Young Cavs Today Remind of Late 80’s Group.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their best stretch of the season last week, winning three straight led by Kyrie Irving, who scored at least 30 points in the wins.

Unfortunately, Irving had only 14 points at home against Golden State on Tuesday and the wine and gold’s winning ways ended.

That’s the way it is for a team dominated by first and second year players. Consistency is definitely going to be an issue.

Many supporters of the Cavs were bragging about the team’s representation in the Rising Stars game at All Star weekend next month, as all four of Chris Grant’s first round picks in the last two years (Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller) are participating in the contest.

It’s no guarantee of future success, but it does speak to the amount of playing time coach Byron Scott is giving to players with little experience. Alonzo Gee leads the Cavaliers in minutes played, but the next four who have spent the next most time on the floor are the four participants in the exhibition game.

It would be much better if Cleveland was competing for the playoffs, but the last time this many young players saw this amount of time for the Cavs was the 1986-87 season when Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper, Mark Price, and Hot Rod Williams were rookies.

Price wound up seventh on that squad in time played, but the top three were the other rookies, with Harper garnering the most.

We all know that three of those players made up the nucleus of some very successful squads in the late 80’s and early 90’s. If it weren’t for the worst trade in NBA history (Harper AND two first round picks for the rights to Danny Ferry), and a guy named Michael Jordan, to borrow an Indians’ slogan, what if???

Still, when they were rookie, that team finished 31-51 for the season, before improving the 42-40 the following season, and then to 57-25 in their third season together, when Magic Johnson called them “the team of the 90’s”.

While no one is predicting that type of rapid success for this young group of Cavaliers, it would be nice if they could come close to duplicating the progress of those young Cavs.

After that first season, Cleveland’s first round pick in the draft was Kevin Johnson, who went on to a great career with Phoenix, but is more important to Cavs’ followers as the trade chip which brought the team Larry Nance.

Here’s hoping this group of young players resembles that group more than another group of young Cavs in 1997-98, when four rookies (Cedric Henderson, Brevin Knight, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Derek Anderson) ranked in the top six for minutes played that season.

That group buoyed by veterans Wesley Person and Shawn Kemp finished the season 47-35 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Indiana. A back up guard on that team was Scott Brooks, now the coach for Oklahoma City.

They followed up by going 22-28 in a shortened season with Ilgauskas, who turned out to the best player out of the group, missing most of the season with a broken foot.

By the third year they were supposed to be together, Anderson was dealt to the Clippers for Lamond Murray, Big Z was still out for the season, and Knight’s time was cut considerably by rookie Andre Miller.

The Cavs finished 32-50 and were stuck in mediocrity until the drafting of LeBron James.

The current young guys wearing wine and gold look more like the first group because of the presence of Irving, who appears to be heading toward elite status.

Let’s hope that is the case so the future is bright, not bleak.

Tribe Spending Spree? Not Really

One of the great myth’s surrounding the Cleveland Indians is that they conducted a huge spending spree this off-season.

According the Baseball Reference.com, the Indians spent $66.5 million on salaries last season, and right now are projected to have a payroll of $73.8 million in 2013.

That figure would still be the lowest in the AL Central Division, and only Tampa Bay, Oakland, and Houston would have lower payrolls this season.

To be fair, that figure includes only 14 players, but rest of the 40 man roster won’t cost the team a lot of moolah because most of those guys will be paid the major league minimum or a split contract which pays them less in they aren’t in the major leagues.

The only player who remains unsigned that will make more than $2 million per year is probably INF Mike Aviles.

That isn’t to say you have to spend cash to win, just look at the A’s, who won the AL Western Division and only paid $50 million in player salaries, and the Rays won more than 90 games last year with a comparable figure.

GM Chris Antonetti might be able to pull off a contending team in 2013, but it won’t be because the Dolan family opened up the purse strings. He is not spending a heck of a lot more than he did on a squad that won 68 games a year ago.

Yes, the team did spend big dollars on free agent OF Nick Swisher, but it isn’t much more than they were paying Travis Hafner the past few years. The difference is that Swisher will likely be in the lineup more often.

