Wine And Gold Bench Not Getting It Done

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a red-hot start to the season. After losing their opener to Toronto, they reeled off eight straight wins, several of them without All-Star guard Darius Garland, who was poked in the eye in the first game of the season.

Everything was clicking for J.B. Bickerstaff’s crew, Cedi Osman got off to a great start shooting the three ball, Dean Wade scored a career high 22 points in a comeback win over New York. And they beat Boston on the road in overtime with Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert both scoring 41 points.

But on the west coast trip, the Cavs were going for win #9 and led the Clippers in the fourth quarter, but lost, starting a five-game losing streak that ended Friday night in a double overtime win over Charlotte.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get a victory after a long losing streak, and hopefully now that the wine and gold got back in the win column, they can right the ship. But some holes did spring up during the losing skein.

Jarrett Allen missed a couple of games with an ankle problem, and that exposed a size problem. Allen and Evan Mobley are a big reason Cleveland succeeds defensively (they are still 4th in defensive efficiency), but they are the only rim protectors on the roster.

With Allen in there, Mobley can get out an defend on the perimeter where his length bothers smaller players, as it did at the end of the first overtime Friday night against Terry Rozier.

The only other experienced interior big man is Robin Lopez, signed in the off-season as a free agent. Lopez is a seven footer, but is slow, and not really a shot blocker. And quite frankly, we don’t think he can be out there for 25 minutes a game if something happened to Allen or Mobley and they couldn’t play for a stretch of games.

Since the winning streak ended, the bench hasn’t provided much, meaning Bickerstaff has a very top-heavy roster.

They have four all-star caliber players in Mitchell, Garland, Allen, and Mobley, and two solid veterans in Kevin Love, who could be out for a while with a hairline fracture of his thumb, and LeVert, meaning the depth folks thought the Cavaliers had is no longer there.

As noted earlier, Osman and Wade had great starts to the season, but the former hasn’t been good lately and Wade has been hurt but followed up the 22 point game with a scoreless one. No doubt, Bickerstaff needs both to step up and provide production each and every night.

After not getting much time early in the season, Lamar Stevens has taken advantage of the injuries and has started to get minutes again, getting at least 29 in last three contests, averaging 9.3 points in those games. He’s solid and deserves to keep getting minutes, probably at the expense of Isaac Okoro who is really struggling, especially on the offensive end.

Raul Neto got playing time while Garland was out, but since the Cavs went west, he’s been AWOL.

That leaves Bickerstaff with six solid players, guys he can depend on every night. That’s not enough, particularly for a time with playoff aspirations.

The first thing that needs to happen is someone, notably Osman and Wade, need to step up, but it doesn’t have to be one of those two, they are just the most likely candidates. It could be Okoro too, but he seems to have lost confidence in his offensive game right now.

Maybe it’s a slump for the bench crew, or perhaps we were all just fooled by the eight-game winning streak. But if this team wants to avoid the play in tournament, they need depth that Bickerstaff can rely on.

Time for some players to step up

Cavs Could Use Another Big

Cleveland Cavaliers’ president of basketball operations Koby Altman has done a remarkable job of building the roster from ashes after LeBron James departed as a free agent.

After three dismal seasons, the Cavs returned to league relevance last season, and even after a four-game losing streak, the wine and gold are off to a solid start this year.

He drafted Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley and smartly got involved with the James Harden trade to Brooklyn, picking up Jarrett Allen in that transaction.

During the summer, he swung perhaps the league’s biggest trade, getting Donovan Mitchell from Utah in a package that included Sexton, giving the Cavaliers perhaps the NBA’s best starting backcourt.

One thing we would like to see an improvement on is the back end of the roster. After a fast start, the Cavs’ bench hasn’t contributed the past few games, getting only consistent minutes from veteran Kevin Love.

We understand Ricky Rubio and Love will eventually be the backbone of the reserves, and Rubio is likely out until January recovering from knee surgery. He will be a big boost to the second unit if he plays like he did last season before he was injured.

