Browns’ Dysfunction? We Don’t See It.

A lot of things have been said about the Cleveland Browns after they missed the playoffs this season with an 8-9 record, but to us, the weirdest thing is saying the dysfunction that was a trademark of much of the last 20 years, has returned to Berea.

Quite frankly, we don’t see any evidence of it.

Most of the noise surrounding the Browns have come from the media, the front office has been largely silent.

It’s the media and fans who are saying the team is deficient at the quarterback position and coming up with crazy scenarios to get some of the best QBs in the game in a Cleveland uniform.

And apparently at least one media member believes Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski should have anticipated a wide receiver coming off a season ending knee injury would ask out of town and when he didn’t get his wish, would put less than a sterling effort on the field.

We are sure the organization thought the player would be excited to come back to a playoff team, and try to help it toward the next level or two of the post-season.

What the Browns should be doing right now is a self audit, looking at what went wrong AND also what went right in an effort to be better next season. And with Berry, Paul DePodesta, and Stefanski handling this, we are sure it is being done without emotion.

By the way, that’s the correct approach, despite what the fans and media want.

To us, the dysfunction would be if we heard rumors that ownership was unhappy with the hierarchy in the organization or Stefanski’s job was in jeopardy because he didn’t follow up a post-season appearance with another one.

Instead, things are relatively quiet.

In fact, the Minnesota Vikings hired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the vice president for football operations with the Browns, as their new general manager. And Adofo-Mensah went out of his way at his introductory press conference to call Berry a “rock star” and thank him for what he learned in Cleveland.

Sounds like it’s a crazy atmosphere in Berea, no?

We have said this before, we are sure the front office is doing everything it can to improve this football team so the absence from the post-season ends at one season. And they are looking at every position for improvement, including quarterback.

The dysfunctional thing to do would be to act with emotion, make a knee-jerk reaction to a season that fell short of expectations, and start making wholesale changes as soon as the season ended.

We didn’t see any of that. The only move made was a special teams assistant coach was let go. Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin left to join his brother’s staff at Ole Miss, but we would believe that has more to do with working with his brother than a bad atmosphere in the organization.

As for Odell Beckham Jr., the organization did right by him. They could have told him to go home and stay there when his unhappiness reached a crescendo, but they worked out a settlement so he could play somewhere else.

So people are finding fault with that as well.

What we don’t see is conflicts between the head coach and the front office, or between the owner and the front office.

We guess after this season, dysfunction is defined as not going crazy and firing or cutting coaches and players.

The narrative for some keeps changing…

Comparing These Cavs To The “Miracle” Team

Since the calendar flipped to 2022, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken it to another level, winning eight out of nine, and currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two games out of the top spot.

However, the East is so competitive this season that the Cavs are also just 2-1/2 games ahead of the current 7th seed and finishing seventh through tenth gets you a spot in the (ridiculous) play in tournament.

Although Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen are getting all star buzz, J.B. Bickerstaff and GM Koby Altman have put together a “team”, and we have discussed before how important it is that any addition made to the roster has to be done with an eye on the incredible chemistry and togetherness this group has.

That togetherness reminds us of the first Cavalier team to make the post-season, the 1975-76 Miracle of Richfield group. That team had nine players who averaged 16 minutes per game.

Out of the 11 players who have played 30 games this season for Cleveland, 10 of them have averaged 15 minutes per game. Now a couple of those guys (Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens) have done that because they move into the starting lineup because Bickerstaff doesn’t want to mess with the bench minutes.

The ’76 team was led in minutes per game by Jim Brewer, who averaged 35.5, while this year’s group is paced by Garland’s 34.7 a contest. So, playing time is spaced out among nine or ten players.

Both groups have veterans who were stars in the NBA embracing a reserve role.

Nate Thurmond was a 7-time all-star and started for Chicago the year before coming to the Cavs early in the 75-76 season. Coach Bill Fitch asked Thurmond to come off the bench and be the anchor of the second unit defensively. Fitch felt the veteran would have a huge impact as a shot blocker and rebounder playing 15-20 minutes per night.

This year’s group has Kevin Love, a key part of the 2016 championship team here. Love spent the post-LeBron James’ years being an undersized center, and the pounding of playing against bigger bodies took its toll on him.

