Box Score: Cavaliers 100, Nuggets 99
March 7, 2012Wide Open Big Ten Tourney Gives Bucks A Chance To Solidify
March 8, 2012While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Very nice feature on Cavs GM Chris Grant- “Chris is very smart, very methodical, very patient. He’s the perfect guy for the job right now. He has a great staff, they work well as a team, and they want to build a championship organization. But they want to do it in a methodical way — not by just pulling the trigger on something.” That last bit has a double meaning. On one level, Gilbert knows that Grant is in a completely different situation than Ferry was: Grant is planting complementary pieces around a rookie, not adding costly sidekicks for an MVP.
On another level, it’s very much a referendum on Ferry, who made a midseason trade in early 2008 that shipped out five Cavaliers, including Larry Hughes, and brought in four new players, including Delonte West, Ben Wallace, and Wally Szczerbiak. Though most folks lauded Ferry for the ballsy move, the shakeup never panned out. The thrown-together squad didn’t jell in time for the playoffs, which ended in another early exit. Each of those players was eventually shuffled out of town in Ferry’s never-ending search for guys who could actually put the ball in the basket.” [Grzegorek/Scene]
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The Indians were forced to bat their pitchers yesterday. In a spring training game for goodness sakes. Long time in the coming or sign of the apocalypse? “Major League Baseball has expanded its pool of postseason teams to 10 — up from four just 19 years ago — and next year will re-align into 15-team leagues that make for at least one interleague series all season long. But the biggest change of all may be around the next corner: the end of baseball as it was originally designed. “I would be shocked if 10 years from now there’s not a DH in both leagues,” said one influential baseball source.” [Verducci/Sports Illustrated]
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“Indians manager Manny Acta doesn’t see it as Jack Hannahan vs. Lonnie Chisenhall for the starting third base job. Acta said Wednesday that it is more like Chisenhall vs. Chisenhall. The young third baseman needs to convince the team — with his bat and his glove — that he’s ready, at 23 years old, to be The Guy at the hot corner. I took Acta’s comments to mean that Hannahan is on the team one way or another, which is what we’ve figured to this point. If he’s the starter, Chisenhall will be at Triple-A to open the year. If Chisenhall grabs the starting job this spring, Hannahan moves to the bench as a strong defender capable of handling multiple infield positions.” [Bastian/MLB.com]
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“Basically, Flynn is Kelly Holcomb, who Browns fans all remember for passing for 429 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff loss against Pittsburgh in January of 2003. Imagine how much money Holcomb would have made on the free agent market after that game. Now imagine if the Browns had given him a big-money contract and turned him into the starting quarterback? Do we really want the team to make that same mistake with Flynn?” [Red Right 88]
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Uni-Watch with a little known Indians’ baseball uni-item. The knob sticker. [Uni-Watch]
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Finally, some interesting Free Agency predictions over at Grantland- “The back who ends up in a better situation with a running quarterback and instantly benefits from an uptick in his numbers:
2011: Willis McGahee
2012: Whoever signs to become Cleveland’s no. 1 back
Research has shown that running backs who play alongside quarterbacks who are also a threat to run are more efficient and effective than they are playing next to the immobile pocket passers of the world. Assuming that Robert Griffin III ends up playing for the Browns next year, he should end up making somebody’s yards per carry figure shoot up, just as Willis McGahee’s did in Denver this year (from 3.9 in Baltimore to 4.8 in Colorado). Who will that be? That’s impossible to say, but to throw an example out there: Mike Tolbert.” [Barnwell/Grantland]
21 Comments
1. I don’t see how RR88 can flatly declare that Matt Flynn is Kelly Holcolmb. He might be, but he might not be. Flynn hasn’t played enough to allow anyone to make an informed comparison.
2. Knob stickers? Guess Magic Marker just isn’t brand-friendly.
“Flynn hasn’t played enough to allow anyone to make an informed comparison.”
So, you ready to give the keys to a guy who hasn’t played enough for anyone to make an informed decision?
but he is familiar with the West Coast offense. That is more important than whether or not he can actually play. Also, he won’t cost a draft pick, so that automatically makes him even better
/s
Nope. I’m ready to give McCoy the keys to an offense significantly improved by draft picks 4, 22, 37, etc.
I came to the same conclusion as Bastian yesterday after watching that preseason “Mic’d Up” edition of Indians baseball. Even though Hannahan didn’t play any shortstop last year (that I can remember), Acta declared him as the guy on the team with the best glove capable of playing 3B, 1B, and also SS. Sounds like he is definitely planning on using Hannahan as the utility infielder if Chisenhall can win the regular job at 3B. Chisenhall looks good so far, knock on wood. Or at least he’s hitting so far.
well, has RGIII played enough in the NFL?
how about Tannehill?
if you don’t have a franchise QB, then you have to take some risks. It’s up to our FO to determine which risk is best to take.