And hopefully, between Cedi Osman (continues to be wildly inconsistent), Isaac Okoro (great defender, but offensively is a mystery), and Lamar Stevens (doesn’t get enough playing time), J.B. Bickerstaff can find someone who can contribute on a nightly basis.

The depth at guard seems to be fine. Rubio will be back soon, and Caris LeVert, who is starting at small forward, can play there as well. But right now, the depth in the front court could be a problem as the season moves on.

Altman signed Robin Lopez as a free agent and he has played limited minutes, getting into just eight games, playing 75 minutes. And he’s really the only reverse behind Allen and Mobley who is a true inside player. When Allen is out of the lineup, like he has been the last two nights, the Cavs are severely limited.

Love rebounds very well, but isn’t a great interior defender any more.

Mobley struggled guarding Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns last Sunday and having to use him as a rim protector takes away his ability to guard on the perimeter.

We would also say Lopez is an upgrade over Ed Davis, but remember, last year’s squad also had Lauri Markannen, who could slide over to the power forward spot whenever Allen or Mobley were on the bench or out of action.

So, what we are really trying to say is the Cavs are operating one big man short.

Just being curious, but perhaps Cleveland could have packaged the three second round picks they had in the last draft to get another big guy, either in a deal with another team or trading back up in the first round, maybe Walker Kessler, who was taken at #22?

They did take 7’1″ Khalifa Diop from Senegal at #39, and he is averaging 5.7 and 3.8 rebounds in the EuroCup League. They also chose Isaiah Mobley (brother of Evan) at #49. He’s played in one game for the Cavs this season and will get most of his minutes in the G League this year.

And they took Australian Luke Travers at #56, and he’s scoring 7.8 points a game in the land down under.

Little to show for those three picks.

We know, we know, there is still plenty of time to revamp the roster before the trade deadline in February. Until then, there is no question the wine and gold are short on some size.

Hopefully, Allen and Mobley stay healthy.

Browns Seem To Lack Accountability, Toughness.

Let’s say this right off the top. We don’t want Kevin Stefanski fired.

We get that’s the knee-jerk reaction from fans every time the Cleveland Browns lose a football game, particularly when it is a blowout loss, like Sunday’s 39-17 beatdown by the Miami Dolphins, but many times it just the easy way out.

If the Browns are indeed run primarily by Paul DePodesta, GM Andrew Berry, and Stefanski, and we are sure they meet all the time, they should be “self-auditing” as to how they lead this organization going forward.

This isn’t to say the defense isn’t the biggest problem on this football team. You simply cannot win at any level if you can’t stop the run and the Browns can’t do it.

However, Stefanski isn’t a Dan Campbell or Mike Vrabel type of coach or leader. He’s not out of the Hollywood prototype of what a head football coach should be. However, everyone needs to remember he did play at the college level.

Stefanski’s style might be fine if he had players who were vocal leaders, but it doesn’t seem he does. His best offensive player, Nick Chubb, leads by example. The player who talks the most is a guard, Joel Bitonio. On defense, Myles Garrett is accessible, but most talks in cliches.

Now, we don’t know what happens in the locker room (and by the way, neither do many of the folks commenting on the Browns in the media).

Some people have said the Browns have no identity, and we think it could be because they seem to be very reactive.

The Browns should be a running team, particularly with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. But if the other team put eight or nine in the box, Cleveland throws it, and throws it some more.

We would love it if Stefanski called plays with the confidence of you know what, we are going to run it anyway. For Nick Chubb to get just 11 carries (as he did Sunday) in a game where he is healthy for all four quarters is unacceptable.

At times we think if Stefanski were coaching the Kansas City Chiefs, he would think to himself, the other team knows Patrick Mahomes is going to throw, so we have to run it a lot.

Andy Reid doesn’t think that way. No head coach should.

Same on defense. Our thought during the Dolphins game was if you know the opponent has great talent and you are just going to line up and rush four and play zone coverage, you are going to get beat. You need to do something that gets the Miami offense out of rhythm.

We can’t remember many plays, if there were any, where the Browns sent more than four rushers at Tua Tagovailoa. We also can’t recall Myles Garrett being moved around as to where he lined up. It doesn’t seem give the defense the best chance to succeed.

