Why Can’t Some NBA Players Finish the Season?

The NBA season is no doubt a marathon. It starts with training camps in October and if a team is lucky enough to get to The Finals, it doesn’t end until the end of June.

The eight months of traveling, and unlike baseball, the trips are just in and out of a city. They don’t allow players to stay in a city for three or four days, depending on the length of a series.

However, like they usually do, the star players are making the last few weeks of the season a joke, in that many of them take the last few games off. Just the other day, LeBron James said he was going to take the balance of the regular season off, to order to rest up for the playoffs.

James took time off here at the end of the season too. Apparently, he will be joined on the bench by Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, his teammates on the Heat.

We aren’t picking on them, because you will see a great many all-star caliper players missing games throughout the last week of the campaign.

And if the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be able to go. They aren’t injured, they are resting.

David Stern, the ~~dictator~~ commissioner, in a high-profile move (the kind he loves) fined the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 for telling Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker to go home at the end of a road trip, therefore missing a game against the Heat.

Why no action here, Mr. Stern?

The NBA season used to be much shorter, and players didn’t miss the last week of action.

In 1966-67, the season opened on October 15th and the regular season ended March 19th, cutting at least two weeks off the span in which the season is currently played in. However, of the first team All-NBA team that season, which included Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, and Jerry West, only West missed games toward the end of the year, and he played the last game, scoring one point.

The current players don’t want to have reduced minutes, because it will hurt their statistics, and they certainly don’t want that. Guess West didn’t care about his numbers.

In 1976-77, the season started about a week ahead of where it starts now and ends about a week sooner as well. Four of the league’s first team all-NBA players (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Thompson, Paul Westphal, and Elvin Hayes) played more than 80 regular season games. The other, Pete Maravich played till the end, but missed time in March with an injury.

Ten years later, 1986-87, the league was on its current timetable of starting around Halloween and ending around April 20th. The first team stars that year were Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kevin McHale, and Hakeem Olajuwon. McHale did miss some April games, but returned to play the last couple of contests. Jordan and Johnson each played over 80 games, with Jordan playing them all.

In 1996-97, the least amount of games played by the best players, who were Jordan, Olajuwon, Tim Hardaway, Karl Malone, and Grant Hill, were the 78 played by Olajuwon. Even Hill, whose career has been destroyed by injuries, played in 80 contests that season.

So, when did this sitting out the last couple of weeks start? It’s a slap in the face to the ticket buyers around the league that the stars aren’t playing the late season games.

Why doesn’t Stern do anything about it. The first round of the playoffs has a tremendous amount of days off built in, so players certainly are able to rest during this time.

It doesn’t help that most of the playoff spots have been decided in each conference for several weeks.

If what Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich did early in the year bothers the commish, so should this. If the players aren’t going to play, then the regular season should be shortened.

Tribe Strengths, Weaknesses Show in First Week

Week one of the new baseball season has come and gone, and it is always funny to hear fans go crazy about one week of a 26 week season.

If the same results happened in late June, no one would think anything of it. This would apply to being shutout on back-to-back nights, which happened to the Cleveland Indians this week.

Because of the extremely small sample size, results in the first week are greatly magnified. No one really thinks (at least we hope not) that Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera will hit .100 for the season, yet there they are, struggling at the onset of the new campaign.

On the other hand, let us get supporters ready for the reality that Justin Masterson will not win every one of his starts in 2013.

Still, one thing that could be a trend for the Tribe is the streaky nature of their offense, mostly because of the contact issues of many of the hitters in their everyday lineup. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the hitting had a few instances where they have problems scoring, just like they did in the first two games of the Tampa Bay series.

And the reason for that is they have a lot of all or nothing hitters. The trade-off to this is they will have streaks where they probably bludgeon their opponents as well, just like they did on Sunday afternoon in a 13-0 win.

It’s still better than last year, when the Indians had one of the worst offenses in baseball and had several hitters in their lineup where the opposing pitcher could relax during a game.

