It is very difficult to turn the football over six times in a game and win, but the Jacksonville Jaguars did it today in beating the Browns, 24-20 in Jacksonville today. 

The Browns lost this game because some of their old bugaboos returned to bite them.  They couldn’t run the ball, and they couldn’t protect their quarterback, as Colt McCoy was sacked six times in the game. 

They lost even though they had a fourth quarter lead for the eighth time this season after Phil Dawson kicked a 41 yard field goal with 2:51 remaining to give the Browns a 20-17 lead.  Their defense, which again forced six turnovers, allowed Maurice Jones-Drew to take a short pass and run 75 yards to the 1 yard line just a half-minute later.   The Jaguars punched it in and gave themselves an astonishing victory.

The Cleveland Browns have to learn to close out games.  It was thought they learned this against New Orleans and New England, but the problem reared its ugly head once again.

Still, Eric Mangini and Brian Daboll should explain a lack of a killer instinct after the Jags’ turnovers.  Three of the second half miscues gave Cleveland the ball on the Jacksonville side of the field and all three resulted in the same play calling sequence: 

Run, run, pass attempt. 

This in spite of the fact that the Jaguar defense was pretty much stuffing the run the entire day, holding Cleveland to just 88 rushing yards for the game, and Peyton Hillis had just 48 yards in 21 attempts for the game. 

Very conservative, indeed. 

It appeared that after three straight weeks for aggressive play calling, Mangini and Daboll went back into a caution first game plan with their rookie quarterback.  Perhaps it was due to the poor performance of the offensive line, but not going for the jugular after these turnovers is something that had heads shaking with wonderment.

Outside of Abe Elam’s fumble recovery which gave Cleveland a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter, the Browns scored just three points as a result of six turnovers.  That’s just a terrible performance. 

Yes, the Browns are a running team first.  And yes, they have a rookie quarterback, but he’s a rookie who has proven to be very careful with the football.  Why not take a chance on McCoy making a play following one of these mistakes by the Jaguars, and give the team a commanding lead, and giving some breathing room for the defense.

Another Cleveland weakness is the play of the wide receivers.  Mohammad Massaquoi caught four passes for 51 yards and Chansi Stuckey caught four more for 27 yards from the slot.  Brian Robiskie dropped a very catchable ball late in the game.  Is there a solution?

Yes, play Evan Moore!  Moore is listed as a tight end, but is really a hybrid, kind of like a Dallas Clark type of TE.  Why don’t the Browns use more two tight end sets using Moore split out and utilize his pass catching skills.  Remember, it was Moore who made a big grab against Darelle Revis of the Jets a week ago in a key situation.

Moore may just be the Browns best receiver if given the opportunity.

Defensively, what else can you say about six turnovers.  Abe Elam had a pick and caused a fumble, which he returned for a TD.  Rookie T. J. Ward had two interceptions.  Fellow rookie Joe Haden added another.  Coordinator Rob Ryan’s group also had four sacks.  They didn’t get any help from the offense, who refused to take advantage of the errors.

Last week, it was predicted here that this could be a trap game for the Browns.  With the next four games looking very winnable (Carolina, Miami, Buffalo, and Cincinnati), a win today could have put Mangini’s team in a position to be 8-6 going into the last two games against the Ravens and Steelers.

Unfortunately, the offensive play calling didn’t feel the same sense of urgency.  That’s why the Browns are sitting at 3-7 today.

JD

The NBA season is just 10 games old, and already the Cleveland Cavaliers have had many ups and downs to their season. 

They knocked off the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Boston Celtics on opening night, and promptly lost on the road to the Toronto Raptors two nights later. 

They had a three game road winning streak, but they’ve also had a four game losing streak at Quicken Loans Arena. 

So, all in all, being .500 on the season is about where they should be based on how they’ve played to start the 2010-11 season. 

Critics will say the record is only that good because the wine and gold have played a relatively soft schedule, and while that is true, there are some things that need to be said about the quality of the teams in the NBA.

There simply aren’t that many very good teams in the league right now, in fact, you can make the case that there are a lot of mediocre squads in the NBA, particularly in the East.  David Stern has got to be cringing at that statement.

There are 15 teams in the Eastern Conference and currently just six of them are over the .500 mark. 

