Talking About Mitchell’s Amazing Performance

In the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first season, Walt Wesley scored 50 points in a game against the Cincinnati Royals on February 19, 1971. That record held for 34 years, until LeBron James put up 56 vs. Toronto in March 2005.

The 50 point barrier has only been accomplished 15 times in franchise history and only five players have done it. James did it 10 times, Kyrie Irving did it twice, and the 57 points he put up on March 12, 2015 established the club record, which was tied by James two years later.

Earlier this season, Darius Garland became the fourth player in Cleveland history to hit the 50 mark when he put in 51 against Minnesota.

It doesn’t happen often for a player wearing wine and gold.

And then we have what happened on Monday night.

Donovan Mitchell had a night for the ages, shattering the team record with a 71 point effort, tied with David Robinson for the eighth most in any game by an individual. There are only three players in NBA history to have recorded more points in a single game, and their names are Wilt Chamberlain (of course), Kobe Bryant, and David Thompson.

Yes, the game went into overtime, but Mitchell had 58 at the end of regulation, which would have broken the Cavalier team record anyway.

The Cavs were without two starters, Garland and Evan Mobley, so they needed someone to step up and provide scoring. Garland is after all, a 20 point per game scorer. In the first half, no one stepped up and the wine and gold were down by 18 at halftime, 65-47.

Mitchell started getting in going late in the second quarter. He had five points until he hit a three with 6:53 remaining in the second quarter and scored eight more before the end of the half.

Again, for the entire game, no one outside of Jarrett Allen, who was nine of ten from the floor, and Raul Neto, who took just three shots, hit more than half their attempts for Cleveland.

So, Mitchell took over, which is what stars do. He basically willed the Cavs to a win. And it wasn’t as though he was playing selfishly either. He dished out 11 assists. He also took just 34 shots to get the 71 points, as he went to the foul line 25 times, making 20. That helped.

He scored 24 points in the third quarter to cut the Cavs’ deficit to five heading into the 4th quarter. He added 18 more to force overtime. He needed to score that many points to get a win for Cleveland. That’s what made it even more special.

He took only two more shots in the same game as Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan, who scored 44 points taking 32 shots. And on the same night, Golden State’s Klay Thompson hoisted 39 shots, scoring 54 points and doled out just three helpers.

We were in attendance on March 28, 1990 when Michael Jordan scored 69 points against the Cavs, and he took 37 shots in that one, and he went to the line 23 times. After the game, Lenny Wilkens remarked that since Jordan fired the ball 37 times, he should’ve scored 69.

That game also went overtime.

By the way, in Bryant’s 81 point night in 2006? He shot 46 times in 42 minutes. Mitchell played 50 minutes in his history making night.

What an incredible game. They don’t come about that often. It was almost 17 years since Bryant’s outburst. We are sure everyone will remember it for years to come.

Browns Play Hard, Hurt Commanders Chances

Well, it’s going to be a bad week for those folks who want the Cleveland Browns to fire everyone in the front office and start fresh in 2023.

That’s how it works doesn’t it? We mean, when the Browns lose, the coach should be fired usually because a play call doesn’t work. These people do understand there is another team on the field and they can execute as well, right?

Anyway, the Browns went out on Sunday and beat a team with playoff aspirations on the road, defeating the Washington Commanders 24-10, thus raising their record to 7-9 and next week they have a chance to do the same thing to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And if they win, they will have the same record as last season. It’s not progress, but it’s not regression either.

What the game re-emphasized to us is this team has not quit on its head coach, and for that reason alone, Kevin Stefanski should continue with his current gig.

We will say again, this doesn’t mean Stefanski doesn’t need to improve some things, and we would also say we are sure even the great Bill Belichick learns something every season.

We wish Stefanski had kept the field goal in the first half which would have given the Browns a 6-0 lead. We understand the analytics people would say the field goal didn’t mean much because a touchdown would allow Washington to take the lead, but much as we say in basketball about long twos vs. threes, taking three points is better than getting none, which is what happened.