With Allen, rookie Evan Mobley, and even Lauri Markkanen, Love can do what he still does very well. Shoot the three ball, score, and rebound. And as with Fitch in ’76, Bickerstaff has limited Love to just 21.6 minutes a game.

Love is hitting 40% from three and is third on the wine and gold in rebounds at 7.2.

Both squads made their bones on the defensive end of the floor. Fitch’s team was 4th in defensive rating, Bickerstaff’s team is 3rd.

There are differences though. The ’75-’76 team missed the playoffs by one game the previous season, the current edition came out of nowhere. These Cavs have the probable rookie of the year in Evan Mobley, while those Cavaliers were largely a young veteran core, many players with two to four years experience.

One problem Altman and Bickerstaff won’t have to worry about is the dispersal draft, which really hurt the Cavs. The NBA and ABA merged following the ’76 season, and not only the college draft, but the players from ABA teams not absorbed into the NBA were drafted in reverse order of their records, meaning Cleveland could not improve its roster.

Players like Artis Gilmore (Chicago), Maurice Lucas (Portland) and Moses Malone (Portland, but traded to Buffalo and then to Houston) went in that selection process.

By the way, Portland won the title the following season.

What strikes us as the most similar thing about the two teams is the togetherness, the unselfishness of the two squads. They are about winning, and that’s refreshing. They want each other to succeed.

That ’76 team went to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took Boston to six games. They did it despite losing starting center Jim Chones to a broken foot, meaning Thurmond had to start and did a tremendous job in the series.

Hopefully, these Cavs can stay healthy so we can see how far they can go this spring.

Oh, and one other similarity. Both teams are incredibly fun to watch.

Our Two Cents On The Baseball Hall

Times have changed, that’s for sure. It used to be people could have a good debate about things, particularly sports and walk away friends.

It’s still possible, but in today’s times, usually the argument ends with one person calling the other stupid and criticizing them for having that opinion.

The voting for baseball’s Hall of Fame is one of those discussions. Some voters have their selections made public and then are ridiculed for not putting an “X” by a certain player.

Hey, the writer earned a right to vote by covering baseball for many years, and that’s who he thinks should get in. Most of the voters take the job very seriously.

We don’t have a vote (obviously), but if we did, here would be our criteria. And a few months ago, we posted on social media who we would vote for and several people took the time to tell us we were wrong.

Again, we aren’t saying we are right, it’s just who we think should get in.

First of all, we would not vote for anyone connected with PEDs. We understand there are players already in the Hall who used them, but we would not have voted for them, but if the electorate decided they were worthy, we aren’t going to go crazy.

And we understand Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the poster boys for illegal enhancers, were great players before it appears they started to use, but they knew it was wrong and did it anyway.

As someone once said, if those players thought it was no big deal, they would have used them out in the open, not someplace out of view.

The world is filled with people who did many good things, committed a crime, and still were punished.

And by the way, we would not have voted for David Ortiz.

We are also a “small hall” baseball fan. We see many of the ballots that are published with votes for 10 players. Sorry, there are very few times, if any, where there are 10 Hall of Fame players on a single ballot.

Nowhere does it say you have to vote for that many, and in our opinion, writers shouldn’t be voting for the Top Ten candidates.

For the most part, you know a Hall of Famer when you see them play, but that doesn’t mean time and studying doesn’t make a person change their mind. Look at Tim Raines, for instance. He’s definitely worthy of the honor, but it took a lot of people time to realize it.

As for a Cleveland connection, we hope the veterans group does the right thing and put both Kenny Lofton and yes, Albert Belle in Cooperstown soon.

Lofton was a tremendous player and did it for a very long time, accumulating 2428 hits, with a lifetime batting average of .299 and an on base percentage of .372. In terms of players similar to Lofton are three players already enshrined (Raines, Harry Hooper, and Fred Clarke) and a fourth, Ichiro Sukuki, who will be soon.

Belle was a dominant offensive player for a decade (1991-2000), averaging 40 HR and 130 RBI per 162 games. Had he not retired due to a hip injury at age 33, he likely would have hit 500 home runs (he had 381) and had nine straight 100 RBI seasons when he left the game.