There are some outstanding teams.  You have to put Boston, Orlando, and Miami (yes, it pains one to say that) in that class, and Atlanta and Chicago (especially when Carlos Boozer gets back) are very close behind. 

That would be five teams who figure to make the playoffs, leaving three spots up for grabs, and quite frankly, the Cavaliers are as good as any of the teams vying for one of those spots.

The best of the rest, so to speak, may just be the Milwaukee Bucks, who have a good big man in Andrew Bogut and a possible rising star at the point in Brandon Jennings.  They also have solid veterans in Corey Maggette, John Salmons, and Drew Gooden.  They also have a good coach who stresses defense in Scott Skiles. 

That leaves nine teams looking to get the last two spots.  Can anyone say with conviction that the Cavs aren’t better than these teams:  New Jersey, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Indiana, Detroit, Charlotte, and Washington?

The biggest challenge for Byron Scott’s crew is getting healthy. With Anderson Varajao and Mo Williams both in the lineup, the wine and gold won the three straight road games.  They can go 10 deep when both are playing, although the coach played that many yesterday by giving rookie Manny Harris some minutes. 

These two guys are arguably two of the team’s best, along with Antawn Jamison.  Those three have the best career track records.  They are all solid NBA players.  We need to see more of guys like J. J. Hickson and Daniel Gibson before they can be put on that level.

The point is the people who say the Cavaliers have had a soft schedule need to look at the league.  Outside of five or six teams (the three from the East and the Lakers, Spurs, and Thunder in the West, we’ll reserve judgment on the Hornets), anyone else you play would be considered a beatable team. 

For example, check out the “great” Heat.  They haven’t beaten any team with a winning record as of yet. 

This basketball team will get better as the season goes on because they will learn to play Scott’s system better.  There is no reason to write this team off.  After the first ten games, they still can be a playoff team.

JK

ESPN calls itself the worldwide leader in sports, and others use that term with either admiration or derision depending on who is making the comment.  No matter what you think about the four-letter network, it is clear they have an agenda, much like the cable news networks.

There is plenty that ESPN does well; their 30 in 30 film series has produced some outstanding television sports documentaries.  However, there is plenty to shake ones head about when viewing the family of networks that is ESPN.

They sometimes look to make the news instead of reporting it.

The reason behind this column is that ESPN’s current NBA power rankings, done by analyst John Hollinger, show the Miami Heat as the league’s second best team, behind only the undefeated New Orleans Hornets.  The Heat (6-4) ranks ahead of the Boston Celtics, who have beaten them twice so far this season.  They are also ranked higher than the defending champion Lakers (8-2) and the San Antonio Spurs (8-1). 

In the interest of fairness, another columnist, Marc Stein, has the Heat ranked 7^th, citing the team’s wins are against opponents with a cumulative 16-32 record. 

Hollinger is a good NBA scribe, but you have to ask if there is a hidden agenda behind putting Miami this high on the list.  Remember, the network has devoted a great deal of talent, including former Plain Dealer writer Brian Windhorst, to following the team calling the coverage “Heat Check”.

Another website, Basketball Prospectus.com, has Miami ranked third behind New Orleans and Boston.

This isn’t the first time ESPN has tried to push an agenda on the people who watch their sports coverage. Think about the inordinate amount of coverage given soccer on the network.  Is there a groundswell for the sport that we aren’t noticing?  The World Cup coverage was all over the airwaves, and they have even started putting the scores on its crawl on ESPN2. 

Another cause for the “Worldwide Leader” is Boise State.  The on air people seem to constantly talk about how Boise State deserves to be in the BCS National Championship game, despite the fact that right now TCU is ranked third, and probably has played a better schedule. 

There is no question here that if Boise State played in the Big 12, Big Ten, or the Southeastern Conference they would not be undefeated or in the talk for a national championship.  We’ll save the need for a playoff in college football because there is no doubt it is needed, but why the tub-thumping for Boise and not TCU? 

We haven’t even mentioned the continued love affair the network has with Brett Favre and LeBron James.  You get the feeling that the executives in Bristol are already developing a reality show for Favre about his adjustment to retirement when he leaves the NFL, just so they can continue to have a connection with the Vikings’ quarterback.

