Every time the Cleveland Cavaliers win a game, a portion of the northern Ohio fan populace starts to panic.

They claim it is not in the franchise’s best interest to win, they need to get back into the NBA draft lottery and claim another great young player to lead the wine and gold back to the upper echelon of the league.

Of course, they don’t take into account that:
A).  Just because you get into the lottery, it doesn’t mean you will get a great player and
B).  Perhaps the Cavaliers already have their new franchise player in rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, who certainly looks like the real deal.

They are also overlooking some recent NBA history.

In 2008-09, rookie Derrick Rose took the Chicago Bulls, who finished 33-49 the year before, into the first round of the playoffs, where they lost to Boston in seven games.

The following year, they were eliminated by the Cavs in five games. 

After those two first round departures, the Bulls made some roster changes, despite not being in the lottery, and finished last season with the best record in the league.

This year, they are among the squads who are legitimate contenders to bring home an NBA title.

In 2007-08, rookie Kevin Durant joined the Seattle Supersonics, who finished 31-51 the prior season, and the Sonics went 20-62 and left the northwest for Oklahoma City.

Russell Westbrook joined the team the following season and the new Thunder went just 23-59.

The next season, they won 50 games and were eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Last year, they went to the Conference finals and this year have bolted out to a 16-4 record and are another team favored to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The point is this:  Both teams’ first playoff experience resulting in getting bounced out in the first round, yet they overcame that to become one of the game’s best teams in just a couple of years.

Yes, Chicago signed Carlos Boozer before making the quantum leap, but most felt the former Cavaliers was a disappointment last year.

The Thunder did draft Westbrook after getting Durant, but he was not the first pick in the draft, he was 4th, and after the initial playoff disappointment, they improved the team with trades.

It’s not likely the Cavaliers are going to make the post-season this season, but if they do, it will be because Irving continues to improve, showing he’s on the brink of all-star status. 

Let’s face it though, even if the wine and gold gets into the lottery, they probably won’t be picking in the top five because there are so many bad teams in the league.

Certainly, these teams will all have better odds of getting one of the top five selections than Cleveland:  Charlotte, Washington, Detroit, New Orleans, and Sacramento.

In addition, unless a series of injuries befalls Byron Scott’s squad, it is unlikely they will fall behind all of these teams:  New Jersey, New York, Toronto, Phoenix, and Golden State. 

So, it looks like Cleveland will fall to around picks #6-10 this season.  It is a deep draft, so GM Chris Grant, who seems to have a good eye when it comes to identifying talent, should be able to get another piece to the puzzle. 

However, the people who want the Cavs to lose are looking for a top five selection and that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

This basketball team should continue to try to win games, because winning is a learned skill.  If you don’t think so, watch the Wizards play. 

So relax, Cavs’ fans.  Hoping the team wins is alright.  Adding another solid piece will help continue the process of building back to a strong playoff team. 

Finishing in the seventh or eighth spot several years in a row is being stagnant.  Getting that spot and using it as a springboard is what Scott and his guys are trying to accomplish.

JK

 

Tony Grossi has been the beat writer at The Plain Dealer for the Browns for 25 years and is kind of  a polarizing figure for some reason.

It seems older readers like him, while younger people find him to be a tad on the negative side. 

That maybe because Grossi remembers when the Cleveland Browns were a hallmark franchise in the NFL, and now they have been largely irrelevant for the past 20 years.

In fact, outside of a five-year span in the late 1980’s, the brown and orange have been mediocre for the most part since 1970.

Last week, Grossi was removed by the paper after he tweeted about Browns’ owner Randy Lerner, called him a “pathetic figure” and an irrelevant billionaire. 

Whether or not Grossi is correct in his assessment is besides the point, the paper is its infinite wisdom decided that the beat reporter for the paper having this opinion was detrimental to his objectivity and re-assigned him.

Many people have the belief that the Browns organization orchestrated the move with a phone call to someone in the PD’s hierarchy.  There is no proof of this, but the city’s football franchise has always sought to control the media.

For years, Art Modell had the local television sports anchors as his radio play-by-play team.  In the 60’s, it was Channel 3’s Jim Graner and Channel 5’s Gib Shanley.  When Graner passed away, he was replaced by Channel 8’s Jim Mueller.

Shanley’s spot was taken over by his successor at WEWS, Nev Chandler, who was replaced by Casey Coleman, and now the current voice of the Browns is WKYC’s Jim Donovan.

