May 25, 2013

NBA Draft: John Calipari commends Cleveland’s scouting

May 24, 2013 by 3 Comments

Anthony Lima and Dustin Fox hosted University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari on their show this afternoon. The segment was great and packed with lots of intriguing Cavaliers draft fodder.

But how the 54-year-old Calipari started off the segment — when prodded if he thinks Cleveland would be making a mistake if they don’t pick former Wildcat Nerlens Noel No. 1 overall — stood out the most:

“Chris Grant and his crew are the most thorough people that I’ve seen,” he said. “No disrespect to anyone else in the league, all I know is I’ve seen Chris’ face more in my gym than any other GM, guys that are making the decision. So, if he picks my guy, my hope is he picks him, which means he’s the No. 1 guy because they don’t make many mistakes. When you go back to Tristan [Thompson], everybody says, ‘What are they doing? Fourth pick in the draft, that’s crazy!’ When they picked Kyrie [Irving], they were saying, ‘Wait a minute, Kyrie’s toe.’ Well, he’s going to be the best point guard in the NBA here in short order. Then, they picked Dion Waiters and everybody says ‘What the heck?’ So I’m looking at it saying, ‘Look, they don’t make many mistakes, and if they pick my guy that means he is the guy.”

Those are pretty strong words from any college coach, let alone one who has coached some of the elite, elite prospects over the last half decade. The fact that he went out of his way to begin the segment like that is certainly noteworthy. Definitely, it appears the Cavs’ scouting and drafting success has a much better reputation than the other two Cleveland teams, and for that we should be grateful.

[Related: Cavalier NBA Draft Film Room: Nerlens Noel]

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2013 NBA Draft Lottery – Cavs win! Nerlens Noel, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh? – WFNY Podcast – 2013-05-22

May 22, 2013 by 2 Comments

WFNY Podcast LogoScott joined me for about 20 minutes to discuss the Cavaliers goings on since winning the NBA draft lottery last night. Here’s what we talked about more specifically.

  • The turmoil of having the first overall pick in the draft

  • What do you think about the trade down cuteness?

  • Due diligence and just how little fans and media can do

  • Nerlens Noel and how good he needs to be in order for Grant to justify taking him

  • Do you trust Chris Grant to avoid the tendency to chase height and need?

  • Kevin Love and how unavailable he really is

  • James Harden wasn’t available until he was either

  • Lamarcus Aldridge and his availability

  • Marc Gasol and his ability to be moved

  • Chris Bosh’s name and how nobody has talked about it yet

  • Free agency pool and who you would look at in free agency

  • Zach Lowe’s critique of the NBA lottery event and the Cavs

  • Players and how goofy they look on the dais [Read more...]

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Loving the NBA draft lottery

May 22, 2013 by 24 Comments

Gilbert and Cavs win lottery

Ever since Nick Gilbert sat on stage two years ago in Seacaucas, NJ, rocked a swagged out bow tie/glasses combo that would make Urkel proud, and brought home the much needed first pick in the draft the NBA lottery has had new meaning in Cleveland.

Before the ping pong balls fell Cleveland’s way in 2011 it was a lowly time to be a Cavalier fan. The team had just finished a historically bad season and now we had to sit back and watch the one we made king try to win a title for that all white wearing, Backstreet Boy looking fan base in Miami.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and Dan Gilbert delivered. Along with his son Nick, Gilbert flew to the lottery with an entourage that was best described by the Machine Gun Kelly lyric “so Clevleand it’s a god damn shame”. Gilbert flew with the ultimate cleveland hero, Bernie Kosar, who represents all of us Clevelanders longing for the glory days even if we were never alive to see them. He flew with Josh Cribbs, whose loyalty and rare talents allowed us Clevelanders to anoint a kick returner the new king. And to complete Gilbert’s entourage was Browns’ cornerback Joe Haden who exemplified Cleveland’s need for a new star to cling to after the losing the sun a year earlier. [Read more...]

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Dear NBA Lottery, I think we should see other people

May 21, 2013 by 25 Comments

Cleveland Cavs NBA Lottery 2013The NBA Lottery is tonight and I could not care less. I will watch, don’t get me wrong. Following the festivities, I will leave with different emotions than those I had entering the evening. I will start monitoring workout schedules and making phone calls to obtain information that may shed some light on who the Cleveland Cavaliers may have an interest in. But in the end, I am tired of celebrating despair.

With the utmost respect to Sacramento 1 and Charlotte and New Orleans and Phoenix and Detroit and Washington, you represent a crowd with whom I no longer want to be associated. The NBA, try as they might, have a way of making the annual lottery show an event. A half-hour show, the actual revelation of which team will have the top spot in the upcoming draft takes all of a minute.

[Read more...]

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  1. Seven straight seasons in the lottery. Gross. [back]

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Cavalier NBA Draft Film Room: Nerlens Noel

May 14, 2013 by 9 Comments

nerlens noelOver the next two months, I’ll take a look at some potential draft prospects that could find themselves in wine and gold come the end of June. Last week, I took a look at Maryland center Alex Len. This week, I’m choosing to look into the likely number one pick in this draft, Kentucky power forward/center Nerlens Noel. Noel is a defense-first big man prospect who is currently recovering from a torn ACL suffered in February. With his return not slated for Christmas or later, this certainly complicates, though many expect Noel to remain the draft’s top selection. In this film room, I’ll dig into just how his play may or may not warrant that slot.