Everyone now agrees it was a bad decision by the network to put “The Decision” on its airwaves in July.  They did so to enhance their relationship with James, who they let host their ESPY Awards a few years ago. 

Even though they are a broadcasting monolith, it seems like they are afraid to cross some of the superstars of sports.  Like they need these stars to attract viewers.  That should have been a non-factor years ago.

ESPN was once a great new network.  They covered all teams, in some cases, better than local markets did.  Now, they’ve morphed into emphasizing the big markets, New York, Boston, and Los Angeles.  Just like the people who covered sports before them.

MW

What a football game at Cleveland Browns’ Stadium today.  It is good to see excitement back at the lakefront.

It is also nice to see the nation welcome the Browns back to the relevance in the NFL.  Heck, CBS even had Jim Nantz and Phil Simms announcing the game, the first time they’ve been here in awhile.

As for the game itself, the Browns just couldn’t get the big play on defense  they needed all day, and lost to the Jets, 26-20 with 16 seconds remaining in overtime.  Eric Mangini’s crew now drops to 3-6 on the season.

Rob Ryan’s defense couldn’t force a turnover until late in the overtime, and if Joe Haden hadn’t made the instinctual play, picking off a long pass intended for Braylon Edwards, this game may have ended differently. 

The smart play would have been to knock down the pass and force the Jets to punt from their own 46 yard line.  Cleveland likely would have had more room to operate a normal offense.  Instead they had to punt out of their own end zone and the resulting return set up New York on the Browns’ 37 yard line. 

But that is nitpicking.

The defense had another chance for a big play with less than three minutes to go in overtime, but Shaun Rogers somehow did NOT sack Sanchez inside the Jets’ 10, and instead escaped to hit LaDanian Tomlinson for a 21 yard pass and run to get the Jets out of bad field position. 

The Cleveland defense sacked the Jet quarterback twice, but seemed to have him locked up at least three other times, but couldn’t bring him down.

The Browns bent and bent, but did not break, allowing 456 yards and allowing New York to have the football for almost 38 minutes in regulation, but three missed field goals kept Cleveland in the game. 

They would not give in to obvious fatigue, and even lost two starters, CB Sheldon Brown and LB Scott Fujita, to injuries in the first half.  By the way, Haden replaced Brown and did a great job in coverage, giving more credence to giving him a starting spot.

Offensively, Colt McCoy faced another tough defensive unit and did just fine.  The game plan was to mix up the run and pass, and get the rookie QB out of the pocket a lot when he did throw.  McCoy hit 18 for 31 passes for 205 yards and engineered a drive to tie the game with less than a minute to go, hitting big throws to TE Benjmain Watson, TE Evan Moore, and then a touchdown toss to Mohammad Massaquoi to tie it up.

Peyton Hills rushed for 82 yards against an elite defense, and the offense made many big plays such as a 37 yard catch and run by Josh Cribbs to the five yard line in the first half.  However, the Browns couldn’t punch it in from there and had to settle for a field goal.  That was a tough mistake.

The other huge mistake was Chansi Stuckey’s fumble in overtime with the Browns either in range for a game winning field goal, or very, very close.  Stuckey made a great move to take a small gain and make it into a big one, but coughed up the ball at the end of the play.

Next week, the Browns travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars, and a new set of challenges.  With the performance of the last three games, wins over the Saints and Patriots and this game against the Jets, the Browns will be expected to win, even on the road.  You have to go back three years since Cleveland had that burden. 

One last thing, and this is directed to the head coach.  Let’s not play games this week.  Everyone knows that Colt McCoy should be the starter.  Name him that at the beginning of the week. 

Football is back in Cleveland.

JD

We all know the Cleveland Indians are not expected to be very active this winter in terms of player acquisition.  They are expected to depend on the development of their young players to better the team in 2011.

However, there is one player the Indians would love to trade and that is DH Travis Hafner, he of the contract worth over $10 million per year for the next two years.  Pronk is still a productive major league hitter, his OPS last season was 824, second highest among regulars on the Indians to Shin-Soo Choo, but he’s become a platoon player.  He hit just one home run against southpaws last season, and his OPS against lefties was just 706.