The other weakness that raised its ugly head was the starting pitching, which provided three or four (depending on how you feel about Zack McAllister’s outing on Friday night) good starts and three bad ones, most notably Brett Myers start in game three and Ubaldo Jimenez’ start in yesterday’s home opener.

That the worrisome thing about this year’s Indians, can the starters give them a chance to win on a night in, night out basis. That didn’t happen in Myers start, and it didn’t happen against New York.

Many fans and media members are concerned about Myers, who didn’t have a good spring and then pitched home run derby, Canadian style. But Myers has been better than Jimenez in the time period that has occurred since the latter was traded here in 2011.

Jimenez looked very good in his first start, but that’s exactly the thing that ticks people off most. In his second start, he was back to the Ubaldo we saw last season: unable to throw strikes consistently, his velocity down, and a lack of concentration that resulted in a stolen base by Chris Stewart, the Yankee catcher who had such a big jump he went in standing.

McAllister gave manager Terry Francona a good start, but he again gave up runs after his defense let him down, allowing two insurance runs in what was a 2-0 game after an error by 3B Mike Aviles. Francona said the big right-hander tries too hard to pick up his defense when miscues happen and that could be the cause of his problems allowing unearned runs.

Trevor Bauer had trouble locating his fastball in his start, walking seven in five innings, but he showed his stuff was good, allowing just three runs. If he can throw strikes with the heater, he could help before the year is out.

No overreactions here, just observations. However, nothing that happened in the first week should change any preconceived notions about the Cleveland Indians.

OKC “Model” Won’t Work in Cleveland

Much of the news out of the Cavaliers camp lately has centered on the relationship between coach Byron Scott and his team, and whether or not he will remain the coach next season.

However, once the season ends, the focus will shift to GM Chris Grant, who will be involved in the deciding if the Cavs need a new coach and also be in charge of reconstructing the roster.

It has been three years since LeBron James left and the wine and gold aren’t close to becoming a competitive basketball team. And while many around town talk about the Oklahoma City “model”, the truth is right now Cleveland only has one all-star player out of the last three drafts, the oft-injured Kyrie Irving.

For that model to work, they need to add a lot of talent, and with patience starting to wane, they have to do it quickly. And quite frankly, it looking at the upcoming draft, they aren’t going to find another star piece using that process.

Dion Waiters’ knee injury was a tough blow for Grant and Scott because it ended the evaluation process, perhaps for the rest of the season.

The rookie from Syracuse was averaging 14.7 points a night and was showing better shot selection as he gained experience as a pro. However, it is still up in the air as to whether Waiters can be a starting #2 guard in the NBA or will be better suited in a sixth man role, being able to play both the point and off guard spots.

Tristan Thompson has shown he’s a legitimate starter in the Association, averaging 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds a game. However, it is clear that he’s not as good of a player when on the court with Anderson Varejao, and he still needs to improve his offensive game. He needs to develop a reliable jump shot to go with the push shot he’s used inside.

The more you see Alonzo Gee, you realize that he’s a bench player. He’s a solid defender, but takes too many poor shots offensively, accounting for his 40.5% shooting percentage.

That means that Grant needs at least two starters, maybe three if Waiters is judged to be the sixth man. If Tyler Zeller can pound weights in the off-season and still retain the basketball skills he has, he could claim one spot. He’s getting 8.1 points and almost six boards a game, but is over matched in the strength department regularly.

We’ve talked about the draft a little in recent weeks, and will repeat once again that there doesn’t appear to be anyone there, even at the top of the draft, who will be able to step in right away and make an impact.

So, how does Grant put the Cavaliers in a position to make a big leap forward in 2013-14?

He has a boatload of draft picks that he may have to dip into to acquire a player who can help immediately. He also has Varejao, who if he can demonstrate he is healthy, should be able to be dealt for more young players.

Utah may be looking to move either Al Jefferson or Enes Kanter this summer, either would be a help in a Cleveland jersey.