Is that merely a coincidence?  That’s doubtful. 

Several years ago, WOIO was the “your home for the Browns” until they aired a sensitive story about the Lerner family. 

Whether or not the story should have been aired is up for debate, but what is true is that WOIO soon lost their partnership with the Browns.

At the very least, Modell wanted to make sure when you tuned in to local sportscast, the odds were pretty good you were hearing “the voice of the Browns”.

As for Grossi, his opinion of how Lerner runs his franchise colors his writing whether he states that opinion publicly or not. 

The guess here is that the people who like the veteran reporter do so because he is critical of the front office, and the those that don’t care for his writing are fans who think he is too harsh.

So no credibility is lost for the newspaper.  Tony Grossi just stated what has been hinted in his stories for years.

This situation also brings to light how teams now want to control the media content.  They do not like tough questions at press conferences, and many coaches/managers bristle at reporters asking for responses to things anyone watching games would inquire about.

Isn’t a coincidence that Lerner had a radio interview with WTAM’s Mike Trivisonno the day before it was reported that Browns wanted the city of Cleveland to give them several year’s worth of the money the team receives annually for stadium upkeep?

Browns’ coaches and front office people have gone the way of politicians in talking around what is being asked instead of providing an answer. 

They think fans are stupid and they can’t be trusted to digest what they’ve seen on the field.

Gone are the days when a coach like Blanton Collier would meet with newspaper men privately and review game films and tell them why he made the decisions he made.

The media is now the enemy for not just the Browns, but other professional sports franchises, and if that “enemy” says something you don’t like, let’s get him out of his job.

What’s worse is The Plain Dealer allowed it to happen.  Fair journalism goes out the window.

MW

The news that free agent 1B Prince Fielder signed with the Detroit Tigers was a punch to the gut of many Cleveland Indians’ fans. 

After staying in contention for most of the season, the Indians wound up fading last year while the Tigers got hot, finishing 15 games out of first place.  However, it was the team already on top of the division that fired the biggest shot of the off-season, signing a 27-year-old slugger to add to their lineup.

It doesn’t mean that Detroit is assured the AL Central Division title in 2012.  Sure, they have Miguel Cabrera and Fielder, a powerful 3-4 punch in the middle of their batting order, but the rest of their batting order can be considered suspect, depending on who you talk to.

What is frustrating for Indians’ supporters is once again another team makes a bold move, not a team who for most of the 2011 season was in contention for a playoff spot.

And it wasn’t the big market Yankees, Red Sox, or Phillies that made the move, it was the Tigers, with an owner that wants to win!

People can debate about the sanity of the pact for weeks and years, but what was striking was that Mike Ilitch feels he has a chance to bring the first World Series championship to Detroit since 1984 and he is going for it.

When the Indians came within a win of the Fall Classic in 2007, they did virtually nothing. 

It was funny that after the Fielder signing, Twitter was filled with fans reciting their opinion of  the canned and predictable responses from the Tribe front office on the contract.  The buzz words referring to “market size”, “long-term financial committment”, and “doesn’t fit into the way we do business” were most often used.

That’s why Indians fans get frustrated.  It is tiring to hear these worn out platitudes as to why they can’t compete.  No one is suggesting that the Dolan’s shell out the same amount of cash on major league salaries as the Red Sox or Angels.  The people who buy tickets know that’s not possible. 

But it’s the lack of willingness to raise the payroll that upsets people.  That, and the ownership telling its fan base that the best anyone here can hope for is to contend every five years or so.

And they wonder why they can’t sell tickets?  Tribe PR guru Bob DiBiasio should get an award every year for trying to spin the organization’s tale of woe.

Think about a relationship with a member of the opposite sex that you are trying to woo.  Does anyone think they will have a chance if they keep babbling on and on about their not so desirable traits?  Of course not.  Yet, that’s what the Indians do under the guise of “telling us the truth”.

We get it.  The Dolan family cannot compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels, and now apparently the Tigers and Rangers as well. 

You know what?  Then sell the ballclub to someone who can.  When Larry Dolan bought the team more than 10 years ago, he proclaimed he was a fan of the Indians.  If he is, then he should know it would be in the best interest of the franchise he loves to sell it. 

Admit that he can’t compete and sell it to someone who wants to win.

It’s frustrating to be an Indians fan these days.  And nothing seems to be on the horizon to change those feelings.