If new GM Chris Antonetti wants to move the DH, he has a limited market, because he can’t be dealt to the National League.  And the Tribe would have to play part of his remaining salary to move him too.

Is that a good deal for the Indians?

It would be only if the ownership would take the extra money and put it in the major league roster. 

Hafner is due $13 million the next two years.  Let’s say in order to deal him; Cleveland would have to pay half of his remaining salary.  That would give the Indians $6.5 million to spend on a starting pitcher and/or a bat. 

The next thing to look at is what teams may be interested in the big man.  The teams that come to mind quickly are Tampa Bay, Detroit, Chicago, and perhaps Oakland and Los Angeles.  Do those teams have some pitching they might want to give up in exchange for a DH?

An intriguing name is James Shields from Tampa who makes $4.25 million next year with club options in 2012, 2013, and 2014.  The right-hander has won more than 10 games and pitched over 200 innings in each of the last four years.    His ERA was over 5.00 in 2010, but the three previous years, it’s been in the 3.30-4.20 range.

Why would Tampa want to unload him?  They have a top prospect, Jeremy Hellickson, who is ready to join the big league rotation.  And they would like to reduce payroll as well.  Now, why would they want Hafner?  They still think they can contend and DH has been a weak spot for the organization.  The payroll cut will come from letting Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena leave as free agents.

It is doubtful that either the White Sox or Tigers will trade an established starting pitcher to the Indians, and it is equally likely the Tribe front office doesn’t want to see Pronk 18 times a year either as a divisional foe.

As for the Angels, they would love to get rid of lefty Scott Kazmir, who is coming off a 9-15 season with a 5.94 ERA.  He’s also guaranteed $20 million over the next two seasons, so he wouldn’t be a good fit for the Indians.  Perhaps the Los Angeles could put together a prospect package, and Antonetti could look for a starter elsewhere.

The A’s could use a veteran bat in their lineup and have a boatload of young pitching (although not as much as yesterday since they traded Vin Mazzaro to Kansas City for OF David DeJesus), so they could be a match if they are willing to take on some payroll.

The other benefit for Cleveland is that it would open up the DH spot, and coincidentally, there are a couple of former Indians looking for a team on a one-year deal.  Do the names Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez ring a bell?

Could either of those guys be a stop gap for the Tribe in 2011?  They probably could hit more than the 11 homers that Travis Hafner hit for the Indians in 2010.

MW

Lost in the excitement of the Browns’ thrashing of the Patriots on Sunday is the performance of Cleveland’s pro hoops team, currently sitting atop the NBA Central Division at 3-3 following back to back road triumphs over the weekend.

Look, no one is saying the wine and gold will remain in that position, but consecutive road victories in two nights in the Association are nothing to be overlooked.  And it gives the team confidence early in the season.

As for the negative people who will point out that the Cavs only beat the 76ers and Wizards, two teams thought to be in Cleveland’s class, would they prefer that the wine and gold lost to those teams?

In both games, the Cavaliers got off to excellent starts and held leads going into the locker room for halftime.  They had tough third quarters, and then recovered with great fourth quarters to gain wins.  It would be a good bet that Byron Scott would like to eliminate the poor efforts to start the second half.

There is no question that the return of Mo Williams has made an impact for this team.  Williams scored 50 points in the two road wins, and is averaging 20.7 PPG in the three games he has played thus far.

The other star on the trip has been Daniel Gibson, who is becoming a “go to” guy in the fourth quarter, something no one would have thought a year ago.  Gibson is averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 assists per game in the young season, and is shooting 46% from the floor, 36% from the three-point line.

The other member of the Cavs “Big Three” so far is J.J. Hickson, who has emerged to score 16.5 points and 5.5 boards per night, while shooting almost 51% from the floor.  He’s also shooting over 80% from the line, and in fact, the team in total is knocking down 77% of its free throws.

Another interesting thing seen from the stats is that this is truly a team effort.  Only two players are averaging more than 30 minutes a night, Anderson Varajao at 34.4 per game and Anthony Parker at 30.8 a night. 

This is in stark contrast to past years when at least a couple of starters where getting over 35 minutes of playing time.  Of course, coaches tend to lean on superstars a little more often.