We wrote after the Bengals game that we learned the Browns were capable of playing that way defensively, so the expectations were increased. But maybe the defensive coordinator felt increased job security, so he reverted to what had been done in the past. It didn’t work then, and it didn’t work Sunday.

It seems like the organization lives in fear at times. Can’t admit mistakes on draft picks (they’ve cut just one in the Berry regime), can’t attack defensively because they might give up a big play, can’t stick with the strength of the team’s offense.

There can be a thing as being too smart for your own good. Maybe the Browns are stuck in that, and they need to remember this is football, a tough physical sport.

In the end, it’s another loss year for the fans, still waiting for a Super Bowl berth.

Cavs’ Bench Needs To Shake The Doldrums

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a promising start to their trip to the west, winning in Detroit (yes, it’s west) without Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell and beating the Lakers.

They had fourth quarter leads in every other game, but lost the last three, and come home tonight to face Minnesota.

The Cavs have played eight of their first twelve games away from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and now five of the next six are in town, which helps immensely as the wine and gold have won all four games held there.

An old NBA adage tells us bench players play better at home and that was certainly true for J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad on the trek, as really only Kevin Love gave him quality minutes consistently.

Of course, Love’s a veteran, a guy who has started most of his career, so it’s not surprising he plays well no matter where the game is, he’s averaging 12 points and 7.7 rebounds a game.

Cedi Osman averaged 15.5 points per game on red hot shooting (52% from the floor, 9 of 19 from three) in the first four games. Since then, he’s made just 14 of 39 (36%) and just 8 of 26 three-point shots, scoring in double figures just once, the blowout win in the Motor City.

Dean Wade started while Garland was out with his eye injury and scored 22 points, a career high, in the win against the Knicks at home. He missed the last game of the trip, but in the four games he played, he scored 11 points, including a zero against Detroit.

And then there is Isaac Okoro, who’s confidence looks shattered right now, missing two-point blank layups against Golden State Friday night. He’s made just 9 of 32 shots from the floor, missing all 12 three point shots. He even put up a six trillion (playing six minutes without any other entry in the box score) vs. the Kings.

In the last four games of the roadie (he did have 9 points vs. the Pistons), he scored seven points on 1 of 8 shooting in 47 minutes, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

When three of your four primary substitutes are playing like that, it’s difficult to win.

At what point does a concern become a problem though.

As we said earlier, five of Cleveland’s next six contests are at home, so the second unit has an opportunity to straighten out the issue. But if they don’t start playing well, what are the options?

One would seem to be putting Wade back in the starting lineup and bringing LeVert off the bench. Not that the latter has done anything wrong, it would simply be putting another scorer with that group. Doing this would also give the starters a bit more size.

As for Okoro, we don’t know what the solution is. Defensively, he is still excellent, contributing greatly to the win against New York with his effort on that end of the floor.

On offense, he appears lost right now. As mentioned earlier, he’s lost whatever confidence he ever had offensively. At times when he is passed the ball, it looks like he can’t get rid of it fast enough. Defenses are ignoring him, and it puts a burden on the offense when you are basically playing 4 on 5.

We’d also like to see more of a 10 man rotation to limit minutes on the starters, particularly Mitchell, who currently leads the NBA in that category. Raul Neto has done a solid job when used, so why not use him?

We understand it’s still early, but we are sure Bickerstaff hasn’t liked the last three games. Home cooking will help, but so will better effort by bench.

How The Guards Handle Their Prospects Will Be Interesting

The Cleveland Guardians have one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball, and that’s after they graduated players like Steven Kwan, who is a finalist for American League Rookie of the Year, and Oscar Gonzalez.

While this bodes very well for the future, how the front office handles the glut of young players who should be ready to be in the big leagues over the next couple of years should be very interesting.

Some teams with great farm systems trade a number of their prospects for an All-Star type player. Think about the Cardinals trading for Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado. However, the Guardians don’t seem to operate that way, being averse to long-term, high-priced contracts.