MW

 

Last weekend, the optimism generated by a better than expected start by the Cleveland Cavaliers was brought to a sudden halt after the wine and gold was blown out in consecutive nights by the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.

Granted, both teams are among the Eastern Conference elite, and the Bulls may just be the best team in the league, but the effort put out by Byron Scott’s team wasn’t up to his standards.

Everyone is aware the Cavs are a very young team.  Their best player is just 19 years old in Kyrie Irving.  The bulk of their roster is made up of players under 25 years old.

They need the few veterans they have, guys like Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker, and Anderson Varejao to step up when they play the better teams in the NBA. 

Unfortunately, two of those players, Jamison and Parker, haven’t been up to the task.

They may be showing great leadership in the locker room, but they haven’t performed on the court.

In the seven games that Cleveland has played against the better teams in the league (Indiana, Portland, Utah, the Lakers, Chicago, Atlanta, and Miami), Jamison is averaging just 9.3 points per game on 28% shooting.

For the season, the veteran is scoring 15 points per night on 41% marksmanship. 

Granted, the competition is better, but Scott needs more production from his second leading scorer, and he’s just not getting it. 

And Jamison needs to score to justify his playing time because he’s not exactly a force on the defensive end of the floor.  Use the Miami game for instance, Chris Bosh torched the wine and gold for 35 points.

As for Parker, he is supposed to provide three-point shooting out of the #2 guard spot, and for the season, he is hitting on 30% of his attempts from long distance. 

Against those seven teams listed earlier, Parker has made just 5 of 29 shots from behind the arc, a paltry 17.2%.  He’s contributed more than five points in a game just twice, the third game of the year vs. Indiana (12) and against Utah (8). 

Thank goodness for Varejao, who has remained consistent no matter who the opponent has been. 

Overall, the “Wild Thing” has scored 9.8 ppg and grabbed almost 11 boards per night, and shot 47% from the floor.

Against those seven teams, he’s scoring 10.4 points, garnering 10.7 rebounds and is shooting 49%. 

He’s the only veteran playing well against the better teams that the Cavs have faced.  Thank goodness for that.

What is galling is that Jamison was vocal after the two blowouts about how the offense is moving the ball enough. 

Here’s the one thing about basketball, you can execute the play perfectly, but someone can miss a good shot.  Or, you can be terribly disorganized and have somebody make a tough shot.

The offense isn’t as precise as Scott would like, but it would help if his veteran, second leading scorer would MAKE A SHOT!

It would be better if Jamison would pick his game up and be a player who can get some points when his team needed them. 

It would also helped if the former Tar Heel All-American played better against good teams because then he may create a market for himself, and perhaps a team looking for a veteran scorer to help get them over the top.  You can’t imagine a playoff team wanting Jamison like he’s played recently.

The schedule remains tough for the next ten games or so.  If the Cavs’ vets don’t pick up the pace, games like last weekend may just be the norm.

JK

Over the weekend, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that the Indians could take the $7 million they owed to Roberto Hernandez/Fausto Carmona and go out and get another starter to fill out the rotation in 2012.

The two pitchers mentioned by Heyman were Roy Oswalt and Edwin Jackson, both currently free agents.  Both guys are established big league starting pitchers and the asking price for both should be dropping since spring training opens in less than a month.

The first thought here was there is no way the Tribe would make such a move, even if it only cost them an extra million or two, because they could void Hernandez/Carmona’s deal.

One reason is because Cleveland would probably have to sign either hurler to a multi-year contract, and they currently have club options on the now 31-year-old right hander.  The long-term commitment would be not be appealing, especially in Oswalt’s case since he’s 34 years old.

The other reason is the Tribe generally likes to be known as player friendly.  Even though the organization said it was very surprised to find out Carmona is not who he said he was, nor was he 28 years old, there was no talk at all about voiding the agreement, at least publicly.

Who knows, maybe behind the scenes, GM Chris Antonetti and president Mark Shapiro are figuring out how to cancel the contract, thereby freeing up additional cash to improve the ballclub for the coming season. 

However, that’s not the Indians style.

Oswalt has a far better resume than Hernandez/Carmona.  Although he missed some time last season with lower back problems, the righty still was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA with Philadelphia.  He has two 20 win seasons and another year with 19 victories in his career.  His lifetime record is 159-93 with a 3.21 ERA.

Jackson, who spent time with the White Sox in 201o and 2011 before getting traded to St. Louis, is only 28 (same age Carmona was supposed to be) and is a workhorse, throwing more than 180 innings in each of the last four seasons.