The stars came out offensively for Cleveland. Nick Chubb ran for 104 yards on 14 carries. Amari Cooper caught three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns, and Deshaun Watson threw three TD passes.

Watson was sacked four times in the first half. His receivers couldn’t get open and his offensive line was having a problem with the Commanders rush. Adjustments were made and the second half was dominated by Cleveland, whose defense forced three turnovers.

After forcing just eight turnovers in the first 11 games, the defense has come up with 11 in the last five. That’s a weird statistic.

Also odd was Watson’s passer rating of 122, his highest of the season. We have always said QBs will have a good passing efficiency rating if they stay away from interceptions, and have a very good yards per attempt ratio.

Watson completed only half of his 18 passes but had a great 9.4 yards per throw. The league leader for the season is Tua Tagovailoa at 8.9. Watson’s best average as a Brown was 6.6 in the loss to Cincinnati.

Slowly, week by week, he is shaking the rust off.

However, back to the coach. We have said previously we would only consider a change if the team quit playing for this staff, and based on Sunday, that’s simply not the case.

It does not mean change aren’t needed on the staff. We understand this group doesn’t give out a lot of information to the media, but when they do talk, it makes you shake your head.

Joe Woods said last week the defensive tackles weren’t the problem in stopping the run. Our first thought was if it isn’t them, then do you know what the problem is, and if so, why not fix it?

One more game remains, and the Browns should have the same goal: Win and spoil another team’s playoff hopes in front of their fans. In a bitterly disappointing season, that would add some sweetness.

Bickerstaff Has Set The Culture, Is That Enough?

J.B. Bickerstaff took over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020 and coached the last 11 games of that shortened season. He took over for John Beilein, the longtime college coach who came to the NBA and didn’t enjoy the experience.

The Cavs went 5-6 for Bickerstaff after going 14-40 under the former Michigan coach, so there was a definite improvement under J.B., who had previous head coach stints in Houston and Memphis, both of which he had taken over after the season started.

Cleveland went 22-50 in Bickerstaff’s first full season which was also shortened due to the pandemic. During that season, James Harden was traded from Houston to Brooklyn. What did that have to do with the Cavs? GM Koby Altman helped facilitate the moves with draft picks and got Jarrett Allen for his trouble.

Allen back the wine and gold a rim protector, and a quality big man to go with guards Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, both high first round picks after LeBron James departed via free agency.

The following season marked a quantum leap in the Cavs’ performance. They drafted Evan Mobley and Bickerstaff went with a big lineup featuring Allen, Mobley, and Lauri Markkanen, something unusual for the NBA, playing three seven footers across the frontline.

Even though Sexton was hurt eight games into the season, Cleveland went 44-38, but lost both games in the “play-in” tournament, thus not qualifying for a best-of-seven series. The Cavaliers were the surprise of the league heading into the All-Star Game in Cleveland, but injuries to Allen and Ricky Rubio, in particular, took its toll on the record.

Bickerstaff brings a defensive mindset, he loves talking about the “bringing the grit”, making sure his team set a style of play that can impose on opponents. Making them play the way the Cavs want to play, which is at a slower pace. Because two of their four best players are big men (Allen and Mobley), they want to make sure those guys are involved in the action.

The Cavaliers are off to a 23-14 record thus far in the 2022-23 campaign, ranking 4th in Eastern Conference, behind Boston, Milwaukee, and Brooklyn. That spot would get them a homecourt playoff series if the season ended today, which it does not.

The coach has shown the ability to adapt. Cleveland traded Markkanen and Sexton to get Donovan Mitchell, one of the best scorers in the NBA, so the offense has shifted from the three big men up front to one where the guards (Garland and Mitchell) take about 40% of the shots.

Bickerstaff has been great at setting a defensive culture, but he could use some improvement as well. His offensive sets seem to be the same as a lot of NBA teams, reliant solely on isolation plays and/or pick-and-rolls, which isn’t totally bad because the new thing in the NBA is to simply switch, so you can get favorable matchups doing it.

