Indians 5 Rangers 2: Kipnis, Ubaldo, and the pen lead Tribe to series win
June 13, 2013Beer, Bitters, Basil, soccer, music and more – Casual Friday with Denny – WFNY Podcast – 2013-06-14
June 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.
“This is not a “Cleveland is totally awesome!” post, as they are faltering, and look like they will need a little luck to finish over .500 this year. They need pitching, obviously. That might be one part of their farm system produces in near future. I am hardly applauding their drafting — drafting upside is not mutually exclusive with smart trades and signings. It is impressive that despite so little production from Cleveland’s own draft picks, their current offense it remains very competitive.
Contracts like those extended to Swisher and Bourn might not be great, and may not get them over the top this season, but those two players are not so old that they are necessarily going to fall off cliffs tomorrow. If the pitching help comes, they, along with other players like Santana and Kipnis, will be around for a potential playoff contender in Cleveland. If not, it is not as if those contracts are unbearable or un-tradeable in the future. They acquired players that can help them be respectable now and perhaps contend in the near future, and doing so through free agency, though it has risks, also means they did not have to give up any young, cost-controlled talent to do so.” [Klaassen/Getting Blanked]
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“Mike Vrabel is challenging Tom Herman for the title of best recruiter on the staff. Coach Meyer offered up a lot of constructive criticism for Mike Vrabel. Meyer noted that he wanted to see Vrabel land a top recruit (specifically mentioned Joey Bosa) and also see him take the same approach to recruiting as he does playing (no excuses, W/L). A positive that Urban noted was Vrabel’s relationship with recruits. Mike Vrabel gave himself a four in recruiting. He stated “I can always be better in recruiting.” You have to love that attitude.
In the 2014 class, Vrabel is off to a fast start with commitments from Dante Booker, ATH Parris Campbell, WR Lonnie Johnson, and DL Dylan Thompson. He is credited for landing DT Billy Price, DE Joey Bosa, CB Gareon Conley, while assisting with DL Michael Hill, DL Donovan Munger, DL Tyquan Lewis, and DL Tracy Sprinkle. Mike Vrabel gets an ‘A+’ for the work he has done in both classes.” [Wagner/Eleven Warriors]
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On the joy of baseball. [Buckeye Nerd]
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“Even as they seemed set to fade into the mists, the Spurs’ success and decorum had made them so admired, a brief internship with them might land you a GM job. Half the league has or recently had former Spurs as GMs (Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti, Atlanta’s Danny Ferry, Indiana’s Kevin Pritchard, New Orleans’ Dell Demps, Orlando’s Rob Hennigan, former Phoenix GMs Steve Kerr and Lance Blanks) or coaches (Monty Williams, Alvin Gentry, Mike Brown, Mike Budenholzer, Avery Johnson, PJ Carlesimo, Jacque Vaughn, Vinny Del Negro).
Authoritarians like Pop come with healthy egos they generally trot out sometime. An anomaly to the hilt, Pop has his ego hidden somewhere no one has ever seen it.” [Heisler/HoopsHype]
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Pestano and McAllister take to the streets of New York with street kiss cam. [MLB.com]
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“That sense of optimism I’m feeling comes from Waiters’ 2013 portion of the season. Once the calendar turned to 2013, (his final 37 games of the season), Waiters averaged 15.0 points per game on 12.5 shots with a 52.5% TS%. He became much more assertive around the rim, getting the line nearly 33% more often (2.7 FTAs up to 4 FTAs), leading to a spike in his field goal percentage at the rim — all the way up to 68% for his final 31 games of the season.
Even though he was seemingly more assertive in getting to the rim, it happened more naturally within the offense as opposed to forcing action. Gone were the days of multiple pull-up 20-footers per game, and they were replaced by drives to the hoop. And the best part about all of this is that he’s capable of creating his own shot, unlike a lot of younger players. Bradley Beal had to wait until John Wall returned to have an excellent season because he has to have someone make space and create for him. The last top-5 shooting guard selected before that, Evan Turner, still hasn’t figured out a way to get his own buckets consistently (but then again, that wasn’t one of his primary skills). Even James Harden struggled more during his season to get his own shot.” [Vecenie/Fear the Sword]
16 Comments
The way Klaasen teases apart the the starting lineup highlights Shapiro’s and Antonetti’s imbalanced skills in running a baseball organization. So weird how skilled they are in spotting and acquiring talent from other orgs while being so clueless in the amateur draft and (possibly) minor-league player development.
Why can’t they just overpay and poach an excellent guy from another organization who has an effective methodology? I understand Shapiro was at the forefront of putting sabermetrics into practice years ago, but they’d be a whole lot more successful and save a bundle if they could admit that, when it comes to these crucial deficiencies, they are not the brightest guys in the room. Like, with 3 outfield positions, where are all the truly promising outfield prospects?
*slow*clap*
in season’s past, a joke here about Jon wishing he had been in NYC for Pestano walking around with a KissCam would have been prudent.
Ok, likely a slow day today and I don’t want to contaminate the Oladipo thread, so I’ll put this here. My NBA draft big board.
Note: Tiers aren’t really in order because they would depend on team need as well as background/medical reports, etc.
Tier1 (destined to be a star) – no one. None deserve it, so let’s not kid ourselves by forcing the issue.