The Indians also signed two other free agents, 1B Mark Reynolds and P Brett Myers, but they shed the contracts of Shin-Soo Choo (traded to Cincinnati) and Roberto Hernandez (released).

Antonetti has said there won’t be more free agent signings this winter because he has spent pretty much the cash allocated to him by ownership for player salaries.

This means there wasn’t intent to spend a great deal more in 2013, but the money will be spent wisely, meaning to players who will be productive.

However, we have maintained that there is no reason the Indians should not have an $80 million payroll, meaning they should be able to spend another $5 million for another player, preferably a starting pitcher.

Because the Tribe needs to start spring training with Ubaldo Jimenez as the fifth starter.

Right now, Terry Francona goes into camp with two reliable starters, Justin Masterson and newcomer Brett Myers.

Zack McAllister showed promise last season, but he’s pitched in the big leagues for a half of a season. Trevor Bauer is one of the game’s prime prospects, but has made four major league starts. Carlos Carrasco is coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Corey Kluber and David Huff are, well, Corey Kluber and David Huff.

Which brings us to Jimenez. You can flip a coin on what kind of performance you will get out of him on a nightly basis.

And if you are interested in winning this season, and to be sure, Francona wants to, you can’t have a pitcher like that in the top three of your rotation.

Here’s hoping the ownership gives Antonetti a little bit more cash to get the payroll where it should be, so he can obtain another starter.

That would do a lot for fans that still look at this organization with a jaundiced eye.

Please, No First Round QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns have a new owner, a new CEO, a new vice president of player personnel, a new head coach, and new coordinators. It was really a case of out with the old and in with the new.

Here’s hoping the new regime doesn’t do something that the front office’s of the past have done in the recent past. And that is draft another quarterback in the first round of this April’s NFL draft.

This is not an endorsement of Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, or even Thad Lewis. Both Rob Chudzinski and Norv Turner will make a determination who is the best quarterback to run the offense, but either the Browns have to trade for a veteran who can start, or go with one of the guys currently on the roster.

The Browns have too many other holes on the squad to select another QB with the sixth pick in the draft, particularly when it is their only pick in the first two rounds.

The switch to a 3-4 defensive alignment means new defensive coordinator needs some more linebackers to implement the scheme. Also, the defensive backfield is short of another quality cornerback to pair with Joe Haden.

So, it would be a mistake to pick a quarterback in the first round.

Also, there are no Andrew Lucks or Robert Griffin IIIs in this year’s draft. The best passers available this year are West Virginia’s Geno Smith, USC’s Matt Barkley, and North Carolina State’s Mike Clennon. While all three might be taken in the first round, it would be because of the NFL’s search for possible franchise quarterbacks, not because they are first round talents.

A list of the best players available might list one or two of them in the top 30, and probably none of them would be in the top ten. To pick one draft guru, CBS’ Rob Rang, he has Smith listed as the 11th best player and Barkley next at 17. Those are the only QBs he has listed in the top 30.

That means taking one of those guys at six would be a big time reach, and with a franchise on the brink of playoff contention, it’s not worth the gamble.

No matter what anyone thinks of Weeden, he deserves the right to compete for the job, and in fact, he shouldn’t be handed the gig after a rookie season that didn’t see progress as it went on.

However, it is clear here that the offense ran by Pat Shurmur did not play to Weeden’s strengths, a thought shared by more than one NFL analyst during the season.

If CEO Joe Banner and Michael Lombardi want this team to improve, they need to bring in a guy who has played in the NFL to compete with Weeden, not another guy who hasn’t taken a snap in the pros, and will be learning on the job.

Drafting a player like Luck or Griffin III is one thing, but handing the reins to Geno Smith or Matt Barkley doesn’t seem like the thing to do if you want to get off to a good start next season.

The Cleveland Browns need to add an impact player with the sixth pick this spring, a player who can help now. Hopefully, they won’t be picking this high again for a while.

Letting last year’s high picks on offense (Trent Richardson and Weeden) improve, and helping out a defense that needs an assist in the secondary or in getting to the opposition’s quarterback is the way to help the Browns win in 2013.