Down the stretch of close games though, that can be problematic. The intensity picks up and opposing defenses, particularly on good teams gets better, so being dependent on good players beating their men off the dribble doesn’t work as well.

Mitchell’s good start means teams are going to put a lot of focus on him, so the coaching staff has to design ways for him to shake defenders. This is also the type of action that is needed late in close games. The Cavs almost lost last night’s game in Chicago because the offense late in the game was simply to clear out for Mitchell.

It didn’t work.

Hopefully, Bickerstaff understands where he needs to get better as well. That willingness to adapt, and he has demonstrated the last two seasons he can change to fit his talent, might be the most important thing the Cavs need to finish high in the Eastern Conference standings.

Cavs Need Help For Mitchell & Garland. Maybe It’s On The Roster

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished a six-game homestand at 4-2, and now face a stretch where they play eight of their next 11 away from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. They enter this stretch 6-9 on the road.

They won the first four games at home in this stretch before losing the last two to Toronto and Brooklyn, both of whom shot over 50% from three-point range. That’s hard for a team to do in an empty gym. The Nets lead the NBA in long distance shooting, but the Raptors are second from the bottom.

Once again, the Cavs problem is not enough guys contributing offensively consistently. J.B. Bickerstaff has a core four of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, but he needs more players picking up the slack offensively, especially against better defensive teams.

Cleveland is averaging a little over 84 shots per game, and of those, the combination of Mitchell and Garland are taking 37, slightly less than half. We have seen in the two losses at home, opposing teams are focusing their defense on Mitchell, making it as hard as possible for him to get going.

The coaching staff has to do some things beside the pick-and-roll to get the wine and gold’s leading scorer at 28.5 points per game going. There doesn’t seem to be much action running Mitchell or Garland off screens to get them open looks. We’d like to see some of that.

We would also like to see Mobley and Allen get the ball in the paint more often. Toronto plays a very physical style of defense (they’ve adopted the Pat Riley Knicks and Golden State style of fouling most times down the floor, and the referees can’t call them all), but they don’t really have a true rim protecting big man.

Why not give the two seven-footers on the roster the ball. The Cavs’ starting big men average just under 20 shots per game, and that’s way too low for us. Especially with Mobley shooting almost 56% and Allen converting 62% of his shots.

Plus, if you establish an inside game, it makes it easier for Mitchell and Garland on the perimeter.

What does make it tougher for these four on the offensive end is the total lack of respect defenses have for whomever is playing the #3 spot. Bickerstaff reiterated his “they have to make shots” mantra after Monday’s loss to the Nets, but it goes against the coaching credo of putting people in positions where they can succeed.

Isaac Okoro is hitting 25% of his three-point shots. Lamar Stephens is 13 for 39. Dean Wade is making 41% from behind the line, but is hurt, and when he plays, he has periods where it doesn’t appear he wants to shoot.

As a result, defenders are ignoring them and helping on Mitchell and Garland. Maybe Kevin Love should start there, but still keeping him around 20 minutes per game. We’ve heard people say Cedi Osman should start at small forward, but he’s inconsistent shooting as well.

Maybe the answer is not putting these guys in the corner behind the three-point line where they are rendered ineffective? We understand this is an analytical advancement, but we always ask, what’s better: A made two or a missed three?

Either way, hoping Stevens, Osman, or Okoro become better three-point shooters doesn’t seem like much of a plan. The coaching staff has to come up with an alternative.

Or make a trade…

If We Were Kevin Stefanski This Off-Season

After the Browns’ loss at Cincinnati, we put out on social media that someday the team would lose a game and no one would blame the coach, but that wasn’t the day. That day wasn’t after Saturday’s loss to the Saints either.

It was an embarrassing loss, probably the second worst of the season, as nothing can top the debacle in week two against the Jets.

We aren’t saying Kevin Stefanski doesn’t have flaws, and he didn’t call a perfect game on Christmas Eve to be sure, but in watching the game unfold, after the Browns took a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, we thought to ourselves, get the next score and New Orleans might be done.

