James May Win, But NBA Needs Likeable Stars

The folks at ESPN have to be giddy today with their chosen franchise, the Miami Heat, just one win from the title the network so wanted them to win last season.

The “Heat Index”, the site crafted by the four letter network, will be glowing in neon colors after the team that superstars put together hoists the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Isn’t it odd that when the Lakers had two of the biggest stars in the history of the sport, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, ESPN didn’t have a website dedicated to them?

And with the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a very young team, you may be looking at the only title LeBron, D-Wade, and Bosh get in Miami. With the experience gained in this year’s playoffs, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and crew could be a tough out in the post season for the next few years.

However, the commish, David Stern, has been a little surly lately. When Jim Rome asked him about the draft lottery being rigged, Stern was angry, asking the broadcaster when he “stopped beating his wife”, the question no acceptable response can be given.

Rome simply asked what many people believe, which, of course, is why he asked.

What is odd to us is Stern’s cavalier attitude (no pun intended) about these opinions. You would think that if a small percentage of fans thought the outcome of the sport was predetermined, the man who runs the league would be upset, and address those concerns. Stern doesn’t seem to care.

This is not to say games are rigged. It would take a whole lot of cooperation from players and officials to make that happen. But the commissioner doesn’t take opportunities to allay the fears of the fans.

For example, many basketball fans suggest official Joey Crawford is a tad overzealous in calls for the favored team. Would it kill Stern to cut back on his slate in the playoffs? He shows up at all the big games, game sevens, etc., and therefore his calls are magnified.

The referees don’t help Stern either. There are many fans who believe the Thunder are getting the short end of the stick from the zebras. And it’s not just people in Cleveland either.

Especially when you have a situation last night when Westbrook went to the basket several times, yet shot just three free throws. In the meantime, James went to the line after pushing James Harden out-of-the-way.

The Thunder may not win this season, but they will be among the favorites next season. The San Antonio Spurs have won four championships in the last 15 years. Stern will tell you this is proof that small markets can compete in today’s NBA.

However, ask fans in Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Denver if they think their teams will ever have a chance to be a team that matters in the NBA. They would sadly answer no.

That’s bad for the league.

In football, despite the troubles of the Browns, every team has a chance to win the Super Bowl with good talent evaluation and some luck. In the past few years, we’ve seen downtrodden franchises like the Saints and Cardinals get to the championship game.

Even baseball has seen more parity. Yes, the Yankees make the playoff in most seasons, but have only won one World Series since 2000. That’s the nature of the sport, the best team can lose a series to the worst team at any time during the season.

Stern believes in the power of superstars. He’s marketed the game around them since the time of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. However, he needs them to be likeable stars, which Bird, Magic, and Michael Jordan were.

The Heat trio are hated by most fans throughout the country, it’s not just a Cleveland thing.

Does David Stern realize this? He needs guys like Durant, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and others to pick up the mantle of great players who most fans like.

They may have to save the league again from the me-first guys on the Heat.

Some Random Opinions

School’s out for summer as Alice Cooper so famously sang, and people will start vacationing soon. Father’s Day is next week, and the guys at Cleveland Sports Perspective had some things to get off their chests.

The Heat Thing.
Tonight is Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals (apparently now called the ECF by the NBA marketing folks), and most people in this town are hoping for an elimination of the Miami Heat.

Most people nationally (read…ESPN) think folks in Cleveland feel that way because LeBron James left the Cavaliers in free agency. At least for us, that’s not the case.

That is still a sore subject, but it’s more than that. It’s the way the Miami players carry themselves. They act like rock stars, even though, they’ve won nothing as of yet. The whole party after the signings of James and Chris Bosh was gauche.

The four letter network’s Doug Gottlieb, who is an excellent basketball analyst said yesterday that fans should “get over it”. Why? When people act like jerks, and never acknowledge it, why should we forget. Because they are good?

It’s the old school people who can’t stand the Heat, because they represent the “AAU mindset” in basketball. All purists who love the sport, not just those from Cleveland, hope either the Celtics or Thunder deprive the Heat, with the love they receive from ESPN, a title.

Those teams have great players, but they arrived via trades or the draft. It’s the same reason most baseball fans hate the Yankees, no one likes the perception that you can buy a championship.

Interleague Play in Baseball
If one more person tells you there is more strategy in the National League game, please feel free to slap them in the face. It’s simply not true.

If there is less than two out and a runner on base when the pitcher comes up, the manager is going to have him bunt. What’s the strategy there? It always happens.

Oh, and the argument that when to take the pitcher out of a game doesn’t hold water either. An American League manager has to make a decision, the NL skipper is forced to pinch hit late in a game he is trailing in. That kind of makes the decision for him.

Fans of the Senior Circuit seem to think you need a PhD from M.I.T. to pull of a double switch. In reality, you just take out the guy who made the last out and put him in the pitcher’s spot.

It’s not rocket science, and watching a guys who have batting averages of around .125 hit instead of a legitimate hitter isn’t entertaining. The whole world of baseball uses the DH except the National League. Why should everyone else conform.

The Leadoff Man
Heard some people arguing today about whether or not Michael Brantley should return to the #1 spot in the batting order, now that he’s hitting.

Why? Because he’s fast and plays centerfield?

The job of the leadoff hitter is to get on base. Shin-Soo Choo does that almost 38% of the time. Brantley does it 32.5% of the time. Why would you make a change?

The argument would seem to be the Choo can hit homers and drive in runs.

However, Brantley’s slugging percentage is three points higher than Choo’s, and he has 11 more RBI’s than the rightfielder.

Traditional baseball people might flip-flop the pair in the batting order, but right now Manny Acta has it correct. Shin-Soo Choo should hit first, and Brantley in the middle of the order.

JK/MW/KM

Another Chance to Add Talent for Cavs

Now that the ping-pong balls have dropped and the conspiracy theorists have spoken, the Cleveland Cavaliers now have the fourth pick in this year’s NBA Draft, which coincidentally, they had last year.

Now we can start the speculation as to who the Cavaliers will take with the selection, as well as the other three picks they will have in the top 34 choices.

Here’s what they won’t do. They will not trade F Tristan Thompson to move up to the second pick in the draft. If you have watched NBA basketball over the years, you know the biggest leap a player takes is from his first year to the second season.

Players learn what the NBA is all about, how to condition their bodies for an 82 game schedule, and have a full summer to work on the things the coaching staff and front office want them to improve on.

It is probable that Thompson will come to training camp in October a much better player than he was at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. Think about how much he improved during his rookie year, particularly on the offensive end.

GM Chris Grant should look for someone who can put the ball in the basket, especially since the team lost second leading scorer Antawn Jamison after the season as his contract expired. Coach Byron Scott needs to make up for the 18 points per night Jamison contributed.

That’s why the choice should be between Florida G Bradley Beal, rated by most to be one of the top five players, or UConn guard Jeremy Lamb, a key contributor on the Huskies 2011 national championship team.

There is no question the top pick will be Kentucky C/F Anthony Davis and likely Kansas F Thomas Robinson will be picked in the top three, leaving them unavailable for the Cavs.

A couple of players we will hear plenty about are Connecticut C Andre Drummond, classified as a guy who could be Dwight Howard or Kwame Brown, and North Carolina F Harrison Barnes, who was hyped as a first team pre-season All-America choice before he played his first collegiate game.

Keep in mind, more mistakes are made in the NBA draft on big men than any other position. Yes, a good one is difficult to find, but Grant needs to get a guy who can play the game, not someone Scott will have to prod and cajole in order to get production, which may be the case with Drummond.

As for Barnes, it is difficult to think of any collegiate game that he was part of in which he was a dominant player.

F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist may be available at #4, but he’s more of a solid player, a guy who does a lot of things well. He has been compared to players like Gerald Wallace and Andre Iguodala, both very good players, but not scorers.

Beal may not be a great leaper or stunning athletically, but he’s a scorer. In watching Florida lose in the NCAA tournament to Louisville, you wondered why the Gators didn’t get the ball to Beal when they were struggling down the stretch.

Lamb is thin, but can shoot off the dribble, can handle the ball, and has a beautiful mid-range game, hitting 60% of his shots inside the three-point arc.

Either would be perfect fits for the Cavaliers and would team with rookie of the year Kyrie Irving to set up a very good backcourt for the future.

The Cavs still need size, but they still have three more picks (although they will likely trade one so they don’t bring four rookies into camp) to beef up the frontcourt.

Once again, Grant’s ability to judge talent will be the key to any progress made by the wine and gold, and also whether he will have an NBA GM position five years from now.

CSP Potpourri

As Cleveland celebrates the opening of the Horseshoe Casino this evening, we just want to express some thoughts on what is going on in the wide, wide world of sports.

LeBron Gets His Third
The former Cavalier received his third MVP in four years, and to be quite frank, we were a little surprised.

Why?

First, the NBA writers are known to have long memories, and they remember last season’s NBA Finals when the supposed most talented player in the game stayed away from the ball in clutch situation like it had “cooties”.

James’ stats were incredible, as usual, but most of the season he was criticized for staying away from game deciding shots in favor of Dwyane Wade, so how can he be the MVP of the league?

Don’t the best players step up for their teams when it matters?

Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant or San Antonio’s Tony Parker would have been better picks for the award.

Browns Rookie Mini-Camp
If the Browns’ rookies played in a first year player Super Bowl, apparently they would win. They were that impressive this weekend.

Take it easy!

Look, it is good that QB Brandon Weeden showed a strong arm, RB Trent Richardson is a physical specimen, a “freak” according to Weeden, and WR Travis Benjamin is as fast as advertised.

However, they weren’t wearing pads! They weren’t playing real defense! No one was smacking Weeden as he dropped back to throw!

Nothing has changed since the day GM Tom Heckert drafted these players and signed others as undrafted free agents.

There should be optimism about the draft, it appears the Browns have improved the offense quite a bit. But until they start hitting and playing for real, the jury is still out.

Tribe Roster Moves
In addition to dropping three straight games to Boston after winning the series opener, the Indians also made a few roster moves.

One was required after Josh Tomlin had a sore wrist, and Zack McAllister filled in nicely, giving Manny Acta seven innings Saturday night in a 4-1 loss.

Another came after reliever Dan Wheeler imploded Sunday, giving up six runs in an inning of work. Wheeler joins Jamey Wright and Chad Durbin as failed experiments bringing in veterans relievers. Hopefully, the front office will stay away from these types of guys again.

The last move, sending Jason Donald back to Columbus, is a tad curious, if only because it makes Jack Hannahan the backup shortstop according to Acta.

Look, if Hannahan could play that position decently, he would play there because historically his bat hasn’t been up to par for the hot corner.

The Indians’ roster has been ill-conceived from the get go, and this latest move doesn’t help.

Kyrie Gets An Award
No one should be surprised by the news that Cavs’ point guard Kyrie Irving has been elected the NBA Rookie of the Year. In fact, the only mystery is will he be given the award unanimously.

It wasn’t all that long ago that fans were saying GM Chris Grant should take Derrick Williams with the first pick and then Brandon Knight with the fourth selection last June.

When you have the first pick, you have to take the best player. Kyrie Irving was clearly the best player in the 2011 draft, so Grant made the correct selection.

And the Cavs have a cornerstone for the future of the franchise. Remember, point guard and center are the two toughest spots to fill on a team.

MW/JD/KM/JK