Or could Grant take a shot at Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, a player of great ability but one with maturity issues?

Regardless of who it is, the Cavs’ fans and probably their owner will not be patient enough for another season where the win total doesn’t approach 30, let alone 40.

The Oklahoma City plan isn’t going to work here. The draft simply isn’t strong enough.

Nightly Blowouts Spell Trouble for Scott

Byron Scott is most definitely his own man. He said he learned very early in the coaching profession to do it his way, because that way you don’t have to second guess yourself if you lose your job.

If things don’t turn around soon for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he may once again experience what that feels like.

The wine and gold lost their 10th straight game last night to the Brooklyn Nets in an embarrassing effort at home, getting beat by 18 points. The game wasn’t really that close as the Cavs outscored the Nets by nine points in the fourth quarter.

It is true that Scott’s team has been affected by injuries, as Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters have missed most of the last ten contests, and others will remind you than Anderson Varejao has been out as well for most of the season.

Still, that doesn’t excuse the seeming boredom the team plays with, and it doesn’t excuse the pathetic defense the team has played the three years in which Scott has guided the team.

And regardless how many injuries the team has suffered, it doesn’t mean they can’t play hard and smart, especially on the defensive end. Most nights, the Cavs are horrible on that end of the floor.

That is not to say the coach doesn’t preach defense, and his past coaching gigs suggest he can teach NBA defense. However, for whatever reason, the message isn’t getting through to the players. The same mistakes are made night after night.

The coach says he is working on it, but the errors keep occurring. At some point, the coaching staff has to take the blame. There seems to be no repercussions for not playing hard and not correcting mistakes. Even though the wine and gold is lacking in talent, there has to be accountability when things aren’t done correctly.

A recent report from Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has surfaced indicates that there is dissension among the players, with guys complaining about tough practices. This certainly can be written off as losing games breeds unhappiness, particularly among the ones getting no minutes.

If the players don’t want to be worked hard, they should play better. It’s simply easier to blame the coach.

However, as the old saying goes, it’s easier to replace one coach than fifteen players.

Another thing in Scott’s minus column has been blown leads. They have wasted two leads of over 25 or more points this season, one early in the year against Phoenix and the other against Miami. Add in a recent collapse against Boston at home, and you can see why people are unhappy.

No one is saying the Cavaliers should be a playoff team, they certainly don’t have that kind of talent. But they did go 10-9 in a recent stretch, and played very competitively in January and February. Now they are getting blown out against teams like New Orleans and a Philadelphia team that is struggling mightily. The latter loss was at home.

The 10 straight losses have been by an average of 13.5 points.

The Cavs have eight games remaining in the season. Although some fans are happy with the losses, because it means a better position in the draft lottery, the reality is this draft isn’t that good.

These final games have even more meaning. Byron Scott is likely coaching for his continued employment in Cleveland.

QB Switch Makes Sense for Browns

Within the last week, the Cleveland Browns have changed the dynamic at the quarterback position.

First, they signed free agent passer Jason Campbell, late of the Bears, but before that a starter in Washington and Oakland to a two-year deal, and then yesterday, they traded Colt McCoy to San Francisco with a sixth round pick for a fifth rounder and a seventh rounder.

Campbell, as former coach Pat Shurmur famously called him, is a “big, pretty thrower”. At 6’5″ and 223 pounds and blessed with a big arm, he is very similar in size and style to Brandon Weeden. This means no matter who is the Browns’ starter this season, the offense that Norv Turner advocates, one that stresses downfield throws and a strong running game, can remain the same.

Besides the similarity in style, the switch also gives Rob Chudzinski and Turner a more experienced quarterback than the one that departed. Campbell has made 71 starts, with a career 31-40 record.

On the other side, McCoy has made 21 starts with a 6-15 record.

Campbell has a lifetime touchdown to interception ratio of 76 to 52. McCoy’s is 21 to 20.

