Don’t Overlook LeVert In Cavs’ Winning Streak.

The streak continues. The Cleveland Cavaliers still have not lost under new coach Kenny Atkinson, running their record to 14-0 on the year with another win over Chicago Friday night.

Cleveland goes for #15 tonight against Charlotte at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Atkinson’s squad has captured the fans of northeast Ohio much like the Indians’ 22-game winning streak did in 2017. Fans were chanting “14-0” behind the desk of the Cavaliers’ post-game show after the win against the Bulls.

The wine and gold lead the league in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, and points scored. And despite all of the offensive numbers, they still rank 6th in defensive efficiency.

It’s a team effort too. Ten players average over 10 minutes per game with only four being on the floor for 30 minutes, and none of those getting more than Donovan Mitchell’s 31.1.

The Cavs have won close games and blowouts. They’ve led wire-to-wire and made come from behind victories.

They are winning, and as usual, that’s a good thing.

Have they taken advantage of a soft Eastern Conference? Yes, there only two other teams in the East above .500 and the Cavs play one of them Tuesday in the defending champion Celtics.

Cleveland beat the other team over the breakeven mark, Orlando, early in the season. However, they have also knocked off the 10-2 Warriors and the 8-4 Lakers in this early season run.

You can only play who is one your schedule.

Ty Jerome has received a lot of love from fans and basketball folks around the league, but another unsung player has been Caris LeVert.

Because LeVert has not been a great three-point shooter in his career (34.4%), he sometimes draws the ire of the look only at the scoring column fans. We remember some poor shooting nights last year and the reaction on social media being that he’s not a good player.

But LeVert is what the basketball world calls “a player”. He plays and usually make a positive impact on the game no matter what his numbers say.

If his shot isn’t falling, he plays solid defense, gets some steals and rebounds. And at 6’6″, he can play either guard spot because he’s a good passer and has the size to play small forward as well.

So far this season, he’s fifth on the team in scoring at 12.4 per game, second in assists at 4.7, while shooting 55% from the floor, and an incredible 48.9% from three. Now we don’t expect the long-range shooting to continue at that pace, but his attempts are down, so perhaps the quality of the shots are much better.

He’s also a player who can create his own shot, which under the old regime was a needed skill, as only two other players (Mitchell and Darius Garland) had that skill, so if the shot clock was running down, he was a player to look for.

It is funny to us that Jerome and LeVert have played so well, because we have been saying Cleveland needed size in the backcourt for some time now, and both of them are exactly that, with Jerome being 6’5″.

The Cavs’ four best players get a lot of credit for how well they have played this season, but don’t overlook the play of Caris LeVert. He does a bit of everything and that is something coaches love.

Should Cavs Be Shooting A Lot Of Threes?

One of the problems with “sports revolutions” is sometimes the new idea gets carried too far. The NBA’s love of the three-point shot is one of those in our opinion.

The theory is sound. If you make 60% of your two point field goal attempts, you get 12 points. However, if you make just four shots from beyond the arc, you get the same 12 points.

Of course, this is predicated on shooting 40% from long range, and the league average is currently 36.6%. That doesn’t change the theory, because if you make half your shots from the field, you only need to make 33.3% of the long range attempts.

That Golden State won four titles around Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson (a.k.a. “The Splash Brothers) reinforced that shooting from long distance was the way to go.

Of course, this discounts that Curry is probably the greatest long-range shooter the game has ever seen. His career mark from behind the line is 42.7%, and feel free to scan above to see what the current league average is.

As for Thompson? He knocks them down at a 41.4% rate.

If you have two shooters like this, we would probably play that way too.

This season, NBA teams on average are taking 35 three-point shots per contest. Just 10 years ago, before the Warriors run to titles, the number of three-pointers was just 21 per game. And in the “good ol’ days”, just 20 years ago (LeBron James was part of the league as a rookie), that number was 14.9 long range shots.

We aren’t saying the three-point line should be eliminated. It’s been a part of the game since the ABA was around. What we are saying is maybe players who cannot make the shot on a regular basis shouldn’t be taking it. And make no mistake, players are encouraged to develop the shot.

If a player can shoot like Curry and Thompson.

The problem with this new style of basketball is that it is kind of forcing players who are borderline from long distance to go away from the mid-range shot. And that’s where we are at with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland is one of the NBA’s worst shooting teams from three-point territory, in fact 5th worst, behind only Memphis, San Antonio, Orlando, and Detroit. However, they take the 12th most three-point shots in the league.

Orlando and Detroit are teams in the bottom three in attempts, while Memphis and San Antonio take even more than the Cavs. Which style works more? Well, the Magic have the same record as Cleveland, while the other three teams are near the bottom of the league standings.

To us, the problem for J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad is will the percentage of made shots come up as the season goes on? Right now, only one member of the wine and gold shoots better than the league average, and that’s Sam Merrill, who just started to play with the injuries to Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, and he’s taken just 85 threes.

Dean Wade is at league average, and he generally only takes threes.

The high volume shooters are all at 35% and below. Donovan Mitchell takes almost nine per game and Max Strus is at 8.3. Caris LeVert takes 5.7 attempts, but only makes them at a 33% clip.

Georges Niang, who had a career mark of 40% coming to Cleveland, is making just 33% in a Cavs’ uniform. And Isaac Okoro sits at 35.9%, but he still seems reticent to take the shot, especially if he misses early in a game.

The Cavaliers are telling us they have adopted more of a three-point centric offense since the injuries to two starters and are succeeding because of it. They are 6-3 since Garland and Mobley were hurt.

We would say it is not the style of play, rather the quality of opponent. Of the six wins, only Dallas (7th in the West) and Houston (8th) would play in the post-season if the season ended today. The only loss to a non-playoff team is Monday’s defeat at Toronto.

We would like to see Cleveland take threes but be a bit more judicious in terms of when and who. It can definitely be a weapon, but as we always say, a made two is better than a missed three.

Is that analytics?

Should Perez Continue to Close?

The Cleveland Indians are very much in a pennant race and yet they have a huge question mark in the back of their bullpen.

Last night, Chris Perez came into a critical game with a 3-2 lead and allowed two solo home runs to turn it into a 4-3 deficit.

Jason Giambi titanic pinch-hit dinger saved Perez, but it is not a secret that the Tribe’s closer has struggled in the last two months.

After the game, Terry Francona expressed confidence in Perez, but that’s what the skipper does. He never questions his players in public. He is the ultimate players’ manager in that regard.

Secretly though, Francona and his coaches have got to be mulling over alternatives the next time there is a save situation for Cleveland, and that could come as early as tonight.

The problem is Perez’ sudden propensity to give up the long ball. He has now allowed 10 homers in just 53 innings. That’s a lot for a closer.

By comparison, the American League leader in saves; Baltimore’s Jim Johnson has allowed just five long balls in 67 innings pitched.

Kansas City’s Greg Holland, who has a 1.25 ERA for the year to go with 45 saves, has allowed three home runs in 65 innings of work.

Future Hall of Fame closer, New York’s Mariano Rivera has given up six homers in 62 innings pitched.

Perez has allowed four more blasts than any of these relievers haven’t outstanding seasons and has pitched less than all of them.

One other startling statistic: Justin Masterson has allowed just 13 circuit clouts despite throwing 140 more innings (189 thus far on the season).

Closers who give up a lot of home runs are liabilities in one run games because the lead can be lost with one swing of the bat.

As Perez has shown before, you can pitch around a walk or a base hit with the closest of margins. It may not be ideal for the health of his manager or the Tribe fan base, but it can be done. Allowing a single by itself doesn’t cost your team the lead.

It is also Perez’ second half performance in total that should give Francona pause to put him in with a one run lead. He has a 4.39 ERA since the All-Star break and has allowed six bombs in 26 IP. Opposing hitters are batting .276 against him.