Let’s say he would have knocked in 500 more had he been able to play until 40. That would put him in the top 25 all time.

He had three top 3 MVP finishes (he was robbed of it in 1995) and is still the only player to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in the same season.

Instead of saying the Baseball Hall of Fame is irrelevant because of who is not in it, it should be and is a great source of discussion if you are a fan of the game. It’s also not the reason the sport has lost popularity. There are many more reasons for that.

As for the Bonds/Clemens debate? We’ll see how the former players who now hold their fate feel about putting them in. It might even be tougher for them to get in.

The Never Ending Story (Baker Mayfield Edition)

No one ever said football fans were rational, and supporters of the Cleveland Browns are no different.

The Browns’ season ended just two weeks ago and the amount of discussion on the quarterback position in both the media and on sports talk radio is to the point of saturation. We think in the next few weeks there will be condemnation of what Baker Mayfield eats for breakfast, what beer he drinks, and probably his brand of underwear.

We get it. Browns’ fans are disappointed by the 8-9 record after last year’s playoff appearance. We would bet the organization is also not happy by the finish, but they won’t go out and make crazy moves.

And we want to make it clear we don’t consider ourselves a “Baker Bro”. Our stance is simple. if you can find someone that plays the position better than Baker Mayfield, and the cost to get that guy is not prohibitive, then go get him.

If it makes the Cleveland Browns better, then so be it.

Keep in mind that we are currently in the playoffs, so these are the best teams in the league for this season, and it would figure the signal callers for those teams are among the better ones in the NFL.

This should be remembered if your QB preference for next season’s edition of the Browns is just someone not named Baker Mayfield. There are plenty of guys in the league who it can be debated would not be any different to Mayfield if they were under center next year in Cleveland.

Do you really want Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, Jared Goff, or Ryan Tannehill? If you do, fine. But we don’t see much of a difference or upgrade over Mayfield. You would just be making change for change sake, and you can’t ignore how #6 played in the second half of last season or the first few games of this season.

We have even seen talking heads saying the watching the games over the weekend shows how far away the Browns really are. Really? Remember the Bengals were 4-11-1 a year ago and Sunday they will play for a chance to go the Super Bowl.

And this happens in the NFL all the time. Teams improve, get a couple of breaks and they make the playoffs. Heck, you can make an argument (and a solid one) that Kevin Stefanski’s crew could have easily been 10-7 instead of how they finished.

We also wince when we hear “statistically” Mayfield was the worst quarterback in the NFL this season. First of all, it’s not true, Sam Darnold was worse among the non-rookies, but this determination is done by looking at the league’s passing efficiency statistic.

Just playing with these numbers, if Mayfield’s last pass of the season, which was picked off in Pittsburgh was simply incomplete, his rating goes up a full point.

We also know once the Browns get inside the red zone, they like to run the football. So, let’s say you add five touchdown throws. His rating goes up by five points.

By the way, the only team with more rushing touchdowns than Cleveland and that had over 30 touchdown passes was Buffalo, and although we didn’t endorse drafting Josh Allen the year he and Mayfield were in the draft, we would freely admit Allen is the better player.

Being dissatisfied with the play at quarterback is one thing, finding a better alternative is a different matter all together. Besides it’s not like Mayfield has never played well. It’s a matter of finding consistency.

Can that happen in 2022? The best option for the Browns’ front office might just be to find out.

Not Just Talent, Cavs Have To Be Concerned With Fit In Any Deal.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers currently sitting in the 5th spot in the Eastern Conference standings, much speculation has been made about possible moves to strengthen the roster for the stretch run before the February 10th trade deadline.

The Cavs need some scoring. They rank 20th in the NBA in points per game, and 11th in offensive efficiency. But although they are fifth in the league in field goal percentage from inside the three-point line, they are just 16th from beyond the arc.

Adding another perimeter threat would allow Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley more room to work inside, as we’ve seen teams start to dare the Cavs to shoot from outside, because Allen and Mobley are so lethal in the paint.

Darius Garland shoots the most threes, and he knocks them down at a 36.6% clip, and Kevin Love is next, making 40.3%. However, Cleveland is 20th in the NBA in shooting the long distance shot. They aren’t great at it, so they don’t do it a lot, and that friends makes sense.

