even while having to adjust and adapt his game more than anyone else on the team, he’s still putting up better numbers as a “third banana” than Chris Bosh ever did.
I don’t know what the future holds for the Cavaliers and Kevin Love. Maybe he is unhappy with his role on the team and will look to play elsewhere. And sure, I’d like to see the Cavaliers utilize his post game a little more, particularly in stretches when the offense is struggling. But David Blatt is using Love in a way that maximizes Kyrie and LeBron’s impact on the offense. It requires Love to play outside more than he’s used to, but the offense’s spacing is better than I can ever remember it being, even going back to LeBron’s first run in Cleveland. This offense is dynamic and at times unstoppable. Yet all we want to do is nitpick Kevin Love’s role in it? It’s incredibly annoying and frustrating.
To some degree I get it. Of course the question can be asked if Cleveland really needs to pay a max deal to a “glorified floor spacer”. I would argue yes. You are not going to find a better floor spacer who also brings various other skills to the team. And as Love becomes more and more familiar with the offense and the team, I continue to hope the team will allow him more freedom in the post.
Look, the Heat really didn’t figure things out until their second year together. Of course the Cavaliers are still figuring all this stuff out. That the team is where they are is actually a pleasant surprise to me. I figured they’d still be struggling to put everything together at this point of the season. Instead, it feels a bit like they are more or less coasting to the playoffs now. Maybe it’s time for fans to lighten up and do the same.
*****
A couple quick Browns thoughts
There was a time in my life when I was an opinionated Browns fan. To some degree I suppose I still am. But writing about sports over the last seven years has taught me how to better understand my own strengths and weaknesses. I learned pretty quickly that I don’t understand football as well as I once thought I did. And I’m ok with that. I try to stay in my basketball lane as much as I can while enjoying things like football and baseball more as a fan.
So, with that grain of salt laid out on the table, I have to say that I’m pretty uncomfortable with this Browns offseason. I love the signings of Randy Starks and Tramon Williams. I’m mostly happy with the direction the defense is headed. But this team sure looks like an offense set up to fail spectacularly.
The QB situation continues to be an absolute mess. I’m thrilled for Manziel’s ability to seek help for his personal issues. I want him to be healthy and to have his mind in the right place. But I didn’t like him as an NFL prospect going into last year’s draft, and I liked what I saw from him on the field last season even less than I thought I would. The Josh McCown signing does nothing for me. What I see is a team that continues to be tied down by the anchor of QB carousel.
I want to be an optimistic fan. My whole life I’ve been remarkably optimistic considering the reality of this franchise. But I’m starting to feel a little worn down. I don’t know as that I’m becoming a pessimist. Instead, I think I’m just becoming apathetic. I’ll watch the team and root my heart out, but I’m over trying to project optimism onto the team. I’ll just wait and see what happens. That’s really the only approach I can take at this point.
Also, Browns fans do things like this, which is bizarre:
A Browns fan just sent me a picture of a bag of penises (I assume fake penises) and told me to eat them.
Thanks, Obama.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) March 16, 2015
Hmm. Stay classy, Browns fans1.
*****
New album of the week
Wow, what a week for music. 2015 has gotten off to a slow start for me musically. There have been a select one or two albums that I’ve really enjoyed, but I’ve been waiting for that moment when an album would just sweep me off my feet and completely wow me. Incredibly, I got two such albums this week. So I’m going to call this week a tie.
The first one is the more esoteric one. Not everyone will love this album. The band Pyramids comes from Denton, Texas. They are a “supergroup”, apparently, though I am not familiar with any of the bands from which the members come. Pyramids have been called the Radiohead of metal, and I can see why they get the name, even if I don’t totally agree. The truth is, I’ve never heard anything quite like Pyramids. Those of you who read the music stuff from myself and Craig Lyndall, or those who listen to our music podcasts, may recall us talking a lot about Alcest. I get some of the same vibes from Pyramids, the blending of black metal riffs with psychedelic, ethereal soundscapes.
But Pyramids twist that formula on its head. This is a total and complete deconstruction of metal, a lo-fi cousin of Deafheaven perhaps on a musical scale. But the vocals are incredible with Pyramids. They offer these absolutely soaring vocals at times, other times putting traditional metal screams in the background of the music, while still other times going with an almost shoegaze approach to the melodies. This is hands down my favorite album so far of 2015. The album, “A Northern Meadow”, is a must buy for anyone who enjoys deconstructed metal.