Taking another QB isn’t a smart move now.

Cavs Trade Has No Downside.

Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers may be the team that ushers in the new NBA.

Oh, and by the way, anyone want to criticize GM Chris Grant now?

The Cavs made their first trade of the season by dealing little used Jon Leuer to the Memphis Grizzlies for C/F Marreese Speights, G Wayne Ellington, G Josh Selby and unbelievably a future first round pick, although the pick is protected by several criteria until 2019.

The trade was made by Memphis mainly to allow them to stay under the new luxury tax threshold, part of the new collective bargaining agreement negotiated last year following the lockout.

As said a week ago, the Cavs were a team with four building blocks and maybe two decent players who could be bench guys for a good team. They picked up another solid piece in Speights, a big man the team badly needed with the loss for the season of Anderson Varejao.

A former first round pick in 2008, the former Florida Gator gives Byron Scott some much-needed size inside. In recent games, the Cavs have had to use 6’8″ Luke Walton at power forward because of the lack of depth on the roster.

A year ago, Speights averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 22 minutes per night for a playoff team in Memphis. This year, his minutes have been cut to 14.5 a game with Zack Randolph healthy, but he still has been productive, getting 6.5 points and 4.7 boards on average.

Ellington has actually played more this year than Speights, scoring 5.5 points per game. He plays the same game as Boobie Gibson, which doesn’t bode well for the latter’s future with the wine and gold. He’s a spot up shooter who rarely makes a foray into the paint.

He’s bigger than Gibson at 6’4″, so he fits better than Gibson defensively because of his size.

Selby has a world of potential, but has played less than 300 minutes in his NBA career in two seasons. He’s a guy who went to Kansas with a big reputation, and probably should have stayed beyond his freshman year. He was ranked as the top recruit by at least one scouting service as a high school senior.

He should get a better opportunity to play with the Cavaliers, and perhaps he can realize his potential. He fits as a combo guard, but he has to earn time in a crowded backcourt with Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, and an emerging Shaun Livingston, as well as Ellington and C. J. Miles.

The first round pick is an added bonus, and is the sixth acquired by Grant in the last three seasons. The pick is available starting in 2015, but is protected from being in the top five and from 15 to 30 in that draft and the 2016 selection process.

In 2017 and ’18, Cleveland will get the choice unless it falls in the top five picks. It becomes unprotected in 2019.

The Cavs’ bench was horrible early in the season, and in the last month, Grant has picked up a veteran point guard in Livingston, who has been a clear upgrade to Jeremy Pargo and Donald Sloan, and at least two other contributors in Speights and one of the guards.

It is obviously too late to help this season, but it gives Scott some options for the second half of the season.

It has been said before, but Grant is accumulating assets by gathering first round picks like a squirrel heading into winter. The philosophy is to pounce and use those picks to bring in a big time player at some point, a la the Celtics with Kevin Garnett.

If Grant succeeds, he will be a genius and will be hailed as a great general manager. If it doesn’t work, he’s a bum.

No pressure there, right?

Browns’ Front Office Will Get No Grace Period

The Browns hiring of Michael Lombardi as Vice President, Player Personnel has certainly caused some polarizing opinions among fans of the football team, and national football pundits.

The local fans and media remember Lombardi’s less than sterling track record in the draft while a member of the Browns’ front office during the time Bill Belichick was the head coach of the team. You hear those people bringing up players like Tommy Vardell and Craig Powell as first round busts taken by Lombardi.

The national people are effusive in their praise of the man who most recently was working for the NFL Network. Even then, Lombardi came out as critical of the Browns use of a supplemental second round pick for WR Josh Gordon last summer. Gordon looks to have the potential to be a #1 wide out for the Browns.

One respected broadcaster, CBS’ Jim Nantz, even blasted a local writer for having a “vendetta” against Lombardi, and said Lombardi was one of the brightest football minds around. Apparently, Nantz is as biased for the Browns new vice president as the writer is against him.

Several other national writers have chimed in saying that Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner hit a home run with their latest hire.

It tells us that Lombardi has a lot of friends among the national media. However, it is a lot different talking about the game than it is to build a winning football team.

