Box Score: Knicks 102, Cavaliers 97
March 4, 2013WFNY Podcast – 2013-03-05 – Diminishing returns in baseball stats?
March 5, 2013While 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.
Looking at potential FAs this summer– “What about the restricted free agents? There are a few restricted free agents still worth looking at, most notably: Nikola Pekovic, Tiago Splitter, Tyreke Evans, and Gerald Henderson. Splitter and Pekovic because they play center, and are still relatively young, are going to make northwards of $10 million a year. Someone will pay them that. Their teams are going to have a very hard time matching this number. My bet is that Minnesota matches and that San Antonio doesn’t. If you’re Danny Ferry, would you pay Josh Smith almost $18 million a year, or would you try to get Splitter for $10 million and move Horford to power forward? If I’m Chris Grant, I’d be extremely tempted with both. I’d bid these guys up just to tie up other teams’ time and salary. I still think Splitter would be awesome with Varejao, but we’d have to take a Xanax every time that Brazil played international ball. I like Pekovic: his toughness, his ability to check opposing centers (at least in terms of body), but I just get this feeling that he’s likely to sign and retire: sign a big fat check and balloon up to 350.” [Smith/Cavs the Blog]
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“It’s no accident that when Kipnis and third-base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall arrived at spring training, their locker stalls were situated right next to Jason Giambi, an 18-year-veteran who signed a minor league deal with Cleveland three weeks ago. Giambi might not make the Opening Day roster, but manager Terry Francona holds him in high esteem as the type of veteran who can throw an arm around the kids and nurture them through the rough patches. Giambi certainly made an impression in Colorado with Troy Tulowitzki and the other young Rockies players.
Giambi’s early message to Kipnis and Chisenhall: Don’t make the game harder than it already is.” [Crasnick/ESPN]
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“Flacco’s big, fat, new contract was finalized Monday, guaranteeing Flacco an exorbitant amount of money and ensuring that Flacco will be playing in Baltimore as long as the Ravens will have him. It’s the richest contract a NFL player has ever signed, but that doesn’t mean Flacco is the most valuable or most talented player in his own locker room, let alone throughout the league. It means, above all else, that he plays the right position.
Quarterbacks. The best ones get paid. Even the pretty good ones get paid. The teams that don’t have a great or pretty good one wish they had one to pay — and spend countless resources and energy chasing guys who might be pretty good. Flacco came from Delaware (via Pitt), the 18th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft after making the decision to go to the Senior Bowl and show his talents rather than stay away based on some perceived draft standing. You’d think more guys would learn from that.” [Jackson/FSO]
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“Face it, winning gives people a reason to spend money on your team as well as get businesses to send money your way. The Indians’ past success happened when the Cavs and Browns were not so good or not playing at all. To capture part of the market, not just be successful for a year or two, the Indians need to win.
The area is tired of talk about how the Tribe is doing things right. Doing things right has not translated into success or even the availability of major league talent. The last time the Indians’ front office was in this type of situation was at least 20 years ago. Given the situation, the hiring of Francona make sense. He’ll be able to handle the pressure, since it surely can’t compare to what he had to deal with in Boston. If a player or players are needed for a playoff run, the Indians have a history making small deals for good dividends.” [Kovach/Hardball Times]
12 Comments
Splitter is not much younger than Andy. I have no qualms about getting either him or Pek’s, but that is mostly because I think our window is closer than most. I think we can be a solid 5-8 seed next season and jump into contender status the following year (with the right moves).
I actually agree with this. They need to be competitive and make the playoffs next year because of timing issues, and I think they have a pretty good shot at doing it. The “big four” will be even better next year, they’ll have two more first round picks in the fold, and whether through the draft or free agency I tend to expect a new better starting SF with Gee becoming part of the second unit. I don’t know who all they’ll be able to keep from the bench bunch this summer, but the current team with no changes probably contends for a playoff spot next year wit another year of growth under their belts.
That said, free agent bigs are overpriced. It doesn’t seem like a high value way to improve the team. They may need one more, but I’d prefer he be a trade or a rookie if possible. If they are comfortable with where they project Zeller to be a year from now, maybe you draft a project and prepare for Andy’s departure. Or maybe Speights will be cheaper than those other guys and we should just try to resign him. I’m just not convinced either Splitter or Pekovic is good enough to make the team significantly better unless we’re trading Andy in the offseason too. (admittedly a possibility, although I don’t expect it)
I agree on FA bigs, but as long as we have a relatively short contract (3yrs), then I am okay with it to get a seasoned big (since drafted bigs tend to take time to mature).
For VP: VaTech v. Duke
Ok, here is my 1game scouting report on Green.