Williams, Gibson, Hickson, and Jamario Moon are all getting about 28-29 minutes per game.

One player who has emerged on the trip is veteran small forward Joey Graham, who played well in both contests.  Graham played 15 minutes in Philadelphia scoring 10 points, and came back the next night to log 10 minutes against the Wizards.  If Jawad Williams doesn’t pick it up, Graham could take his minutes when Antawn Jamison’s knee is healthy.

The other thing that Scott has to be concerned about is the defense, which fuels his running game.  Right now, the wine and gold is allowing over 102 points per game.  The coach probably prefers about 7 to 10 points a night less.

One of the problems the team has defensively is that they are small.  Only Varajao has the height and muscle to be a defensive force inside.  Backup center Ryan Hollins can jump, but can be overpowered by bigger and stronger guys.  The team could use another big body defensively.

That’s another reason why Graham is important to this team.

All in all, Cavs’ fans have to be encouraged by a 3-3 start going into another winnable road game tonight in New Jersey.  According to some experts, Scott’s crew should be 0-6 right now.

JK

Who wants to talk about the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns?

Granted, Peyton Hillis ran over the New England Patriots defense this afternoon to the tune of 184 rushing yards on 29 attempts in a dominating 34-14 win, but it would be very difficult to change quarterbacks after back to back wins over the defending Super Bowl champs and a team that came into the game with the best record in the AFC to date.

Sure, the Browns used a trick play to score their second touchdown, a 13 yard run by wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, but this contest was all Browns from the first play of the game, when Josh Cribbs took the opening kickoff back 36 yards. 

You want numbers?  Try 404 total yards to New Englands’ 289, including a whopping 230 yards on the ground.  Let me tell you, if you allow that many rushing yards in an NFL game, you have been totally outplayed. 

Cleveland had the ball for slightly over 38 minutes, keeping Tom Brady and the Patriot offense where they couldn’t hurt the Browns’ defense.  That is the bench. 

As for the quarterbacking play, Colt McCoy was as efficient as you can be, completing 14 of 19 passes for 174 yards, and getting his first NFL touchdown on a 16 yard scramble in the second half.  He hit seven different receivers and orchestrated the attack superbly.  Besides the touchdown run, Eric Mangini mentionned another play where the rookie was flushed out of the pocket and found Josh Cribbs for a first down. 

Those plays are made by playmakers. 

Although Hillis fumbled in the first half, he was tremendous setting a career high in rushing yards and accounted for 220 total yards of offense, including a reception on a touch throw by McCoy for 29 yards and a first down in the second half.  Sports Illustrated’s Peter King said Hillis was the best player in the Brady Quinn transaction and he was absolutely right.

Defensively, coordinator Rob Ryan pulled out his bags of odd formations and blitzes again to confuse Brady and it worked.  There were times when Cleveland lined up without any defensive linemen. 

LB Chris Gocong made several big stops early in the game as the Browns controlled the running game early and made the Patriots a one dimensional attack.  They only sacked Brady once, by Ahtyba Rubin, but the hurried the three time Super Bowl winner several times causing him to throw the ball away or miss his intended target. 

Even the first Patriot touchdown was a deflected pass into the hands of rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez at the back of the end zone, although CBS’ Rich Gannon described the play as if that was the intent all along.

And the defense stopped a late first half drive when S Abe Elam took the ball out of the hands of rookie TE Rob Gronkowski as he fought for extra yardage.

The special teams also contributed with Cribbs’ kickoff returns and the recovery of a short kickoff that was mishandled and recovered by Ray Ventrone.   

So the Browns end the first half of the schedule with a 3-5 record and two straight wins with the New York Jets coming to Browns’ Stadium next week in the “Ryan Bowl”, Jets’ head man Rex against Cleveland defensive coordinator Rob. 

It is apparent that this football team is improving, and is now capable of beating any opponent.  It’s a tough, physical team that when it doesn’t make mistakes can win.  Finally, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for long suffering Browns’ fans.

JD

It seems like it’s been ages since the Browns knocked off the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

This week the brown and orange take on a Super Bowl contender in the New England Patriots, who happen to be coached by former Cleveland boss Bill Belichick, who also happens to be the guy who gave current Browns’ coach Eric Mangini his first job in football.

