How many of you thought it was going to be easy for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and the rest were just going to seamlessly blend under the guidance of David Blatt and become the greatest team in the history of the NBA. They were going to win more than 70 games and walk to the first championship in Cleveland since 1964. Every game was going to be a party and they were going to win by more than 20 every night.
If only it were that easy.
Three games in and the Cavs are far from a finished product. Blatt has no idea yet who to play together and when, and the overall effort from select players has been questionable at times. James looks like he's either irritated with the team, or in considerable discomfort from his back being worse than we're being led to believe.
An opening night loss to the New York Knicks was followed up by a gritty overtime win against the Chicago Bulls. Then last night, after playing even with the Portland Trailblazers through the first quarter, the Cavs were completely blasted the rest of the way, losing 101-82. James was clearly disappointed in the effort put forth by some of his teammates, and probably himself as he didn't appear completely engaged.
What does it all mean?
According to Twitter, it means that this team is destined to fail, James is going back to Miami next year, Blatt will be fired by mid-season, and Dion Waiters will be traded in the next two weeks as he clearly can't exist on this team.
It's easy to overreact though. It's easy to watch the game and see all the things that are wrong with this team. It's easy to forget that many of them are playing together on an NBA team for the first time.
In other words, it's not going to look great right away.
It's a bit of a cop-out, but the best example is to look at the Miami Heat from 2010-2011 when James first joined that team. It was a disjointed effort through the first 17 games as the Heat were 9-8 and many wondered if this "superteam" was a bad idea. Then they ripped off 10 straight wins and 20 out of 21 to silence the critics.
Will the Cavs do the same? I doubt it. This team has multiple players (Love, Irving, and Waiters) that are deficient defensively, and while you can hope for some improvement, Irving and Waiters in particular showed some of their bad habits last night. Waiters in particular seemed lazy on the defensive side and while Irving has shown some effort, it seems when his man starts to score on him, he shrinks defensively. Damion Lillard had struggled from the floor his first few games, but last night couldn't miss and often Irving failed to even attempt to close out on the shot.
Yet they may only need to make small strides defensively if the gel on offense. Right now, players still aren't sure where they need to be on the floor. More than once, we've seen a pass made to a player that's either vacated the spot, or failed to move to where the pass was intended. These type of errors will disappear as they become comfortable with one another.
The more disappointing thing from last night was that the ball movement screeched to a halt once the team faced adversity. It turned into 2013 all over again with Irving and Waiters taking turns dribbling the ball into oblivion, then hoisting a last second shot. Compounding things was the fact that they both shot the ball poorly. Waiters overall is only shooting 30% on the young season, and while there's still the likely possibility that he'll get it turned around, he clearly is out of whack.
Waiters was the one that worried me, as well as most everyone else. He has the potential to be a borderline all-star, or completely flame out depending on how he fits in, or doesn't fit in. The point that can't be overstated is he needs to show more consistent effort on the defensive end. I truly believe he could be a top 10 defender if he tries, but more often than not, he fails to do so.
On offense, he needs to find where he fits in on this team. He seems undecided whether he's going to pull up and shoot the jumper, or drive to the rim. On the few drives he's made, he seems more concerned with drawing contact than actually trying to make the shot. He's not getting the calls, he's getting frustrated (as is James on his drives), and then fails to get back defensively.
Maybe he does need to come off the bench. I don't know, and he doesn't seem to know either. This is just one of the pieces that Blatt has to figure out going forward.
Blatt also needs to figure out a consistent bench rotation. This is another trial and error thing that the team is going to struggle with initially. Remember, most of these guys haven't played with each other. It's going to take time. Blatt not only has to find the right mix of guys on the floor, but they have to figure each other out as well.
You could make the argument that's what training camp and the preseason is for, but the reality is that until you're playing the games, you'll have no idea how it's going to go. Teams are very vanilla in preseason, so how you were defended then is vastly different from how you'll be defended come the regular season.
The important thing to constantly remember is that it's going to take time. If after 30-40 games they still haven't come together at all, I'd be concerned then. Right now? I'm looking to see how the team responds to adversity, not just in the game, but from one game to the next. Tonight I'm going to want to see how they respond to last night's game when they play the Utah Jazz.
I don't think they'll ever be a defensive juggernaut, but I do think by the end of the season, they will have figured it out and will be a lot of fun to watch.
It just takes a little bit of patience.
Brownie Bites
The Browns have been a fascinating team to follow this year. They probably have no business being 5-3, but yet that's where they're at going into tomorrow night's massive match-up with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. This game has divisional implications for both teams. Both teams are trying to keep pace with the suddenly surging Pittsburgh Steelers and the team that loses faces a dramatically more difficult path to the playoffs.
The Bengals, like the Browns, have been Jeckyll and Hyde type of team. They've looked great offensively at times, then at other times they've looked bad. They looked great on defense early on, but haven't been as good of late. They have the advantage of being at home and facing a Browns team that has really struggled on offense of late.
I don't know what's going to happen with this game. Brian Hoyer has looked awful at times, yet when it comes down to crunch time, he's gotten the job done more often than he hasn't. He's 7-3 as a starter in games he's finished, yet he could easily be 5-5 or worse. But what-ifs aren't really valid points in an argument and the fact is, the team has won with him at quarterback.