Let’s look at the shortstop position for the Guards. Amed Rosario is the incumbent, and certainly was a big contributor to the 2022 Central Division title team, batting .283 (715 OPS). He is arbitration eligible and can be a free agent in 2024.

The organization also has Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, both of whom spent most of the season at AAA, but did play in the bigs, and the player we believe is the future for the organization in Brayan Rocchio, who hit 18 HR and knocked in 64 runs with a 755 OPS at Columbus and Akron.

Now Rocchio probably won’t be ready for the bigs until 2024, but what will Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff do with Rosario, Arias, and Freeman? One of them could change position or be a utility infielder, we did see Arias play 1B in the playoffs, but does the other go back to AAA? And if that happens, doesn’t that block Rocchio?

The same situation exists in the outfield where Will Brennan is knocking on the door. Terry Francona could use the outfield spots and DH in a rotation, but that would preclude the front office from getting a power bat that could play a corner outfield spot, and perhaps first base as well.

And we haven’t mentioned George Valera, who is likely on the same timetable as Rocchio. The soon to be 22-year-old hit .250 with 24 homers and 82 ribbies (816 OPS) between AA and AAA this past season and could be ready sometime during the ’23 campaign.

We haven’t mentioned the pitching staff because the top prospects, Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams, and Tanner Bibee aren’t considered candidates to make the big-league roster to open the season, but we could definitely see one or more of them making a start in the second half of the ’23 season.

And we didn’t mention the hurlers who came up last year to help: Hunter Gaddis, Xzavion Curry, and Konnor Pilkington, nor did we say Peyton Battenfield, who went 8-6 with a 3.92 ERA at Columbus.

It’s easy to give these young players a shot on a non-contending club, but the Guardians made the post-season and were baseball’s youngest team in 2022.

This isn’t to say, there still isn’t room for improvement. We have said before it before, standing pat would be the wrong thing to do. But it will be interesting to see how Antonetti and Chernoff handle this situation.

Most organization would trade three or four of the prospects for a big-time talent, but we don’t see that as an option for Cleveland. That isn’t to say the payroll won’t increase, but the philosophy of the front office isn’t to have many long-term, big money deals on the books.

Looking At The Way Sports Are Covered Today

You hear this on sports talk shows and on social media after games. Fans wondering why reporters, both print and broadcast media, don’t ask the manager or coach tough questions about the contest. The answer is quite simple. Covering sports in today’s age has changed greatly.

First, the man in charge generally isn’t going to call out a player in the media, so asking about a player making a key mistake or not putting out the best effort is fruitless. The question will be asked, so the reporter doesn’t lose his credibility, but he knows the inquiry will not be answered. The only time the manager or coach will do it is if the player is on his way out of town.

And we have seen cantankerous relationships between teams and reporters who persist in asking questions the organizations do not want to address. Quite frankly, those reporters are trying to do their job, but on the other hand, they can’t without the cooperation of the team they cover.

It’s a chicken or the egg problem.

From a national standpoint, each of the major professional sports leagues have their own network, so listen closely to hear anything negative about any team or any sport.

NBA TV is mostly a pure lovefest. They focus on the individual great plays and not really on teams until the playoffs. We feel this is a reaction to the younger fans of basketball, who are fans of individual players more than teams.

The MLB Network has followed this formula as well. They will show a player belting a 450-foot home run, ignoring that his team lost, and he struck out in his other three at bats.

Both networks cater to the bigger markets. We tuned in to NBA TV after the Cavaliers knocked off Boston on the road, only to listen to the panel discuss the winless Lakers for 15 minutes. As for baseball, their network barely mentioned the Guardians all year until they made the post-season.

Locally, both the Guardians and Cavaliers have their own broadcasts of most games, and the announcers and pregame hosts are partners with the teams. This isn’t necessarily totally a bad thing, because you do get a lot of insight fans would not have received in the old days.

Both Andre Knott for the Guardians and Serena Winters for the Cavs seem to have developed great relationships with the players and therefore, viewers have seen the personality of the players, which helps fans of the team relate.

Just don’t expect them to ask “hard hitting” questions. That’s not their jobs.