The second album is something with a more broad appeal. We got a really pleasant surprise Sunday night when Kendrick Lamar dropped his new album on the internet. I’ve only been able to listen to it twice, but it’s yet another absolute masterpiece from the best lyricist and delivery man in rap today. Whereas his last album, “good kid, m.A.A.d city” leaned on a simplified, throw back to 90s West Coast rap, his new album, “To Pimp a Butterfly” pulls in influences from all over the place. It’s a less streamlined sound, but that doesn’t really make it any less impactful. And Kendrick is more on point than ever on this album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AhXSoKa8xw
After such a slow start to the year, getting two incredible new albums to listen to in one week feels pretty good.
*****
That’s all I’ve got this week. Have a great rest of your week!
- It may not be classy, but it is kind of funny. [↩]
42 Comments
I did not realize that Obama was a Brown’s fan like JFK.
I’m definitely in the same place about the Browns. Until they get a real QB, I don’t see the point in getting any hopes about contention. They’re not going to be bad enough to “luck” into a QB in the draft and the coaching/front office don’t seem to have the ability to find and develop a diamond in the rough. So just more of the same for the foreseeable future.
Listening to a Simmons podcast where he’s going to talk about “drama in Cleveland ” while calling for Love to go to Boston (because Isiah Thomas and Evan Turner are a better situation than Kyrie/LeBron).
For the Brown’s offense, QB is the position of question, as always.
Outside QB though, I am concerned that we haven’t done much else either.
WR/TE – what game-breaking receiving option do we have to help take the focus off our run game? Hawkins and Gabriel are very good secondary options. But, without a primary threat, defenses will continue to watch for the run game first. It is for this reason that I would have loved to go after Torrey Smith or take the chance to trade for McCown’s old friend Brandon Marshall.
However, we can still make the receiving options work. We may get Devante Parker (or Kevin White and I guess it’s possible for Amari Cooper to drop) in the draft. Percy Harvin, Dwayne Bowe, Greg Jennings, Michael Crabtree, and even Stevie Johnson are available. None of these guys are primary weapons either, but if we don’t have a primary, then we better be really deep in secondary options to account for injuries.
It won’t be a great offense, but it can be a functional one. Still lots of work to do though.
Clearly, if Love wants to win, he needs to go to Boston.
The Celtics are a scrappy team with a great coach who are playing pretty good basketball right now. If he wants to be an alpha dog again and have the offense run through him, then Boston might not be a bad place to go. But if being a part of something huge and contending for championships (plural), then Cleveland is his best bet. We’ll see what he wants.
WR scares me. I love players like Hartline and Hawkins. They are such easy guys to root for. And I thought Miles Austin was a reliable, dependable possession receiver before he got hurt. But man Josh Gordon just killed this team. Ugh.
As you alluded to, Andrew, the angst about Love is not his numbers. It’s the fact that his current role eviscerates his central and original strength: his array of inside moves and ability to create for teammates from there. As many have said, they’ve taken an all-star and made him into a younger James Jones. We can’t fully blame Blatt. First, Blatt’s coaching flexibility is unquestioned – look how quickly he incorporated Mozgov, Shumpert and Smith in mid-season. But his job is to win now, and he’s doing it. Other blame falls on LeBron and Love himself. Blatt can call a play but if LeBron grabs the ball, stops the ball, that’s what the most powerful man in sports has the power to do (and Blatt, like Mike Brown, can never publicly say a thing). Love himself can act less like a kid in his first day in a new school and more like a Dion meme.
LeBron and Kyrie may not like Love setting up closer to the basket because that clogs their drive-and-kick lanes. But you can see playoff games forced into the grinding half court offense that fails when JR isn’t feeling it from the outside. To finally ask Love to break out his rusty post up game under that pressure may be too much. I realize I’m talking in circles. But have the feeling that finally incorporating Love in a way that doesn’t waste half his ability might require the caustic lessons from getting bounced from the playoffs. We’ll see if Love gives them that time.
I think the tweeter meant: Thanks Condi!
“And Kendrick is more on point than ever on this album.”
Drove in this morning hoping you’d talk about this. Glad to hear you like it. As with any hyped artist (K dot is easily the tops of the game right now), critics are waiting for his first misstep in attempt to declare his reign as being over. They’ll be waiting for a while.
The neo-funk vibes TPAB kicks off will not be for everyone. The fact that it’s an album—and not a hodge podge of randomly placed singles—will likely get (weirdly) panned. But Kenrdick Lamar continues to show why he’s the best at it today. Here’s hoping this one cracks your top 10 for the year as GKMC got SUPER snubbed a few years back.