It's been very disheartening to listen to certain local talk show hosts (Chuck Booms of 92.3 The Fan comes to mind) push and push for Johnny Manziel to start, and Booms argument that Hoyer has been terrible is slightly misguided at best. I find it odd that a guy who has largely been supportive of the local teams and players is so against the local product as quarterback, but Booms has had a strange love affair with Manziel from the start.
The problem with Hoyer is he has made some bad throws, making it harder to defend him at times. You could argue that more than few throws, if on point, would've led to easy touchdowns and you'd be correct. Yet some of those throws aren't as easy as the detractors want you to believe. The throw to Ben Tate against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a prime example of that. Hoyer had to wait for the route to develop, then had to make the throw right before being blasted by a defender. Could the throw have been better? Yes, but it certainly wasn't as easy as some have made it out to be.
You'd think from the critics that he had all day to set his feet and throw the ball and it just sailed on him. The disheartening thing is the talk makes it sound like the Browns have lost the last two weeks. Yes, the games have been ugly, but the bottom line is Hoyer has made enough plays to get the job done.
Do I think his performance warrants bringing him back next season? At this point, no. But it does allow Manziel time to learn as much as possible so that when it is his time, he's prepared. At the same time, if Hoyer suddenly catches fire and finishes the season strong, that changes the whole dynamic of the upcoming offseason.
It's just sad that because some want to see Manziel play, they'll find anything on Hoyer to rip. He has a new center in front of him that was shoved to the ground on three different occasions, leading to negative plays. The run game has been non-existent for three straight weeks. Jordan Cameron has been out due to a concussion (that was improperly blamed on Hoyer by some). Oh, and some guy by the name of Josh Gordon has not played at all this season due to his bogus suspension.
Yet Hoyer still has the team 5-3. Nitpick all you want, you can't argue with the overall result. Hoyer's play, while not always pretty, has been inspiring and he's continuing to soldier on despite the lack of a running game.
Lost in all the hoopla over Manziel vs. Hoyer is the defense playing much better the last few weeks. Granted, you have to consider the level of competition, but it's been nice to see the defensive backs make some plays and while the defense is still prone to getting gashed in the run game, they've been able to stem the tide when they need to.
Joe Haden has raised his level of play of late and you can't understate the importance of Donte Whitner and Tashaun Gipson in the back end. Buster Skrine has had his ups and downs and Justin Gilbert has still struggled some, but the unit overall has been better and should continue to get better.
Which leads us back to the game tomorrow night. It's a big one and if the Browns find a way to win, the fans will start thinking a division title is possible. If they lose, the cries for Manziel might get louder.
Hang on fans, it's going to get wild.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
The Sports Mixer - Down the Crapper
Well that was a downer, wasn't it Browns fans?
The Cleveland Browns, riding high following a 31-10 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers, went on the road to face the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars. Confidence was high and many fans had already penciled this game in as a win.
I, having seen 15 years of bad football (2002 and 2007 aside), was worried about this game though. This had the makings of a disaster if the Browns didn't come prepared, and were they ever unprepared.
60 minutes of football passed and the Browns had fallen 24-6, marking the first time this year they had failed to surpass the 20 point mark and marking Brian Hoyer's first truly bad game (more on this in a minute). They didn't block well, they didn't tackle well, and they were sloppy overall. It was a bad display of football, one that hopefully humbles the team and gets them to prepare better for their next two underwhelming opponents.
Offensively, we're used to seeing slow starts from the offense and this week was no different. Luckily the defense started off relatively strong and the Browns carried a 6-0 lead all the way up until around the 2:00 mark of the first half. Mike Pettine probably was a little too cute passing up a field goal to go for it on fourth down, but he made the call. It failed, the Jaguars took over, and Blake Bortles (who's going to be a fine quarterback in this league by the way), marched the Jaguars right down the field for a touchdown that was aided by a blown coverage on one play and shoddy tackling on the touchdown.
The troubling thing about this game was how ineffective the previously strong offensive line was. It showed just how valuable Alex Mack was to this line and how big of a blow it was to lose him. The Jaguars, already touting a stout defensive front, were typically in the backfield all day with just 4 down linemen, making the running game largely non-existent and allowing Hoyer virtually no time to throw.
Now, I've noticed a lot of critics suddenly coming out of the woodwork regarding Hoyer since the end of the game. One blog in particular has been aggressive in pointing out his sub-60% completion rate makes him a bad quarterback. Yes, you'd like to see a completion rate of 60-70%, but there's more to it than just that. If you're going to use the argument the stats tell the story, then you shouldn't be selective on which stats you use.
Hoyer hasn't been as accurate as we'd like, but until yesterday, he'd shown an ability to make a big play when it was needed and avoid the silly mistakes. He also had been the benefactor of good protection, which allowed him to make the reads he needed to make. In yesterday's game, he didn't have that benefit. The Jaguars repeatedly crashed the right side of the Browns' line, forcing early pressure.
Yes, it was bad. But to call for his job after one bad game (and yes, it's been one bad game, not six as some of you are claiming), is ludicrous and misguided. Knee-jerk reactions are part of the problem this organization has had over the last 15 years. If Hoyer was throwing interceptions and unable to put any points on the board over a few games, it would be different. However, until yesterday, they had put up at least 20 points in every game this season.
When was the last time you could say that?
Now, I know many of you have a love affair with Johnny Manziel, but I still don't think his skill set translates over to the pro game. I thought that before the draft, saw it during preseason, and still feel the same. He very well could come in and prove me wrong and I'd certainly eat my share of crow, but I just have this feeling that he's not going to be as successful as others feel.
