Box Score: Indians 6, Cardinals 2
June 8, 2012Kelly Pavlik Defeats Scott Sigmon, Improves to 39-2
June 9, 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.
Leading off, our own Scott Sargent chronicled the path of Harrison Barnes to the NBA and compares his path to the one carved out thus far by Kyrie Irving, “Descending upon the media portion of the NBA Draft combine one year after one his best friends in Irving did the same, Barnes, fresh off of his 20th birthday, stood out amongst the group of giants not due to size or stature but due to his demeanor, professionalism and understanding that, despite the inability to legally consume alcohol, he has to be as much of an adult as the veterans with whom he will soon be sharing a locker room.” [Scott/Still WFNY @ Cleveland.com]
Over at Did The Tribe Win Last Night, there’s a great story on Nick Hamilton, the recent Tribe draft pick and son of Tom Hamilton, “Unlike his dad, Nick Hamilton’s first read on the ball is not how it sounds coming off the bat, but what it looks like. “Your senses make up for each other,” Nick Hamilton said. “I have very good vision. I think that’s what I rely on more instead of sound. I can [hear] the difference between a really badly hit ball and a really well hit ball, but for the most part, I use my vision and try to judge the speed that way. It’s amazing how the body works.” [DTTWLN]
Brendan Bowers at Stepien Rules has been talking plenty of NBA Draft recently. Yesterday, he covered several topics, including the Bobcats shopping that second pick, “If the Bobcats would take pick number four to allow themselve to dump Diop and/or Thomas on the Cavaliers in order for Cleveland to move up two spots I’d give the tires a quality kick on that. The Cavs are way under the cap, and per the new CBA they may need to look for ways to actually spend money in order to get themselves to the minimum salary cap floor.” [Stepien Rules]
Over at Eleven Warriors, Kyle Lamb gets into emotions I’ve felt for a long time now: Ohio State is NOT just a football school anymore, “Oh, sure, Ohio feeds its young with NERF footballs rather than baby bottles. I think kindergartners probably learn the 22 positions on a football field before they learn the 26 letters of the alphabet. If Ohio boundaries were drawn in 1953 rather than 1803, I’m pretty sure it would come out looking like a spiral. We could fill many time capsules listing the achievements of the football program as only a select few teams can match what Ohio State has done on the gridiron over the years. But the basketball program need not take a backseat, especially for its own fans. Yesterday, ESPN put out a list of the top college basketball jobs in the country. Among them, Ohio State ranked No. 8 nationally. ” [Eleven Warriors]
At his personal blog, Joe Posnanski compared LeBron James to Fast Eddie in “The Hustler”, “Thursday, he showed the adamant and serious LeBron. He was terrifying in his single-mindedness. I always thought the wonder of “The Hustler” was the way it fused and separated winning and losing. At the end, Fast Eddie won the game while he lost his wonder. I don’t think it’s that stark for LeBron, but I also say that something in him shifted Thursday.” [Joe Blogs]
Finally, despite the worst-kept secret that Anthony Davis will be the first pick in the draft, Thomas Robinson believes he should be that top selection, “The context for these statements is a little different than a logical argument, though, because Robinson’s job in this pre-draft period is to convince teams that he’s worth their selection. He might actually believe that he’s the best player in the draft, and for all we know that’ll end up being the case despite our best guesses. But the takeaway from these sorts of confident statements isn’t that he’s an irrational person — it’s that he believes in himself and will do whatever it takes to prove his doubters wrong. Logic is for analysts and talent evaluators, not the participants.” [Ball Don’t Lie]
4 Comments
I posed this question in another article but I’m gonna repost: if you knew a year ago that you could draft TRob this year, would you still take TT? I don’t watch too much college basketball, but I loved watching TRob through the tourney, love his confidence, and would love to see him in Wine and Gold. I know it’s not gonna happen because of the logjam at the position, but that takes me back to my hypothetical hind-sighted question.
Would love to move up to #2 to ensure getting MKG but the Bobcats want a king’s ransom right now. Hopefully Beal will be there at 4 if they stay put. That would make a great backcourt with Kyrie and create some real excitement down at the Q again. Right now I’m afraid of Drummond. Teams are winning without pure centers.
Yes, you probably still take TT. There isn’t really anyone else who was worthy of being drafted as high (maybe Valenciunas… we’ll have to see on that). I think you also need to remember that TRob is two years older than TT was when drafted. If Thompson had two extra years of playing in college, would he look even more impressive? I would think so. With that said, I honestly wouldn’t mind taking TRob if the front office thinks he has more upside than what everyone is saying (the book on him by so-called draft experts is low-ceiling, high-floor).
I think Robinson is going to be a nice player, but TT would be doing similar things this year in college. Tristan is also 5 days older, for what it’s worth.