June 20, 2013

Instead of Fixing Tanking, NBA Should Remove the Lottery

April 28, 2012 by 12 Comments

Tanking has been quite the topical conversation starter in the NBA this season. Maybe it was because there was a shortened 66-game season that ESPN, TrueHoop and several websites hammered on the topic ad nauseaum over the past few months (even on this site, quite eloquently by Ben). But, realistically, in order to solve the issue of tanking, one thing should be fixed instead: the draft lottery.

Obviously, basketball is unique because it has a perfect schedule length and draft setup for tanking to be a possibly effective strategy for teams. With only 82 games (usually), as opposed to the NFL’s 16 and MLB’s 162, there’s a possibility that a 6-10 game stretch or more could significantly alter a team’s drafting position. The same is then true in the National Hockey League, but, for some odd reason, despite that league’s similar use of a draft lottery, not as big of a media deal is made of tanking. [Read more...]

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On the Cavs, Tanking and Lester Hudson

April 14, 2012 by 30 Comments

"Remember Lester, only make game TYING buzzer beaters"

With their the overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, the Cavs are officially out of the playoff race. This was expected. The Cavs are in the middle of their rebuild and are in full tank mode. [Read more...]

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About the LeBron Foul Total Fiasco

May 7, 2009 by 18 Comments
No Regard For Human Life

No Regard For Human Life

Yesterday, many of you readers sent us a link to a post by Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop that appeared to be stirring up speculation that LeBron James is getting preferential treatmentby the NBA referees.  Admittedly, I was a bit perturbed by the post at first.  However, after re-reading it, and exchanging a few emails with Henry himself, it was merely “tossing out the question” type post where he hoped readers would respond with evidence that tilted the pendulum one way or the other.

If you missed it, Henry essentially posted an email that he received from a unbelievably biased Celtics blogger that used hackjob references to LeBron James not being whistled for calls.  Using lines like “While he is a virtuoso on offense, he hacks more than an asthmatic in the veterinarian’s office on defense” to get his point across not only screams lack of wit, but also lack of truly watching games and simply looking at box scores; then running along side the words of Sam Smith like Doc with a huffy’d up Little Mac. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Henry’s readers to come to the rescue about Game 1.  [Read more...]

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While We’re Waiting…

January 30, 2009 by 20 Comments

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.

Laurel and Hardy, Shh

The Plain Dealer’s Tony Grossi is on location in Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII.  While most others are reporting on the two teams still alive, we get some more insight as to what we have in store: “Tales of Mangini’s restrictive ways in New York are rampant here. “Oh, you’ll love him talking about injuries,” one writer said. “If he even conceded a player had a knee injury, he would refuse to say if it was his right knee or his left.” “It took me three weeks once to get an interview with the offensive line coach,” said another.” They said that Mangini instructed Jets PR staffers to keep track of which players were talking to which writers — just in case a disturbing quote was published from an unidentified player. “We were stunned, absolutely stunned, he was hired so soon after being fired,” said one. “Even people in the (Jets’) building felt he needed time — a year or two — to reflect on things he did wrong.”   [Tony Grossi/Plain Dealer]

[Read more...]

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Breaking News: Brian Windhorst to Join PD

September 30, 2008 by 11 Comments

While this has been circulating throughout the rumor mill for quite some time, we are very excited to say that sources close to the situation have confirmed: Cavaliers beat writer Brian Windhorst will officially be joining the team over at the Plain Dealer. 

Not only was Brian the man behind all things Cavaliers over at the Akron Beacon Journal, he has frequently been featured over at Henry Abbott’s TrueHoop, as well as the co-author of The Franchise.  Having Brian in Cleveland will not only have him that much closer to the situation, but he will also be rejoining friend, former colleague and co-author Terry Pluto to give Cleveland two of the best writers out there today.

[Read more...]

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