The challenge for GM Koby Altman though, is not to just find someone who can make three pointers, but to find someone who fits into how Cleveland currently plays.

J.B. Bickerstaff has built this team on grittiness and a defensive presence, and the players have bought in. To bring in a player who will not buy in to how the Cavs are playing could ruin what this team has been built on.

In terms of what Altman has to offer, Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract would be first and foremost. The injured Rubio will not play the rest of this season, but he is a free agent at the end of this season, meaning his deal can help balance the cash on both sides.

The other major piece is Collin Sexton’s contract. Sexton will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, and another team might want the right of refusal on the young guard.

Basketball is probably the leading sport where the parts (the talents of the players) must fit together. For instance, on defense, a team is only as good as its worst defender.

There is also a difference between playing winning basketball and losing basketball, so GM’s have to be careful bringing in players who don’t play “the right way”.

In our opinion, bringing in someone from a losing program would be a bigger risk than bringing in someone who has been on a winner.

When Altman needed to replace Rubio, we went for Rajon Rondo, who has played on winning teams virtually his entire career, including three teams who went to the NBA Finals. The GM knew Rondo would put winning first.

Caris LeVert is another name mentioned prominently, and although he doesn’t have the winning pedigree of Rondo, he is a proven scorer (over 18 points the last three seasons) and has a reputation of being a great teammate.

The downside? He’s only a career 33% shooter from distance.

On the other hand, another player who has been mentioned heading to Cleveland is Sacramento’s Buddy Hield, who is 40% shooter from beyond the arc since coming into the league but has been a part of a losing team for many years.

Could he fit into playing a role on a winning team? That’s what Altman needs to determine.

And really, it’s a question all winning teams have to ask. Not just about Hield, but any player who is used to losing.

Being on a winning team takes a lot of sacrifice for some players, having the willingness to forego some personal numbers so you can win is the type of players coaches and organizations love.

It’s not just about plugging in a players’ statistics to a certain team, including the Cavaliers. Being able to fit into the Bickerstaff’s plan for the team and being willing to fit in with the current group is very important.

If the Cavs want to enhance this team, those are all things that need to be considered.

Where Browns Need To Get Better (Non-QB Categories)

Believe it or not, and based on the conversation in northeast Ohio over the past couple of weeks, the latter seems to be what fans think, there is more wrong with the Cleveland Browns than Kevin Stefanski’s play calling or Baker Mayfield’s ability to play his position.

We know, hard to believe, right?

But here are other things GM Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta need to address before training camp starts in late July.

We understand the offensive tackle spots were ravaged by injuries from the opening game of the season, when Jedrick Wills hurt his ankle, but Cleveland needs better play next season out of the position.

We are confident in Wills, who just finished his second season in the NFL. Losing some of his mobility because of the ankle hampered his performance to be sure. And as for RT Jack Conklin, you can make a strong case the Browns’ running game took a big hit when he was basically lost for the year in the Chargers’ game.

The Browns averaged 187.6 yards on the ground through their visit to Los Angeles, and that figure dropped to a still respectable 154.5 the remainder of the season. That includes six games they were held under 100.

Primary reserve Chris Hubbard was also hurt early in the season, so the brown and orange were down to the 4th tackle on the depth chart most of the time. If rookie James Hudson improves and can take Hubbard’s (he’s a free agent) role. That would be a big help.

The team also needs an improvement in the receiving corps.

Jarvis Landry’s 52 receptions led the team and no other wide receiver caught more than Donovan Peoples-Jones’ 34. And the latter led the squad in receiving yards with a paltry 597.

We understand the Browns use a tight end heavy offense, but they didn’t stand out either, with Austin Hooper catching 38 balls and David Njoku right behind him with 36 receptions.

Without question, the passing game missed Kareem Hunt, who led running backs with just 22 catches. We understand WR Anthony Schwartz should get better as well as his fellow rookie Demetric Felton, but it looks here like several players will need to be added to shore up this unit.

Although the defense got better as the year went along, in the last 11 contests, the Browns allowed more than 20 points just four times, there was an area the team could improve, and that is in stopping the run.