In his big league career, he’s 60-60 with a 4.46 ERA, but since 2008, he has been under 4.50 each year, and he has fanned twice as many hitters as he has walked in each of the last three seasons.

Contrast those numbers with those put up by Hernandez/Carmona since his tremendous 2007 season, which by the way is the Indians most recent trip to the post-season.

In three of those years, he has had an ERA of over 5.00.  Only in 2010, did the righty pitch well, with an ERA of 3.77. 

His won-loss record in that period is just 33-48.  That’s why picking up his option was debated by the management.  He simply has been more awful than effective over the last four seasons.

Whether or not the Indians can get either Oswalt or Jackson is doubtful, because the organization will claim they don’t have the money to spend, and also because they don’t want to agree to more than one year.

However, it’s not like Antonetti is trying to replace Sandy Koufax.

If the Indians can use the mistaken identity of one of their starting pitchers to bolster the rotation, why not take a look at it. 

And certainly replacing Hernandez/Carmona with either Oswalt or Jackson would be a plus for the Tribe.

However, they are probably too nice, too loyal to their players to make it happen.

KM

 

 

Last week, the Cleveland Indians organization were celebrating the end of Snow Days at Progressive Field with an outdoor hockey game between Ohio State and Michigan. 

Little did they know it was just the beginning of a very eventful seven days.

The biggest news was the revelation that one of their starting pitchers, the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona, was not who he said he was.  It turns out that Carmona’s real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, and he is 31 years old, not 28 as previously thought.

Despite a lot of opinions that the Indians should void the pitcher’s contract, they won’t, and what’s more they shouldn’t.  We advocated dealing the righty over the winter, since at this point of his career, he should be more consistent.  Still, his legal problem isn’t reason enough to release him.

Carmona/Heredia’s deal is only good for this year, with club options for both the 2013 and 2014 seasons.  So, if he doesn’t pitch well (assuming he pitches at all), the Tribe management can walk away after this season anyway.

The bigger question is the one just stated.  Will the right-hander be able to get out of the Dominican Republic at all this year? 

If he doesn’t, Cleveland doesn’t give him the money, and sources say there is only a 10% chance Fausto/Roberto will take the mound for the Indians in 2012. 

That’s why GM Chris Antonetti got on the phone with one of his favorite trading partners, the Colorado Rockies, and pried RHP Kevin Slowey from them in return for relief pitcher Zach Putnam, who had a cup of coffee with the Tribe last season.

Slowey suffered through a terrible season in ’11 with Minnesota, who dealt him to the Rockies earlier this off-season.  He went 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA and gave up a whopping 78 hits in 59 innings.  He does have good control, walking just five batters.

His best season was his first full year in the bigs, 2008, when he went 12-11 with a 3.99 ERA.  Since then, his ERA is in the mid fours, and his hits to innings pitched ration has steadily risen, and his strikeouts per nine innings was just 5.2 last year, compared to a career mark of 6.7.

The question is whether Slowey is a better alternative than David Huff, Jeanmar Gomez, or Zach McAllister, the other contenders for the now vacant fifth spot in the rotation behind Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Derek Lowe, and Josh Tomlin. 

Antonetti may have been better served giving his farm system the first shot at filling the opening, but Slowey is a low-cost option, and Cleveland got $1.25 million in the transaction to help pay the veteran righty.

The rest of the week was more mundane, with the Indians signing several more players to minor league contracts to build up organizational depth.

They inked right-handed hitting OF Ryan Spilborghs, who played with the Rockies last year and hit .210 with 3 HR and 22 RBI.  He is 32, and has a history of success against lefties (.273 BA and 799 OPS).  However, he has a poor record outside of Coors Field (.239 BA and 679 OPS). 

They also signed veteran left-handed hitting OF Fred Lewis, 31, who spent last season in Cincinnati.  Lewis is a lifetime .267 hitter with a 751 OPS.  He hit .230 with a 638 OPS in 2011 playing in a hitter’s paradise in the Queen City.

Also signing was minor league infielder Gregorio Petit, who played 25 games in the majors in 2008-09 with Oakland, and RH reliever Jeremy Accardo, pitched in 31 games with Baltimore in ’11 (3-3, 5.73 ERA) and saved 31 games for Toronto in 2007.