There are also “influencers” on social media to talk up the teams and present favorable points of view on both the players and entire organization. Just another way for them to get their message out there. For example, we saw a number of comments from the Cavs’ group during training camp talking about how good Isaac Okoro is, and getting excited about Mamadi Diakite.

There is nothing wrong with this, however, folks listening, or reading should be aware of where the content is coming from.

It’s really nothing new. In the old days when newspapers were in their heyday, it has been said several star players had reporters as “mouthpieces”. Ford Frick, who eventually became the Commissioner of Baseball, was said to have served that function for Babe Ruth in the 1920’s.

Of course, Frick was the man who put the asterisk on Roger Maris’ 61 homers in 1961 because the season had expanded to 162 games. But we are sure there wasn’t a conflict of interest there.

It’s just a different day and age these days. Each sport and each team try to control the message. That’s nothing new. However, credibility should be questioned by the person consuming the message.

That’s a whole different problem in society. Thinking for yourself.

Love’s Career Arc Has Not Been Seen Here.

When Kevin Love arrived in Cleveland, he was 26 years old and coming off a season in which he scored 26.1 points and grabbed 12.5 rebounds per game. He made the All Star team, and was second team all-NBA twice in his career.

Cleveland traded the first overall pick in the previous draft, Andrew Wiggins, along with another first overall pick in Anthony Bennett to Minnesota to bring him to the Cavaliers, thus forming a “Big Three” with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.

Love’s numbers took a dip, mostly because he was no longer the first option offensively, dropping to 16.4 points a night, and his shooting numbers dropped, and so did his rebounding totals.

No player sacrificed his individual numbers more than Love, and while James remained with the team, no one was more of a whipping boy for the fans. Whenever the Cavs didn’t play well, the fingers usually pointed at Love. We always thought fans figured he was going to average 25 points per game here, but he was getting around 17-18 shots a contest with the Timberwolves. That number dropped to around 13 here.

The deal paid off for the Cavs and Love with the 2016 NBA title, and Love had his signature moment late in the fourth quarter with a great defensive possession against Steph Curry. He was the first player James hugged as the clock ticked to zero.

Irving was traded after the former UCLA standout’s third year in town and James left following the next year, both of which ended with losses to Golden State in The Finals.

When James left, the Cavaliers gave Love a long term, very highly paid contract to keep him in town and he became the best player and the face of the franchise.

But injuries started to hit as Love turned 30. The first post-James season was a disaster, Cleveland finishing just 19-63 and the team’s star played only 22 games, due to a toe injury on his left foot which needed surgery. He averaged 17 points and almost 11 rebounds but shot just 38.5%.

The next year, he clashed with John Beilein and seemed to have a problem with how some of his young teammates played the game. Injuries limited him to only 25 games the following, and folks started to wonder how GM Koby Altman could figure out how to move Love’s large contract.

Last year, Love agreed to have his minutes reduced to stay healthy, and it helped that the Cavs doubled their win total. Now a veteran leader, he played 74 games, scoring 13.6 points and gathering 7.2 caroms in 22.5 minutes a night.

He was once again an important player on a winning team, and he seemed to buy in, embracing a leadership role.

This year, with the Cavs off to a 7-1 start, after trading for Donovan Mitchell, he’s at 12.4 and 7.2 a night. Friday night against Detroit, he had 10 assists and was two rebounds shy of a triple double.

We write about this because we can’t think of a Cleveland athlete with the career arc of Kevin Love. From key player on a title team and title contender, to a guy struggling to stay healthy and happy on a losing squad, to a key part of a young team seemingly ready to contend again.

It’s hard to believe, but this is Love’s ninth season with the wine and gold. Most athletes don’t play here long enough to go through that cycle of contention. He’s 9th in franchise history in points, 7th in rebounds, and second to James in three-point field goals.

Someday, his number will be hoisted to the rafters for his contributions to this franchise. And it seems now, the fan base realizes how important he is to winning, now as a long-range shooter, who can still rebound. He’s also the Cavs’ king of drawing charges, and his young mates call him “grandpa” or “uncle”.