Ask some of the guys who have worked at the network level who returned to the real game. Bobby Valentine comes to mind as someone who was a colossal flop.

Much like a head coach who is generally mono-syllabic in his press conferences and is dour with the media, Lombardi will not get a benefit of the doubt here. Neither will Banner, another guy who appears to have an attitude of “I’m smarter than you, and I really shouldn’t have to explain myself to you peons”.

That means the Browns better win right away, because if they end the 2013 season with a 6-10 record, their already frustrated fan base will be antagonized.

Most people, including Haslam and Banner, feel this football team is on the cusp of playoff contention, mostly because of the efforts of former GM Tom Heckert. Had a better and more flexible head coach than Pat Shurmur been in charge, the Browns could have went 7-9 or 8-8 this season, meaning improvement would mean a winning record next season.

Meanwhile, the new head coach, Rob Chudzinski has done a great job in hiring his coordinators for the upcoming season, finalizing Norv Turner as offensive coordinator, and hiring former Cardinals’ defensive coordinator Ray Horton for the same position with Cleveland.

Horton was interviewed for the head coaching job here, and his defense has improved each of the last two seasons even though the Cardinals have struggled in those seasons.

Horton’s comment of coaching men, not systems is perfect for the Browns. It means he will look at the personnel already here and put them into a position to succeed. After the amount of draft picks spent on defensive linemen under the previous regime, and the promise showed by those picks, that is the perfect attitude to have, because there is talent already in place.

The moves made by Haslam and Banner since the season ended have certainly put pressure on the organization to win right away.

Haslam has a dynamic personality and had the fans very excited about the new front office of the Browns. However, hiring Banner and Lombardi have placed a wet blanket on that promise.

Winning right away will make everyone forget about personalities.

Time to Trade Varejao is This Summer

Tonight, the Cleveland Cavaliers start the second half of their season with a game on the road in Utah.

That is fitting, because the wine and gold have spent most of the first half of the campaign on the road. As of today, no team in the NBA has played as many games away from home as the Cavs.

And with the success of teams at home in the league, that has to be a contributing factor in Cleveland record, currently the second worst in the NBA. Another reason for the 10-31 mark is the lack of victories achieved by Byron Scott’s crew when they are at home, as no team has had less success in their home arena than the Cavaliers’ 4-12 mark.

The lack of any extended home play is a cause for that record, and it will have to get better in the second half because Cleveland will play 25 of their final 40 games at Quicken Loans Arena.

Any improvement will have to start on the defensive end of the floor, as the wine and gold rank last in the association in defensive field goal percentage, and are seventh from the bottom in points allowed and in three-point field goal defense.

It is difficult for Scott’s team to win when they don’t compete on the defensive end, and that starts with the backcourt containing the men they are guarding. When Kyrie Irving is keeping his man in front of him, the Cleveland defense is much better. Irving is the team’s best player without a doubt, and he has to take the defensive responsibility that goes with it.

Defending that is a key because Cleveland doesn’t have the big men necessary to stop players from attacking the basket. Rookie Tyler Zeller has a promising future, but needs to get a lot stronger to be a force on the defensive end of the floor.

Besides the quantity of road games, another promising statistic for the Cavs is that they are the NBA’s youngest team, averaging 24.0 years old as a roster. If you are going to be bad, at least be young because you should get better.

There are other things evident about this young basketball team.

First, we came into the season wanting to keep Anderson Varejao, but it is time to deal the big man, who was having a tremendous season (14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds per night) before splitting a muscle in his leg.

There is no doubt the Brazilian can play, and he has great value to a contender, so he would bring a lot of value for GM Chris Grant. Unfortunately, it won’t be as much as it could be if he could stay healthy, which he hasn’t been able to do over the last three years.

He needs to be dealt though, because it is obvious that PF Tristan Thompson, the fourth overall pick a year ago, is a much better player when Varejao isn’t on the floor.

Thompson is getting 10.3 points and 9.3 rebounds a night, which makes him a solid NBA player. However, in his last 16 contests, the second year player out of Texas is scoring 14.1 and grabbing 11.9 boards per night. Pretty close to what Varejao is doing.