You can never have enough pitching depth, but it is curious that Antonetti has brought in so many outfielders.  Besides his projected starting trio of Shin-Soo Choo, Grady Sizemore, and Michael Brantley, and Shelley Duncan, who had a solid year last season, the Indians have brought in Aaron Cunningham, Felix Pie, Spilborghs, and Lewis. 

Granted, Cleveland doesn’t have a lot of depth in the upper minors right now (they still have Thomas Neal, Tim Fedroff, and Ezequiel Carrera), but right now the OF looks very crowded. 

One has to wonder if Antonetti is working on a deal and using an OF as bait.

With spring training less than a month away, and the Indians still needing another proven hitter, it will be interesting to see if there is a greater plan in place here.

KM

With the Cavaliers getting off to a better than expected start this season, the people who want the wine and gold to lose are back out again. 

These people insist that the only way to build a championship team is to get in the draft lottery for several years and maybe, just maybe, you will accumulate enough talent to win a professional sports title.

FIrst of all, it is way to early to speculate that Byron Scott’s crew will make the playoffs.  But, one thing is for sure.  If the Cavs can make the playoffs, Scott will be all for it.

That’s the way coaches are.  They want to win.

Sure, Scott took a bullet for the organization last season, enduring a 26 game losing streak, and finishing with just 19 victories for the season.  He doesn’t want that to happen again.

Professional athletes do not want to lose.  They may not know how to win, but they don’t want to lose.  Take, for example,  the Washington Wizards.  As bad as they are currently, don’t believe for a minute that any one of those players do not want to win each and every game they play.

You can make the argument that they don’t sacrifice on the practice floor, that they don’t play the game in a way to gain more wins, but when the opening tap occurs, they are trying to win the game at hand.

To suggest otherwise to them would likely get you a punch to the head.

The same is true for coaches.  They want to win every night.  If the season is out of hand, they may play younger players to get them ready to contribute the following season, but they coach each game to outscore the opponent. 

And here is something else that is true, if they put players who shouldn’t be out there come crunch time, the other players see that and they lose confidence in the leadership. 

Ever wonder why players quit on their coaches?  Usually, it’s because they don’t trust the guy in charge.

That’s what fans and media people who think teams should lose to better their chances in a draft lottery, or help their position in the draft do not understand. 

Besides, it doesn’t work much of the time.

These “losers” do not even have long memories.  Last season, the Cavaliers got the first pick in the NBA draft, but not because they lost often, it was due to the Los Angeles Clippers losing a lot.  Remember, Cavs’ GM Chris Grant received the pick as part of the Mo Williams-Baron Davis trade.

So, it wasn’t losing that brought Kyrie Irving to Cleveland, it was shrewd management. 

Besides, the wine and gold are a very young team.  Only Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao are over 25 years old among the key players, so you would have to figure all the rest of the squad will be improving over the next few years, including Irving, who looks right now to be the real deal.

Some claim the draft is the only way to get better because no free agent will come to the Cavs.  That’s probably true, but with Jamison and his large contract off the books next season, Grant’s team will be well under the cap.

That means they will be a team that can take on salary to pick up a good player in a trade where another team wants to dump some salary. 

When teams are ready to win, they will start winning.  As much as others may want to delay or speed up the process, players learn how to win at the professional level, and then begin to triumph.

Wishing a team to lose is okay for fans, although it’s a tough way to follow your favorite club.  However, players and coaches do not and will not ever think this way.  If they do, they won’t be around very long.

JK

In Colt McCoy’s rookie season (2010), he was thrust into action before then-coach Eric Mangini or anyone in the organization wanted because of injuries to both Jake Delhomme and his backup, Seneca Wallace.

His first start was against Pittsburgh, and the rook didn’t embarrass himself, hitting on 23 of 33 passes for 287 yards.  He did throw two interceptions, but overall had everyone encouraged by his performance.

His next three starts fueled the optimism, as the Browns knocked off the defending Super Bowl champs, the New Orleans Saints, and followed that up by beating New England, and losing in overtime to the Jets, who went to the AFC title game last season.

In those games, he completed 41 of 66 throws for 453 yards and no interceptions. 

He was injured himself in the next game, a loss to Jacksonville, but he still was 17 of 28 for 241 yards, with a TD and an interception.

The question is simple:  What happened to that guy?

McCoy came back from his high ankle sprain to play the last three games, the first of which might have been his best game of the year, completing 19 for 25 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns.  So, it’s safe to say he was healthy again.

