June 19, 2013

Bill Simmons: Anderson Varejao, starting PF for the East All-Stars

February 10, 2012 by 9 Comments

In his latest feature on Grantland.com, Bill Simmons gives us his opinion on who should make up the NBA All-Star team from both conferences. In a somewhat surprising decision, the Sports Guy lists Anderson Varejao as his starting PF for the East. He writes:

As for that fifth spot: I love the way Varejao is playing this season … and if you enjoy guys who put up 11 points and 12 rebounds every night, grab every big rebound in traffic, take monster charges again and again and shut down opposing big guys, you should, too. Isn’t the whole point of the All-Star Game to pick players who are playing as well as they can possibly play? I never watch Chris Bosh and say, “Whoa, Chris Bosh! He’s something! He’s really turned it on!” Why do I have to pick Bosh as a starter again? And also, why should THREE Miami Heat players be starting on the All-Star team? You don’t find this a little kooky? Are they the ’96 Bulls or something? Please. Besides, Varejao has been more of an impact player this year — he’s the best at what he does, and that’s saying something. You win with what he does.

Sign me up. Who am I to argue?

For the record, I am not of the opinion that Varejao should be an All-Star. I frequently see Chris Bosh making impact plays for the Heat. LeBron thinks he’s the easy target on that team? Chris Bosh is the guy everyone makes fun of despite the fact he was the most consistent Heat player in the Finals last year and has had an all around excellent season this year.

Varejao has played Center all year, and I think Howard and Hibbert are more deserving centers. But if you want to know why Anderson Varejao matters to the Cavaliers and why the Cavaliers shouldn’t trade him, read that paragraph from Simmons again. It’s nice to see Varejao finally getting some recognition for the way he plays this game.

[Grantland.com: The Sports Guy's NBA All-Star Team]

Filed Under: Headlines Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Previewing Cleveland’s Second Half Schedule

February 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The All-Star Weekend has been nothing special for Cleveland Cavaliers fans thus far, so let’s take a look at what’s left in the 2010-2011 season.

Currently owning the NBA’s worst record at 10-46 at the break, the Cavs will hope to utilize several upcoming home games to gain some optimism heading into the offseason. After winning two of three games this past week, the team plays at the Quicken Loans Arena for six of its next seven contests beginning Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Only six more wins are necessary this season to avoid tying both the 1970-1971 inaugural roster and 1981-1982 squad for the worst record in franchise history. It’d also be nice to crack the 17 victory mark set just seven years ago as well, so let’s see what’s left on the table for Cleveland:

Thursday, Feb. 24 – The NBA trading deadline is coming up shortly, and much could be changed around the league by next Thursday. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Remembering Andre Thornton’s Career

February 16, 2011 by 6 Comments

Andre Thornton will always be my first favorite Cleveland Indians player. Having been born in 1979, I really started following baseball in the 1985 time frame, so I all but missed Andre Thornton’s career. He finished his career at age 37 after the 1987 baseball season. Still, Thornton and his family lived in my school district and my dad told me stories about just how good a hitter Thornton had been over his ten years with the Tribe.

Thornton didn’t have the gaudiest of averages. His career with the Indians ended with a 254 mark. That didn’t matter so much because Thornton was a slugger. He amassed 214 homers, 749 RBI and 650 runs to go along with 1095 hits. That is especially impressive when you consider how bad the teams were that Thornton played on. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: , , , , ,

LeBron Sure Loves Giving Headphones As Gifts

March 5, 2010 by 25 Comments

LeBron James Beats by Dr Dre Monster Headphones

Sometimes you set out to write something with the intentions of the article going one way, only to have it take a big U-turn in the middle and go somewhere else. That’s the case with this post. I was initially going to make some light hearted jokes about how LeBron and Kobe teaming up to give away headphones to their fellow All-Star members was a sign that LeBron and Kobe would soon team up on the Lakers. After all, isn’t that what all the kids are saying these days?

However, as I started working on my outline and doing some research, I realized just how frequently LeBron gives away “Beats by Dr Dre” Monster Headphones as gifts. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

2010 All-Star Rosters Are In, Mo Williams Left Off the Team

January 28, 2010 by 67 Comments

Ok, ok, enough trade talk out of me for a little while. But still, you’re stuck with me for the rest of the day, so you’re stuck with Cavaliers coverage. And next up, we talk about the All-Star rosters being announced today. Well, not so much announced, as leaked. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears gave us the list of All-Star Reserves, and here’s how the teams shape up:  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is Mo Williams an All-Star This Year?

December 14, 2009 by 16 Comments

Celtics Cavaliers BasketballThis may come off as a bit reactive due to the shot that Mo Williams drained last night, but it is actually just perfect timing.  Last week, the first batch of NBA All-Star results came out, which means we get to see a few things: 1) Who is China voting for (A: Tracy McGrady), and 2) Who looks to be on the outside looking in?

Williams was named to his first All-Star team of his career last season in a year that was his first with the Cavaliers.  There are undoubtedly a strong number of guards in the Eastern conference pool, and Mo’s body of work has not declined from last season.  But what are the odds that he gets the nod yet again?  Let’s take a look at the current standings for guards in the East. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Grady Sizemore May Need Surgery

June 2, 2009 by 14 Comments

grady sizemore tryst brittany bingerStop me if you ‘ve heard this one before.

All-Star player.  Struggles right out of the gate.  Team record through April and May is poor at best. 

Then all of a sudden, the team says that key players may (or may not) be experiencing “soreness” in key joints that prove to be key in the game of baseball.  Player will attempt to play through injuries.  Player is unsuccessful doing such, ultimately hitting disabled list.

Feel free to plug in either Victor Martinez or Travis Hafner circa 2008.  Or, if you’re feeling a little more contemporary, we can now use Grady Sizemore of this season.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Grady Sizemore: 100/100

July 9, 2008 by 9 Comments

Grady Sizemore - 100 HR, 100 SB 

If you can bring yourself to ignoring the fact that the Tribe has dropped nine straight, it should be mentioned that Grady Sizemore stole his 100th base of the season his career in last night’s loss.  Coupling this with his home run on July 5, Sizemore is now officially the second player in the history of the team to eclipse the 100/100 mark. 

And as laid out here, Grady is under wraps until 2012.  It can get excruciating to watch an entire team for only one or two guys, but it may have to be the case this season.  Oh, and if you had not heard, Sizemore will be partaking in this year’s Home Run Derby.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t go all Abreu…

Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Some Practical Jokes Aren’t Funny

May 27, 2008 by 8 Comments

Indians EmailCleveland Indians’ Public Relations Department Evidently Getting Desperate

Go ahead. Click on the image to the right. Read that email that I got from the Indians this afternoon. Honestly, who was the genius behind this marketing campaign? In what kind of parallel universe can you send out an email like this with a straight face? For those of you who don’t feel like clicking on the image, let me tell you what it says,

“The 2008 All-Star Game is in New York, and the only way to send Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner is to vote him in as the American League’s first baseman. Competition is tough – Pronk and the rest of the Indians need your help!

As of today’s American League ballot update, Pronk is in fifth place among designated hitters – behind Gary Sheffield of the Tigers. VOTE PRONK.”

I don’t know what else to say. The numbers speak for themselves:    [Read more...]

Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Boobie Gibson Among Great Company

February 7, 2008 by 1 Comment

Daniel GibsonI had been harping on this for a while now, and I’m not quite sure how I missed the following (fairly big) news:

Cavaliers guard Daniel “Boobie” Gibson today was named one of the contestants for the NBA’s Three-Point Shootout during All-Star weekend in New Orleans.

The event is scheduled for Feb. 16. Gibson will also participate in the Sophomore-Rookie challenge game during All-Star weekend.

Gibson, who is currently fourth in the league in 3-points shooting percentage. Toronto’s Jason Kapono – also in the contest, to defend his title – is tops in the league at 51.0%, though he’s converted less than half (50) of the amount of threes that Gibson has (104).

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , ,