Giannis’ New Deal Is Good News For NBA.

We love basketball. While we are a fan of the Browns, our favorite sports are baseball and basketball, which makes us a strange sports fan in Cleveland, Ohio.

However, the NBA is getting stale for us, which is painful. It’s a great game played by the best athletes in the world. We were a season ticket holder for the Cavaliers for many years, mostly with mediocre teams, but it was a joy to go to The Coliseum when Brad Daugherty, Mark Price, Larry Nance, and Hot Rod Williams led the Cavs to the playoffs.

They just couldn’t get past Michael Jordan.

The staleness comes from the style of play, which most teams are playing. The three point shot has become over emphasized, and the sport has legislated perimeter defense out of the game, meaning the guards are ruling hoops. It’s difficult to stop a skilled point guard.

And while we understand the analytics in sports and embrace some of it, it can have a negative effect. Teams are being built around taking three point shots, which is actually the most difficult shot in the game. This is based on the theory of making four out of ten from behind the line is equal in points to making six of ten inside the line.

Despite all of this, we did hear some news about the league that made us smile this week.

Giannis Antetokounmpo agreed to a five year super max contract to remain in…Milwaukee, one of the league’s “flyover” cities.

We’ve had a theory for years that smaller NBA markets should look for the best non-North American players for sustained success. Why? Those players don’t grow up hearing about the merits of playing in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Miami, the glamour spots of the NBA.

In Cleveland, we’ve experienced this twice with James leaving for Miami and then Los Angeles. It’s his and every other player’s right to go where he wants when free agency hits, but name a top free agent that signed with a new team that wasn’t located in one of these cities in say, the last 20 years?

We had this theory in our mind since Dirk Nowitzki retired with Dallas, spending 20 years with the franchise. Certainly, Dallas has better weather than a northern city like Milwaukee, Detroit, or Cleveland, and a dynamic owner in Mark Cuban, the Mavericks haven’t been a destination city for the star free agents.

It will be interesting to see in Luca Doncic will also play his entire career in Dallas as well.

Player movement will always be a part of sports, especially in the free agent era. However, of the top 15 active players in Win Shares, only Stephen Curry has played his entire career for one team, and only three others, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis, have played for two organizations.

And if reports are true, that latter list could consist of just two soon as Harden wants out of Houston.

The player movement is great for the off-season headlines and jersey sales, and the younger fans love the opportunity to see star players on the same team, but it’s tough for longer term supporters who buy season tickets.

Hopefully, Giannis fulfills his contract in Milwaukee and leads the Bucks to some titles. It would be nice to see another smaller market team joined San Antonio, led by another superstar who didn’t grow up in the US in Tim Duncan, be a consistent contender.

Time For The Tribe Owners To Speak.

No one will ever accuse the Cleveland Indians of having good timing or a savvy public relations department.

We wondered on social media Sunday if the Tribe front office would ruin their fans’ holiday season by announcing a Francisco Lindor trade on Christmas Eve. We were correct on the bad timing, but not on the announcement.

The New York Times reported the team will announce the name change of the team perhaps as early as this week.

Look, we knew this was inevitable, and quite frankly, in today’s climate, it’s the correct move. But they couldn’t wait until mid-January to open up a new discussion on this topic?

Again, timing is everything.

In reality, fans of the Indians have other reasons to feel uneasy, more important reasons, than changing the name from the Indians. Heck, we understand Major League Baseball probably wouldn’t like it, but we would have some days commemorating the history of the name, and would embrace the gate receipts that went with it.

We understand that each time Paul Dolan speaks, he is apt to insert his foot in his mouth, but it’s time he step forward and answer some huge questions regarding the future of the baseball team he owns.

For example, is there any negotiations going on with the city of Cleveland about extending the lease for Progressive Field, which ends 2023? Until a new agreement is reached, supporters of the Tribe should be worried about a possible move of the franchise.

Why does it seem like the payroll isn’t being slightly reduced, it is being slashed, going from the lower middle of the pack a few years ago to a projected bottom three in the sport for 2021? What is the reason for this, and by the way, citing falling attendance would not be an acceptable answer.

Yes, attendance has dipped, but not at the level the salaries are being cut, and the ownership and front office haven’t exactly tried to increase the number of people going through the turnstiles at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

Mr. Dolan should also be asked if the team made a legitimate offer for Francisco Lindor or why the organization seems to be intentionally closing the window on contention even with a young, controllable pitching staff and two of the top 20 position players in the sport, both being in the prime of their career.

The fans deserve answers to those questions, particularly the one about the lease at the ballpark. Many fans have commented to us that it seems the Dolan family is deliberately trying to destroy the relationship with the fans so it would be easy to move the team to a new city.

That may be fallout from the Browns leaving 25 years ago, but having one professional sports team vacate the area makes sports fans a bit jumpy.

If and when Dolan speaks, we cannot have the usual coddling the local media gives the family, meaning no “we understand this is a small market and you are losing money” BS. Ask him difficult questions. We understand he may duck and dodge them, but at least he will be on record.

As for the name change, it shouldn’t be a big surprise. It was announced months ago, but as we said, why bring it up right now?

Turn it around and create some interest in the name change. Channel your inner Bill Veeck and put some butts in the Progressive Field seats.

Isn’t there anyone in the offices at Carnegie and Ontario who ever brings up how certain things will play with the fan base, the customer? Doesn’t seem like it.

A Possibility Of 10 Wins For Browns Has Us Feeling Nostalgic

Tomorrow night, the Cleveland Browns have a chance to make a statement. Yes, they’ve made already made a few loud comments throughout the year, perhaps their best season since coming back as an expansion team in 1999.

Think about it. The Browns have had just two winning seasons since then.

In 2002, their fourth year back in the league, they hovered around the .500 mark all season long, the first time they climbed two games over break even was when they beat the Falcons the last game of the season, 24-16, in the famous “Run William Run” game, capped by the 64 yard run by William Green.

They actually trailed going into the 4th quarter of that contest.

However, the signature victory that season was the week prior, when Cleveland went in to Baltimore and knocked off the Ravens 14-13, scoring with 29 seconds left on a 1 yard pass from Tim Couch to Mark Campbell, capping off a 92 yard drive.

It was no doubt Couch’s most clutch moment of his career with the Browns.

The other winning season, 2007, started ignominiously with a 34-7 beatdown at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That contest was started by Charlie Frye who was benched at halftime in favor of Derek Anderson, and then traded a couple of days later.

The Browns won the following week in a shootout over the Bengals, 51-45. But they didn’t get two games over .500 until they won three in a row, beating Miami, St. Louis, and Seattle in overtime to raise their record to 5-3.

With a playoff appearance looking likely at 9-5 after shutting out Buffalo in a snowstorm in Cleveland, the Browns and Anderson laid an egg in Cincinnati, losing to the 5-9 Bengals with Anderson throwing four interceptions.

Needing an Indianapolis win over Tennessee to make the playoffs after beating San Francisco, the Colts made the correct decision to rest Peyton Manning, and the Titans won, knocking Romeo Crennel’s squad out of the playoffs.

Neither the 2002 nor 2007 teams ever got anywhere near 9-3 though. This is clearly the best position the Browns have been in to make the playoffs since the Bill Belichick coached 1994 squad, who were also 9-3 after the first 75% of the season, and finished 11-5.

That team lost to the Giants the following week, and the Marty Schottenheimer/Bud Carson teams that went to three AFC title games in a four year period, never got there either. The best of those groups, the 1986 Browns were 8-4 after the first dozen games in route to a 12-4 finish.

We may have forgotten, but the other two teams that played for the right to go to the Super Bowl finished 10-5 and 9-6-1.

A win over the Ravens Monday night would put the Browns at 10-3 for the first time since 1969!, when they were near the end of their halcyon days as a dominant NFL franchise.

That was Blanton Collier’s last great Cleveland team, and they were actually 10-2-1 after 13 games. The next season, the Browns went 7-7 and Collier retired.

That 1969 team also got to the precipice of the Super Bowl, routing Dallas in the divisional playoff only to lose to Minnesota in the then NFL Championship Game. The Vikings lost to Hank Stram’s Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.

So, avenging the opening game loss to the Ravens would put Kevin Stefanski’s team in rarified air, at least in terms of Browns’ history. It would also have two perhaps more important outcomes.

First, it would virtually clinch a playoff spot for the Browns. Yes, they would still have to win another game, but they would be up by three games in the division standings over Baltimore with three to play.

It would also seriously damage the Ravens’ playoff hopes.

That’s way we have no doubt John Harbaugh’s team will be more than ready to play. It’s another good test for this Browns’ roster.

Signs Were There For Tribe Fans The Past Two Years

It started when Michael Brantley departed via free agency after the 2018 season. We made a compelling argument that the Indians organization was simply reallocating funds to add younger pieces with more upside.

After all, Brantley was 31 years old and missed a good chunk of 2017 and almost all of 2016 with various injuries. It would be a smart move to take the $15 million or so (he got $16 million from Houston) he would demand on the open market, and find younger players who wouldn’t be in the decline phases of their careers.

Except the front office didn’t use the money saved by letting Brantley go, they just lowered the payroll for 2019.

The following winter, the Tribe dealt two time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber to Texas for an outfielder that couldn’t hit and a promising young bullpen arm in Emmanuel Clase. It was a salary dump, but again, we felt you couldn’t judge the trade until you could see what the organization would do with the money saved by moving Kluber.

Except, for the most part, they put it in their pockets.

Keep in mind, both of these moves occurred before COVID-19. At that point, there wasn’t a season played without fans, or with a 60 game slate, instead of the normal 162.

The ownership was hacking away at the payroll, in the midst of a run where they were on of the best teams in the American League. They had some age on the roster, but after Jason Kipnis left via free agency and the trade of Kluber, the oldest key players on the roster were Carlos Santana (33), and Carlos Carrasco (32).

What we mean is this is not the traditional aging team that management decides should be overhauled before they bottom out. The pieces are in place. You have a pair of great players in the midst of their prime in Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor.

You have a young, controllable starting rotation starting with Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber (26), Zach Plesac (26), Aaron Civale (26), Cal Quantrill (26), and Triston McKenzie (23) to go along with the veteran Carrasco.

It would seem having a pair of superstars with an excellent pitching staff would be a good foundation to build on, right?

Instead, the organization is going to deal one of the young stars before he enters his prime (age 27-29) because they are unwilling to pay him, and rumors are out there about Carrasco being on the block too.

Frankly, as much as we like and respect Carrasco, if you were moving him to free money to sign Lindor, it would make sense. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Instead, it appears the Indians are giving up on contending for awhile. The White Sox are on the rise, and being aggressive and the Twins are the two time defending Central Division champs. Instead of trying to beat them, compete with them, Cleveland has decided to regroup.

And the only motivation for doing this seems to be saving money. We get the revenues around the sport decreased in 2020 because of the unique season, but that’s true for every other major league team.

We have said many times that we understand the Indians cannot spend like the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, other teams in huge markets. But the Tribe might be around or below $50 million in 2021, about half of where they should be.

We can only think about the Indians’ teams of the 1950’s, contenders in most years, but only got to one World Series in 1954. However, that run of big success was ended by a general manager making terrible trades involving future young stars.

In both cases, it wasn’t age that ended the run, it was management. Unfortunately, no one can fire an owner. We just have to wait until some billionaire wants to buy the club and wants to win. It’s apparent the current owners do not.

One Statement Win, But More Are Needed For Browns

Without a doubt, the Cleveland Browns answered a lot of questions Sunday in their 41-35 win over the Tennessee Titans, but they haven’t passed the course just yet.

Most critics felt Kevin Stefanski’s squad had simply defeated a bunch of mediocre teams to have a winning record before Sunday (apparently the Colts don’t count even though they are 8-4), and many felt Cleveland would get their comeuppance against the Titans, who lost the AFC Championship Game a year ago and came into the contest at 8-3.

We guess their 8-3 was more legitimate than the Browns’.

Instead, the Browns put on a clinic in the first half, scoring on each possession and building a 38-7 halftime lead. It was the most points ever scored by the Browns in a half. Not just since 1999, but in the history of the franchise, and many younger fans don’t realize how good this team was from 1946-1971.

Cleveland put up 34 or more points for the fifth time this season. They can score points, and they did so early and often against Tennessee, enough that they made the Titans’ biggest offensive weapon, running back Derrick Henry, an afterthought after halftime.

It’s a winning season for the Browns, their first since 2007 when they went 10-6 and missed the playoffs, and it’s only their third winning season since they returned to the NFL in 1999 (2002, 2007).

And they still have four games to play, including one with the winless Jets in the penultimate regular season game in New Jersey.

On the other hand, although this was an impressive victory, the Browns play in the AFC North, and many national media types will still view the brown and orange with a jaundiced eye until they can beat the traditional division powers, the Steelers and Ravens.

It’s understandable since Cleveland lost the first matchups between each foe earlier this season by a combined score of 76-13. The Browns did beat the Ravens a year ago in Baltimore, their most impressive win of 2019 by far, but the win over the Steelers last year came with Ben Roethlisburger on the sidelines.

So, the Browns have another chance to send a message next Monday night at First Energy Stadium as the Ravens visit. Assuming Baltimore can win tonight against Dallas, they will be 7-5 coming into the contest and a Cleveland win would have the double positive effect of putting the Browns in great shape while crippling the Ravens’ chance at a playoff spot.

And with Pittsburgh’s loss to Washington last night, the last game of the season could have division title implications. Take a deep breath and think about that for a minute.

So, while the Browns passed a great test yesterday, and we didn’t mention no one is questioning the quarterback’s play this week, we understand that a victory against Baltimore and/or Pittsburgh will be the only things that eliminate questions for some fans and media alike.

However, the Browns are going to have a winning season, and more than likely are going to play a playoff game. The last time they won ten or more and went to the post-season? Try 1994 with Bill Belichick at the helm.

The Decline Of The Tribe Hitting Since ’16

It wasn’t that long ago that the Cleveland Indians had one of the best offenses in the American League. In 2018, the Tribe finished in the top three in the AL in runs scored for the third consecutive year.

So, what happened in the past two seasons?

Let’s start with 2016. The American League champs finished second in the league in scoring, with four starters having OPS over 800: Carlos Santana (865), Jose Ramirez (825), Jason Kipnis (811), and Mike Napoli (800). Francisco Lindor fell just short of that mark.

In addition, two essentially platoon players, Tyler Naquin and Brandon Guyer, who was acquired at the trade deadline were over 800. If you include Lindor, it gave Terry Francona six guys in the lineup who were big threats at the plate.

That was Napoli’s last good season, and in 2017, the Indians replaced him with Edwin Encarnacion, and Cleveland finished third in the Junior Circuit in runs scored.

That season, five regulars had OPS of 800 or more (Santana, Ramirez, Lindor, Michael Brantley, and Encarnacion) along with platoon pieces Austin Jackson and Lonnie Chisenhall, again giving Francona six very good hitters most days in his batting order.

And the front office went out an acquired Jay Bruce when Brantley was injured to maintain the offense. It was also the last year the Indians won a post-season game.

Unfortunately, Kipnis’ last very good season hitting was ’16, and the ’17 campaign was the last healthy season for Chisenhall, and that was the last year in which Francona had more than four regulars with OPS over 800.

This meant second base was not as productive, the outfield offense was starting to decline, and Santana departed via free agency.

In 2018, the number of very good hitters written into the Cleveland lineup was down to four, but one of them was Ramirez, who set a blistering pace until the middle of August, winding up his second straight year finishing in the top three in the MVP voting. He likely would have won without his late season slump.

The other three were Lindor, Brantley, and Encarnacion.

A larger shift occurred during the off-season, when Brantley departed as a free agent, and Encarnacion was traded with the primary return (other than shedding payroll) was Santana who returned and had an excellent 2019 season.

Brantley’s departure meant the outfield was now an offensive hole, the only player putting up good numbers in 2019 was newcomer Jordan Luplow, a platoon piece.

The only everyday players with 800+ OPS’ were Santana, Lindor, and Ramirez, who struggled through May before getting red hot until he broke a bone in his hand in September.

Cleveland wasn’t getting any offense from the outfield, DH, and 2B (we eliminate catching because of the team’s philosophy of defense first at the position), which necessitated getting Yasiel Puig and Franmil Reyes when they dealt starter Trevor Bauer, although Puig was a free agent to be.

Not coincidentally, the Indians dropped to 7th in runs scored in 2019.

That ranking is excellent compared to being 13th in the COVID shortened 2020 season. The only Indians’ hitter with an OPS over 800 was Ramirez, the AL MVP runner up. The hitters closest to that figure were Reyes, Lindor, and 2B Cesar Hernandez, who was an upgrade at that position.

The inability of the organization to replace guys like Brantley, Kipnis, and have two effective platoon players at spots has led to this. This leads us to the question of how does this situation get corrected?

Hernandez is a free agent, and it is tremendously likely Lindor will be dealt in the off-season, meaning Ramirez is the lone wolf from the 2016 season, although we would think Reyes can get over the 800 OPS threshold next season.

We have demonstrated that good offenses have five or six players of this type (800+ OPS) in the batting order regularly? Care to tell us beyond Ramirez and Reyes who those players will be?

It will be very difficult for Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff to find three or four solid bats for Francona to use in 2021. It also demonstrates that trimming the payroll usually results in forming holes on your baseball team.

The hitting slowly disappeared over time and no one reacted. The organization failed to find suitable replacements. And the result is what happened in 2020.

Looking At Cavs. They Have Guys Who Can Play

There is a certain percentage of fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers who are in the forever tank mode, waiting for the next LeBron James or someone of that ilk to come along and make the team contenders again.

The reality is those players come along maybe once in a decade, and so any NBA team should probably have an alternative plan to get better other than getting lucky.

Since LeBron James left via free agency after the 2017-18 season, GM Koby Altman has been trying to accumulate talent, and on face value, he has done that.

And since coach J.B. Bickerstaff has already been fired (probably not justly) in Houston and Memphis, one would think he feels he needs to win in Cleveland, or he won’t get another shot at an NBA head coaching gig.

While we understand the analytics that prevail in all professional sports, we still have enough old school in us to look at players and separate them into two categories: He can play and we don’t know if he can play.

Looking at the current Cavs roster, we see a lot of guys who can play. And that’s a good thing. Now, can Bickerstaff and the coaching staff mold them into a unit that can be cohesive and make each other better? That’s the challenge.

Up front, the Cavs have two former all-stars in Kevin Love and Andre Drummond. That should speak for itself. Between the two of them, there are five league rebounding titles, four by Drummond.

Love can shoot the ball and is a terrific outlet passer, and really sacrificed his personal game when Cleveland went to four straight NBA Finals. Drummond has been on losing teams most of his career, both times he has been in the playoffs, his team was swept. But he’s a skilled big man and a force inside, although not a big rim protector.

In the backcourt, Collin Sexton has grown on us. He’s a competitor to be sure and his work ethic is apparently off the charts. And it has been reported that Darius Garland was the most improved player on the team during the off-season workout period.

How can you not like what Kevin Porter Jr. did as a rookie last season? He seemed to get better each month as the season went on, and his minutes increased as a result, and so did his playmaking abilities. We are anxious to see how much he has improved this coming season.

Cedi Osman seems to be a polarizing figure, perhaps because some figured he was going to be a star for some reason, but he’s a player. He’s not a starter for a upper echelon team, but he can certainly be in the top eight players. His best role is probably more of a slasher, a drive and dish guy more than an outside spot up shooter.

Larry Nance Jr. is a guy who is perfect for a real good team, one reason he is coveted by them. With his perimeter shooting improving, he can get some minutes at small forward. He is probably the team’s best defender and is an underrated passer. He should be among the team’s leaders in minutes, even if he doesn’t start.

Then you have the new players we haven’t seen yet in Dylan Windler and rookie Isaac Okoro. We are anxious to see Windler’s shooting, and how Okoro’s defensive mindset plays in the Association.

And you also have JeVale McGee, who can be a solid rim protector if he comes to play, and another young guard in Dante Exum, who is still just 25, and was once the 5th overall pick in the draft.

The Cavs have some players who can play in our opinion. To us, the biggest message that the organization needs to send is that winning is important. Contending for a playoff spot should be on the table.

The days of tanking and hoping need to be over.

Why Is Daddy Still Sad, Even Though The Browns Won?

Several years ago, there was a coloring book made up to be funny (we think) called Why Is Daddy Sad On Sundays? It was meant to make light of the lack of success the Cleveland Browns have had since returning to the NFL in 1999.

For the first time since they came back, the Browns are sitting at 8-3 on the season and right now have the top wild card spot in the AFC. The eight victories clinch the first non-losing season since 2007, when Romeo Crennel’s squad went 10-6 and just missed a playoff spot.

However, despite this record, which was preceded by several years of not mediocre football, it was downright putrid. Since ’99, Cleveland has had 16 seasons of 10 losses or more.

Even worse, 10 of those years have resulted in 12 or more losses, including a three year span (2015-17) in which the Browns went 4-44. You would think everyone would be celebrating the success this team has had.

You’d be wrong. Most of the criticism each week is pointed at quarterback Baker Mayfield, who with Sunday’s win raised his record as a starter to 20-20. He’s at .500, and we just showed you how dismal the recent history of the franchise has been.

If the Browns were coming off a Super Bowl season or several consecutive playoff appearances then we could understand a concern about “style points”, which the team didn’t achieve against the 1-10 Jaguars, winning by just 27-25.

We subscribe to the Bill Parcells’ theory of “you are what your record says you are”. We understand that two of the Cleveland losses were blowouts against division rivals, and that apparently stirs up some dissatisfaction among some people, but both losses were on the road, and Kevin Stefanski’s group gets another shot against each at First Energy Stadium.

It is very rare that any good professional football team goes through a season without a close call. And despite the final margin against Jacksonville, didn’t it feel like the Browns were in control of the game all day?

The Steelers are currently sitting at 10-0, but defeated the Giants on opening day by just a 26-16 score and just recently beat Dallas on the road with former Brown Garrett Gilbert at QB, 24-19. Not exactly impressive wins, but the Pittsburgh players and coaches don’t care. It’s a win.

The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs won a week two match up against the Chargers in overtime, and just a few weeks ago beat another non-playoff team in Carolina by just two points, the same margin as the Browns win on Sunday.

We checked in on the 2007 New England Patriots, who finished 16-0 in the regular season and found a three point win over an 8-8 Eagles squad, and another three point win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens finished 5-11 that season.

The 1972 Dolphins, which finished without a loss and won the Super Bowl, had a two point win over a 7-7 Minnesota Vikings squad and a one point victory over a 4-9-1 Buffalo team.

We certainly aren’t comparing the Browns to any of those teams, Stefanski’s crew certainly has room to improve and hasn’t proven themselves yet in either the playoffs or a game against one of the league’s elite teams.

However, we are saying there are a lot of close games every year that don’t make sense considering the records of the teams in question. The NFL has used the “Any Given Sunday” slogan for years, signifying that any team in the league can beat anyone else.

In the meantime, be happy the Browns are 8-3. They have a chance to show they are good against the Tennessee Titans, who went to the AFC title game a year ago. And even if they lose, it’s not the end of the world.

This is a team that will likely be playing in January. It’s been a long time since a Browns fan could celebrate that.

Looking At Bickerstaff’s Experiences…

What do we know about Cavs’ coach J.B. Bickerstaff? Yes, we know his father was a long time coach in the NBA with the Sonics, Hornets, Nuggets, and Washington (both Bullets and Wizards, actually), making five playoffs appearances.

But how has he coached style-wise? We only got to see him for 11 games before the season ended abruptly due to the pandemic. The Cavaliers looked much better under his leadership, going 5-6 after he took over for John Beilein, who guided (?) the squad to a 14-40 mark.

Bickerstaff’s first head coaching gig was with Houston in 2015-16 taking over for Kevin McHale 11 games into the season. The Rockets made the playoffs, losing in five games to Golden State, who of course, lost in the Finals that season to the Cavs.

That Houston team was a veteran group, led by James Harden, who was the youngest of the top five in minutes for the team at 26 years old. Although the Rockets were 21st in defensive efficiency, Bickerstaff gave a lot of minutes to solid defenders like Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverly, and he started Dwight Howard.

They were 7th in pace.

He then went to Memphis after being let go in favor of Mike D’Antoni as associate head coach under David Fizdale. He took over for Fizdale after 19 games (taking over during a season is a common theme), and the Grizzlies played at a slow pace, ranking 29th.

Memphis’ best players were two veterans, Marc Gasol (33) and Mike Conley (30), and the other leaders in minutes were Tyreke Evans (28), Dillon Brooks (22), and JaMychal Green (27).

The following season was Bickerstaff’s only complete season in the NBA, going 33-49 with a team that was last in the Association in pace, and their top eight in minutes per game were all over 25 years old.

It was the season in which Memphis moved Gasol, along with other veterans Green and Garrett Temple, getting Jonas Valanciunas and Avery Bradley.

Again, Bickerstaff gave minutes to some good defensive players, and the Grizzlies ranked third in the league in points allowed.

In the 11 games he was the man in charge last season, he most certainly paid attention to the defensive end. The wine and gold allowed more than 130 points in three of their last five games under Beilein. They allowed over 125 points in a game under Bickerstaff just twice, and one of those was an overtime contest.

One other thing Bickerstaff did was increase the minutes for his best players. Before he took over, Collin Sexton led the team in minutes with 32, followed by Kevin Love at 31, Tristan Thompson, Darius Garland with 30 and Cedi Osman at 29.

With the new coach, Sexton, Love, and Garland increased their minutes per game by four, while Osman played two more. The biggest jump was for Larry Nance Jr., who went from 25 to 31 minutes, and started getting some time at small forward. No doubt Nance’s ability to defend was a reason for the increased time.

So, we feel we can conclude that Bickerstaff is going to emphasize defense, which is good because it’s been a long time since that end of the floor has been a strong point for Cleveland. It could be a big factor as to why Isaac Okoro was the first round pick.

Now, the question is whether or not he is on the same page as GM Koby Altman? For example, let’s say a Darius Garland or Kevin Porter Jr. aren’t working hard enough on that end of the floor (speculation)? Does the coach cut their minutes and does Altman support that, or does he want the players he drafted to be on the floor.

In his past, Bickerstaff hasn’t played a lot of young players, but that could be due to the rosters he has had. But, we feel he will lean on players like Drummond and Love as his anchors.

Also, based on his past records as a head coach, he will want to win, and will probably coach that way. It will be interesting to see how this plays out once training camp and the regular season starts.

Tribe OF Has To Be Better, No?

It is difficult to imagine the Cleveland Indians’ outfield will be worse in 2021, after all it was dreadful to be honest during the 60 game 2020 season.

As a whole, the Tribe outfield ranked last in the American League in WAR, and individually by position ranked 12th in leftfield, and 14th in both right and centerfields.

The most used player out there was Tyler Naquin, who played in 40 games, hitting .218 with 4 HR and 20 RBI and a 632 OPS. Naquin is arbitration eligible and if we were running the team, we would non-tender him, making him a free agent. It doesn’t seem like it, but the left-handed hitter will turn 30 years old in 2021.

Making the second most appearances out there is Delino DeShields, who batted .252 with 7 RBI and a 628 OPS. He’s another candidate to be non-tendered, and as with Naquin, we would support that move. DeShields will be 28 next season, and has never demonstrated an ability to hit.

Oscar Mercado was a rookie sensation in 2019, but never got it going last season, winding up with a .127 batting average, 348 OPS, and a single homer. Striking out 27 times compared to five walks didn’t help either. We don’t hold a lot of hope for the right-handed hitter because of his command of the strike zone, but he’s worth a look.

Josh Naylor wound up playing in left after coming over from San Diego, and could be a regular there this season, but he could also be a candidate at first base, and might be the favorite there.

Jordan Luplow should be in the mix for 2021 at least as a platoon piece, as he hit .270 vs. LHP last season and has a 982 OPS vs. southpaws for his career. He got off to a spectacularly bad start to the season, but hit .313 with a 983 OPS from September 1st on.

In reality, if Naylor moves to first, Luplow should be the only player guaranteed a spot to be on the roster when the Indians visit Detroit on April 1st for Opening Day.

Daniel Johnson received 12 big league at bats, none after August 3rd, getting just one hit. However, after hitting .306 in 84 games at Columbus in 2019, he should have received more of a look, especially because the players being used were quite frankly, dreadful.

He should receive a full blown shot at the job in ’21, and probably should be a starter from day one.

It will also be interesting to see how much of a chance, the Tribe’s top prospect, Nolan Jones gets. Jones has been working in the outfield in the instructional league, as he is a third baseman by trade, and the Indians have Jose Ramirez.

Jones will be 23 next season and is a left-handed bat, and shows a good knowledge of the strike zone in his minor league career, drawing 96 walks in 2019 between Lynchburg and Akron.

He has yet to play in AAA, but you have to wonder how much stock the organization will put in participating in the satellite camp this past summer for the minor league prospects.

You also still have holdovers Bradley Zimmer, who still hasn’t shown anything offensively since his rookie season, and Jake Bauers, who spent the entire 2020 season in the satellite camp. We would think both of them would have to have a tremendous spring training to open the year with the big club.

You also would think Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff will be looking for outfield help in the likely trade of Francisco Lindor as well.

No matter what happens, it’s time for the organization to change course on the current make up of these three spots and move on. Over 162 games, we doubt the Indians can handle such dismal production from the outfield.