It’s like a soap opera.

Another drama filled issue is who should play quarterback for the Browns for the rest of this campaign. The debate seems to surround rookie Colt McCoy and veteran Seneca Wallace since it appears Jake Delhomme will not be ready for a few more weeks. 

McCoy’s impressive performance has people wanting to see more. Plus, with his impressive college resume and the fact he is a rookie, he’s the popular choice among the fans.

However, Wallace played very well in the three games he started. Yes, he had the one bad pick six against Kansas City, but he engineered the win over Cincinnati, and was playing exceptionally well against Atlanta before injuring his ankle.

For that matter, Delhomme played well in the first half against Tampa Bay, the only half he’s been healthy for this season. He did have a horrible interception at the end of that half, though.

The coaching staff needs to balance the need to win football games and still develop McCoy. This week, Mike Holmgren said the team needs to start winning. Coming close and being “in the game” isn’t cutting it anymore.

So, if you were Eric Mangini, you need to play the quarterback who gives you the best opportunity to win, right? And that would be one of the veterans.

That means the question is does Seneca Wallace give you a substantially better chance to win football games than the rookie from Texas?

Look, Wallace has done a good job, but it’s not like you are comparing Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers either. Colt McCoy should continue being the starting quarterback until he shows signs of being overwhelmed; it’s as simple as that.

If McCoy struggles, throws some interceptions, or is getting beaten up badly, then you can either go to Wallace and/or Delhomme.

Otherwise, this organization needs to find out what they have in the rookie. This is a bountiful year for signal callers entering the NFL in the 2011 draft with guys like Stanford’s Andrew Luck (who has Cleveland ties), Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, and Washington’s Jake Locker looking like first round picks.

If McCoy looks like he can be the future QB of this team, that would mean GM Tom Heckert can use his first round pick to pursue someone who can get to the oppositions’ passer. That is, of course, if the team would draft a quarterback on the first round, something that Mike Holmgren has never done.

Yes, McCoy is not the prototype NFL signal caller. However, if he were two inches taller, he would have been a first round choice. And we have to see if he has enough arm to play in the winter at Browns’ Stadium, where the wind whips up when the snow starts flying.

So far, McCoy is 1-1 as a starter, compared to 0-1 for Delhomme, and 1-3 for Wallace. He hung in there against the aggressive Steeler defense, and although he threw for less than 100 yards against the Saints, he won the game. Let’s see how he does against Belichick’s Patriots. The debate could be over either way after that contest.

JD

With the World Series wrapping up this week, the hot stove league in baseball will start in earnest following the Fall Classic.  Much like the regular season, it appears baseball fans in Cleveland won’t have much to look forward this winter either, it terms of the activities of the hometown team.

It looks like another quiet winter for the Tribe, except for Snowdays at Progressive Field during the holiday season.

In terms of that activity, let us praise the Dolan’s.  If let’s say, the Steinbrenner family had thought of it, having snow related activities at the baseball field would have been heralded as genius. 

Since the frugal Dolans thought of it, having ice-skating and a snow ramp for people to have fun at the ballpark during the winter is sneered upon.  Just another thing that looks embarrassing for the city.

It says here that in the next few years, several other northern cities will do the same thing with their outdoor facilities.  After all, the building is just sitting empty for several months.  Why not do something that will create revenue? 

And as we all know, this franchise needs all the money it can get to acquire and keep players.  Okay, so we couldn’t let the Indians ownership go completely unscathed.

After two consecutive 90 loss seasons, it’s time for the revamped front office to start the process of moving the Indians back into contention in the American League Central Division. 

By the way, let’s just say it doesn’t create a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings for the organization when the team’s former farm director decided to pass on the Cleveland managerial job last year, and then decided to skipper a team in the same division as three of the best teams in baseball.  Yes, that would be John Farrell, new pilot of the Toronto Blue Jays.

It’s nice that Baseball America rated the Indians’ draft last summer as the best after one year.  However, it would be a good guess, based on the way the Tribe develops talent, that none of the guys picked will arrive in Cleveland before 2012, and the closest to the majors is obviously first round pick Drew Pomerantz.