Hoyer is the least of my concerns with this team.
My first concern is that porous run defense. They were gashed for 111 yards and a touchdown by Denard Robinson. Bortles was able to get off a few good runs as well. And while they did get decent pressure at times, it wasn't nearly consistent enough. The injuries up front aren't helping, but the guys down weren't exactly getting the job done either. This needs to be addressed.
The secondary has been better of late, but they still have a tendency to give up a big play and miss tackles. Tashaun Gipson has justified being given one of the starting safety spots and Donte Whitner hasn't been bad, but hasn't been great either. Buster Skrine has been the best cover corner, which isn't saying a whole lot given how they've played this season.
My big concern going forward though is the offensive line. What was a definite strength going into yesterday's game was reduced to shambles by halftime if we're being honest. The Browns couldn't run the ball, they couldn't give Hoyer time to throw, and just seemed out of sync overall. Maybe another week of practice with John Greco taking snaps will help, but I have doubts given how many times he was pushed back by the Jaguars front four. Paul McQuistan (sp?) didn't fare much better, and Mitchell Schwartz had his issues at times as well.
Some of this was just facing a really good front four at a bad time. I wonder how different this game would've been if Mack was in there, but part of me feels the Jaguars would've caused problems regardless. The one thing they were good at was stopping the run, so it's possible that even with Mack, the Browns still would've struggled.
Finally, I have to raise a few eyebrows at the coaching staff. Kyle Shanahan by large has done a marvelous job calling plays this year, but yesterday it felt like he just couldn't find anything that could get the team going and it felt like the Jaguars' defense was almost always a step ahead of the Browns with every move they made.
Pettine also made some questionable decisions, marking this the first time in his short tenure that I was wondering just what the plan was for this game. It's kind of nice that it took until week 7 to feel that way, but it's still an unnerving feeling that I hope they eliminate next week.
All in all, I want to see how this team responds. Their next two games are at home against the Oakland Raiders (another winless team) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who at this point only have 1 win. It's almost imperative for this team to win both these games and do so impressively. If Hoyer wants to keep this job, he needs to improve his accuracy and continue to limit mistakes. The offensive line needs to do a better job, and the defense needs to stop the run. If they get to Cincinnati at 5-3, that game has a totally different feel to it than if they're 4-4, or worse, 3-5.
If it's that bad, it may already be Johnny Football time in Cleveland.
The Cleveland Browns, riding high following a 31-10 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Steelers, went on the road to face the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars. Confidence was high and many fans had already penciled this game in as a win.
I, having seen 15 years of bad football (2002 and 2007 aside), was worried about this game though. This had the makings of a disaster if the Browns didn't come prepared, and were they ever unprepared.
60 minutes of football passed and the Browns had fallen 24-6, marking the first time this year they had failed to surpass the 20 point mark and marking Brian Hoyer's first truly bad game (more on this in a minute). They didn't block well, they didn't tackle well, and they were sloppy overall. It was a bad display of football, one that hopefully humbles the team and gets them to prepare better for their next two underwhelming opponents.
Offensively, we're used to seeing slow starts from the offense and this week was no different. Luckily the defense started off relatively strong and the Browns carried a 6-0 lead all the way up until around the 2:00 mark of the first half. Mike Pettine probably was a little too cute passing up a field goal to go for it on fourth down, but he made the call. It failed, the Jaguars took over, and Blake Bortles (who's going to be a fine quarterback in this league by the way), marched the Jaguars right down the field for a touchdown that was aided by a blown coverage on one play and shoddy tackling on the touchdown.
The troubling thing about this game was how ineffective the previously strong offensive line was. It showed just how valuable Alex Mack was to this line and how big of a blow it was to lose him. The Jaguars, already touting a stout defensive front, were typically in the backfield all day with just 4 down linemen, making the running game largely non-existent and allowing Hoyer virtually no time to throw.
Now, I've noticed a lot of critics suddenly coming out of the woodwork regarding Hoyer since the end of the game. One blog in particular has been aggressive in pointing out his sub-60% completion rate makes him a bad quarterback. Yes, you'd like to see a completion rate of 60-70%, but there's more to it than just that. If you're going to use the argument the stats tell the story, then you shouldn't be selective on which stats you use.
Hoyer hasn't been as accurate as we'd like, but until yesterday, he'd shown an ability to make a big play when it was needed and avoid the silly mistakes. He also had been the benefactor of good protection, which allowed him to make the reads he needed to make. In yesterday's game, he didn't have that benefit. The Jaguars repeatedly crashed the right side of the Browns' line, forcing early pressure.
Yes, it was bad. But to call for his job after one bad game (and yes, it's been one bad game, not six as some of you are claiming), is ludicrous and misguided. Knee-jerk reactions are part of the problem this organization has had over the last 15 years. If Hoyer was throwing interceptions and unable to put any points on the board over a few games, it would be different. However, until yesterday, they had put up at least 20 points in every game this season.
When was the last time you could say that?
Now, I know many of you have a love affair with Johnny Manziel, but I still don't think his skill set translates over to the pro game. I thought that before the draft, saw it during preseason, and still feel the same. He very well could come in and prove me wrong and I'd certainly eat my share of crow, but I just have this feeling that he's not going to be as successful as others feel.
Hoyer is the least of my concerns with this team.
My first concern is that porous run defense. They were gashed for 111 yards and a touchdown by Denard Robinson. Bortles was able to get off a few good runs as well. And while they did get decent pressure at times, it wasn't nearly consistent enough. The injuries up front aren't helping, but the guys down weren't exactly getting the job done either. This needs to be addressed.