Over the last eight games, the defense allowed 137 yards per contest on the ground. If they could control the ground game better, imagine how good the defense would have been?

And maybe, with more long yardage situations, they would have more opportunities to really dial up some pressure on quarterbacks via the blitz.

Cleveland has very good cornerbacks and the safeties got better and better as the season went on. But if it easy to gain a good chunk of yards on first down, the offense has more options in terms of how they want to play.

That’s why Stefanski likes to throw on first down with short passes. There are more options to guard against when it is 2nd and 4, than when it is 2nd and 9.

It’s not all about the play calling and the QB, although that’s what the radio talk shows will hammer you over the head with.

We are sure the front office knows these things as well, and will work for improvement. That’s what you do every off-season.

When Sexton Returns, He Has to Fit In

One thing that strikes us as strange is the amount of discussion Collin Sexton still carries among Cavs’ fans, even though he is out for the season with a torn meniscus.

The Cavaliers are winning, currently sitting with the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference at 26-18, and they were 7-4 with Sexton on the floor, so they have been good with or without him.

We get that it is easy to project Sexton’s 24.3 scoring average onto this team and think of what Cleveland’s record would be then.

But that’s not how it works.

First of all, we know many people would have ranked the fourth-year pro out of Alabama as the team’s best player a year ago. We would not have been one of those people, as we would have had Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland ahead of him.

No matter how others would have ranked the players, Sexton would have been no worse than third at the end of the season.

Certainly, J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad could use another scorer, but there is a different style of play for the Cavs right now, and it’s a winning style. That’s not to say Sexton was a reason they were not winning, but simply saying the team is much better and they are playing a different style of basketball.

Bickerstaff always points to defense for the team’s success, and Cleveland does rank 2nd in points allowed in the NBA and 3rd in defensive efficiency.

Sexton hasn’t been known for his defense in his brief NBA career, so he will need to be much better on that end of the floor when he returns.

He also had the ball in his hands a lot. The offense ran through him when Garland was off the floor, and sometimes when Garland was on the floor. The problem with that is Sexton isn’t a willing passer and when he does look for teammates, he’s not particularly efficient.

His assist to turnover ratio for his career is 3.3:2.5. By contrast, Garland’s is 5.7:3.0, and a veteran playmaker like Ricky Rubio has a 7.6:2.6 rate. For a guard to have a close to even rate of assists to turnovers is not good.

However, it doesn’t mean Sexton can’t change. After all, he is just 23 years old. He just turned 23 actually. And he played on bad teams for the first three years of his career, and they were bad because the teams didn’t have good players.

And we want to emphasize the Cavaliers were 7-4 with Sexton before he hurt his knee.

This Cleveland team is growing though, seemingly getting better every game. The Cavaliers now center around Garland, Allen, and rookie sensation Evan Mobley. Kevin Love has been a huge factor off the bench.

So, when Sexton comes back to training camp next fall, he will need to find a new role. Not because of anything he did, it’s the evolution of this basketball team. He will need to see where he can make the most impact.

Many folks have suggested he should come off the bench and be a dynamic scorer with the second unit. It might be a matter of just picking spots on when and where to attack.

Perhaps Sexton is the guy who when the shot clock is running down, you get him the ball and the possession is salvaged.

The obsession with him is crazy though, because right now, he’s injured. He’s not playing. And there is plenty to focus on with the guys who are performing at a high-level night after night.

If you do want to ask something about him, make that thought about whether or not he can find a new role with the 2022-23 Cavaliers.

It’s Time To Start Thinking Baseball, But…

Baseball’s international signing period started this week and is getting all kinds of attention, more than normal.

The signings are very important, to be sure. It’s how the Guardians signed Jose Ramirez, and more recently several of their top prospects, OF George Valera, SS Brayan Rocchio, INF Jose Tena, and power hitter Jhonkensy Noel joined the organization in the same manner.

But it’s getting more publicity this year because it’s the only baseball we can talk about with the lockout imposed by the owners still in place. It doesn’t help that the two sides have met once since the calendar flipped to 2022 either.

