May 24, 2013

Ohio State Rebounds with Win Over Michigan State

February 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Ohio State men’s basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season to defeat the Michigan State Spartans 71-61 last night at Value City Arena. 

It was the primetime game of the night in front of a sellout crowd, the third of the season, as Brent Musburger and Dick Vitale were in the house to call the game.  Coming off their first loss of the season and a subsequent fall from their number-one ranking, it was expected that the Buckeyes would respond at home with a victory over a Michigan State group that has been team turmoil in this entire season.

The preseason second-ranked Spartans had lost five of seven games coming into last night.  With a streak of embarrassing efforts against the bottom of the conference, it appeared that the train had gone completely off the tracks and they had given up on head coach Tom Izzo.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buckeyes Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

And So We Enter The Byron Scott Era

July 1, 2010 by 29 Comments

Just another run of the mill coaching search, huh? Almost. Even in writing this I feel like we’re jinxing this thing because we’ve seen this story change up the plot on us about 15 times already. But alas, it appears as though the next coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers will indeed be Tom Izzo Brian Shaw Byron Scott.

I can’t recall another story having as many twists and turns as this one, but thankfully it’s finally behind us. I still really have no clue what happened between Shaw and the Cavs. Different places have reported different stories.

Some say Shaw withdrew because the Cavs were jerking him around. Others say the Cavs switched to Scott because they were unhappy with the comments Shaw’s agent made to the press. Others have suggested Shaw found out Phil Jackson was going to retire and wanted to be considered for the Lakers job. Still others have said Shaw was used as bait to pressure Scott into making a quick decision before LeBron James made his decision.

Whatever the case, it now appears that Byron Scott has been offered the job and has agreed to accept the job. The first question most people ask then is ‘What does this mean for the Cavs’? [Read more...]

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

Brian Shaw Close To Becoming Next Coach of the Cavaliers?

June 29, 2010 by 38 Comments

It hasn’t been easy.

There was some belief that the Cavaliers might have made a mistake by not having a replacement ready when they fired Mike Brown. Well, in many ways, they did have their replacement lined up. It was supposed to be Tom Izzo. However, once Izzo turned the job down, the Cavaliers were stuck back at square one.

It appeared for a while that Byron Scott was the front runner and would likely be the next guy offered the Cavs job. When rumors of Phil Jackson pondering retirement began to spring up, though, things were once again brought to a halt as two of the Cavs’ candidates, Byron Scott and Brian Shaw, were also candidates to be Phil’s replacement.

This is pretty much the story of how the Cavs’ offseason has gone. The whole thing has been one massive tangled web. [Read more...]

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

LeBron James and the Psychology of Media and Information

June 17, 2010 by 72 Comments

No matter how sick anyone is right now of hearing about LeBron James and the speculation of what he’s going to do next month, it’s hard to overlook that from a certain perspective the many different levels of this story are endlessly fascinating. Some day a book will probably be written, not about LeBron’s decision, but the way this “quiet” period has been covered and the reaction of NBA fans and media analysts across the country have reacted to it.

There seem to be no shortage of opinions on what LeBron should or should not be doing and what the right way to handle his free agency should be. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been turned off by much of what I’ve observed in the time since the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs. Yet here we are, the NBA Finals aren’t even over yet, and already we’re wish we could be done with talking about free agency. Of course, the crux of the issue is that free agency hasn’t even started yet.   [Read more...]

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

Tom Izzo Turns Down Cavaliers, Will Remain at Michigan State

June 16, 2010 by 96 Comments

Despite our earlier report that Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo had told certain players that he was planning on accepting the Cleveland Cavaliers head coaching job, he has since decided instead to remain at MSU. In a press conference Tuesday night, Izzo spoke to reporters and cited his loyalty to MSU as well as uncertainty about the future of LeBron James as reasons for his decision.

The fact that LeBron James’ silence was a factor shouldn’t be a surprise. The fact that LeBron James is determined to keep the hype and suspense about his future alive well past July 1st (as is his right to do) is going to be a tough hurdle for the Cavaliers to overcome going forward.