“Feel for the Game” Good – Passes a good litmus test right away. Doubled first two times down the court and finds Eddie for a quick 6pts. Next time down, he’s singled, so he gets an easy open look and hits the long two.
“Handle” Average – a little disappointed. I thought he’d have a great handle, but really he’s right-hand dominant without a good crossover and gave the ball up too quick when pressured and never went to beat his man when they got in his face.
“PnR” Good – though always were with other guards and outside the arc. no inside presence for VaTech really hurts. Honestly, they played pickup ball because they had NOTHING inside.
“Shot Form” Great – really smooth, quick and consistent.
“Off ball movement” Amazing – usually had the ball, but when off ball he was Rip Hamiltonesque. Knew exactly how to play off other players and use Duke guys as picks too.
“Floating runner” Great – I love this shot and he has a great one. Hit it everytime from FT line and in.
“Finish” Good – used body well to be able to finish in the lane but was a little too deliberate at times and caused a couple misses.
“Postup” Poor – rarely even bothered and he’s too weak to do it in college let alone NBA. Just not his game.
Other game notes:
*VaTech was toast when Duke went to box-n-1 w/ Plumlee the ‘1’ and taking away the long 2’s for Green.
*Green singlehandedly kept VaTech in the game until that point.
*VaTech hid him on defense and they played zone. Didn’t get a good feel for him there in this game though announcers praised him for previous defensive efforts.
Best case NBA scenario: Ty Lawson. He’s not quite the same guy though and he doesn’t have that handle (but a better shot). Denver is the exact type of system he would thrive in though.
Most likely NBA scenario: Jason Terry. Not a bad scenario either and he’s really more of a 2guard in the NBA and likely a bench scorer.
Worst case scenario: Just another Nate Robinson, etc. who may have some good scoring games but is too weak/small overall to play at the level.
Draft board: I’d say he moved up a bit after watching him closely. Late 1st isn’t out of his realm though he’s an older prospect.
Very good, I think this is an impartial evaluation. I think Jason Terry is a very astute comparison for his most likely scenario. He’s probably better at finishing in the paint than Terry, but not as fast and won’t have as good of a handle. Terry is also a good comparison as far as his size. You didn’t get to see him in man defense, but he’s nothing special there. He’s not a weak link, but he’s not great either… he could be a liability at the NBA level until he adds some strength. At 6’3″ with a 6’7″ wingspan, his length is good. I was glad that you noticed how poor his supporting cast is… they make what he’s doing right now as the nation’s leading scorer even more impressive. I’m actually usually really tough/fair when it comes to evaluating VT players who have been NBA draft hopefuls. I thought Malcolm Delaney would be a huge bust if he was drafted… he was a poor shooter and poor at finishing around the hoop. He basically just got to the line a lot, which wouldn’t happen with better athletes in the NBA. I was down on Deron Washington when drafted by the Pistons because he couldn’t score and had a skinny frame that couldn’t hold weight. I thought Zabian Dowdell could be a fringe NBA player, and he was for a few years, because he can play decent defense and can hit an open jumper. With Green, I just think he has a lot more potential than those guys… his offensive game is a lot more complete, so if you try to force him to do one thing, he has a counter move to beat you. I’m excited to see who drafts him and see how they use him.
my biggest concern would be that a team drafts him to be a pure backup PG and hands him the keys to the 2nd unit. there are alot of good perimeter defenders on 2nd units and they might give him fits.
if a team drafts and uses him like a Terry, Ben Gordon, etc. then he should do just fine. and, of course, if SA drafts him, then he’ll be great (because that is just the rule).
Good point… he’s probably better off with a team that has a big PG for their second unit. Denver w/ Miller and Cleveland w/ Livingston come to mind.
hmmm, team option on CJ Miles (qualifying offer on Ellington) and he’s been playing well lately. of course, we could always keep CJ 1 more year and see if Green can overtake him. with one of our 2nds, I wouldn’t be opposed.
That was just wishful thinking from a Cavs fan. I think there are definitely better places for him to land. Although looking at team needs, there aren’t too many teams with backup PGs or SGs who are big and capable of handling the ball well, who are also looking to add someone like Green. I think he’s almost certainly going to be put at PG with nobody at SG to handle the rock, which is a shame.
going to regret saying this out loud (on the internet), but Detroit could be the perfect spot for him if they re-sign Calderon to be their starting PG.
he’d be paired with either Stuckey or Knight and they could share both duties.
I think the Cleveland police will come and arrest me if I openly agree with you, so I’ll just wink in your general direction. BOO Pistons!
good thing is that with Dumars in control, they’ll likely let Calderon walk and overpay a guy like Udrih instead