Spring training should be starting in less than a month, with the sentence baseball fans love to hear, “Pitchers and catchers report on either February 12th or 13th”. It seems very unlikely that will happen as of today.

The first exhibition game for the Guardians is supposed to be February 26th, but unless negotiations speed up drastically, that’s unlikely as well.

This is the time of year Guards’ fans should be talking about the various position battles around the diamond and do any of the hard throwing young arms out of the bullpen have a shot at making the Opening Day roster.

Instead, the ray of hope that gets fans of the grand ol’ pastime through the winter isn’t there. The hot stove season has been turned off.

Fans should be discussing the make-up of the Guardians’ current 40-man roster, which includes 14 players who have never played even one inning of a major league game. Teams can keep 26 players, so does that mean all of the men who have big league experience are a lock to be at Progressive Field to open the season? We doubt that it does.

What does Terry Francona do about the middle infield? Amed Rosario did very well with the bat last season, but defensively, he’s not an everyday shortstop. So, what does the organization do?

They could move Andres Gimenez back there, and he should be better defensively, or do they give rookie Gabriel Arias, who spent all year at AAA a shot? And then what happens at second base?

Does Rosario go there? Or does the team look at Owen Miller, Yu Chang, or even Ernie Clement, who appears to be more of a utility man at this point.

Or does Rosario get traded to open up the spot for Gimenez or Arias. Or do two of this trio get moved to make room for Rocchio in 2023?

This is the speculation and discussion that aren’t at the forefront right now because there is nothing going on in the game.

We should be talking about the Cleveland outfield, and who will play in the corner spots surrounding Myles Straw? Will Tito lean on the retreads of Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado, or will he entrust the high on base percentages of rookies Steven Kwan and Richie Palacios. The latter had a strong Arizona Fall League season, and could figure in the mix at 2B too.

Will Josh Naylor be ready for Opening Day and will he return to the outfield, or will he move to first base and challenge Bobby Bradley and/or Chang?

Again, spring training is supposed to start very soon. Our guess is when (fingers crossed) an agreement is reached, a flurry of moves will be made by all teams. We don’t believe for a minute that discussions haven’t been going on.

Until then, all baseball fans can do is hope that some intelligence prevails, and baseball can start next month. For people who live in the northeast, it’s one way we use to get through the snow and cold of winter.

How Things Have Changed For Koby Altman.

It appears the Cleveland Cavaliers have settled on long term stability, and we hope it works out.

On Christmas Day, the team announced an extension for coach J.B. Bickerstaff, keeping him as the head coach through the 2026-27 season. That would give Bickerstaff seven full seasons at the helm, putting him up there with Bill Fitch (9 years), Lenny Wilkens (7), Mike Fratello (6) in terms of continuous service with the team.

Then on Tuesday it was announced that GM Koby Altman would have the added title of president of basketball operations, and his contract was extended though the 2027-28 season.

So, the Altman/Bickerstaff duo will be running the professional hoops team in Cleveland for the foreseeable future.

What a remarkable turnabout for Altman, who many (including us) questioned since LeBron James departed via free agency following the 2017-18 campaign.

There were back-to-back 19 win seasons (to be fair, the one year was shortened to 65 games by the pandemic), followed by 22 victories a year ago.

His first post-James draft pick, made with the precious lottery pick obtained in the Kyrie Irving trade, was Collin Sexton, a score first 6’2″ guard who isn’t a particularly good passer (some would say not willing either) and because of his height, is a defensive liability.

The next year, he doubled down on the guard position, taking another smallish guard in 6’1″ Darius Garland, and with other first round picks, he took swingman Dylan Windler, supposedly a good shooter, and the troubled Kevin Porter Jr., who has since departed.

The following first rounder was Isaac Okoro, another player with a limited skill set. He’s a very good defender, but offensively, he needs work.

Up until then, you can’t blame fans for wondering what was going on with the Cavaliers. Add in the head coaching chaos, bringing in long time college coach John Beilein, who was ill equipped to coach at the pro level.

Then during last season, Altman got involved in the big transaction involving James Harden going to Brooklyn, and came out with a young, talented big man in Jarrett Allen, and the Cavs signed the restricted free agent to a five-year deal.