As we’ve been saying, nobody knows if Izzo was going to be the right guy for this job or not, but once again the Cavaliers franchise is faced with yet another public relations setback. The Cavaliers were a team desperate for some good news, but came up short again.  [Read more...]

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

While We’re Waiting… Izzo Says No, Conference Championships and Santana

June 16, 2010 by 61 Comments

While We’re Waiting serves up an daily breakfast buffet of WFNY-esque goodies for your reading pleasure. Have something else you think we should see and write about tomorrow? Send it to all of us at our fancy tips email address at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

The ultimate beat writer talks about the Izzo failure: “When the Cavaliers fired Mike Brown three weeks ago, team owner Dan Gilbert knew he was taking a risk with LeBron James’ free agency clouding the franchise’s future. It is an unprecedented situation and it required unprecedented measures, which Gilbert took by aggressively going after Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. He offered a massive amount of money and the sort of support Gilbert’s become known for in his five years running the team.” [Brian Windhorst/Plain Dealer]

And from the college basketball world, what the no-change means for Michigan State: “When the puff of smoke came out of the chimneys in East Lansing and Tom Izzo ended his tap dance with NBA riches, telling the Cleveland Cavaliers that LeBron James or no LeBron James, he was staying with Michigan State, it was another reason for college athletics to sigh a breath of relief.” [Dana O'Neil/ESPN.com]
[Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are The Natives Turning on Izzo?

June 15, 2010 by 79 Comments

Is it possible that Saint Tom is upsetting his masses with his well publicized romance with the Cleveland Cavaliers? I can’t imagine they would, but there is a faction of “old guard” Spartan alums who are in the “how dare he entertain this offer and string us along like this, we don’t need this” camp.

To me, it is ridiculous.

Tiger slappy and former Michigan State beat guy Lynn Henning penned a strange piece in this morning’s Detroit News. In short, he says its too late for Tom Izzo to come back to Michigan State.

Oh really? Why is that? Henning explains:

His heart no longer is at Michigan State. Not sufficiently, anyway. It can’t be after a week as prolonged, as tortured, and, sadly, as demeaning to all parties as the Izzo deliberations have turned.

I don’t buy that for a second. This comes down to a life changing moment where he can cash in all of his chips and score the big payday. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , ,

While We’re Waiting…Loyalty vs. Leaving For the Money, Celebs, and The Youth Movement

June 15, 2010 by 35 Comments

Its guest-host week here on While We’re Waiting. With Scott on a much needed vacation, its TD here as your captain of the SS WWW. In today’s episode, we will examine what others think of the crazy sports world we live in, in the place we call home; Northeast Ohio. On a side note, I’d like to thank all of you who alert us to so many of these excellent links for our daily dose of linkage. So without further ado….

Playing the loyalty card? Something we know a ton about. “This state is not a cesspool, as it is often — too often — portrayed nationally. Michigan State is not a second-class school that is smaller than its basketball program and iconic coach. Michigan State made Tom Izzo. The State of Michigan made Tom Izzo. Not the other way around.” – Pat Caputo/Oakland Press

[Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , ,

LeBron James Revealing Harsh Realities in his Refusal to Speak to Tom Izzo

June 14, 2010 by 92 Comments

Last week the Tom Izzo saga was a refreshing break from all the LeBron James free agency nonsense. As Izzo has now stretched his decision past the weekend, and with no end in sight, this story is becoming more and more of a nuisance itself. So it’s of little surprise that the delay in this decision might be directly tied to the LeBron James free agency story.

According to Brian Windhorst’s Twitter account, LeBron will continue not to speak to any of the Cavs’ coaching candidates:

A source today: LeBron respects coach Izzo but continues his plan not to get involved with #Cavs coach search or speak to candidates.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s worth once again pointing out that this continues to be LeBron’s right to play this thing out however he prefers. No matter what his intentions are, not talking to Izzo makes sense if protecting his intentions is his top priority. This way, nobody can read into Izzo taking the job or not taking it. It is solely up to Izzo what he wants to do and LeBron has nothing to do with it. [Read more...]