You may argue that putting them together would be ideal, but it doesn’t work. They are too similar as to what they do. They go after the same rebounds, and on offense they are “garbage” players, meaning they score off of hustle plays and offensive rebounds.

And remember that Thompson is just 21 years old, and should continue to get bigger and stronger.

Obviously, a trade can’t be made now, but the Cavaliers have too many other needs to keep two good players who do the same thing.

Rookie first round pick Dion Waiters (14.5 points, 3 assists a game) is getting better with every month, and Zeller looks like a keeper too.

Still, the Cavaliers need more talent in order to start winning basketball games consistently. Right now, they look to have four players who can be starters (Irving, Waiters, Zeller, and Thompson) and two solid bench players in Alonzo Gee and C. J. Miles.

That’s not enough.

With two first round picks in this draft, and a trade chip in Varejao, it’s time for Grant to put this team in position to contend for the playoffs this year.

It doesn’t seem possible right now, but Cavs’ fans can start to see pieces being put in place.

Best Change For Browns Would be Winning

The Cleveland Browns announced yesterday that the venue that they play would now be known as First Energy Field.

Who cares?

Owner Jimmy Haslam also discussed uniform changes, cheerleaders, and the surface of the field during the press conference announcing the naming rights to the building formerly known as Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Again, who cares?

While some of these things are nice and add to the ambiance of the game experience, in the end they don’t matter.

All of those things are either about money or marketing. Let us remind you again, the best marketing plan in Cleveland, Ohio when it comes to sports is…WINNING!

Let’s hope Jimmy Haslam and Joe Banner understand that, because if they do, the Browns will be the talk of the town, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Want proof? They pretty much are the subject of sports talk every day any way, and they’ve made one playoff appearance in 14 years. Imagine if they were a Super Bowl contender? Fans would be lining up at the stadium every day just to look at the edifice.

You couldn’t go anywhere in the area without bumping into someone wearing a Browns jersey or having someone barking at you. It would be that crazy.

For all of the shock and horror that would come with a change in the uniforms and/or helmet, if the Browns came out with chartreuse jerseys, ruby-red cleats, and a navy blue helmet and went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl, not one person would care.

The uniform change is all about money. It will give Haslam the right to make up for the billion dollars he spent to buy the franchise in merchandising. Many people who have Cleveland Browns’ paraphernalia will rush out to store to buy jerseys in the new style.

The uniforms have nothing to do with the performance on the field. That’s why it was a joke this season when fans complained about wearing white uniforms at home all the time. Heck, it wasn’t an issue in the 1960’s when the Browns were a perennial contender.

The only time we saw the brown shirts was when the team played in Dallas, St. Louis, and Los Angeles, because the Cowboys, Cardinals, and Rams also wore white at home.

As for going to field turf, which should be done for many reasons, but the end result will be added revenue for the Browns and Haslam.

The playing field at First Energy Stadium is a complete joke considering there are maybe 14 or 15 games played there every year. The severe weather conditions are a factor in late fall or early winter, but the grass looks chopped up even in September games.

Going to field turf would be beneficial to the primary tenant, because it would help speed players. However, it would also allow more games to be played at the stadium.

You could have more college games, some high-profile high school games, including state playoffs and at some point, even state title games with an artificial playing surface.

It would also make the stadium a site for concerts too, without the fear of damaging the playing surface.

Changes like these are fine, but they are like putting lipstick on a pig. None of these things will matter if the football team doesn’t win.

Here’s hoping the Haslam and Banner understand that.

Tribe Front Office Can’t Rest Yet

Compared to the recent past off-seasons, the Cleveland Indians have been extremely busy this winter, but they can’t stop there.

There are still a couple of holes to fill if the Tribe wants to contend for an AL Central Division title in 2013.

They still need one more bat and one more starting pitcher.

The hitter is needed because although the lineup is improved from last year by signing Mark Reynolds to replace Casey Kotchman, and getting Drew Stubbs to take the place of the hodge-podge of people who played in leftfield a year ago.

Still, both of those guys aren’t the most stable options in the world and would only be viewed as an upgrade in Cleveland. Also, keep in mind the Indians need a DH as well.

Reynolds has averaged 33 home runs a year in his five full seasons in the major leagues, but his total dropped off by 14 last year (37 to 23), although he played in 20 last games.

Add in the fact that he strikes out excessively and he’s hit over .250 only twice in six big league seasons, and the front office should recognize that there is a possibility that Reynolds could hit .220 with 20 HRs this season.

While that would be better than Kotchman, it would still rank near the bottom in terms of production among all AL first basemen.

As for Stubbs, had GM Chris Antonetti acquired him after the 2010 season, it would be viewed much more favorably. That year, Stubbs hit .255 with 22 HR, 77 RBI and a 773 OPS. At age 25, the hope was he would be improving on those numbers as he approached his prime.

However, the outfielder’s number have declined since then, dropping to a .213 average with 14 HR, 40 RBI, and a 610 OPS.

The question has to be whether or not Stubbs can reverse his career in Cleveland, although he will do so in a less favorable hitters’ park than the one in Cincinnati.

So Antonetti should be working on some contingency plans at both spots as well as finding a DH. It doesn’t make anyone warm and fuzzy than the possibilities is replacing Reynolds with Lou Marson, moving Carlos Santana to first base, or moving Nick Swisher to first and playing someone like Tim Fedroff in RF.

As for Stubbs, you would be looking at someone such as Ezequiel Carrera replacing him in the batting order.

On the mound, we would all feel more comfortable if the starting rotation still wasn’t relying on Ubaldo Jimenez.

Right now, Jimenez is slotting in the #2 or #3 spot along with Justin Masterson and Brett Myers, with Carlos Carrasco, Zack McAllister, and Trevor Bauer among others competing for the last two spots to open the season.

The way Jimenez pitched since coming to Cleveland, it would be better if Antonetti picked up another reliable starting pitcher, sliding the inconsistent right-hander to the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation.

Perhaps new pitching coach Mickey Calloway and Terry Francona can straighten out Jimenez’ seemingly horrible mechanics and get him to be more consistent. Until proof of that exists, you have to assume that the righty will continue to be up and down more than an elevator.

The Indians have to have better than that from a top of the rotation starter if they want to contend. If Ubaldo is in the #4 or #5 slot and he doesn’t pitch effectively, it’s not a huge problem. Right now the Tribe is too dependent on Jimenez for their success.

It is doubtful that Antonetti is sitting on what he has done this off-season, still it would be nice to do something before spring training convenes in a month, rather than during the exhibition season when the price could be higher.

Let Chud Coach A Game First

Of course, for fans of a football team with just two playoff appearances in the last 18 years, the hiring of Rob Chudzinski by the Cleveland Browns was met with a great deal of negativity.

However, if the whole fiasco surrounding Oregon coach Chip Kelly hadn’t taken place, would these people feel any differently?

Even though Kelly hasn’t spent one day in the NFL as an assistant coach or head man, he was a big name and would have created a big splash and a buzz with the Browns’ fan base.

The reality is no one really knows what kind of head coach Rob Chudzinski will be until he coaches a few games in the regular season.

As Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto wrote, Steelers fans probably weren’t thrilled about the hire of Mike Tomlin, nor were Raven fans ecstatic when they found out John Harbaugh was their new head coach. Neither was a “hot” candidate when they got the job.

On the converse side, look at the cases of Norv Turner, who is a favorite to be Chudzinski’s new offensive coordinator, and Wade Phillips, currently the defensive coordinator for Houston.

Turner was the OC with the Dallas Cowboys for many years when that team was winning Super Bowls. He directed an offense led by QB Troy Aikman, RB Emmitt Smith, and WR Michael Irvin. He is a great coordinator.

However, his record as a head coach is disappointing to say the least. In 16 years with the Redskins, Raiders, and Chargers, Turner’s record is just 114-122-1, a .483 winning percentage. His teams made the playoffs just four times.