The newest Brown’s career completion percentage is 60.9% and his average yards per attempt is 6.7, roughly the same numbers McCoy had during his rookie season, a year that had many feeling McCoy could be the Cleveland quarterback of the future.

That means that Campbell over his seven years in the league on average is as good as McCoy’s best. Of course, we all know that for whatever reason, Colt McCoy never played as well as he did his first year in the league again.

Since leaving Washington, Campbell has been better than he was with the Redskins, with an 11-8 record as a starter, firing 21 touchdowns while throwing 14 picks.

In 2010, a year the Raiders finished 8-8, they may have made the playoffs had Campbell not missed three games with injuries. Oakland lost all three contests and lost the division to Kansas City by two games. The following year, Oakland was off to a 4-2 start before the Browns, ironically ended Campbell’s season with a broken collarbone.

The Raiders acquired Carson Palmer in a horrible deal to try to make the playoffs that season, and the former Auburn Tiger never got his job back. He was a backup for the Bears last season.

There is no question he will provide real competition for Weeden for the starting job.

As for McCoy, for whatever reason, his career was never the same after the Jets game his rookie year, when he led a drive to tie the game and send it into overtime, and had a game winning drive snuffed out when WR Chansi Stuckey fumbled close to field goal range.

The Browns’ season fell apart, Eric Mangini was fired, and Pat Shurmur and his Stone Age offense came in.

Instead, Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell are the guys going forward. And based on statistics, there is no way you can say team president Joe Banner and GM Mike Lombardi didn’t improve the roster with this move. Campbell has better numbers than McCoy no matter how you slice it.

After all the hand-wringing about the change in management and the change in defensive scheme, it is tough to say the Browns’ roster isn’t better than it was at the end of last season.

That should be all that matter.

Young Vets Ready to Make Impact for Tribe

Much of the optimism for this year’s Cleveland Indians has centered on the money spent by the Dolan ownership, which resulted in the signing of free agents Nick Swisher, Mark Reynolds, Michael Bourn and Brett Myers.

However, another reason for the Tribe’s improvement offensively will come from three young players who have been on fans’ radar for more than a year. These three, 2B Jason Kipnis, LF Michael Brantley, and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall are poised to take the step into being better than average players at their position.

Kipnis, who will be 26 next week, burst on the scene when he joined the team half way through the 2011 season, posting a 841 OPS in 150 at bats. He got off to a solid start to the 2012 season, hitting .280 with 8 HR and 30 RBI through the end of May.

The pitchers adjusted after that and Kipnis hit just .246 with 6 HR and 46 RBI the rest of the season. He didn’t slug over .400 in any month for the balance of the year.

Besides the different way he was being pitches, fatigue also may have been a factor because it was difficult to give Kipnis a day off because the Indians had very little depth. This year, that shouldn’t be a factor.

The “JK Kid” has a great track record of hitting in the minors (863 OPS in almost 1000 at bats), so we feel confident he will bounce back and more resemble the ’11 edition of Kipnis rather than the guy who struggled the last four months in 2012.

Brantley has spent time in the big leagues every year since 2009, so it seems like he should be older than 26, which he will turn in May. He had his best season last year, hitting .288, 6 HR, 60 RBI, 750 OPS, but has steadily improved in each of the last three seasons, and at his age that should continue in ’13.

His improvement has come in both his on base percentage and slugging percentage, so it wouldn’t be a stretch if he could get the OPS over the 800 mark this season, which would make him a very good offensive player. He had 47 extra base hits in 2012, and as he gets stronger, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some of the 37 doubles he had last year start to fly over the fence.

That extra base hit number represents an increase of 12 from the year before. It wouldn’t be a shock if Brantley had close to 60 extra base knocks in 2013, figure about 45 doubles and 15 homers.

Chisenhall, 24, is finally free of the managers’ infatuation with defense at the hot corner and will get his shot at being the everyday third baseman. He has 12 HRs in 350 big league at bats, which figures to 17 dingers in 500 plate appearances.