After years of kind of ignoring size, Cleveland got some size. Allen averaged 13.2 points and 10 rebounds a game last year, and has upped that to 16.9 and 11 this season.

If he was playing, that move put Altman on a hot streak. Tayshaun Prince came over with Allen, and was used to get Ricky Rubio, a veteran playmaker the wine and gold needed, from Minnesota.

He used the 3rd overall pick to draft Evan Mobley (confession, we though he would be a project at this point) and made another trade to get Lauri Markkanen from Chicago. Bickerstaff likes size, and he decided to start the three seven footers together, giving Cleveland more size up front that most other NBA squads.

When Rubio went down, Altman almost immediately traded for Rajon Rondo, a very accomplished veteran to replace him.

There is no question Altman isn’t getting an extension and promotion without the moves made over the last year.

He also deserves credit for finding Bickerstaff and putting him in charge. Without a doubt, he’s a top candidate for coach of the year honors.

The Cavaliers are four years post-LBJ and they have made themselves into a playoff contender, not just a play-in tournament contender.

There is now pressure on Altman and Bickerstaff to keep progressing and get the Cavs back into championship contention.

It’s funny how things and perceptions can change in just a year. Koby Altman has become a rising executive in the NBA. That’s not something we would have said a year ago.

Browns Finish With A Win, Now Need To Start Improvement

So, it’s over. A Browns season filled with so many (perhaps too many) expectations at the beginning, ended with a third place finish and an 8-9 record.

It’s difficult to not think about the games against the last two teams to reach the post-season in the AFC, the Raiders and Steelers, and see how close Kevin Stefanski’s squad to making the playoff again this season.

Both games against Pittsburgh were highly contested, and the game against Las Vegas went down to the last play of the game, one in which Cleveland was missing a ton of players due to COVID.

Again, we agree with the Bill Parcells’ theory on a team’s record, but it should be noted that the Cleveland Browns aren’t that far away from playing next weekend in the Wild Card playoff round.

We are sure there will be plenty of debate on the radio waves about the head coach and the quarterback and we will only say this. Both of those positions have to do a better job in 2022, and we hope both learn from what they did wrong this season. Improvements from both spots are a key to making the post-season next year.

And bringing up Baker Mayfield, we will say this. Andrew Berry should look at improving that position, much the same as he looks at every position on this football team. If he can find someone out there better than Mayfield, he should go out and get him. That’s his job.

As for other areas of the team, there is no question the Browns need an upgrade at wide receiver and maybe tight end. Right now, there is no elite talent at those positions, although we would love to see David Njoku turned loose in the passing game.

Cleveland receivers simply don’t make any spectacular plays, and seem to drop way too many easy completions.

As for Jarvis Landry, we are sure the Browns would like him back at a reduced salary, but think about this, if you were making what he’s making, and the team asks you to take a major pay cut, would you be happy?

Landry is a tough guy and has been a great person in the organization since he arrived. The best thing for all parties might be to just move on elsewhere.

We think there will be changes on the offensive line, although the only difference in the starters is J.C. Tretter may not be back with Nick Harris taking over there.

They need more depth at tackle, and we say that knowing Chris Hubbard missed most of the season. Rookie James Hudson could be that guy, but make no mistake, the offense took a drastic dive when Jack Conklin was lost while Jedrick Wills was already battling through an ankle problem.

Defensively, the Browns need to stop the run better, and if they can, they may turn into a dominant unit. The secondary could be deep, and the emergence of A.J. Green and M.J. Stewart just adds to it.

Special teams isn’t being forgotten either. The Browns need a kicker, punter, and kick returners. We know the draft isn’t used for those positions, but if you are a playoff contender, you simply must have a reliable field goal kicker. He simply has to be automatic from 50 yards and in.

As for the famous winds at First Energy Stadium? Phil Dawson mastered them, so it is possible.

In the return game, it could be worse. For years, the Browns best player was probably Josh Cribbs, primarily a return guy, and an elite one at that. Those were by and large bad football teams.

Now the Browns have talent, but can’t find a decent return man.

We have faith in the current organization to repair the things that need fixing, and bringing in more talent to get this team back to the playoffs. It’s not a giant leap folks, it’s more like a hop.