Ray, if you have the opportunity to draft one of the Big 3 and pass…
http://d15irhca3igrs6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Arya-Missouri.gif
agreed (and thanks for adding him as I neglected), Hartline replaces Mile Austin (and should be better) but is still just another secondary guy.
I always give the music sampling a a try around here, and especially when I see rap because there’s so little quality stuff out there anymore. And this isn’t the first time I’ve listened to Kendrick. But I remain baffled by the praise this guy gets. I’ve heard worse than this particular track, but I can’t help but continue to think “overrated” anytime his name comes up. I suppose it’s the curse of having been raised on late 80s and 90s rap.
I’m all out of optimism for the Browns. I’ll watch, I’ll root like hell, but don’t ask me to paint a rosy picture regarding this team. Train wreck until proven otherwise. And Cavs fans have been the worst part of this season for me, which is odd considering how much better they made the lean years. Nothing is good enough. When this team falls short of a title this year (I’d love it, but sorry, no one does it year one), I’m going to have to avoid Twitter like the plague.
I’d like to see them run a few plays through him at the beginning of the game, like they sometimes did with Ilgauskas. Give the big man some love early, and you might see him more motivated later in the game and the next night.
Even if they don’t do that – I don’t see how a Lebron-Love pick and roll isn’t one of the most efficient offensive sets the league can see.
Dead on, Andrew, regarding the Kevin Love sturm and drang. Settle down everyone. Enjoy the 17 and 10 you are getting every night through the first three quarters, not to mention the incredible outlet passing. Be happy that the Cavs can take Love’s effort through those initial quarters and not expose his defensive weaknesses in the fourth when we need to clamp down and close out games.
It’s such a double edged sword that musicians have to deal with. This is an album that makes an artistic statement in a very different way. It’s more of an expression through feeling compared the barrage of lyrical imagery we got in GKMC. I wish I could have written more about it, but I’ve only been able to listen to it twice and that’s not enough for everything to sink in.
But I can see why some are expressing disappointment in it. I totally get it. But I think the expression of TPAB gives his sound more depth, supplying a bigger supplement to his message. Doing things like this will almost always irritate a certain segment of a fanbase. The reviews for TPAB have been pretty mixed, which is understandable. But I think 20 years from now it will be the more celebrated and remembered album, as hard as that is to believe right now in the moment.
Cavs players by DRtg (throwing out the garbage time guys) – Shumpert, Mozgov, James, and, wait for it, Love. Love is not the defensive weakness that he is reputed to be.
I agree with everything you said, except the James Jones line. I’ve heard it elsewhere, but it’s kind of garbage. Kevin Love, even in this role, is a much more talented and productive player than James Jones has ever been, and it’s not even close. I know you were just making a point, but still, I get a little worked up over that comparison because it’s totally unfair to Love.
I don’t think Harv is really comparing Love to Jones. Just that the team has used Love in the same role that they would use Jones.
Even that is an exaggeration.
Well, sure, I won’t speak for Harv, but no he’s not completely James Jones, 100% of his jumpers coming off an assist. It’s only 86% this year for Love.
I’m with you, except I’m getting to the point where, for myself, I’d have to edit your statement to:
When I am awake, I’m going to have to avoid Twitter like the plague.
Just because the QB situation continues to suck, it doesn’t follow that there’s any reason to be uncomfortable with this off-season. I don’t think there were any good options available to us. The best bad options were probably Bradford or Foles and neither of those guys are worth lighting your torch over imo. Like 80% of the league, we’re still trying to get a handle on the QB position. That’s the modern NFL, unfortunately. Probably like 70-90% of a team’s success rate is predicated on one position.
Good thing it’s only March.
You know, you’re right. You really are. I can’t claim to be super rational about this. And maybe if it was just a handful of seasons, I would feel differently. But when we’re going on, what, two years in the last twenty where the offense has been in the top half of the league in points and/or yards, it just creates a cumulative suffocating feeling for me. I wish I could be along for the ride, but I just can’t. I’ve seen too many consecutive miserable seasons of football. The burden of proof lies with the Browns now, not with me.
Sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s sports, entertainment. All this ridiculous drama should be part of the fun.
Agreed. So much of what I read are fans gnashing their teeth about missing out on Bradford/Foles like we missed out on Brady or Luck. Our QB situation blows again but after choosing who so many thought/hoped was the savior in the last draft what exactly were the choices to dramatically improve that position since then?
Didn’t mean it so literally. There’s one thing that Jones does on offense, only one, and he does it well. Love’s offensive game has excellence in so many facets that he’s become a star. The Cavs’ current system has (mostly, some games entirely) reduced him on offense to exactly and only what James Jones does, catch and shoot from the 3 point line. What’s there to argue about? Of course he’s more talented; that’s the point.
