While We’re Waiting… Magic Fall to 0-2, Florida Gator Arrests, and more Cavs Free Agent Rumors
While We’re Waiting aims to be the round-up of the recent WFNY-esque information for your morning viewing. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.
Mean reversion, two weeks too late: “Now the Magic are playing true to form. They look like they don’t belong. They look like they can’t handle the heat of Hollywood’s klieg lights, which was a concern, one Magic assistant coach confided in me before the game. That, he said, was what tripped them up out of the gates in the opener, more so than Kobe’s 40 points. In Game 2, they fell over their own feet. They were tagged with 20 turnovers. Howard, aka Superman, tied with Kobe for a game-high seven turnovers. The difference was Superman’s faux pas came on fewer touches than Kobe’s and his often resulted in more horrific results.” [Kevin Blackistone/FanHouse]
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SLAM Online’s Mock Draft (so far) has Detroit nabbing Ohio State’s BJ Mullens with the 15th overall pick. [Sherman Johnson/SLAMOnline]
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Those Florida Gators. Always trying to one-up Ohio State: “While winning two Bowl Championship Series titles, 24 Gators have been arrested in four years under Meyer’s watch. Yes, former coach Ron Zook shares some of the blame. Six of the arrests involved players he recruited. [...] The arrest rate for the football team going back to Meyer’s first season in 2005 is roughly 10 percent (24 arrests out of 239 players listed on the official roster). [...] Thus, Florida players are more than twice as likely to be arrested than a member of the general population.” [Jay/The Wiz of Odds]
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Two new names enter the mix for potential Cavalier additions: Anthony Parker and Josh Childress. [Terry Pluto/Plain Dealer]
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On our latest OL addition: “Foster clearly had potential upon entering the NFL, as he was a former first-round draft choice of the Denver Broncos in 2003. In total, Foster has started in 57 of the 67 career games he has played in. The Broncos lost him when they traded for former Lions CB Dre Bly. Not surprisingly, Foster’s build is right in line with what Mangini is seeking: 6-5, 338 pounds.” [Chris Pokorny/Dawgs By Nature]
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(photo courtesty of Associated Press)
June 8th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Front page of cleveland.com there was an ad this morning for a Browns “triple play” 3-game pack. If the Browns have to push that you can tell they are hurting in sales. In fairness, I clicked on it to see details but the ticketmaster page with details said too many people checking it. Very interesting…..
June 8th, 2009 at 9:39 am
The Magic are done. They will be lucky to get back to LA for a Game 6. No way they win all 3 back home, because they aren’t a dominant home team anyway. It just goes to show that teams that live by the three eventually die by the three. They shot lights out 8 out of 9 games starting in Game 6 of the EC semis against Boston through our series. The law of averages was bound to kick in at some point.
I still agree they were the better overall team than the Cavs, but what we’re seeing now is that the Magic’s fundamental strategy to overwhelm you with an inside out game, is not worthy of a championship. Howard can be a dominant big man when he’s against flat footed competition, but even against a less strong, but still athletic big (like Bynum or Gasol), he struggles and his lack of a true post game hurts him.
The only question left for me in that series is whether Orlando can win one game.
June 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
If the Lakers are better than the Magic, and the Magic are better than the Cavs, how obvious is it that Kobe is better than LeBron?
/LA’ed
June 8th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Josh Childress, Trevor Ariza, or Chuckie Villanueva…
Give me two out of the three. Somehow, anyhow. Sign one and sign and trade the other using Ben Wallace’s contract? Include Pavs in the deal somewhere and get me a backup PG, or a backup PF or C.
The Cavs deals that will be made are probably things that aren’t even on our radar yet a la Mo Williams, but I love the thought of adding two guys who can float between the 2, 3, and 4 spots on the floor.
And please don’t tell me that these things aren’t possible. After a brutal end to this Cavs’ season, I need something positive to dream about for a little while.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I don’t know how to take your comment Denny, just know my ears are bleeding from reading it.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:24 am
I was amazed that they actually called Turkologu for an offensive foul for pushing off with his off-hand, a move he got away with the entire series against the Cavs.
LOL at the Pistons getting Mullens. Darko Part II.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:26 am
@ Boom – I thought the officiating the last 5 minutes of regulation was awful. Several very questionable foul calls were made when there wasn’t really any contact. Regarding Turkoglu, he does that push off move on nearly EVERY drive.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I heard the Knicks might look at a sign and trade with Lee too… he would look nice in Cleveland.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:48 am
The refs even called Orlando for a moving screen at one point in the first half. I was amazed.
June 8th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Lee will be another guy who’s production will be a little overrated b/c he was in that D’Antoni offense
June 8th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I’d love to get David Lee in a Cavs uniform because he has a low-post presence, he’s a hustle player and actually has some offensive ability. I know he’s going to want a huge contract, which was supposedly an issue for the Cavs last year and I just don’t know if the Cavs will fork over that money with them supposedly hoping to still get Chris Bosh.
June 8th, 2009 at 11:08 am
My desire for the Cavs is for them to trade Pavlovic and their two draft picks (30 and 46) for a potential mid first rounder. I think at this point in time we do not need to stockpile on young players anywhere on the team, and simply put we just need one extra guy off the bench. I think a Tyler Hansbrough or Sam Young could fulfill that role nicely for the future.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
either of those two guys could be available with the cavs current pick at the end of the first round. if they can make a move up the draft, i want it to be for an absolute stud.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
@ Mike – No they will not both be available. Check out the most recent mock draft over at Draft Express. There are very few absolute studs in this year’s draft, and there is absolutely no way the Cavs will be able to snag a Thabeet, Griffin, etc.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
We could get Hansbrough at 30 and we wouldn’t even want him there. He wouldn’t even crack our current rotation of big men.
June 8th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Are you saying he would get fewer minutes than JJ Hickson? Hansbrough is a proven commodity who should be picked in the 16-24 range or so in the first round. He has low-post talent, and is one of the best in the paint scorers of all the prospects coming out of the draft.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
@16 Jacob “Hansbrough is a proven commodity”
In the NCAA, not NBA. He could not get his shot off vs. Griffin, and will struggle. He can pretty much be like a Miki Moore, Renaldo Balkman. Maybe a Andy V. who can make free throws. His ceiling is first guy off a bench. He will NEVER be a starting PF on a contender.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
every mock draft ive seen has had hansborough and sam young going towards the later part of the first round. no mock draft is 100% accurate and every year a player drops and others are taken higher. in fact, i think chad ford’s first version had the cavs picking sam young at #30. the one youre talking about at draft express has those two at 20 and 23, respectively. its certainly feasible that either sam young or hansborough could still be there at the 30th pick.
im not talking about a griffen or thabeet. but what if they can somehow move up further to get an earl clark or even a demar derozen? thats the kind of guy im talking about.
on draft express, i LOVE their second round for cleveland of damion james.
June 8th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
We don’t need a starting PF in this year’s draft nor will we be able to get one. We need a scoring option in the low post. We have nobody like that on our team right now. I’ll tell you right now that Earl Clark and Damion James will not be starting forwards on a playoff team in their futures either. There are clearly only 32 players in the entire world that are starting forwards on a playoff team every year, and thus my guess is that only a half dozen, if that, from this draft will of that caliber.
I want Tyler Hansbrough because he can be a scoring option off the bench who can just sit in the paint and put up decent shots. He has skill, he is an effort guy who works hard on every possession just like Andy but he can actually do something offensively and will be a decent option in the league for many years to come.