The last two games were against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and the rookie from Texas struggled in those starts, completing only 35 of 70 throws for 358 yards, with a TD toss, but a whopping six interceptions.

Did McCoy lose his confidence in these two starts?

In 2010, McCoy made eight starts.  He had a quarterback rating of over 80, a modest total, in five of them.  All of those occurred in his first six games.

Last season, he started 13 games and had a passer rating of over 80, just three times:  A win over Indianapolis in week two, a week seven loss to San Francisco, a loss to St. Louis in week nine, and a win over Jacksonville in week 10.

So, here is the question that no one has asked Pat Shurmur and Mike Holmgren.  What happened to McCoy that caused a regression in his performance?

Did he lose his confidence after the two bad outings at the end of his rookie season?

Did the league make adjustments to him after reviewing game films from 2010?

Why did his yards per attempt drop from 7.1 in ’10 to 5.9 last season?

Why did his completion percentage drop from 60.8% in 2010 to 57.2% in 2011, despite going to an offense that features short passing?

Has anyone heard explanations as to what happened to the guy who many people were so excited about just a year ago?

The short, quick answer is that McCoy just doesn’t have the talent to be an elite quarterback in the NFL.  He doesn’t have a big arm, nor does he have the size many would like at the position.

Still, he seemed to be very unsure of himself in the pocket this season, something that wasn’t there in his first year. 

Was this due to learning a new offense?  Was McCoy thinking about every move he made, rather that just playing the game instinctively?

There seems to be a lot of unanswered questions about Colt McCoy.  That’s why there is a lot of support for him from Browns’ fans. 

That’s why there is hesitation from many about drafting a quarterback in the first round of this spring’s draft. 

If you watched Browns’ games this season, you wondered what happened to the guy who played so confidently and for the most part, effectively in 2010. 

Can that guy re-appear in 2012?

If GM Tom Heckert picks Robert Griffin III with the fourth pick in April, then you have your answer.  If they don’t, perhaps the front office feels he can get back to being the player he was in 2010.

JD

More than any other sport, statistics mean a great deal in baseball.  People know that Drew Brees just broke Dan Marino’s record for all time passing yardage, but few know what the new standard is.  People knowledgeable in sports know that Cy Young won 511 games, though.

Emmitt Smith is pro football’s leading rusher.  How many yards did he compile?  Rarely would you find someone who has a clue, but how many sports fans are aware that Joe DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all time leading scorer, but bet you don’t know how many points he scored?  Mention 755 though, and most casual followers of baseball know that’s how many home runs Hank Aaron hit in his career.

Bill James changed the way baseball fans looked at the game.  He emphasized different statistics than the three triple crown categories to point out that some players were more valuable to winning teams than we thought.  Mostly, he showed the on base percentage and slugging percentage should be valued more.

Much of what he wrote makes total sense, and has those numbers have been taken very seriously by those who manage, run, and talk about the game of baseball.

However, it seems now that it has gone the other way, and the “stat people” are acting like politicians.  That is to say, their opinion on players is right, and you dare not have any other thought.

In the weeks leading up to the Hall of Fame selection vote being announced, there was much debate on whether or not certain players belonged in Cooperstown.  Most notably, Jack Morris.

Morris’ critics point out that he had a high ERA and never won a Cy Young Award.  There was even an article written that said former Twins’ pitcher Brad Radke (148-139, 4.22 ERA, and one 20 win season) was actually a better pitcher than Morris.

Morris, who pitched his last game for the Indians, won 254 games in an 18 year career that saw him win 20 games three times, and finished in the top five of the Cy Young Award voting five times. 

He was also a top starter on three teams (’84 Tigers, “91 Twins, “92 Blue Jays) that won the World Series.  He was 4-2 with a 2.96 ERA in seven Series starts, including the epic game 7 in 1991 when he shut out the Braves for 10 innings.

Yet, there are many “stat-based” people who believe it would be a travesty for Morris to be inducted into the Hall.

Yet, they love Edgar Martinez, who was basically a DH, and was a lifetime .312 hitter with 309 career homers, despite spending most of his big league time in a hitters’ haven, The Kingdome.  He wound up with 2247 hits (200 less than Kenny Lofton) and a little over 1200 RBI’s.  He finished in the top five in the MVP vote just once.

Why the love for Martinez?  He had a .418 on base percentage and .515 slugging percentage.