The secondary has been better of late, but they still have a tendency to give up a big play and miss tackles. Tashaun Gipson has justified being given one of the starting safety spots and Donte Whitner hasn't been bad, but hasn't been great either. Buster Skrine has been the best cover corner, which isn't saying a whole lot given how they've played this season.
My big concern going forward though is the offensive line. What was a definite strength going into yesterday's game was reduced to shambles by halftime if we're being honest. The Browns couldn't run the ball, they couldn't give Hoyer time to throw, and just seemed out of sync overall. Maybe another week of practice with John Greco taking snaps will help, but I have doubts given how many times he was pushed back by the Jaguars front four. Paul McQuistan (sp?) didn't fare much better, and Mitchell Schwartz had his issues at times as well.
Some of this was just facing a really good front four at a bad time. I wonder how different this game would've been if Mack was in there, but part of me feels the Jaguars would've caused problems regardless. The one thing they were good at was stopping the run, so it's possible that even with Mack, the Browns still would've struggled.
Finally, I have to raise a few eyebrows at the coaching staff. Kyle Shanahan by large has done a marvelous job calling plays this year, but yesterday it felt like he just couldn't find anything that could get the team going and it felt like the Jaguars' defense was almost always a step ahead of the Browns with every move they made.
Pettine also made some questionable decisions, marking this the first time in his short tenure that I was wondering just what the plan was for this game. It's kind of nice that it took until week 7 to feel that way, but it's still an unnerving feeling that I hope they eliminate next week.
All in all, I want to see how this team responds. Their next two games are at home against the Oakland Raiders (another winless team) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who at this point only have 1 win. It's almost imperative for this team to win both these games and do so impressively. If Hoyer wants to keep this job, he needs to improve his accuracy and continue to limit mistakes. The offensive line needs to do a better job, and the defense needs to stop the run. If they get to Cincinnati at 5-3, that game has a totally different feel to it than if they're 4-4, or worse, 3-5.
If it's that bad, it may already be Johnny Football time in Cleveland.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
The Sports Mixer - New Cavs and Browns Win
As is often the case with me, it's been a while since I've written in here.
Sure, I've had a lot of thoughts about the Indians, Cavs, and Browns, but time has often been the biggest issue. Most of my free time has been spent playing with kids and doing work on my YouTube Channel, so it's taken a backseat, but I felt after watching a riveting display of football yesterday it was time to resume.
I'll try to get something on the Indians in the future, but there isn't much to say other than I feel like this year was a missed opportunity by the Tribe to really make a good push. The issues were many, and yet they still hung around until the last week of the season. Not great, but not horrible either.
Cavalier Caveats
I'll start with the Cavs since their most recent preseason game was a highly anticipated match-up against the Miami Heat from Brazil. It was LeBron James facing his new former team for the first time and it followed some interesting remarks from Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh that the media tried way too hard to make a story line.
This of course has been a dominant issue with the national media, who still can't seem to grasp that James is a Cavalier again. Remember, last time I wrote he hadn't decided his future and I was okay with the team either way.
I won't get too deep in how I think this team has been constructed, but it's been put together smartly by David Griffin and David Blatt seems like a good choice thus far to coach these players. Kevin Love committing beyond this season will be huge, but the Cavs did a nice job and I'm really interested to see how Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Kevin Love play with James.
Early preseason results have been promising offensively, as was expected. Obviously, this team is a liability defensively, especially with Love, but it may not matter when they can't be stopped at all on the other end.
The game from Rio was pretty fascinating as the starters pretty much had their way with the Heat, building up a 15 point halftime lead without James doing a lot of scoring. What he did though was provide 8 assists and allowed Love, Waiters, and Anderson Varejao to do the scoring. Tristan Thompson also had a nice game, showing that the Cavs are not going to struggle with offense and rebounding.
The game went to overtime, primarily because the reserves to the reserves let up and the Heat reserves tied the game, but the Cavs pulled it off in overtime 122-119.
The main thing I continue to take away from this team is the ball is going to move. No one stood and dribbled until AJ Price came in and started dribbling around the court. Everyone was involved offensively and the Cavs went to Varejao early and often to establish a post-up game. Varejao didn't disappoint his home crowd, dropping in hook shot after hook shot to the delight of the crowd.
Defensively, there are holes, but unless Love and Irving suddenly stop being turnstiles, there isn't much you can do there. The Heat were able to penetrate with ease in the first quarter, but that seemed to be corrected in the second quarter, when the Cavs took control.
What is clear about this team is that it isn't going to be James and/or Irving dribbling for 15 seconds before using a pick to try and make something happen. The ball is going to swing from side to side, inside back out, and fast breaks are going to be especially fun. I'm most interested to see how Waiters fits into all of this. He's been very good the first two preseason games and is showing interest on the defensive end of the floor, which is going to be huge.
I still don't know who's going to start, but it's going to be a fun year.
Brownie Bits
That was fun yesterday, wasn't it?
It didn't seem like it was going to start off well as the Pittsburgh Steelers marched right down the field, primarily running the ball, but the drive stalled and they settled for a field goal. Then the Browns went three and out again and once again the Steelers were marching down the field. Then luck turned to the Browns and the Steelers botched a field goal attempt.