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

This Week In Sports: Furthering Our ADHD

June 11, 2010 by 29 Comments

Quite a week, yes? There were some Izzo-to-the-Cavs rumors. Stephen Strasburg made his first start, and now Carlos Santana has finally been called up. The MLB Draft occured. The NBA Finals are on, with a random role player from one of the two teams stepping up to help win every game. College football is looking to change significantly on the horizon. USC got hit extremely hard with sanctions by the NCAA. Somewhere in the footnotes of the week, you’ll see that Oregon’s starting quarterback was kicked off the team. Lord Stanley’s Cup was just awarded to the delegates from Chicago. Oh, and the World Cup kicked off this morning.

With all those things being listed, I’m gonna go all Buddy The Elf on you guys. What’s your favorite sports story of the week?

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Now We Wait

June 11, 2010 by 150 Comments

As has been well documented, Tom Izzo made a visit to Cleveland yesterday with his family to meet with Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers’ front office people. It seems Gilbert did everything in his power to make the trip successful, including diverting the private plane to a smaller airstrip in order to avoid media. Well played sir.

The meeting lasted anywhere from 7.5 to 9 hours depending on who you listen to, and concluded with Izzo leaving town without announcing any kind of deal was in place. Does this surprise WFNY? Absolutely not. I would have been more surprised if he had made the announcement here.

So the waiting game continues, which of course fans here in Cleveland are quite used to at this point.

As for WFNY’s previous report, our source has not wavered from his stance that Izzo told player(s) that he would be taking the Cavs job. Now, there has been a lot of time pass since then, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone who has had to make this kind of life-changing decision to find out that Izzo has gone back and forth in his mind. There are many factors to consider here, including uprooting family. [Read more...]

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

While We’re Waiting… Pro Bowl Vickers, Big Ten Expansion and Sizemore’s Downfall

June 10, 2010 by 21 Comments

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 at tips@waitingfornextyear.com

This, I can live with: “The Browns are wrapping up their spring work this week with their final OTA practices and a mandatory minicamp, the surest sign yet that real football isn’t too far away. And it’s that real football — not this no-pads stuff — that really gets Vickers going. He’s thinking this is the year that the dirty work he does from the fullback position earns him enough notice to merit a Pro Bowl selection, and he hinted that he’s as ready as ever to do such work.

“I’m gonna make people pay even more this year,” Vickers said.

“They’re gonna pay. Each year I get madder and madder that I don’t go (to the Pro Bowl). It’s not my fault when everybody (ends up) on their backside.” [Zac Jackson/The OBR]

[Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , , , , ,

Some Clarification On The Izzo Story

June 9, 2010 by 162 Comments

To borrow from Brian Cook, “apologies to the locals: this is pure meta”. Disclaimer up front: I am not trying to be self-congratulatory or shower ourselves with praise. I want to put things out there so that we can all be on the same page.

Earlier today, we broke the news that Tom Izzo told his team he is going to take the Cavaliers’ coaching job. We have since been bandied about as ‘some blog’, had our credibility denounced, and been generally cast aside. There are numerous people who claim contrary to our reports. We stand by what we have reported. This post isn’t about the rumors in specific, but a look at what transpired today, and how it all fits into journalism, bloggery, and where we fit into all of this.

All of this began over the weekend, when we got a report that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is pushing very hard to get Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. I published this information Sunday afternoon along with other rumors that had been covered elsewhere. At this point, Izzo had been rumored but we had the first report that things really were picking up. Soon afterwards, Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski put out tweets that solidified our story that talks were picking up. [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: , ,

Breaking News: Tom Izzo Informs Michigan State Players He Plans To Take Cavaliers Head Coaching Position

June 9, 2010 by 169 Comments

Sources close to WFNY have informed us that Tom Izzo has told his players at Michigan State that he plans on taking the Cavaliers job.  Our sources have heard directly from players on the MSU team that Izzo informed them this week that he is planning on making the move up to the NBA level under the ownership of MSU grad Dan Gilbert.  We have also heard from a separate source that Izzo is holding off on announcing this until the end of the week, when his kids finish up school in the Lansing area.  While Izzo could always change his mind, we are comfortable reporting that he has in fact informed his players at Michigan State that he will be taking the Cavaliers job.