In fact, the last three amateur drafts have been good.  But now the players picked in the 2008 draft have to start showing up at the major league level.  The World Series isn’t determined by who has the best farm system or winning minor league championships.  It’s time to see some of these guys.

Or you can use some of these prospects in trades.  Look at the potential logjam the team has at 2B with Jason Donald, Jayson Nix, Jason Kipnis, Cord “Jason” Phelps, and even Luis “Jason” Valbuena.  Certainly, at least one of those guys could be dealt to get some pitching.

And as we saw in the post-season, pitching is what wins.  You have to score enough runs in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs, but once you are there, you have to have the ability to stifle the opponent’s bats.  That why the development of guys like Pomerantz, Alex White, Carlos Carrasco, Hector Rondon, etc. are so important.

That said, it would still be nice to see a guy like Phelps get a shot at third base.  There is no question that Lonnie Chisenhall is the future there, but if Phelps can get some big league experience at the hot corner, it makes him more valuable to the team or in a trade if say, Kipnis can handle second base.

If the Tribe is going to be idle this off-season, at least make a commitment to play the kids.  And get more pitching!  They cannot depend on anyone in their current starting rotation.  There simply isn’t any track record to feel comfortable in 2011.

KM

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an interesting first week of the basketball season.  They played extremely well on Opening Night to defeat the Boston Celtics at home, but laid an egg in their first road contest, losing by 20 to a Toronto team that is not considered a playoff contender.

They came back home last night to take on a young Sacramento team, that blew a game to New Jersey the night before.  The wine and gold played a stellar first half, leading by 14 at the intermission.  Unfortunately for them, the game has two halves, and Cleveland got hammered in the third quarter, giving up its lead in the stanza, and wound up losing by three.

Here are the high and lows for the first week of the Cavs’ season:

Highs:  J. J. Hickson looks to be the team’s best offensive player.  The third year player is scoring 14 points and grabbing almost 6 rebounds per night and is shooting 50% from the floor. 

Daniel Gibson has shown he deserves the faith shown in him by coach Byron Scott, scoring 15 points per game while dishing out 6 assists per game.  Gibson has also hit six of 17 three point shots, making him the wine and gold’s best threat from beyond the arc. 

Reserve center Ryan Hollins has looked good.  Although he’s averaging just 18 minutes per game, Hollins is scoring 7.7 points and grabbing 4.3 boards per contest.  It’s the latter category that was said to be his weakness.

The always reliable Anderson Varajao has done a good job in the middle, even though that’s not his natural position.  He’s grabbed 9.5 rebounds in his two starts, and has hit six of ten shots from the field, showing he’s not forcing his offense.

Lows:  The biggest concern for Scott has been the team’s defense.  In their two defeats, Cleveland has allowed over 100 points, and opponents are shooting almost 49% and outrebounding the Cavs by seven per game.  That’s not going to gain the team a lot of victories.  Scott wants to run, but needs his defense to step up so that can occur.

Antawn Jamison has looked lost.  He’s scoring just 6.3 points per game, but more disturbing is that he has taken nine of his 23 shots from behind the three point line.  That’s not his game.  Hickson’s emergence has hurt the veteran, but Scott has to figure out a way to get both of them on the floor at the same time.  That would mean the youngster getting some minutes at center.

Ramon Sessions has scored well, getting 13 points per night, but is not running the offense well, getting just 3.3 assists compared to four turnovers a game.  He has to take care of the ball better, and learn when to look for his shot, and when to set up his teammates.

Jawad Williams played okay against Sacramento, but gave the Cavs nothing in the first two games.  He can’t just settle for the three point shot.  He needs to take the ball to the hole occasionally to keep defenses honest.

The good news is that Scott knows his team hasn’t played good defense the past two games, and the practices the next two days before the Hawks come to town on Tuesday will emphasize that.  Besides, the Cavs also have been missing Mo Williams, who is expected to be back on Tuesday.  That’s probably isn’t a factor defensively, but it does put another guy on the floor who can shoot from the perimeter.

As for the team, yes, 1-2 is below where the Cavs could be, but Houston is 0-3, Utah is 0-2, and Phoenix and Milwaukee have the same records as the wine and gold.  That doesn’t make Byron Scott happy, but it just shows it’s a long season, and improvements will be made.

JK