A few plays later, the Browns were in the end zone and leading 7-3 thanks to a big play from Jordan Cameron from Brian Hoyer and a nice run from Isiah Crowell. The Browns held the Steelers on the next possession and once again the Browns struck with a big play, this time a 51-yard touchdown pass from Hoyer to Cameron on 3rd and 1. It was a perfect throw following a nice play-fake from Hoyer that completely fooled the Steelers defensive backs.
Little did we know at the time the route was on and the Browns went on to win 31-10, scoring at will in the second and third quarters before the Steelers finally got a late touchdown with under 4 minutes remaining in the game. At that point, the outcome was not in doubt and the fans were celebrating in the stands, shooing away the yellow towels that usually inundate the stadium in the third and fourth quarters.
The first thing I'm going to take from that game is the Browns continued commitment to the run, but also ability to be aggressive when the opportunity knocks. Ben Tate didn't have a great game rushing, but he and Crowell kept the Steelers thinking about the run enough for Hoyer to hit his receivers down the field. Hoyer only completed 8 passes, but 7 went beyond 10 yards and kept the crowd ignited. Crowell busted a couple of larger runs, but came down with a case of the yips with some fumbling issues.
The defense, while not entirely stout, did what it had to do to keep the Steelers flustered on offense and avoided the big play, something that had bit them a few times. Buster Skrine in particular had a nice game, bouncing back from last week's disaster.
Special teams have completely cleaned up their act. There haven't been any big returns, but the tackling has been sure and the field goal issues have largely disappeared. They don't kick a lot of them though since Hoyer likes to score touchdowns as opposed to field goals.
The big downside is the injury bug hitting this team hard. Alex Mack was lost for the season most likely with a broken leg when he was caught under a pile of players. Armony Bryant is also done for the year with a torn ACL, further hampering a defensive line that was already missing several players.
They were still gashed pretty badly in the run game, but the defense held together at the right moments and were aided by the Steelers surprising decision to all but abandon the run game once the deficit grew. This is in contrast to the Browns, who have shown that they will run whether down by 3 or 23.
All in all, it's hard to complain and hard to find reasons for first round pick Johnny Manziel to even sniff the field at this stage. Hoyer has shown this is his team and he's not going to just give it up.
The next three games will be far bigger tests to me though. All three should be very winnable, albeit not entirely easy. First up is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were a blocked kick away from their first win. You also have games against a suddenly competitive Oakland Raiders team along with a seemingly demoralized Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. How they approach those games will show us how far they've truly come.
Yes, it's possible that the Browns will be 6-2 once they hit a big showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals, but they first need to focus on next week's game and carry this performance over.
Oh, and they might want to get healthy too.
Sure, I've had a lot of thoughts about the Indians, Cavs, and Browns, but time has often been the biggest issue. Most of my free time has been spent playing with kids and doing work on my YouTube Channel, so it's taken a backseat, but I felt after watching a riveting display of football yesterday it was time to resume.
I'll try to get something on the Indians in the future, but there isn't much to say other than I feel like this year was a missed opportunity by the Tribe to really make a good push. The issues were many, and yet they still hung around until the last week of the season. Not great, but not horrible either.
Cavalier Caveats
I'll start with the Cavs since their most recent preseason game was a highly anticipated match-up against the Miami Heat from Brazil. It was LeBron James facing his new former team for the first time and it followed some interesting remarks from Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh that the media tried way too hard to make a story line.
This of course has been a dominant issue with the national media, who still can't seem to grasp that James is a Cavalier again. Remember, last time I wrote he hadn't decided his future and I was okay with the team either way.
I won't get too deep in how I think this team has been constructed, but it's been put together smartly by David Griffin and David Blatt seems like a good choice thus far to coach these players. Kevin Love committing beyond this season will be huge, but the Cavs did a nice job and I'm really interested to see how Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and Kevin Love play with James.
Early preseason results have been promising offensively, as was expected. Obviously, this team is a liability defensively, especially with Love, but it may not matter when they can't be stopped at all on the other end.
The game from Rio was pretty fascinating as the starters pretty much had their way with the Heat, building up a 15 point halftime lead without James doing a lot of scoring. What he did though was provide 8 assists and allowed Love, Waiters, and Anderson Varejao to do the scoring. Tristan Thompson also had a nice game, showing that the Cavs are not going to struggle with offense and rebounding.
The game went to overtime, primarily because the reserves to the reserves let up and the Heat reserves tied the game, but the Cavs pulled it off in overtime 122-119.
The main thing I continue to take away from this team is the ball is going to move. No one stood and dribbled until AJ Price came in and started dribbling around the court. Everyone was involved offensively and the Cavs went to Varejao early and often to establish a post-up game. Varejao didn't disappoint his home crowd, dropping in hook shot after hook shot to the delight of the crowd.
Defensively, there are holes, but unless Love and Irving suddenly stop being turnstiles, there isn't much you can do there. The Heat were able to penetrate with ease in the first quarter, but that seemed to be corrected in the second quarter, when the Cavs took control.
What is clear about this team is that it isn't going to be James and/or Irving dribbling for 15 seconds before using a pick to try and make something happen. The ball is going to swing from side to side, inside back out, and fast breaks are going to be especially fun. I'm most interested to see how Waiters fits into all of this. He's been very good the first two preseason games and is showing interest on the defensive end of the floor, which is going to be huge.
I still don't know who's going to start, but it's going to be a fun year.
Brownie Bits
That was fun yesterday, wasn't it?