This compares to a 3.04 ERA before the Midsummer Classic and he was holding opponents to a .225 average.

It gets worse. Since the first of August, Perez has a 5.95 ERA.

So this isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to him blowing a save in a game the Tribe needed with the playoff hopes on the line. He’s been bad for two months. His statistics as a closer are always repeated (he’s only blown five saves), but clearly he hasn’t been effective for almost two months.

We understand there is a tremendous difference in what Francona says and what he does. If the Tribe is leading 5-2 going into the ninth tonight, he may very well go with Perez.

However, if the Indians do play in the wild card game and go to the last inning with a one run advantage, will it be Chris Perez’ game?

Only Francona knows that for sure.

If They are Tanking, No One Told Browns’ Players, Staff

If the Cleveland Browns front office’s plan was to be bad enough to be able to get their franchise quarterback in next year’s draft, someone forgot to let the players and coaching staff in on the plan.

The Browns scored more points in the first half than they had in the first two games in total, and then overcame their usual second half blahs to win their first game of the season, 31-27 over the Minnesota Vikings.

The offense was much more efficient under Brian Hoyer, playing for an injured Brandon Weeden, converting 6 of 15 third downs and although the offensive line struggled all afternoon, they allowed just three sacks.

It has been reported that Weeden could be available to play next week, but after a win and Hoyer’s performance today, why change back unless the former St. Ignatius star gives the coaches a reason to do just that.

The other dimension that returned to the offense was WR Josh Gordon, the subject of trade rumors by the national pundits before the game. Gordon caught 10 throws for 146 yards and a 47 yard touchdown reception which started the scoring for Cleveland.

Now, many people may say the Browns didn’t miss recently traded Trent Richardson because they emerged with the win, but the offense had no running attack the entire game, although they ran for 103 yards in just 17 attempts.

That’s because Cleveland’s leading rusher was Josh Aubrey, who picked up 34 yards on a fake punt, and Gordon also gained 22 yards later on an end around. Those two plays accounted for more than half of the offense’s rushing yards.

Richardson’s primary replacement, newcomer Willis McGahee, picked up just 9 yards on 8 carries.

Coach Rob Chudzinski and coordinator Norv Turner showed more aggressiveness in the first half than we have seen all season, pulling out both the fake punt previously mentioned and they also scored a touchdown on a fake field goal with punter/holder Spencer Lanning hitting TE Jordan Cameron with an 11 yard touchdown pass.

Cameron had another outstanding afternoon with three touchdown receptions, including the game winning 7 yard catch.

Hoyer did something in his first Cleveland start that is missing from Weeden’s resume, that is producing a game winning drive, after getting possession at his own 45 with almost three and a half minutes left.

He hit a key third down play immediately, hitting Gordon for 11 yards to keep the drive going after two incompletions.

Still, the lack of a running game is going to come back and haunt this team if they don’t figure it out soon. Cleveland’s last running play came with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Defensively, Ray Horton’s crew held RB Adrian Peterson under 100 yards rushing (88 total), and added four sacks and two turnovers. The sacks came from DE Desmond Bryant (third straight game, 3.5 on the season), LB Barkevious Mingo (second straight game), Billy Winn, John Hughes, and Jabaal Sheard.

ILB D’Qwell Jackson had seven solo tackles and forced a Peterson fumble and T.J. Ward picked off a Christian Ponder throw.

You can make a very good argument that had the Browns taken care of the football better (three interceptions and a fumble), this game wouldn’t have needed a late game drive to get the victory.

So, the first game coming after a week of turmoil (quarterback change and Richardson trade) was a success, with Chudzinski getting his first win as a head coach.

Now, we can see how the team performs in a more normal week, with a home game against the division favorite in the Cincinnati Bengals.

It was thought the front office was giving up on the 2013 season, but in retrospect, the Dolphins are now 3-0 after beating Atlanta today, and the Ravens blasted Houston 30-9 and now sit at 2-1.