It’s great to see, particularly because he sacrificed a lot of numbers in order to win here. Glad to see him get his due.

Browns Best Game Shows They Can Do It. Will They?

With the backs against the wall, the Cleveland Browns played their best game of the season Monday night, whipping the Cincinnati Bengals, 32-13 to raise their record to 3-5 on the season, with the bye week arriving next weekend.

The week off should help getting Denzel Ward, Wyatt Teller, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and perhaps even David Njoku back for the last nine games, and of course, Deshaun Watson returns for the December 4th tilt against Houston.

The biggest question we had from Monday night’s rout was why can’t the Browns play like that more often, if not every week.

The defense, gashed for more than 399 yards in a game three times in 2022, held the Bengals to just 229, improving on the then season low 254 yards allowed to Baltimore the week before.

Talk about “Jekyll and Hyde”! In their eight games this season, they’ve allowed 400 yards (well, 399 to New England) three times, and less than 308 four times. The league average is 345 yards per game, so much like the little girl with the curl, they are either very good or very bad.

It was also the first game this season where the defense caused more than one turnover, forcing an interception and a fumble by Cincinnati. When the Browns win or tie the turnover battle this season, their record is 3-1. Pretty simple, right?

Of course, the game didn’t get off to a great start for the defense and special teams. A penalty for too many men on the field on the first play of the game? And Cade York’s first field goal attempt was blocked.

But midway through the second quarter, Kevin Stefanski’s crew put everything together and really dominated the Bengals on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, it was the second best game of the season in terms of yardage, the 440 yards exceeded only by the 443 gained against the Chargers.

We know everyone reaches for the low hanging fruit of play calling in terms of the problems with the team (because everyone is a master play caller on Madden), but when the Browns have the ball, they are much more consistent.

The lowest total gained thus far was the 328 gained vs. New England with the 336 against Baltimore ranking next. Again, the league average is 345, so even when the offense hasn’t been at its best, it’s pretty much league average.

It was also the Browns’ fifth game with over 170 yards rushing, but the first since the loss to the Chargers. At this point, the organization should realize this is the team’s profile. They need to come out each and every game and run, and then run some more.

Now, it’s up to the team to maintain this level of play, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. The last two games show maybe they’ve turned a corner. If the Browns want to make the games Watson does play relevant, they need to continue to hold their opponents down.

It would be difficult to see a win vs. Buffalo, but the other games Jacoby Brissett will start (Miami and Tampa Bay) appear winnable.

Being 5-6 when Watson returns, and with three divisional games remaining would put Cleveland in a decent spot.

Our other thought after Monday’s game? Man, it would be nice to have that Jets’ game back now.

Mitchell As Advertised.

When the Cleveland Cavaliers took a big swing for Donovan Mitchell late last summer, we were a bit skeptical on the deal. We thought it robbed the Cavs of the “big” identity, not having Lauri Markkanen, at 7′, playing small forward.

We also thought it did not solve the problem of the team’s small backcourt, with Mitchell and Darius Garland measuring at around 6’2″.

However, until you see a player every day, it’s tough to evaluate him properly. And man, were we wrong about Donovan Mitchell.

One question we had was his will to win, and he has proven that should not have been questioned. It’s pretty clear he feels this team has more weapons than he played with in Utah, and when Garland gets back, you have to think this team will even be better offensively.

Also, Mitchell plays much bigger than his listed 6’1″. He has a very strong upper body and can get off the floor and battle for rebounds and navigate his shot against much bigger players. He plays with force.

And he’s a willing passer. In his six games with the wine and gold, he has had eight or more assists in four of them. Granted, Garland is out of the lineup, so the ball is in Mitchell’s hands a lot. But as a point of comparison, in Collin Sexton’s three plus years with Cleveland, he had eight or more assists just nine times.

Plus, he’s another guy who plays with the “scrap” that J.B. Bickerstaff loves to talk about. In the last two games, the Cavs trailed by more than 10 points, but kept working hard, picking up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor, which enabled them to come back and win both.