First, as we did last time, let’s go around the Web at some various mock drafts and scouting reports to see what they’re saying about Noel. [Read more...]

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The Boots: NBA Draft lottery, Byron Scott’s tenure, playoffs

April 20, 2013 by 12 Comments

nerlens noelIn my usual half-rapid fire, half-prose form, I’m here today with another edition of The Boots. Again, for those unfamiliar with this feature, I assign loosely defined “Boot Up” or “Boot Down” votes to trending topics in the sports world. Let’s talk basketball again today.

Boot Up: Slotting in at No. 3 – That’s not necessarily what Cavs fans were hoping from the 2012-13 season. Kirk, Scott and Andrew all have written way more eloquently than I possibly could about the franchise’s current situation post-Byron Scott. But for now, I’d like to focus on what it means for the draft. Obviously, slotting in at No. 3 lines up the stars for a possible better pick than later in the lottery, as fans hoped before the year and maybe even as late as the end of February. [Read more...]

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The Boots: NBA Draft Lottery, John Wall and winning streaks

March 26, 2013 by 20 Comments

byron scott disappointmentIn my usual half-rapid fire, half-prose form, I’m here today with another edition of The Boots. Again, for those unfamiliar with this feature, I assign loosely defined “Boot Up” or “Boot Down” votes to trending topics in the sports world. I’m feeling some Tuesday basketball talk today.

Boot Up: #TankStrong — Stop me if you’ve heard this in the past few weeks: There’s an incredible logjam in the No. 3-11 spots in the NBA Draft Lottery positioning right now. With the abysmal Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic clearly landing the No. 1 and No. 2 best odds, in some order, the bulk of the rest of the lottery is still very much up in the air with three weeks to go.

In an effort to break down the end-of-season standings that will determine the probabilistic odds related to the NBA Draft Lottery, here’s a quick-ish look at these intriguing nine teams: [Read more...]

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2013 NBA Draft: Second tier fits for the Cavaliers

March 2, 2013 by 53 Comments

victor oladipoThe Cavaliers have been a much improved team over the past two months. And while that’s fantastic news and great for the long-term development of this franchise, it presents an intriguing new scenario for 2013 NBA Draft analysis.

With the team’s current 15-16 run since Dec. 22, Cleveland now sits at No. 5 in the NBA Draft order (up from No. 7 on Wednesday night). That’s inching closer to what many fans expected in the offseason, but not necessarily what they thought just two months ago.

Last time I looked at the draft class on Jan. 6, I featured the top five guys contending for the top spot. There has been plenty of shake-ups since that point. But ultimately, with the Cavs trending toward the middle of the lottery, I thought it would be most helpful to now feature a group of “second tier” players. [Read more...]

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NCAA Basketball: Nerlens Noel suffers gruesome knee injury

February 13, 2013 by 11 Comments

There has not been a clear cut, no doubt about it, first pick in the NBA draft kind of player emerge from the college game yet this season. One of the contenders for that top spot is Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel.

On Tuesday evening, Noel suffered a knee injury that has been described as gruesome-

“The No. 25 Wildcats also may be without freshman forward Nerlens Noel for a significant length of time because of a left knee injury he suffered during the second half of their 69-52 loss to No. 7 Florida. The 6-foot-10 Noel landed awkwardly on his left knee and then slammed the knee into the basket support after chasing down Mike Rosario on a fast break and blocking the shot with 8:03 left.”

“Noel left the O’Connell Center in a wheelchair. The school said in a statement that Noel would fly back to Lexington, Ky., with the rest of the team Tuesday night. “His leg was wobbly, knee looked dislocated,” Florida center Patric Young told the Palm Beach Post. “It was gruesome. I don’t want to think about it.”

Noel immediately grabbed his left knee and screamed in pain. Trainers immediately rushed to his side and Calipari eventually came over and stayed with Noel until he was carried off the court by several teammates.”

A picture has of the landing has been making the rounds on twitter.

UK FL 2nd half

[Related: NBA Rookie Rankings]

(Photo by Kentucky.com)

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2013 NBA Draft: Five players emerging at the top

January 6, 2013 by 6 Comments

It’s become an annual tradition in Cleveland to begin talking quite early in all sports about the upcoming draft.

For the Browns in the NFL, I did my first 2013 NFL Draft outlook post back in mid-November, when the Browns were 2-7. They finished at 5-11 and will have the No. 6 pick in April’s draft.

For the Cavaliers in the NBA, who selected No. 1 and No. 4 in 2011, then No. 4 and No. 17 in 2012, they again should be in the top-end of the Lottery this coming June. After an offseason of hype and intrigue that many fans thought could lead to the team potentially competing for the final playoff spot, the Cavs got off to a very slow start.

After Saturday night’s loss to Houston, Cleveland has the second-worst record in the NBA at 8-27. That’s eerily similar to their 35-game starts in each of the past two seasons: 8-27 in 2010-11 and 13-22 in 2011-12. So even if the team finishes strong (as opposed to #tankstrong), it’s likely they’ll finish somewhere in the top 8. [Read more...]

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