It didn't seem like it was going to start off well as the Pittsburgh Steelers marched right down the field, primarily running the ball, but the drive stalled and they settled for a field goal. Then the Browns went three and out again and once again the Steelers were marching down the field. Then luck turned to the Browns and the Steelers botched a field goal attempt.
A few plays later, the Browns were in the end zone and leading 7-3 thanks to a big play from Jordan Cameron from Brian Hoyer and a nice run from Isiah Crowell. The Browns held the Steelers on the next possession and once again the Browns struck with a big play, this time a 51-yard touchdown pass from Hoyer to Cameron on 3rd and 1. It was a perfect throw following a nice play-fake from Hoyer that completely fooled the Steelers defensive backs.
Little did we know at the time the route was on and the Browns went on to win 31-10, scoring at will in the second and third quarters before the Steelers finally got a late touchdown with under 4 minutes remaining in the game. At that point, the outcome was not in doubt and the fans were celebrating in the stands, shooing away the yellow towels that usually inundate the stadium in the third and fourth quarters.
The first thing I'm going to take from that game is the Browns continued commitment to the run, but also ability to be aggressive when the opportunity knocks. Ben Tate didn't have a great game rushing, but he and Crowell kept the Steelers thinking about the run enough for Hoyer to hit his receivers down the field. Hoyer only completed 8 passes, but 7 went beyond 10 yards and kept the crowd ignited. Crowell busted a couple of larger runs, but came down with a case of the yips with some fumbling issues.
The defense, while not entirely stout, did what it had to do to keep the Steelers flustered on offense and avoided the big play, something that had bit them a few times. Buster Skrine in particular had a nice game, bouncing back from last week's disaster.
Special teams have completely cleaned up their act. There haven't been any big returns, but the tackling has been sure and the field goal issues have largely disappeared. They don't kick a lot of them though since Hoyer likes to score touchdowns as opposed to field goals.
The big downside is the injury bug hitting this team hard. Alex Mack was lost for the season most likely with a broken leg when he was caught under a pile of players. Armony Bryant is also done for the year with a torn ACL, further hampering a defensive line that was already missing several players.
They were still gashed pretty badly in the run game, but the defense held together at the right moments and were aided by the Steelers surprising decision to all but abandon the run game once the deficit grew. This is in contrast to the Browns, who have shown that they will run whether down by 3 or 23.
All in all, it's hard to complain and hard to find reasons for first round pick Johnny Manziel to even sniff the field at this stage. Hoyer has shown this is his team and he's not going to just give it up.
The next three games will be far bigger tests to me though. All three should be very winnable, albeit not entirely easy. First up is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were a blocked kick away from their first win. You also have games against a suddenly competitive Oakland Raiders team along with a seemingly demoralized Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. How they approach those games will show us how far they've truly come.
Yes, it's possible that the Browns will be 6-2 once they hit a big showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals, but they first need to focus on next week's game and carry this performance over.
Oh, and they might want to get healthy too.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
The Sports Mixer - LeBron Coming Home?
By now we've all heard the rumors and have seen the numerous possibilities surrounding LeBron James in free agency.
Most Clevelanders were resolved to the idea that James would re-sign with the Miami Heat, or maybe move on to another large market like the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland was widely considered an afterthought, the team that had managed to get lucky in the NBA lottery 3 times in 4 years, but with no realistic shot at landing the former Cavalier.
Then whispers started to pop up that James was considering returning. People claimed to have knowledge that he was coming back. Then his wife posted a picture on Instagram that they were coming home. Suddenly people started reading into every little thing that went on with James.
Then Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade opted out of their contracts with the Heat. It was widely thought that the three of them were going to take less money to allow Pat Riley to reconstruct the roster. It was whispered that the Heat were going to try and convince Carmelo Anthony to come to South Beach.
That was followed by reports that James was going to ask for a max-contract. Suddenly the entire focus of his free agency shift. There was no way the Heat could sign him to a max contract, plus re-sign Wade and Bosh, then add more talent to the team. The Heat went from front-runners to being done in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly more rumors popped up that James was coming back to Cleveland. Personal trainers, cupcake shops, and the guy down the street claimed to have inside information that James had already agreed to come back to the Cavs, that it was just a matter of announcing it.
Twitter began to buzz with more and more excitement locally as fans came pouring out of the woodwork with reasons why James was coming back. Local radio stations jumped all over the buzz, declaring they knew it was going to happen. It managed to overshadow Josh Gordon getting pulled over in North Carolina for DWI, which is amazing since Cleveland Browns news always seems to trump any other story.
This past weekend, a plane registered to Dan Gilbert landed in south Florida and Twitter erupted. It was the sign the optimists were all waiting for. Dan Gilbert or a representative was on board, ready to grab James and hash out the details of a comeback.
Except it wasn't like that.
Clamoring calmed down briefly, but picked back up this past Monday. It was reported that James's agent Rich Paul was pushing to get James back here (ulterior motives have been suggested), that many in James's inner circle wanted him to go back to the Cavs. It reached a fever pitch on a local radio station, almost euphoric, which is odd given that James still as of this post yet to meet with Riley over the direction of the Heat.
Today, Tuesday, he was supposedly going to meet with Riley. Yet he didn't. His meeting was with Nike, which began a whole new round of conspiracy theories. The Heat meeting was supposedly confirmed by a number of media members, yet they were all wrong since the meeting is now supposedly Wednesday.