Maybe the Browns aren’t as bad as some people in the organization think.

Browns Want Franchise QB. Where is He?

The Cleveland Browns made every indication that they are looking to next year when they traded Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

Most speculate that president Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi will be looking for their franchise quarterback next spring in the draft.

However, there are plenty of holes in that argument.

The first question would be are there any “franchise” quarterbacks available next May. Oh, there will be plenty of players who so-called experts will say are franchise players at that position, but are they really that good?

There is no Andrew Luck available next year.

People will say no, but maybe there’s another Robert Griffin III or Russell Wilson. Although he looked great last season, the former had a severe knee injury at the end of last season, and while Wilson played very well for Seattle last year, the major burden of the offense isn’t on him.

While the Browns would be better off with either player, there still isn’t any substantial evidence that either guy is an elite quarterback at this time.

Next, how do you get that QB, assuming that there is one near the top of the ’14 draft? Is Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, or Brett Hundley of UCLA on the same level as Luck or Griffin? Or are they guys like Geno Smith, currently with the Jets.

Obviously, the Browns figured having two first round picks will enable them to get them to where they want to be. But you have to remember the reason the Redskins were able to deal up to get Griffin.

The Rams had that pick and already had their signal caller in Sam Bradford.

Will another team that has a quarterback land in the top two or three choices and be willing to trade up with Cleveland?

That is doubtful.

It’s difficult to tell after just two weeks of the season, although Banner and Lombardi obviously figured out in that time that their team wasn’t good, who are likely candidates to have high draft picks next spring.

Many experts feel Jacksonville will be one of those teams, and they would be looking for a quarterback, and Oakland is another team mentioned as one of the league’s worst, and even though they are still unpredictable even without Al Davis running things, you have to figure they will be looking for a QB as well.

If the Browns finish 4-12 again and even if Indianapolis goes 8-8, would the 5^th and 17^th picks be enough to entice a team needing a passer to trade down? That’s highly unlikely.

Why 4-12 instead of say 2-14? The front office may be looking toward 2014, but the players and coaches still have pride.

We say this knowing that the best player in the draft isn’t a quarterback, it is South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney.

That’s the real criticism of this trade. It was made because Banner and Lombardi want to find a franchise quarterback, and want to be bad enough to get a high draft choice. But it doesn’t look like there is a mortal lock to be that guy available.

If you are going to do something like this, then getting Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, or Alex Smith doesn’t make you considerably better. You need to surround them with a great deal of talent to succeed.

Blowing up a season to get a high pick is a cowardly way to run an organization. We’ve seen turnarounds in San Francisco and Seattle in recent years, and for that matter in Kansas City this season without dismantling the franchise.

And if this trade makes the Browns better in the present, then they will foil the front office’s strategy. That will be hilarious.

If a franchise player is available in a draft, like LeBron James, then it might make sense to sacrifice a season. That guy’s not there next spring.

Meanwhile, the front office sold out their fans. Hope they can live with that.

Browns Lack Accountability

There is no question that professional football is treated differently in Cleveland, Ohio.

About a year ago, Terry Francona was hired as the new manager of the Cleveland Indians. He didn’t get to claim that the players already on the roster were not his and therefore he could not be expected to win right away.

A few months ago, the Cavaliers hired Mike Brown as their new head coach, and Brown said he expected to get the wine and gold back to the playoffs.

In both cases, the respective front offices made moves to upgrade the rosters and at least in the Indians’ case, it has translated in to post-season contention.

The Browns hired a new head coach in Rob Chudzinski after the season, and brought in a new GM before the draft, and yet, their actions are telling the fans that this is yet another rebuilding season, their umpteenth in a row.

And then they dropped this bomb on its fan base, trading Trent Richardson, probably the team’s best skill position player to the Colts for a first round pick in 2014.

The “we have to get our own guys” argument is tiring. In no other sport does this occur. Both the Indians and Cavaliers made additions to their roster, as well they should considering they were terrible last season. They did not blow up the team though.