His struggles against southpaws are overblown because he’s had only 88 at bats vs. lefties in his brief time in the bigs, and still has managed five homers in those chances. That’s not to say we wouldn’t give him a day off against a guy like C.C. Sabathia, but he should get an opportunity to play virtually everyday.

He’s had a monster spring, which doesn’t always translate, but he has a smooth left-handed swing, and seems to be more selective at the plate. That may be because Terry Francona basically told him the job was his to lose and he relaxed at the dish.

These three guys, along with the free agent acquisitions, are the reason the Indians’ offense will be much better than the past two seasons. They will allow Francona to play most days with tough outs throughout the lineup.

American League teams need seven out of nine guys to be able to provide quality at bats. The Tribe has that in 2013.

Sorry, Starting Pitching Ifs Spell 4th Place for Tribe

There is no question the Cleveland Indians are an improved baseball team in 2013.

There is no question the front office and ownership breathed new life into what has been a stagnant franchise over the last three or four years.

There is also no question that the American League is filled with good to very good teams, and that it looks like only the Twins and Astros have no realistic chance to contend for a playoff spot in 2013.

That’s why it is difficult to make the next statement. The Cleveland Indians will finish fourth once again this season.

It won’t be the same kind of fourth place team as last season, one in which the Tribe lost over 90 games.

The Indians will stay in contention most of the season and should finish over the .500 mark. They may finish 4^th and still be within 10 games of first place at the end of the season.

But as the team stands right now, they don’t seem to be better than the Tigers, Royals, and White Sox.

Why?

Starting pitching.

The Indians simply don’t have enough to win based on the guys who are opening the season.

Justin Masterson has a good arm, but tends to lose his release point and when that happens, we struggles to get it back. He is prone to big innings because of that trait. If he can throw strikes he can be a quality pitcher.

Still, he’s had three years as a starter in the majors and in only one of them has his ERA been under 4.00.

Ubaldo Jimenez has looked much better this spring than he did last year, and he is throwing strikes. However, his ERA since coming to the Tribe is over 5.00 and he’s made over 40 starts with Cleveland.

Brett Myers is a workman like guy who provides solid innings and lots of them. He’s not an ace of the staff guy though.

Zack McAllister showed promise after being called up in the middle of last season, but he doesn’t have a full year of major league experience, so it is tough to depend on him.

Scott Kazmir was pitching in an independent league last season, and although he has a great comeback story, you wouldn’t want to bet your house on him giving Francona 25 quality starts this season.

Last year, the Indians staff ERA was 4.78 while the league average was 4.08. That means new pitching coach Mickey Calloway needs to shave more than a half run per game to be just average.

The pitchers would have to do even better to rank in the top half of the league in this category.

The two hopes are Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer, who will be in Columbus’ rotation to start the year. Perhaps they can provide a boost should the rotation struggle.

Offensively, the Tribe lineup is much deeper replacing the Jack Hannahans and Casey Kotchmans of the world with players like Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, and Lonnie Chisenhall.

They also have alternatives if something doesn’t work out. For example, if Drew Stubbs hits like he did last year (.213 with 610 OPS), Francona can move Swisher back to RF, put Mark Reynolds at 1B, and use Mike Aviles and Jason Giambi at DH.

Last year’s squad had little power and little speed, meaning they needed three hits in an inning to score. In the off-season, GM Chris Antonetti added two players who hit more than 20 HRs last year (Swisher and Reynolds), and two more who stole 30 bases or more (Bourn and Stubbs).

Add in the continued development of Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley, and Chisenhall, and throw in the steady Asdrubal Cabrera, and this team should be able to put runs on the board.

However, it all comes down to stopping the other team from scoring and there are too many question marks in the rotation.

If Jimenez and Masterson can get their ERAs under 4.00, this team has a chance to make the post-season and possibly win the division.

This is a talented team and it will play exciting baseball. But right now, fourth place is where they will end up.

Does Scott’s Style Work for Cavs?