It perfectly describes the problem with reporting these days. Reporters, bloggers, and average Joe all want to be first on a story, so fact-checking becomes compromised and instead we get a constant supply of "facts" from "sources" that turn out to be bogus. Social media has made this worse because information is so readily available, you have to be very fast to get a report out first. Often, the information is flawed, if not completely bogus.
What does this all mean for Heat fans and Cavs fans? Well, it means we know just as much now as we did when the final horn sounded in game five of the NBA Finals in San Antonio.
Nothing.
He could go back to the Heat if Riley sells him on the future direction of the team. He could be convinced that a few decent moves could ensure a long run at title contention. Riley has not let James down to this point, and that could be very favorable to the Heat.
He could make a remarkable return to the Cavs. The city would erupt, and national media members will spend weeks trying to figure out just what happened that caused this change of heart on both sides. James and Kyrie Irving could form a dynamic duo with Andrew Wiggins as the understudy.
The thing that causes me dismay is seeing how high on the Cavs side people are getting at the possibility of James returning, along with the panic in Miami. Sure, it's fun to see another fanbase go through what Cavs fans dealt with 4 years ago, but that doesn't make it right. It's also caused mini-spats between radio stations in both markets. Miami stations can't believe Cleveland stations believe he's coming back and Cleveland stations are laughing at the panic in Miami.
Another ugly side-effect is the return of insults towards Cleveland. It's suddenly become cool again to pick on the city as a terrible place to live/visit, and that's really a shame. I know it's not South Beach, but Cleveland isn't nearly as awful as some try to paint it to be, and frankly resorting to "who wants to go to Cleveland" jokes makes you look pathetic in any capacity.
Where do I stand on the James free agency situation? I find it hard to believe he'll come back. Sure, I'd stand up and celebrate his play on the court as a fan, but until I see him sitting in a press conference with the Cavs hat back on his head, I refuse to give into the hype and speculation that's running rampant. I don't necessarily believe that Miami is a better situation (please spare me the veteran players argument; it means little in the scheme of things), but it's been stable and Riley has made efforts to keep a decent level of talent around their big three.
The part that may play the biggest role is what Chris Bosh does. Houston has offered Bosh a max contract offer and reports (I know, rumors) are swirling that's he considering it, but he hasn't accepted or declined it as of this moment and that could be a big sticking point. If Bosh bails, it could persuade James to go all in with the Cavs. Or it could free up the necessary space to go back to Miami.
No one really knows and that's supposed to be the beauty of free agency.
My worry is that so many Cavs fans are going to buy into him coming back, believe that he's going to sign with the Cavs, that when he doesn't, they're going to crash and burn and it's going to be ugly. There will be people yelling on social media about how dare he do this to us again (even though he's much more low-key this time around), people claiming the world is ending as we know it, and people giving up their fan badge.
I just hate to think that there's going to be a big fallout from this story just because so many *want* to believe that he's returning to the team that drafted him. There will be cries of doom and gloom if he goes back to Miami, and that's simply misguided.
This Cavalier team is already better than the one we watched last year. Sure, Spencer Hawes would've been nice to retain, but it feels that stability has been achieved in the front office, a reasonably good coach has been hired, and Andrew Wiggins could certainly be a star in this league if things bounce the right way.
Is there concern with the team? Yes. There's no shot-blocking, unless Tristan Thompson suddenly becomes a voracious defender who protects the rim, and overall front court size is underwhelming. Anthony Bennett is still a big question mark after his disastrous rookie season, but all reports indicate that he's working hard to be in better shape. If he bounces back, it helps.
Oh, and Irving did sign that 5 year extension, so there's that.
Not to mention Dion Waitors, the continued growth of Delly, Tyler Zeller continuing to improve, and so on. The team by all accounts should improve next season, especially if David Blatt is half the coach we've been led to believe his going to be. The team is intent on making more moves regardless of what James does as well, continuing to eye certain free agents.
The point continues to be don't get caught up in all the rumors swirling about. It's fashionable to put out false rumors to get things churning and that's exactly what appears to be happening right now. And right now, the pressure is on Riley and the Heat to keep James, not the Cavs.
So breath Cavs fans. Enjoy the speculation, but don't get caught up in what others say is going to happen unless it comes from a legitimate source. It's going to be an interesting summer.
We shouldn't be counting on one person to make it memorable.
Most Clevelanders were resolved to the idea that James would re-sign with the Miami Heat, or maybe move on to another large market like the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland was widely considered an afterthought, the team that had managed to get lucky in the NBA lottery 3 times in 4 years, but with no realistic shot at landing the former Cavalier.
Then whispers started to pop up that James was considering returning. People claimed to have knowledge that he was coming back. Then his wife posted a picture on Instagram that they were coming home. Suddenly people started reading into every little thing that went on with James.
Then Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade opted out of their contracts with the Heat. It was widely thought that the three of them were going to take less money to allow Pat Riley to reconstruct the roster. It was whispered that the Heat were going to try and convince Carmelo Anthony to come to South Beach.
That was followed by reports that James was going to ask for a max-contract. Suddenly the entire focus of his free agency shift. There was no way the Heat could sign him to a max contract, plus re-sign Wade and Bosh, then add more talent to the team. The Heat went from front-runners to being done in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly more rumors popped up that James was coming back to Cleveland. Personal trainers, cupcake shops, and the guy down the street claimed to have inside information that James had already agreed to come back to the Cavs, that it was just a matter of announcing it.