Hire a coach and have that guy get the best out of the current players. That’s what should be done. A lot of experts felt there was enough talent on this roster to finish 7-9 or 8-8, which would have been progress.

It is a sign of weak management to come in and condemn the entire organization, pretty much saying that they did nothing right.

There is just no accountability for the Browns’ coaches, management, or players.

Isn’t the object of the game to win?

Why isn’t anyone in the organization concerned that it appears only one player picked in last year’s draft, first round pick Barkevious Mingo, can get on the field consistently?

Mike Lombardi criticized several Browns’ choices over the years in his position at NFL Network, yet in his first shot choosing players, he comes up with one guy who can play on a team that won only five games a year ago!

And fans should be enthused that he now has two first round picks in next spring’s draft?

All that argument does is buy time for the new people coming in. Meanwhile, the fans are treated to more years of crappy football.

And this year, Jimmy Haslam, Joe Banner, and Michael Lombardi are telling the rabid Browns fandom that they aren’t trying to win this year, just two games into the season.

It would serve them right if not one person goes to First Energy Stadium a week from Sunday. Why should we care if they don’t.

People who are outspoken about Mike Holmgren’s regime are entitled to their opinion, but “The Big Show” never did something like this.

It’s time to hold the Cleveland Browns management accountable for the junk we see every Sunday afternoon. We shouldn’t care that they all are relatively new.

As the late Al Davis said, “Just win, baby! That’s all that matters.

Fair or Not, Dolan’s Must Win Fans Back

The attendance on the Cleveland Indians’ last homestand brought up a discussion on why no one is going to the games for a team that is very much in the playoff hunt.

Some people thought it was the way the tickets are priced for different days and different series, and others thought the team wasn’t very exciting.

However, many of the fans we talk to bring up the ownership. They simply do not trust the Dolan family’s commitment to building a winning franchise.

While that may or may not be true, a wise man once said that “Perception is Reality”, and that is the uphill fight the Tribe ownership has to battle.

The Indians’ front office tries to fight that notion, and will site the free agent signings made over the last off-season, and amount of money spent on player development as examples that they are trying to win.

This winter, the ownership and the leadership of the franchise, led by team president Mark Shapiro should keep this in mind…actions speak louder than words.

Therefore, they shouldn’t complain in the media about the poor attendance during the 2013 season. They have every right to be disappointed. Fans have clamored for a winning team since 2007, and Terry Francona’s crew has delivered, only to be ignored by the populace.

Still, it will only inflame the ticket buying public already poor opinion of the ownership. So, the best course of action is not to say anything.

Instead, they should continue the same plan they did last winter, meaning continue to add to the roster and show the fans they are doing everything they possibly can to get into/back to the post-season in 2014.

Remember, the Indians have another off-season where a lot of cash comes off the books in the salary column.

Mark Reynolds and his $6 million deal will be gone, as well as the failed Brett Myers experiment and his $7 million contract.

It is doubtful that Chris Perez, who is making approximately the same amount as Myers will be offered arbitration either, meaning GM Chris Antonetti will likely part ways with the team’s closer.

And just in case you think it will be about Perez’s off field troubles or his controversial comments, it won’t. It will be a baseball decision. If Perez is still on the roster, he could earn up to $10 million next season.

He isn’t worth that based on his performance.

We understand that other players will get raises, in particular Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, whose free agent deals escalate from the first year of their contracts.

They also have to try to keep Justin Masterson, who will be a free agent after next season, and try to keep one of their free agent starting pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir.

They won’t have $20 million to spend.

However, that doesn’t mean they can’t continue to improve this baseball team.

That is what they have to do in order to win over their critics.

Yes, getting rid of the way tickets are priced currently will help. So will other things that can help the gameday experience.

But the biggest thing will be to gradually decrease the number of people who think everything about the Cleveland Indians is related to money, and make everyone understand that ownership is trying to bring a winner to Progressive Field.