Instead, the Saints remembered what some teams have taken a quarter or two to recall: Cleveland can’t stop the run. Using a platoon of Andy Dalton and pretty much non-thrower Taysom Hill at QB and mixing in direct snaps to Alvin Kamara, New Orleans hammered the Browns’ defense for 152 yards on the ground on a bitter cold day.

It is the seventh game this year Cleveland has allowed 150 or more yards in running game. Yes, Stefanski’s play calling has been an issue at times, but if you want to really know why the Browns are 6-9 right now? The defense cannot stop the run.

Stefanski is a smart man and hopefully knows he can be better. So, if we were him, here’s what we would do when the season ends…

…fire Joe Woods as defensive coordinator and find someone who runs a defense that gives offenses something to think about. Woods’ plans are usually vanilla. He has games where he moves Myles Garrett around, and others where he lines up in the same spot every play. Some games blitzes are part of the plan, others they rush four, constantly. When you are in Stefanski’s position, you have to put friendships aside.

…tell Andrew Berry they need a wide receiver who rack up yards after the catch. The offense doesn’t have a threat to go the distance on every play, meaning every drive has to be multiple plays and converting first downs. The longest touchdown play of the year from scrimmage was Nick Chubb’s 41-yard run vs. the Chargers.

…utilize Chubb in the passing game more. Chubb is 4th in the NFL in rushing attempts at 276, but he’s only caught 21 passes and usually comes off the field in passing situations. By contrast, Derrick Henry (TEN) leads the league in attempts with 319 AND he’s caught 32 passes. Las Vegas’ Josh Jacobs is next at 306 carries and he’s caught 47 passes.

…get David Njoku the ball more. Yes, we know he dropped a certain TD pass on Saturday, but he’s probably the second biggest threat to go the distance on any play, behind Chubb.

…stop zagging when the other team zigs. Yes, when teams are trying to take any your best offensive player, figure out a way to get him the ball any way. You don’t have to ignore him, that’s what the defense wants.

…don’t change how you deal with the media. That’s not who Stefanski is and really, for the media to expect more at this point, is ridiculous.

We believe the coach deserves the opportunity to make adjustments, particularly with Watson at quarterback. And by the way, you can see Watson is an excellent player. If you look at numbers, you will think he didn’t play well in the win over the Ravens, but if you watched the game, he played very well.

Truly, the most disturbing news out of Berea was the report Sunday that owner Jimmy Haslam is enamored with the offense used by the University of Tennessee. Any reports of Haslam trying to influence the football people is terrifying.

It has been said before, the smartest people know what they don’t know. The Browns’ owner should consider that.

Why Guards Aren’t Dealing Prospects

The Cleveland Guardians won the American League Central Division title last season, winning 92 games. The Cleveland Guardians also have one of the top five farm systems in baseball. Outside of trading Nolan Jones, who probably was no longer one of the system’s top ten prospects, and moving Owen Miller, who spent the entire season on the big-league roster, the Guards haven’t addressed the seeming glut of prospects about to hit Cleveland. It seems that many teams when in the situation the Guardians are in, like to package a number of prospects to get proven big-league talent. Think about what San Diego has done over the past few years. Unfortunately for the Padres, their excessive prospects are having success, but here in Cleveland. Let’s examine the top five prospects in the Guards’ system: pitchers Daniel Espino and Gavin Williams, catcher Bo Naylor, OF George Valera, and SS Brayan Rocchio. Espino, a right-hander and Cleveland’s first round pick in 2019, was injured much of last season throwing only 19 innings, albeit dominating one, fanning 35 hitters. Williams, another righty and also a first rounder in 2021, appears to be the definition of a horse at 6’6″ and 240 pounds. He pitched 115 innings at Lake County and Akron, with a 1.96 ERA and 149 punchouts. Now, the big-league situation comes into play. Shane Bieber, the ace of the staff, is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2024 season. After winning the division, the Guardians aren’t trading him this off-season, but with the dollars spent this winter, it isn’t a reach to see Bieber being moved next winter. It would seem Espino and Williams would be ready then. If Bieber agreed to an extension with the Guardians, maybe the front office would entertain a deal for their top two prospects. We wouldn’t unless the return was substantial. We would be surprised if Naylor opened the season on the big club, but we won’t be shocked if he’s getting regular playing time by the beginning of June. He is the catcher of the future. We feel the same about Rocchio being the shortstop of the future, the heir apparent to Amed Rosario. We believe the organization likes him better than Gabriel Arias or Tyler Freeman, who will likely battle in spring to see who is the reserve infielder. We have been hearing about Valera for years. A left-handed hitter, he has plus power, and has always shown patience at the plate. However, in 2021 between Lake County and Akron, he fanned 88 times with 66 walks. In ’22, with more at bats between Akron and Columbus, he whiffed 145 times with 74 walks. Not bad, but the ratio is much worse. That would make him the most likely candidate to be moved in a trade for big-league talent. The front office is gambling he will make adjustments and take some of the swing-and-miss out of his game, because if the ratio gets worse, so will his ranking as a prospect. Prospects #6 through #10 are: Pitchers Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee, SS Angel Martinez, OF Chase DeLauter, and OF Will Brennan. It’s more likely the Guards would trade someone from this list, but DeLauter hasn’t even played a professional game yet, and Brennan would seem to be insurance for the big club in the outfield. We are firmly NOT in the mindset that all prospects will turn out to be the next Mike Trout. We are just trying to explain what we think is the front office’s reasoning for not packaging a couple of these guys. How many players on the division winners have proven track records? It’s fewer than you think. Perhaps that’s why no deals as of yet.

On Mitchell, Garland, and Mobley

It seems odd to be looking for flaws on a basketball team that has a 21-11 record, but for the Cleveland Cavaliers, when you get to a record that good, you get analyzed based on whether or not the team can make a deep playoff run.

That’s why we have an issue with the lack of depth on the roster. Since Kevin Love injured his thumb, his shot hasn’t been there, so there are many nights when Cleveland gets nothing from their second unit. And when that happens, they struggle to win, no matter the opponent.

Adding Donovan Mitchell has been a revelation, as he has played at an MVP level, even though he isn’t mentioned in that conversation nationally. Right now, he is scoring at a career high mark, averaging 29.3 points per game, and is shooting, both overall and three-point percentage are also at highwater marks.

His career high from the floor was 44.9% in 2019-20, but he is currently at 50.3%, and from long range, he is at a mind-boggling 42.8% compared to his previous best of 38.6% in 2020-21. Barring injury, he most certainly will make his fourth consecutive all-star appearance.

Are these numbers sustainable? It could be that because Mitchell is playing with better offensive players than he ever played with in Utah, he has more room to operate. We shall see as the season goes on.

We have seen a lot of talk about Darius Garland not playing up to the level he did last season, and while some of his numbers are down, it looks to us like most his shot is off.

Remember that Garland missed time after being hit in the eye on opening night, and he might lead the league in getting hit in the face this season. Perhaps that has thrown off his shooting, which is down from 46.2% last season to 43% in 2022-23.

Most of his numbers seem on par with his career norms. He’s hitting 38.2% from three (career mark is 37/8%), he is dishing out 7.8 assists, down a bit from 8.6 last year, but Mitchell is sharing some of this responsibility, and although he’s had some key turnovers in close games, he is averaging less per game than in 2021-22 (3.3 compared to 3.6).

And it most definitely is an adjustment for a player to go from being the best on the team to the second or maybe even the third best when all is said and done. Some players can handle it, others cannot, and based on his body language on the floor and off, Garland seems to be fine.

At some point, he might be passed on the pecking order by Evan Mobley, which will take another adjustment. We have seen J.B. Bickerstaff put the ball in Mobley’s hands at time late in close games, and the big man usually makes the correct decision.

That bodes well for the future of this team.

Having a skilled big man like Mobley, who is also a very good defender, makes it difficult for the opposition. And the fact he can be a triple threat offensively, makes it even better.

