Kruger: Cleveland already feels like home
March 14, 2013NFL Mock Draft: Dion Jordan is the latest pass-rusher du jour
March 14, 2013
While 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.
“Impressive second year aside, some red flags remain: Thompson has yet to shoot better than 50 percent from the field – the product, at least in part, of having had 50 percent of his “close” shots blocked (per 82games.com), while his defense (his 108 rating has stayed constant) remains more a function of athleticism than awareness.
Still, there’s little doubt that Thompson’s steadfast production and improved repertoire make him an ideal counter-balance to Irving’s remarkable penetrating abilities. The fit wasn’t always so obvious.” [Cavan/NY Times]
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“Contingency plans abound. If Lonnie Chisenhall can’t hack it as a full-time big league third baseman, Cleveland’s trade for multi-positional infielder Mike Aviles could prove invaluable. If the Indians want to give Mark Reynolds (their first notable free-agent signing of the winter) time in the field as Francona has vowed, Carlos Santana could see time at DH, thereby giving one of the best power-hitting catchers in the game a chance to get closer to the near-everyday playing time he craves and the team should want from him. Lefty-swinging Ezequiel Carrera, another speedy fly-catcher in the Bourn and Brantley mold, could also spot for Stubbs against tough right-handers, or pinch-run for one of the few Indians who lack speed in this year’s projected lineup.
If anything, there’s a bit of Curse of Plenty potential here. Should everyone stay fairly healthy throughout the season, there will be players who’ll get short-changed on playing time, especially at first base and DH with Swisher and Reynolds ensconced, Santana wanting to do more than catch, and Giambi risking potential rust if he doesn’t get a decent number of reps. Still, Francona doesn’t see any of that as a problem.” [Keri/Grantland]
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Looking at the Buckeyes’ secondary- “Ohio State’s pass defense, much like the defense as a whole, improved as the season went on. The Buckeyes allowed 32 pass plays of 20 yards or more and nearly 250 yards through the air per game. After 12 games, it ranked 76th, not the level Coombs, safeties coach Everett Withers, defensive coordinator Luke Fickell and head coach Urban Meyer were looking to establish.
But upon closer inspection, the numbers were rather inspiring. They surrendered 10.9 yards per completion and only 6.4 yards per attempt. In November, that number was a full yard less. Individually, Roby led the country in passes defended. And don’t forget, he only played 11 games.” [Rowland/Eleven Warriors]
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“I looked at around 50 pitchers, focusing on guys with heat. One pitcher, Javier Vazquez had a substantial velocity drop and substantial regain. Starting in ’07 and thru ’10, Valquez lost 3.1 mph on his average fastball. The biggest drop was from ’09 to ’10, when he lost 2.4 mph. After ’10, Javier was able regain 1.7 mph in ’11. Further, Valquez pitched all of ’10 and ‘11. So, the velocity drop cannot be result of major injury.
A couple of players had fluctuations of no more than 1 mph. CC Sabathia and C.J. Wilson both had small dips that they recovered the following year. But the overwhelming trend is that once the velocity goes, it is gone for good. Pitchers tend to hit peak velocity in their careers and slowly lose a small amount of speed each and every year. The trend is overwhelming.” [Belknap/Tribe Daily]
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The science of Baseball marketing- “Armed with that information, the Indians are attempting to maximize revenue by optimizing their promotional schedule. King showed a bar chart displaying the effectiveness of each promotion, broken down by year. “Dollar Dog” days, for instance, were the biggest draw, better than bobbleheads or Kids Fun Days. But they weren’t necessarily the most dependable; Dollar Dog days did better when the Indians were winning, whereas fireworks nights were highly resistant to team performance: people apparently want to see fireworks whether their team is winning or not.* Nor were Dollar Dog days the most profitable; that distinction went to hat/cap giveaway days, presumably because the low cost of caps relative to the extra attendance generated offers the best return on investment. Not only can the Indians determine which promotions to schedule and when, but they can also arrive at the correct quantities for giveaway days: at the 15,000-item level, only hats are profitable; at 10,000, almost everything is.” [Lindbergh/Baseball Prospectus]
20 Comments
Against Wiz saw Tristan do something I’ve been waiting for: his new pet move going left to right into the lane for his weird teardrop was cut off. So he just stopped, pivoted left very smoothly and hit his little jumper from where he was. A countermove to go with a few pet moves – now they can run plays for him. A year ago he looked panicky with the ball in the lane.
With his growing confidence suspect he might be a very different player next year.
An article from a NY media outlet about the Cavs? I figured it would be about the Knicks plans’ to steal Kyrie away because he doesn’t have any support in Cleveland.
Sum up the Keri article: yeah, the pitching is terrible, but look over here at the utility of all these players!
Apparently Keri looked over the roster via Wikipedia if he thinks Zeke has a chance cracking the roster in the outfield this year.
I love that push shot of his that he’ll use from places where you would normally only see a jump shot… it looks absurd, but it goes in.
I think Zeke spends a decent amount of time in MLB. but, as an injury fill-in throughout the season.
I just worry if he’ll regress once Andy returns….and if that means Varejao needs to go…
That sounds about right
I wonder if it was the offense was more geared to Irving/Andy PnR, so Tristan never got comfortable or if it was Tristan just always deflecting to Andy, so he never got comfortable. Or, if it was just more time needed in the NBA.
We’ll see, but having too many talented players is a good problem to have.
He releases it surprisingly quick from that funky low angle. Right now his dunks are more likely to get blocked than that chest-high slop. Hey, whatever works. Antawn carved a long career from that stuff.
I like it because years ago, I tried to learn the teardrop, which I got down to a science shooting alone. Of course, in games, it ends up being close to what Tristan does 🙂
BTW, surprised no stories yet on the most devastating injury in Cleveland sports this year: Kobe’s ankle (obviously).
I sure hope your wrong.
Get him some deer antler spray stat, we need the Fakers to make the playoffs!
Dwight will finally feel empowered that it is “his” team for whatever that means and actually play like a superstar for the first time this season.
Boy the NBA sure knows how to script their season…
just wait until they setup the Heat to run through the Celtics, Bulls, then Pacers in consecutive rounds in the Eastern playoffs with Derrick Rose returning for that Bulls series.
Stern is a mastermind.
Not to mention his tie-in with an Adidas social marketing campaign promoting #thereturn leading up to that series.
Hate him as many people may but you can’t deny the guy has brought the league back from the brink of extinction.
I was so bummed when I heard that news… I sure hope you are right. For the past several weeks Kobe has single-handedly kept the Lakers in the playoff race. Maybe they will play more inside-out now? Should work well with Nash, Meeks, ‘Tawn, World Peace, and Blake spotting up from the outside.
so that dysfunctional team will quickly re-invent itself in its final 15 games after being All-Kobe, All the Time? Maybe. At least they have players who have the individual ability to win games. But I’m guessing Utah’s frown goes upside down and they start a nice season-end run and put this weird Lakers season to bed. And we were so close …