More details as we get them.

Update from Rick: We have three separate confirmations. Nobody at WFNY expects Izzo to announce a press conference immediately in response to this. He has his timing. We will stand by the story and wait it out.

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , ,

Izzo To Cleveland Doesn’t Have To Be Just About LeBron James

June 9, 2010 by 17 Comments

By now, it’s well established that Tom Izzo is Dan Gilbert’s prime target to be the next coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. When most people heard this, present company included, the natural first reaction was to think that there’s no way Izzo would take this job without LeBron James already being locked up.

It’s a unique conundrum, because there’s a popular belief that LeBron won’t play for just any coach. If true, there’s a peculiar “chicken v egg” dance going on in Cleveland. It’s not unlike the famous Bill and Ted circular logic of needing Eddie Van Halen in the band to make a triumphant video, but not being able to make a triumphant video unless Eddie Van Halen is in the band. To quote the supreme brilliance of MTV’s Jersey Shore, “It’s a situation”.

Rather than worrying about the details of who would blink first, Izzo or LeBron, it’s probably more worthwhile to consider the reasons why maybe, just maybe, Tom Izzo would consider taking this job without a guarantee from LeBron. [Read more...]

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

Mathematical Proof of Tom Izzo’s NBA Success

June 8, 2010 by 14 Comments

As the free agency rumor season continues, the Cavaliers coaching rumor season is also relatedly running full force.  After Danny Ferry’s resignation it appears that Dan Gilbert might just be intent on hiring a college coach, namely Tom Izzo.  Now a lot of people are especially wary of college coaches making the jump from the college ranks to the NBA.  The thinking being, how do you take a process that includes recruiting like crazy to guarantee some sort of success and then just rely on your X’s and O’s expertise to get the job done?  All the while, you have to make it happen with players who are no longer working for free, but make much much (much) more money than you do.  All practical theories aside, I set out to prove once and for all with mathematics why Tom Izzo will definitely be a success in the NBA.  The Shannon Brown Principle does this perfectly.

[Read more...]

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

NBA Rumor Mill: Tom Izzo to the Cavs

June 7, 2010 by 42 Comments

The internet is abuzz with NBA rumors these days, and the latest one involving the Cavs has some serious legs. We told you yesterday (in advance of most media outlets I might add) that the Cavs’ interest in Michigan State head man Tom Izzo had reached a new high, which apparently has led to a contract offer by the Cavaliers.

Izzo, has said before that he isn’t interested in taking taking an NBA position “until he wins another title at Michigan State”. All that could change of course if his $3 million dollar MSU salary is doubled. Let’s face it- if Dan Gilbert is willing to pay Shaq’s $20 million dollar contract, with luxury tax stretching that to over $30 million, he would certainly pay his coach $6 million a season.

Since news of this contract offer broke, I’ve heard a lot of negatives about Izzo coming to coach the Cavaliers. The overwhelming majority have nothing to do with Izzo himself, but with the success level of  previous college coaches making the jump to the NBA. While that record is far from stellar, I fail to see how giving the job to Izzo would be any worse than giving it to an NBA coaching retread. The names associated with Cleveland’s vacancy thus far are the likes of Jeff Van Gundy (who said he is going to spend one more season at the announcing table) Byron Scott and Avery Johnson. Between them they have won a grand total of 0 NBA championships. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , ,

NBA Rumors – Izzo, Mo, Delonte, Toronto

June 6, 2010 by 22 Comments

Note: there is a Finals game today. OK – got that out of the way. As Brian Windhorst pointed out in a recent column, this is the time of year where NBA trade talks start to gain traction. Most teams prefer their trades made before the draft, which is on June 24th. In addition, many teams hire their new coaches prior to the draft. The Cavs are one such team that needs a coach, and is likely to look at trade scenarios.

Touching on the coach rumors first, sources close to WFNY have let told us that talks between the Cavs and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo are picking up steam. While Izzo is a Michigan guy, so is Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. It’s quite apparent that Gilbert is not afraid to throw money around, and though Izzo has passed up the chance at NBA jobs before, the money offered may be so much that it would be very difficult for Izzo to turn down. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , ,