May 23, 2013

95 Browns Draft Class Considered Worst Ever and Other Draft Thoughts

This morning on Twitter, Tony Grossi linked to a website talking about the all-time 1st round flops in the NFL draft. As he noted, the Browns didn’t crack the list, surprisingly enough. As is often the case with the Internet, I found myself on a different page that listed the worst draft classes in modern history.  Modern history is considered 1994-2004.  1994 is when the draft was cut to seven rounds.  They cut it off at 2004 because they don’t feel the story has been told on a draft class until seven years have passed.  The other considerations are the number of years the class played, the number of years they were starters, the number of five year careers, five year starters, career starts, pro bowls, and all pros.  Congrats Cleveland Browns 1995, you are the worst.

[Read more...]

While We’re Waiting… Olympiakos Fan Chants, Brady Quinn’s Chances, and Wiz-Cavs “Rivarly”

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email in the sidebar.

Olympiakos Fans

Opa! “Outside in the brisk Cleveland night four Olympiacos supporters were singing. I mean, nonstop, top-of-their-lungs, in-unison singing. The Cavs fans in the area seemed mesmerized by the spectacle. At the very least, they seemed curious.  Hey, look at the that team spirit! Wow, that is some pride right there. What a display of support for their team!  Of course, they were singing in Greek, so no one knew what the hell they were saying, but everyone seemed roundly impressed with their fervor. I asked my friend, a Greek himself, if he could translate. He spouted some mumbo jumbo about how they were talking about women. Then, I asked his father for a real translation. He smiled and said, “They’re saying that all your mothers are whores.” [Vince/'64 and Counting]

[Read more...]

Cavaliers Preview Game #25

Cavaliers vs TimberwolvesCleveland Cavaliers (20-4) vs
Minnesota Timberwolves (4-20)
Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
8:00 PM EST
FSNOH/WTAM

The Cavaliers continue their mini road trip tonight when they head north to take on the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves. As far a road trips go, this one isn’t too bad. 4 games, none of them back to back, and 2 of them against a couple of the worst teams in the NBA (Minnesota and Oklahoma City). In fact, in the last 3 weeks of December, Cleveland has only 7 games, and none of them are back to back. There are a couple moderate tests in Miami in there, as well as tough games against Denver and Houston, which will make the easy games against Washington, Oklahoma City, and tonight’s opponent, Minnesota, that much more important for Cleveland to not get complacent and to take care of business. The Cavaliers will still be without the services of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Daniel Gibson, and Minnesota has a couple tough offensive players in Mike Miller and Al Jefferson, but this is still a game the Cavaliers should be able to control. The Cavaliers are facing injuries, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak are slumping majorly with their outside shooting, LeBron’s minutes are rising, and the offense isn’t running as smoothly as it once was. There’s some adversity facing the Cavaliers tonight, and it will be a good sign for them to come out and take care of business against a team they should beat.     [Read more...]

Did Danny Ferry See This Coming?

Mike Miller 
Mike may not be wearing a jersey for quite a while
Mike Miller to miss more time?

Heading in to the NBA trade deadline, us folks here at Waiting For Next Year gave our opinion on several rumors, only to wind up with the deal which brought us a bolstered front court as well as two solid guard additions. 

If you look at a few of the comments in each, it would appear that a deal regarding Mike Miller had a more favorable response than those that mentioned Ben Wallaceet al, but we’re definitely happy to take what we were given.  But when discussing the deal with Memphis, this recent report by the Commercial Appeal leads me to believe that it may have been Danny Ferry that opted to not take Memphis’ offer:

This is the third time this season that the Griz have lost six games in a row. … Since trading Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Grizzlies are 1-10.   Don’t expect [Mike] Miller to return to the court any time soon. “We are looking at several more games,” Iavaroni said. “He has made progress but we don’t want to rush it.”

[Read more...]

02/21 Morning Minute: Second Time’s A Charm

LeBron James, Fist PumpIf these triple-doubles keep rolling in, one is bound to lead to a win.  While a win over Houston would have been nice, beating a conference rival in Indiana is just what we needed to get back on track after a sub-par finish before the All-Star break.  James put up 31, 14 and 12, but the main difference is easily in what his teammates were able to do.

Larry Hughes led all non-LeBrons with 19, followed closely by Drew Gooden (17), Danny Gibson (15…all on threes), and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (14 points, 17 rebounds).

If I have to pick a downside to this game, stripping out LeBron’s assist totals would leave us with eight for the game.  The closest to James in total for the night was Devin Brown with three.  That’s not good.  But the fact of the matter is James can only get dimes when his teammates can successfully finish, so the higher that total, the better.

[Read more...]

The Cavs Trade Rumors Continue

Mike MillerNow, while I realize that Chad Ford is the same guy that rumored Larry Brown to be locked and loaded to coach the Cavaliers not all to long ago, his latest bit has me at least a little intrigued.

“The deal, as described to me by a player agent, would send Miller, [Brian] Cardinal and [Kyle] Lowry to the Cavaliers for Ira Newble, Donyell Marshall, Shannon Brown, Cedric Simmons and Dwayne Jones along with cash and at least one first-round pick from Cleveland.”

You read that right.  Not only would we add a solid scoring option, but a point guard as well!  Mike Lowry is no Jason Kidd, but he has been one of the more underutilized guards in the league – and given the recent addition of Mike Conley to the Grizzlies, there is little to no use for him in Memphis.

[Read more...]

Cavs still trying to add a piece

Word from Brian Windhorst is that GM Danny Ferry is quite actively trying to make a move to improve the Cavs before the trade deadline. From Windhorst’s column-

It might not be much of a consolation to fans anxious for upgrades, but according to several league sources, Ferry has been very active in recent weeks trying to put together a deal.

He made a failed pitch for Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol, who was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers this week, just as he made an offer for Kevin Garnett before he was moved to Boston last summer. He’s also been in discussions with the Sacramento Kings about point guard Mike Bibby and with the New Jersey Nets about point guard Jason Kidd.

lebronmem.jpgAnd now it seems the latest target for Ferry, who is getting absolutely left in the dust in the poll question this week, is Memphis forward/guard Mike Miller. Miller has decent numbers- 16.7 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game. Perhaps more attractive to the Cavaliers, he is shooting 43% from 3 point range, and 50% overall. The 7 year pro has 2 years left on a contract that pays him around $8.3 million per. Cavs fans might remember Miller however, as the speed bump LeBron ran over en route to his 51 points against the Grizz earlier this year. Miller had no chance of guarding LeBron that night. I don’t know how indicative of his overall defense that is, but it would be enough to concern me. [Read more...]