Last year, we said this repeatedly when asked who was the Cavs’ best player, Garland or Collin Sexton? It doesn’t matter because in a year or two, it’s going to be Evan Mobley.

And when that happens, if the guards can see it, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be a very special basketball team. That will be all kinds of fun.

Hoping There Is No False Hope With Browns’ Defense

The Cleveland Browns accomplished something Saturday afternoon that is very unusual.

No, not winning a game against the Ravens, although since Baltimore coach John Harbaugh is tied for second (behind Hall of Fame Steeler coach and Cleveland native Chuck Noll) for most wins against the Browns, that would qualify as something odd.

What we are talking about is the Browns picked up a victory despite getting gashed on the ground by the Ravens, allowing 198 yards on the ground. It was the sixth game Cleveland has allowed 150 or more yards rushing in a game this season, but until Saturday, they didn’t win when that occurred.

As a frame of reference, they allowed that many yards three times last season.

To prove it can happen, the Browns have lost three games when gaining 150 yards on the ground (Jets, Falcons, Chargers) although to be fair, in the latter two games, the brown and orange were outrushed by their opponents.

And that’s why we cannot get excited about holding Baltimore to three points. Imagine the talk on Baltimore sportstalk stations this week, no doubt criticizing the play-calling by Greg Roman, the Ravens’ offensive coordinator. His team averaged 7.1 yards per carry and still had Tyler Huntley throw the ball 30 times.

Our only conclusion is the NFL has become so pass happy, that teams feel the need to put the ball in the air even if there is no evidence the opponent can stop it.

We’ve seen it in other games too. The Browns’ defense had success against Buffalo for the first quarter and a half until they remembered Cleveland can’t stop the run, and decided to march down the field using the ground game.

So, we are not among those praising Joe Woods’ defense for holding Baltimore to three points today. This defense continues to be bad against the run, ranking 30th in the league in yards per carry and 24th in yards allowed total. The only teams worse than Cleveland in this statistic with a winning record are Dallas (10-4), New York Giants (8-5-1) and the Los Angeles Chargers (8-6).

Keep in mind, the Browns have had games where they held opponents to 36 yards (Cincinnati) and 54 yards (Carolina) rushing. Six games of 150+ rushing? It’s simply not acceptable.

At this point, we will say it again: If you can’t stop the run, it is difficult to win football games.

People talk about the defense struggling early and getting better as the season went along last season, but maybe the improvement is due to the weather not being as nice in most NFL cities in November and December as it is in September and October?

Whether it’s the schemes improving or it’s a result of colder weather, the fact remains it is not acceptable for the defense to be bad the first half of the season every year. There are 17 games in this league, and even if the pundits like to say the real season doesn’t begin until November, the early season game still count.

That’s why there shouldn’t be any saving of Joe Woods’ job with the win over the Ravens.

And even if the Browns run the table and finish at 9-8, a game better than last season, it still won’t be enough in our eyes. We hope it won’t be enough for Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry either.

Guardians Going Free Agent Route Is A Bit Of A Surprise.

The Cleveland Guardians had two big needs heading into the post-season, another power bat and a catcher since Austin Hedges was a free agent.

It is a surprise that Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff filled both via free agency though, signing catcher Mike Zunino to catch, joining Josh Bell who came to the Guardians a week earlier.

Remember, Cleveland values defense and handling pitchers first and foremost from their backstops, and Zunino certainly is very good defensively. With a bat in his hand, think Hedges with a lot more power potential.

When Hedges first arrived in the big leagues with San Diego, he had some pop, hitting 18 homers in his first full year with the Padres, and then 14 in 91 games the following season. In the four years since, Hedges’ high in roundtrippers was 11 in 2019, and his best batting average was .178 with Cleveland in 2021.

Zunino does two things more frequently than the man he replaces: Hit dingers and strikeout. He missed much of last season after shoulder surgery, but since 2017, he belted more than 20 homers three times, including a career-high 33 in 2021. His lifetime slugging percentage is 79 points higher than Hedges.

However, his strikeout to walk ratio per 162 games is 196:39. As a comparison Hedges, who is one of the game’s worst hitters, has a ratio of 148:33. That’s how often Zunino fails to make contact.