And again, plunking him in other spots, letting him do his Kevin McHale thing or facilitate may be intolerable to LeBron and put a damper on the dynamics we’ve seen from Kyrie. Maybe you don’t mess with what’s working. But I’m not sure the offense we’re seeing is the finished product, the most effective product for a tight playoff game, or that every player has had their role recalibrated to make this system truly unstoppable like maybe it can be.
they actually have done it for Love, too. They even used to run an inside play (almost always unsuccessful) for Ben Wallace just to let him touch the ball and calm down in the first 5 minutes.
hi Andrew … you say you want to be optimistic , but you’re just worn down … we all know that feeling. this should make you feel a pinch better ; brian hoyer went 10-6 as a starter … pretty dang good around here. and why was he fairly successful ? … he’s a decent QB , but not a great one. it is because the browns are getting better as an OVERALL TEAM …
Very interesting, Steve. I guess I’m guilty of the same groupthink on Love as a weak, lock down defender as many others. But, I do find it curious if DRtg is that reflective of defensive prowess, why does this coaching staff choose to sit two of its four best statistical stoppers in the fourth quarter?
Why did they play Dion Waiters, not just one of our weakest players, but sub-replacement so much before they traded him?
Personally, I think a lot of the angst for Love is just an echo of the ever popular “media narrative” that Love is being used incorrectly. I’m out of market, so I only catch nationally televised games. However, I’ve noticed that when the Cavs take a huge lead (often), the narrative often rears its ugly head to give the announcers something to talk about. Like, “sure, the Cavs are dominating, but they are misusing Love. He’s miserable!”
And if you take a look at the Wolves’ DRtg’s, you’ll find that Wiggins isn’t as great a defender as some people who haven’t looked at the numbers imagine him to be. Both his ORtg, DRtg, plus/minus, and affect on the team’s on/off rating show Love to be more than a little bit superior. Love’s +/- was a ridiculous +22.3 in February.
In fairness, prior to the Smith/Shumpert trades the other options at the shooting guard position were pretty bleak. I don’t see a lot of better defenders than Waiters on that list without moving guys out of their normal position, which tends to make them worse defenders than their past measured performance has been.
“But, without a primary threat, defenses will continue to watch for the run game first”
So what you are saying is that if Ray follows what he preaches (Wide receivers are not that valuable) and Pettine has input into the offense (ground and pound) with Josh McCown as the starting QB the offense will actually be worse than anyone is really thinking right now?
I mean it is literally insane that they are out there promoting they will be a “run first” team without even the slightest decoy in a passing game to offset what defenses will look for.
the most important thing about those vets you mentioned are that they’re VETS. They are PROS. They can play football – not as good as some guys, but well enough to help the team. Just don’t pay Dwayne Bowe $9 million guaranteed over 2 years because you think you have to.
to me, it’s inexcusabel to NOT draft a top-3 WR this season. I know we need help elsewhere, but compared with last year, i can see the top tier of WR’s in this draft doing comparable things. You can’t miss out on 2 straight years of all-pro potential at the WR position, especially with a team with nothing out wide.
It’s almost like they’re saying, “well, we don’t have a qb so we may as well not have receivers either.”
Steve, How does this also account for the quality of 1v1 opponent? Wiggins is covering the other team’s best player in many cases while Love is covering Jared Sullinger. I know the team concept is important in the rating but I can’t quite figure out the 1v1 part.
Historically, per NBA reference, big men have better DRtg overall. Also, DRtg hinges a lot on the team DRtg. When playing with LeBron, Mozgov, and Shumpert, everyone’s DRtg should be much improved.
I just don’t think this stat – for me – points to Love being that good of a defender INDIVIDUALLY. We all watched the first 30 games and I know we should agree on that. Gotta have SOME eye test involved in this analysis, and my eyes told me that Love got bullied down low early on (without Mozgov).
my grandma is a better defender than Waiters, and she’s been dead 20 years.
or Charles Clay $13mil/year for 2 years. He must have GREAT feet.
Sure, it doesn’t give us much info in 1v1 situations, but in today’s game, there’s not many true 1v1 situations. Even when Wiggins is isolated on the wing, all five guys on defense are looking to help. And Irving plays with Lebron, Mozgov, and Shumpert quite a bit too, and his DRtg is, well not quite so good.
Could be, but the numbers suggest that Miller, Jones, and Harris are even worse.