It was a frustrating week for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

First, they play great for two and a half quarters against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, building a 27-point lead, but then blew all of it in a three-point loss that extending the Miami winning streak to 25 games.

Then on Friday night, the Cavs went to Houston and got completely blown out of the building, something that has happened far too many times this season.

That brought out the critics talking about the performance of Byron Scott as coach.

Scott provides a steady hand to a young group of players, but sometimes it appears his players are not listening to the message he is sending. Far too often, the wine and gold appear like they have no idea what to do to attack or stop the opponents.

It reminds of the scene in “Bull Durham”, when Crash Davis tells a befuddled manager how to handle his team. “They’re kids, scare ‘em”.

Sometimes it seems like Scott should take that same tact, and threaten these guys who don’t seem to put out a great effort every night, particularly against the lower tier teams in the NBA.

He did it in a recent game against the Washington Wizards; benching the starters four minutes into a game they were trailing 10-0 at that point.

However, you can’t do that every night. It gets old, and the players don’t feel it’s genuine when you use that all the time.

One of Scott’s few veteran players, Shaun Livingston, has been vocal about his teammates seeming lack of urgency when it comes to doing things needed to win basketball games.

What can GM Chris Grant do?

There are NBA coaches who do display a great deal of fire and intensity on a nightly basis, but those guys don’t have a long shelf life with a team. The coach who best fits that mold is Scott Skiles, who usually provides an initial spark when he takes over a team, but wears out his welcome after a year.

Byron Scott is not that kind of guy, and if you look at the coaches who have been on the job for a significant amount of time, you will find the kind of leaders who treat players like men, and pick their spots as to when they show the players who the boss is.

You would assume that Scott wants to take the persona that will keep him employed for a long time.

Unfortunately, the emotionless coach doesn’t play well with the fans, particularly if the team is losing.

You would hope that today’s players have respect for Scott because he played in the league, and was a good player for a long time on some great teams. Still, it would be better if they played like they respected him.

Perhaps, the coach is taking his time and working with Grant to get the kind of players he wants going forward. And when those players are in place, a consistent effort will be seen every night.

And behind the scenes, hopefully, Scott is stressing to Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, and Tyler Zeller the way to play basketball on the professional level.

It is maddening for the fans when the Cavs perform so schizophrenic; it’s probably more frustrating for the head coach.

However, this is probably the last year Scott will get the benefit of the doubt from the fans, and perhaps more importantly, his owner.

Tribe Starting Pitching Still a Bit Scary

Indians’ GM Chris Antonetti did a major rehaul over the off-season to his baseball team, mostly concentrating on the offense, adding Nick Swisher, Michael Bourn, and Mark Reynolds to what was a moribund attack in 2012.

As for the starting pitching, not so much. He did sign veteran free agent Brett Myers to provide innings, and he traded for highly regarded Trevor Bauer to give help down the road, but overall he was hoping for bounce back seasons from Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez.

Now we understand this is spring training, and things may be totally different down the road, but so far we haven’t seen anything that makes us any more confident about the starting rotation when the season begins a week from Tuesday in Toronto.

Both pitchers have done okay, but they don’t look like the top of the rotation guys that Detroit (Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer), Chicago (Chris Sale, Jake Peavy), and even Kansas City (James Shields) have.

Masterson doesn’t have bad numbers in camp, allowing the same number of hits as innings pitched and striking out 19 in 17-2/3 innings. But in the Tribe’s first televised game last Sunday, he gave up two home runs in a five run first.

That didn’t exactly inspire confidence that much has changed from 2012.

Jimenez is serving up batting practice in Goodyear, but he’s not exactly dominating either. While his walks are down and he’s throwing strikes (just three walks in 18 innings), he’s allowing hits by the boatload, giving up 26 thus far this spring.

Neither pitcher has shown an ability to limit damage either after starting an inning poorly. That may be due to not having stamina as of yet, but it is concerning because it was a problem for both last season.