We would not be surprised if prized catching prospect Bo Naylor (Guardians’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America) opened the season at AAA and another free agent signee, Meibrys Viloria, starts the year on the Opening Day roster as a left-handed hitting option behind the plate.

Not that Viloria is much of a hitter, he has a career OPS of 553, with a .201 batting average and three homers.

That the Guardians filled their biggest need via free agency means they haven’t addressed the glut of middle infield prospects. Yes, they did move Owen Miller to Milwaukee for a player to be named later or cash to clear a roster spot for Zunino, but they still have Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman, who both played in Cleveland for a bit, with Brayan Rocchio (#5 prospect) knocking on the door.

Not to mention what to do with the back end of the starting rotation. We believe Aaron Civale will be the fourth starter behind Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill, but we wouldn’t be shocked if Zach Plesac is moved to make room for say, a Cody Morris.

If a move is made to thin out the prospect glut, what do the Guardians get in return? Younger prospects to guarantee a promising future, or do they someone on the big-league roster and try to upgrade the spot they are dealing from?

So, as a result of the Bell and Zunino additions, not only does Cleveland have a stronger major league roster, but they still have one of the five best farm systems in the sport.

That gives the front office a lot of options as spring training approaches. That’s an awful good position to be in.

Stefanski Should Stay, But Be More Flexible

We have gone on record saying we do not want the Cleveland Browns to fire Kevin Stefanski. But that doesn’t mean the coach doesn’t have things he needs to adjust in his style going into next season.

We have alluded to this before, but it’s a bit unfair to hang this year’s win-loss record on the head coach because we wonder if the front office was all in on winning in 2022 after the suspension of Deshaun Watson.

There are those who question Stefanski’s ability as a “leader of men” and we think that’s unfair because we don’t know how he reacts with the players on a daily basis. Football fans love the “in your face” style of coaches like Bill Cowher and Dan Campbell, but in a lot of cases, that wears thin after a while.

Earlier in the year, when the defense was playing poorly, we wanted Stefanski to be proactive and say he was going to get involved with the defensive game plan, in other words, be responsible for the entire operation and not just the offense, which sometimes it feels like.

We get the Browns are very tightlipped in matters like this, and perhaps Stefanski has had many conversations with Woods, but it would be nice to know he sees the same things we all see.

The coach also needs to improve in this area: You don’t always have to be the smartest guy in the room. This is an issue with a lot of young coaches, and the good ones learn from it. We think sometimes the obvious decision is the right decision.

Decisions like kicking field goals on the road early in games. We know the numbers probably say to go for it at times, but if you are going to take the human element out of things, you really don’t need a head coach.

The analytics thing actually goes toward the entire organization. The Browns were recently said to be the organization that uses the number more than anyone.

We aren’t anti-analytics, but it shouldn’t be the only way of reaching decisions any more than the old school coaching system would be. It should be a mixture, and by the way, that should apply to all sports. The more information from all areas the better.

We would also like to see the coach be more proactive rather than reactive. He seems to go away from the strengths of his team too soon. Again, from last Sunday, the Browns scored their only touchdown on three straight plays to David Njoku. We feel the tight end should be one of the focal points of the offense. We know he’s had injury issues, but when he’s healthy, maybe he should get the most targets.

Kind of a “ride the hot hand” mentality.

Most people get better at their job the longer they do it. Coaches don’t get a long leash these days, but it certainly isn’t the Hue Jackson 1-15 and 0-16 seasons for the Browns.

If the Browns win their last four games, and they have a solid chance to do just that, they will finish 9-8, a slight improvement from last year.

We would like to see Stefanski make some changes to his coaching staff going into 2023 and then re-evaluate him. If he doesn’t want to make changes, that might give you the answer we are looking for.

Also, notice we didn’t say anything about his demeanor in interviews or press conferences. The way he handles these is not going to change, and quite frankly, we are stunned people are still upset by his monotone cliche answers. That has nothing to do with his ability to coach.