Twitter began to buzz with more and more excitement locally as fans came pouring out of the woodwork with reasons why James was coming back. Local radio stations jumped all over the buzz, declaring they knew it was going to happen. It managed to overshadow Josh Gordon getting pulled over in North Carolina for DWI, which is amazing since Cleveland Browns news always seems to trump any other story.
This past weekend, a plane registered to Dan Gilbert landed in south Florida and Twitter erupted. It was the sign the optimists were all waiting for. Dan Gilbert or a representative was on board, ready to grab James and hash out the details of a comeback.
Except it wasn't like that.
Clamoring calmed down briefly, but picked back up this past Monday. It was reported that James's agent Rich Paul was pushing to get James back here (ulterior motives have been suggested), that many in James's inner circle wanted him to go back to the Cavs. It reached a fever pitch on a local radio station, almost euphoric, which is odd given that James still as of this post yet to meet with Riley over the direction of the Heat.
Today, Tuesday, he was supposedly going to meet with Riley. Yet he didn't. His meeting was with Nike, which began a whole new round of conspiracy theories. The Heat meeting was supposedly confirmed by a number of media members, yet they were all wrong since the meeting is now supposedly Wednesday.
It perfectly describes the problem with reporting these days. Reporters, bloggers, and average Joe all want to be first on a story, so fact-checking becomes compromised and instead we get a constant supply of "facts" from "sources" that turn out to be bogus. Social media has made this worse because information is so readily available, you have to be very fast to get a report out first. Often, the information is flawed, if not completely bogus.
What does this all mean for Heat fans and Cavs fans? Well, it means we know just as much now as we did when the final horn sounded in game five of the NBA Finals in San Antonio.
Nothing.
He could go back to the Heat if Riley sells him on the future direction of the team. He could be convinced that a few decent moves could ensure a long run at title contention. Riley has not let James down to this point, and that could be very favorable to the Heat.
He could make a remarkable return to the Cavs. The city would erupt, and national media members will spend weeks trying to figure out just what happened that caused this change of heart on both sides. James and Kyrie Irving could form a dynamic duo with Andrew Wiggins as the understudy.
The thing that causes me dismay is seeing how high on the Cavs side people are getting at the possibility of James returning, along with the panic in Miami. Sure, it's fun to see another fanbase go through what Cavs fans dealt with 4 years ago, but that doesn't make it right. It's also caused mini-spats between radio stations in both markets. Miami stations can't believe Cleveland stations believe he's coming back and Cleveland stations are laughing at the panic in Miami.
Another ugly side-effect is the return of insults towards Cleveland. It's suddenly become cool again to pick on the city as a terrible place to live/visit, and that's really a shame. I know it's not South Beach, but Cleveland isn't nearly as awful as some try to paint it to be, and frankly resorting to "who wants to go to Cleveland" jokes makes you look pathetic in any capacity.
Where do I stand on the James free agency situation? I find it hard to believe he'll come back. Sure, I'd stand up and celebrate his play on the court as a fan, but until I see him sitting in a press conference with the Cavs hat back on his head, I refuse to give into the hype and speculation that's running rampant. I don't necessarily believe that Miami is a better situation (please spare me the veteran players argument; it means little in the scheme of things), but it's been stable and Riley has made efforts to keep a decent level of talent around their big three.
The part that may play the biggest role is what Chris Bosh does. Houston has offered Bosh a max contract offer and reports (I know, rumors) are swirling that's he considering it, but he hasn't accepted or declined it as of this moment and that could be a big sticking point. If Bosh bails, it could persuade James to go all in with the Cavs. Or it could free up the necessary space to go back to Miami.
No one really knows and that's supposed to be the beauty of free agency.
My worry is that so many Cavs fans are going to buy into him coming back, believe that he's going to sign with the Cavs, that when he doesn't, they're going to crash and burn and it's going to be ugly. There will be people yelling on social media about how dare he do this to us again (even though he's much more low-key this time around), people claiming the world is ending as we know it, and people giving up their fan badge.
I just hate to think that there's going to be a big fallout from this story just because so many *want* to believe that he's returning to the team that drafted him. There will be cries of doom and gloom if he goes back to Miami, and that's simply misguided.
This Cavalier team is already better than the one we watched last year. Sure, Spencer Hawes would've been nice to retain, but it feels that stability has been achieved in the front office, a reasonably good coach has been hired, and Andrew Wiggins could certainly be a star in this league if things bounce the right way.
Is there concern with the team? Yes. There's no shot-blocking, unless Tristan Thompson suddenly becomes a voracious defender who protects the rim, and overall front court size is underwhelming. Anthony Bennett is still a big question mark after his disastrous rookie season, but all reports indicate that he's working hard to be in better shape. If he bounces back, it helps.
Oh, and Irving did sign that 5 year extension, so there's that.
Not to mention Dion Waitors, the continued growth of Delly, Tyler Zeller continuing to improve, and so on. The team by all accounts should improve next season, especially if David Blatt is half the coach we've been led to believe his going to be. The team is intent on making more moves regardless of what James does as well, continuing to eye certain free agents.
The point continues to be don't get caught up in all the rumors swirling about. It's fashionable to put out false rumors to get things churning and that's exactly what appears to be happening right now. And right now, the pressure is on Riley and the Heat to keep James, not the Cavs.
So breath Cavs fans. Enjoy the speculation, but don't get caught up in what others say is going to happen unless it comes from a legitimate source. It's going to be an interesting summer.
We shouldn't be counting on one person to make it memorable.
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