One the darlings of the statistics crowd in White Sox’ DH Adam Dunn, because he has a very good .374 on base percentage and an excellent .503 slugging percentage. 

However, Dunn has had seven seasons where he has hit more than 35 HR’s, yet has never knocked in more than 106 runs in a season.  Back before these stats were in vogue, it seemed odd that a player that hit 40 homers and had just a little over 100 RBI’s.

For example, Frank Robinson had four seasons where he hit more than 35 dingers and drove in more than 120 runs.  Mickey Mantle and Jim Thome did it twice, Harmon Killebrew did it three times, and Manny Ramirez had seven seasons with those numbers.

The reason Dunn doesn’t drive home more runs is he strikes out excessively, something that doesn’t bother the stat people.  That’s a reason they like Alfonso Soriano too.

The Cubs’ OF became a darling because of his four “30-30” campaigns, compiling over 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases.  Incredibly, Soriano once had a season (2006 with the Nationals) where he hit 46 HR’s and only had 95 RBI’s. 

Despite a .274 lifetime batting average and 340 career home runs, Soriano isn’t a primary player on a contender.  And at age 36 and a bloated contract, the Cubs would love to give him away. 

Everyone is entitled to an opinion, particularly in sports.  It’s the reason for the proliferation of sports talk radio stations.  However, many of the statistic people have gotten high and mighty, believing there is no room for debate, and if you aren’t siding with them, you are wrong. 

Sometimes, watching the way players play the sport is more important.  That seems to be lost among many of the statistic guys now covering the sport.

MW

Cavaliers coach Byron Scott preaches defense.  Then, more defense.  He wants his defense to lead to easy opportunities on the offensive end. 

Sure, a lot of NBA coaches talk the same thing, it’s rare that any head coach in the Association says they don’t care about the defensive end of the floor.  They know that in the playoffs, you have to be able to stop teams to win and advance.

However, Scott has no choice.  His team is very limited on the offensive end of the floor. 

The Cavs have one player who is a proven scorer in the NBA, and that’s veteran Antawn Jamison, who’s averaging 16.7 points per night.  Jamison isn’t a sniper though, he’s a volume points producers, meaning he has to take a lot of shots to get his points. 

He’s shooting just 42% for the year and has taken 24 more shots than anyone else wearing the wine and gold. 

That’s why rookie Kyrie Irving has had to carry a bigger load than he probably should be at this point of his development, although the early returns have shown he’s been up to the task.  The first overall pick is Cleveland’s second leading scorer at 15.6 per game, shooting 44%. 

The rest of the starting lineup has Anderson Varejao, who is more of a defender and rebounder, Anthony Parker, who a spot up three-point shooter, and Omri Casspi, who has struggled mightily thus far, scoring just 6.3 points on 38% shooting.

Casspi was expected to be a scoring option among the starters, but hasn’t gotten the job done so far.

In fact, the Cavaliers’ third leading scorer is reserve point guard Ramon Sessions, who’s averaging 10.3 points on 35% shooting.  Unfortunately, he plays the same spot as Irving, meaning both can’t be on the floor at the same time very often.

Scott only has three players who are making more than 47% of their attempts:  Rookie Tristan Thompson, whose 54% mark comes from a lot of dunks and put backs, Varejao (51%-see Thompson), and the biggest surprise on the team, Alonzo Gee, who is connecting at a 50% clip. 

Gee has picked up the slack for Casspi, combining slashing to the basket with an improved outside shot to score 8.3 points a night in 27 minutes.

Daniel Gibson has also shown much improvement this season, particularly defensively, but remains pretty much the same player on offense as Parker, a spot up three-point shooter, although he is very good at that role.

So, outside of their top three scorers, the Cavs have nobody who can create their own shots.  That limits their scoring opportunities. 

Yes, when they have games where they shoot the three-point shot well, like in their most recent home game against Charlotte, they can score a lot of points.

But when they are struggling from outside, they can’t put points on the board.

And Irving is really the only guy you can go to when you need a basket to stop a run.  A heck of a burden to put on a rookie, but Scott really doesn’t have much of a choice.

Most NBA teams get their scoring from the wing positions, #2 guard and small forward.  That’s why offense is a problem for this team, and it’s why Scott desperately needs production out of Casspi.

Cleveland doesn’t have dynamic offensive players at those spots, only Gee has shown any ability to create his own shot.

Until GM Chris Grant can upgrade those positions, the Cavaliers will have to rely on defense to win games.

JK