Is Jason Donald a utility 2B/OF then?
also, it’s my contention that Ferry’s main issue came about when he started to ignore defense for pure-offense guys. we started taking on too many guys who were 1-D (offense only) and it hurt us when we needed stops in the playoffs. not to mention, our ‘panic’ offense remained to be LeBron-Iso, which meant that they were not giving our offense a boost anyway.
I think that he is, yes.
I just don’t want the Browns to be the team that pays the money that Flynn will probably get in free agency for someone that is only a “hot commodity” because he had a big game against Detroit in Week 17.
The Lions’ secondary stunk this year, especially the second half of the season.
I’d rather roll the dice with Griffin, who the Browns can get for far less than the “experts” think in terms of a trade and who will definitely cost less in money, than throw a bucketload of cash at a former 7th round draft pick.
Flynn might be the “best” QB in free agency, but that doesn’t make him the best QB. It reminds me of the trading deadline in baseball; every year we see a team that needs a pitcher make a trade for the player who everyone decides is the “best available” without giving any thought to whether or not that person is actually any good.
Plus look at that photo: is that the face of a big-time QB?
This is kinda where I’m leaning, unless the ‘skins sign Manning (0.0% chance IMO) or Flynn, and somehow Griffin falls to us at 4. The way I look at it is this; Is Griffin better than McCoy/Flynn plus the 3-4 players we get by not trading up? Is Flynn better than McCoy plus te 7-8 mil in cap space we spend bringing him in?
I don’t know how good any of these players will max out at, I do know that the Browns have a profound lack of talent across the board, and personally I’m willing to give McCoy another shot with an offseason, to really work in the offense, with better parts around him.
I was tooting Flynn’s horn before that Detroit game. I was actually a little upset by that game since it likely increased his overall value around the league.
and who cares what round Flynn was drafted in at this point? would your rather the Browns pickup Brian Brohm who was drafted by GB in the same draft, but in round2?
I guess I can live with that but he became the “off the radar Indian” that I couldn’t help but root for at the end of last year. Was hoping he’d get a bigger role this year.
I don’t want Brohm either. I think the round Flynn was selected still carries some weight because look around the league; where are the most successful quarterbacks generally selected? You are going to have an outlier like Tom Brady very rarely, for the most part you need a QB that is a high draft pick.
The Browns are going to gamble on someone, it might be Flynn, it might be RG3, it might be someone else. There is still an outside chance, however small it may be, that they will live with McCoy for another year.
The gamble on RG3 is going to cost the team less overall and, I believe, have the potential for a greater payout.
Ferry made some poor decisions but Jim Paxson is the turd in the punchbowl that gets brushed aside as people drink the “Its all Lebron’s fault” Koolaid.
Paxson’s highlights;(
Letting Boozer walk away
Trading the ’07 1st rounder and removing top 10 protection from the ’05 pick for Jiri Welsch
Taking Luke Jackson in ’04
So Paxson gives away an All-Star power forward and 2 first round picks, while burning another. Talent acquistion in 4 of Lebron’s 7 years were wasted by Paxson. How is he not on the Mount Rushmore of crappiest GM’s ever?
Paxson dangled a watch in front of Portland until they agreed to eat most of obese Shawn Kemp’s bloated contract. That snatches him from Stepien-level incompetence. And I understood the Boozer fiasco was kind of Gund’s call. The rest is truly a fetid hot mess. Worst prob was that Gund trusted him for like 6 years.
Paxson dangled a watch in front of Portland until they agreed to eat most of obese Shawn Kemp’s bloated contract. That snatches him from Stepien-level incompetence. And I understood the Boozer fiasco was kind of Gund’s call. The rest is truly a fetid hot mess. Worst prob was that Gund trusted him for like 6 years.
yes, I agree with the %’s and such. but, that is for figuring out how to draft. once they hit the field, it is more important to pay attention to what they did rather than where they were drafted (Romo, Warner, Brady, etc.)
also, the gamble on RGIII will cost the team more in my opinion. less $$$, but we likely have to trade up to #2 and that could cost 3 premium picks that we would still hold if we go Flynn.
his cruddy GM skills are what bottomed out our talent level and gave us LeBron in the first place.
I don’t mind that except:
If Colt is not the answer, then we’ll know pretty quickly into the season. And, if we don’t bring in a FA QB or draft one fairly high, then we will be stuck in neutral the rest of the season.
If we draft RGIII, then I want to start Colt. If he fails, then we bring in RGIII after the bye.
If we sign Flynn, then he starts. If he fails, then we bring out Colt at some point during the season and give him his last shot at it.