Mitchell also seems to have fit in seamlessly with his new teammates, taking a leadership role right from the start, but he looks like he’s played with this group for years. We are sure when Garland returns, there might be a bit of an adjustment because both players like to have the ball in their hands, but they seem to have good chemistry, as does the rest of the roster.

And already, they’ve had a number of players step up. Friday night, Caris LeVert had 41 points. Sunday, Kevin Love had 29 points. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley have been a defensive force inside and on the boards.

Cedi Osman and Dean Wade have both contributed the long-range shooting needed while Garland has been out, with Wade knocking down a ridiculous 15 of 24 three-point shots.

We are usually critical of Isaac Okoro, particularly offensively, but his defense Sunday night was a big reason for the victory over New York.

After tomorrow night’s contest with Boston, the first long trip of the season comes along, starting in Detroit and moving to the west coast. Getting Garland back should ease the burden on not just Mitchell, but every Cavalier.

Will there be some regression? Sure, we doubt the Cavs can continue to shoot 43% from beyond the arc for the season. On the other hand, there will be games where Allen and Mobley both contribute more on the offensive end.

However, it’s hard to find anything to point at on this team right now. There were questions about the #3 spot coming into the year, but LeVert, Osman, and Wade have done a yeoman’s job there.

Right now, isn’t this team just as likeable as the Guardians came to be?

A Trio Deserving Of Heritage Park.

The Cleveland baseball franchise has its own franchise Hall of Fame out behind the centerfield fence called Heritage Park. Everyone may have forgotten this because the team hasn’t added anyone since 2016 when Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Frank Robinson, and Charlie Jamieson were added.

Why has it been six years since the franchise honored anyone? Quite frankly, we have no idea. We have theories, but they would all be the same as some of the other things the team has done to not do anything for the fans.

They just don’t do anything for the people who pay for tickets.

This needs to change next season. Since Progressive (nee Jacobs) Field opened in 1994, the Indians/Guardians have been among the best franchises in baseball, making the post-season 13 times, winning three American League championships, and 11 Central Division titles.

They’ve honored many of the greats from the late 90’s teams which won two pennants: Belle, Thome, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Alomar Jr., Charles Nagy, and manager Mike Hargrove, who is also honored for his playing days with the Tribe.

It’s time to start honoring the players who played in the 2000’s, as those teams had some success as well.

We would start with Grady Sizemore. Sizemore spent parts of eight seasons with Cleveland, with injuries taking their toll over the last two, but he was a dynamic force from 2005-2009. He made three All-Star appearances (’05. ’06, and ’07), leading the league in runs scored and doubles in 2006.

That season was the down year between the 2005 team which just missed the post-season and the ’07 team which reached the ALCS. However, we maintain that if the Indians were contenders that season, Sizemore would have been the likely MVP of the league.

He batted .290 (907 OPS) with 22 homers and 53 two baggers, scoring 134 runs, while playing tremendous defense.

As we said, injuries cut his career short, as he only had one more season after 2009 (age 26) where he played more than 100 games. Still, he should be honored for the greatness he exhibited with Cleveland in that five year span.

Jason Kipnis was a mainstay of the early Terry Francona era teams, playing with the team from 2011-2019, making two All-Star teams, and key player on four Cleveland teams that made the post-season.

The second baseman has over 1100 hits (1120) and 123 home runs in a Cleveland uniform with an OPS over 800 three times in a four-year span from 2013-16. And he moved to centerfield in 2017 and 2018 for the post-season.

We would also like to see Cody Allen honored in Heritage Park.

Allen is the franchise’s all-time saves leader (149) and the closer in the run from 2016-18 where the Indians got to the World Series in the first of those years. He struck out 564 batters in 440-2/3 innings, leading the AL in games finished in 2015.

Along with Bryan Shaw and Andrew Miller, he was a huge reason Cleveland got to the Fall Classic in ’16 despite a starting rotation ravaged by injuries.

Honoring this trio would be a first step in re-establishing the franchise’s Hall of Fame. The 2022 squad re-awakened fan interest and the organization needs to keep that going.

Celebrating the history of the franchise is never a bad thing. The Guardians need to get back in touch with that.