Phillips has a great reputation as a defensive coach, and he has made the Texans a contender by making them stronger on the defensive side of the football. However, although his regular season record as a head coach is better than Turner’s (82-61 in stints with Denver, Buffalo, and Dallas, plus interim stints with the Saints and Falcons), he has won just one playoff game in five appearances.

The point is just because you are a great coordinator, it doesn’t translate into success as a head coach.

And as Tomlin and Harbaugh show us, sometimes a candidate who seemingly comes out of nowhere can be a big winner as a head coach. That’s why any judgment on Chudzinski should be reserved until he coaches a game.

He has had success as a coordinator, most notably with the Browns in 2007 and with the Panthers in 2011. The Browns ranked 8th in the league in points scored in ’07, while the Panthers ranked 5th in ’11.

His offenses have ranked in the top 12 three times in his five years as a coordinator, and his rushing attacks have been in the top ten three times, showing not only that he will make good use of Trent Richardson, but also he’s not a guy who falls in love with the passing game.

You can still hear fans disappointed that Jimmy Haslam III and Joe Banner didn’t hire Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, or Jon Gruden, the holy trinity of former NFL coaches. Those fans are delusional. Those guys don’t want to coach anymore. They make a lot of money talking about the game and don’t have to suffer through the possibility of losing games each week.

Who knows if Rob Chudzinski will be successful in his new gig? No one. Going into the process, many people said if Haslam and Banner were wowed by a candidate, they should hire him.

They shouldn’t be criticized because that guy was Rob Chudzinski and not Chip Kelly.

Cavs Pass With Fans is Beginning to Wane

The Cleveland Cavaliers are becoming a frustrating basketball team.

After losing superstar LeBron James to his much-celebrated free agency, most of the hoops fans in this city have given them the space to rebuild.

The fact that James didn’t give any clue to the team that he was intending to leave, and that the Cavs management had no Plan B, the following season was a disaster that everyone expected.

The wine and gold went 19-63, and wound up with two picks in the top four of the NBA draft thanks to a trade with the Clippers for Mo Williams.

The following year, armed with the first overall pick in Kyrie Irving, who wound up being the NBA Rookie of the Year, the team improved to 21-45 in a lockout shortened season. This record projects to a 26-56 record for a full 82 game slate.

A seven game improvement is a good start toward the road to respectability.

However, this season has been a huge step backwards. The Cavs currently sit at 8-28 on the season, which projects to an 18-64 season, which puts them right back to where they were the after James went to Miami.

We want to trust Chris Grant and Byron Scott, but right now, it is difficult to do that when the young Cavaliers play so inconsistently. They seem to play to the level of their opponent, which is scary for such a young team.

These guys should be happy to be playing professional basketball and shouldn’t be taking nights off against anybody, especially when their record is so poor. The worst road teams in the NBA have wins on their resume against the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. That’s not a good sign.

While no one misses Antawn Jamison’s shot selection or poor defense, it is obvious that his veteran leadership is missed. With Anderson Varejao now out 6-8 weeks, there is no one on this roster who provides guidance for the youngsters. Luke Walton has been around the league for a long time, but doesn’t get enough minutes to be a leader to the young roster.

That has to fall on GM Chris Grant for not bringing in someone who can show these players how to act and play like a professional. That’s probably a big reason Scott and Grant brought in Shawn Livingston. He’s a veteran and has a good feel for the game.

Because they have so many young players, the Cavaliers have horrible shot selection. They hoist up a lot of ill-advised three point shots, and too often the ball in monopolized by one player, usually Irving.

That comes down to coaching. Scott and his staff need to remind players that they are usually that wide open for a reason, the defense wants them to shoot.

Also, there doesn’t seem to ever be any low post presence, even when Varejao was healthy. It is understandable that rookie Tyler Zeller isn’t strong enough at this point to not get pushed out of the post, but there is no law that says the center has to be the guy to post up.

Perhaps it is Alonzo Gee or perhaps Irving or Dion Waiters who can line up near the basket on offense. There has to be some option.

The fans are starting to get a little angry. After a nice increase in the win total last year, the wine and gold have taken a step backward. As long as progress was being made, there is optimism, but the way the Cavaliers have played this year has some people worried.