Right now, it appears that Cleveland has a bunch of #3 and #4 starters, but no clear-cut ace at this point.

They do have more depth than at this time last season, with Zack McAllister showing signs he may be a solid major league starters, and it is likely that both Carlos Carrasco and Bauer will start the season in Columbus.

Myers has a long history of being a solid starter, but he’s an innings eater type, not a top of the rotation guy. That’s not to say those guys aren’t important. If Myers can go out there every fifth day and provide six or seven solid frames, that’s invaluable to a pitching staff.

McAllister had solid numbers in ’12, his first extended look at big league hitters. He has the potential to move up in the pecking order this season, but still has to develop consistency on an outing to outing basis.

The Tribe’s fifth starter will likely be Scott Kazmir, who is intriguing because he is coming off a year where he pitched in an independent league. Kazmir is a former big league all-star, and has regained the velocity he once had. Still, it’s hard to see him as the ace of the staff this season.

There is no question the Indians will score more runs than 2012, they have replaced many of the holes their lineup had with established major league hitters.

However, whatever success the Tribe has in 2013 will depend on the success of the starting pitching. Terry Francona needs someone to step up and be a guy the team feels can win every time they take the mound.

Right now, it doesn’t look like that guy will be on the team when Opening Day hits. The biggest hopes may be Carrasco and Bauer, both of whom have ace “stuff”.

Note to Haslam: Losing Won’t Be Tolerated Anymore

The Cleveland Browns had another bad public relations moment on Tuesday.

You might think it was Phil Dawson’s announcement that he is signing with the San Francisco 49ers, ending his tenure as the last Brown remaining from the 1999 expansion team.

The way the team handled Dawson’s free agency wasn’t smart, with team president Joe Banner seemingly indifferent about the departure.

However, in the long run, the front office was just adhering to Branch Rickey’s long ago theory: It is better to get rid of a player a year too early, than a year too late.

At Dawson’s age, even though he’s had great seasons the last two years, you can make that argument.

Dawson should be commended for a great career here, and someday his name and number will be on the team’s Ring of Honor, but he’s a kicker. There isn’t a great deal of difference between the best field goal kicker in the NFL and a middle of the road guy.

The real story though should be owner Jimmy Haslam’s comments regarding Dawson at the owner’s meetings in Arizona. Haslam said it’s not like the Browns are going 13-3 next season.

Really?!

We’ve said this before, but there is no more patience with this football team, and no one cares about new ownership, new front office, and a new coach.

The Browns were 5-11 last season with a poor (to say the least) offensive coaching staff. It would not be a stretch to say Cleveland could have been a 7-9 team with better offensive game plans and better utilization of a few offensive players.

So, for the owner to dismiss a turnaround to a playoff contending season is not something to ignore. Did his right-hand man Joe Banner tell him that with all the changes being made, winning is impossible in 2013?

Teams make quantum leaps in terms of success every year in the NFL. Last year, the Indianapolis Colts went from having the leagues worst record to a playoff spot.

A year earlier, San Francisco hired Jim Harbaugh and immediately became one of the better teams in the NFC.

That’s the type of improvement that Haslam, Banner, and Mike Lombardi should be expecting at this point in the off-season. Not telling the fan base that they should expect another year of mediocrity.

It’s simply not acceptable. When former GM Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur were let go, it wasn’t done as part of another “five-year plan”. Haslam was viewed as an owner that felt losing was not an option.

He said he wanted to build the right way, through the draft, and not have the Browns have one year of solid football and go back into mediocrity. But it appears, he and his people feel the team needs another year or two of rebuilding.

The owner may be trying to slow down optimism a bit with his comment, but he should know better than to say something like that. With a new head coach, an experience offensive coordinator in Norv Turner, and a hot defensive headman in Ray Horton, the Browns better be closer to 13-3 this season than they are to 3-13.

If they aren’t, the goodwill from buying the franchise that Haslam has will be as short-lived as Shurmur’s tenure here as head coach.