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Tier2 (likeliest to be best in this class)
Nerlens Noel – I’ve pretty well documented my feelings on him. Both positives and negatives.
Alex Len – Injury is the biggest issue and ‘could’ be bigger than Noel (we don’t have reports).
Victor Oladipo – if he were a SF, then he’d possibly be in tier1. SG’s need to shoot and it’s not a certainty for him.
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Tier3 (wouldn’t shock me to see any actually be the best)
Trey Burke – propped up by being a PG, but everyone needs a good PG in today’s NBA.
Otto Porter – limited upside IMO. Solid guy though who could develop into good
3&D guy.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – best mid-range game, which is what NBA defenses gift-wrap. Good D guy too.
Jamaal Franklin – close to Oladipo’s measurables, more innate skill on offense. He’s this drafts Kawhi Leonard (but at PG/SG).
Michael Carter-Willliams – all the measurable, but doesn’t blow you away. If he figures it out, then he could be amazing.
Tier4 (obvious flaws)
Ben McLemore – such a sweet shooting stroke, he played decent defense too. But, he just feels like a pure 3&D guy w/o the stat-stuffing that Porter does and from SG.
Anthony Bennett – man can he score, but he’s likely a Paul Millsap guy at best.
Shabazz Muhammad – his dad is nuts, he might be. Background check could push him into Tier2 or make him nearly undraftable.
CJ McCollum – he can score, but he’s not Curry. He will need to prove he can play defense and play PG (because he’s small for SG). I’d love him as a backup PG/SG, but not as a starter.
Cody Zeller – he’s proven a lot, but he’s also more of a project than I’ve seen some claim. He needs better post moves, more strength, and a tougher mindset on defense. He has all the tools and some great footwork though.
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Tier5 (1st round grades, but we are getting much riskier now)
Shane Larkin – if only he were a little taller (MCW) or a little tougher (Burke). Likely a backup waterbug PG, but could be a Ty Lawson in the right system.
Giannis Adetokunbo – one of youngest players in draft. Likely needs a season or two in Europe to season. Ridiculous upside and lots of
great reports (and some not so nice). Can get more into what I have read if necessary, but he seems like the best overall Euro-prospect.
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Tier6 (fringe 1st
rounders IMO)
Tony Mitchell – only because of his off-the-court stuff. On the court, he’s as good as Anthony Bennett but 2” taller.
Sergey Karasev – read some great things and some not so
great things. I don’t know because I haven’t actually seen him. Reports, age, and measurable all less than Giannis, which is why he is here instead of above.
Dennis Schroeder – really, skinny. No, really, really skinny. From reports, seems like a backup PG at best and the unknown is the only reason I don’t have some other guys I do like above him here.
Steven Adams – okay, he’s young. But, man, he was brutal last year. He’s not ready and I don’t know why he didn’t go back for another year. Whoever gets him has to understand that and develop accordingly.
Rudy Gobert – lots of conflicting reports on him. Some had me higher on him earlier, now waning. I really don’t know about him, so safest to put him here.
Gorgui Dieng – only here because he’s so much older than all other prospects. He has some nice footwork around the basket and some nice defense, but he’s limited in what he can do or develop into. Should make a fine draft pick in the 20s for someone though.
Tony Snell – prototypical SG size and skillset. The right coach/team is going to make this guy the next Danny Green. The wrong coach/team
is going to have this guy be out of the NBA in 3 years.
Tier7 (guys to consider with our 2nd rounders)
Olynyk
Plumlee
Bullock
Crabbe
Hardaway Jr.
E. Green
L. Brown
Ledo
P. Jackson
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Tier8 (guys to stash in Europe with our 2nd rounders if we don’t have roster room and cannot trade)
Livio Jean-Charles – I really like him and ESPN showed him on the Nike Summit. Tons of motor and passion. Funky shot mechanics, but could become reliable 3&D guy for a small cost.
M. Jaiteh
“Bebe” Nogueira
Nice Kiss Cam video. Enjoyed that.
I for one am glad you didn’t “contaminate” the Oladipo thread as you say! 😉
Looks like you’ve covered just about everyone although I’m not sure that I agree that Noel, Len and Oladipo are the three best choices especially with Noel and Len both coming off injuries that matter. That being said the fact that those were the best three shows just how weak of a draft this was as far as measurable talent who can contribute something sooner then later. I still say so much of these diluted draft classes has to do with guys being so young and unprepared for what it truly takes to be a professional. I can only imagine how things would be if the NBA hadn’t set an age limit.
Mel Kiper on line 2!
3 things:
– I switch Otto and Len. I think people are overlooking Otto’s great court vision and understanding. This guy could be a post-knee Sean Elliott at the pro level, with better defense,
– Shabazz will need the ball a lot and does not play well with the other children. Classic selfish black-hole player who always gets his points on bad teams. Plays no defense. I want no no part of him.
– If you’re going to do this, get a blog, dude.
I don’t like Otto’s upside. I think he’ll be okay, but not great. I at
least want a chance at greatness from #1 overall even if I miss.
Shabazz may be the next Michael Beasely. That’s why it’s so important to get the real reports on him. Hopefully, Mike Brown made nice with his UCLA counterparts while in LA.
having a blog for 2 posts a year is a bit overkill, no? the NBA/NFL draft posts.
I think they are the 3 most likely to be the best in this class long-term. Perhaps a team doesn’t want the risk and goes with a guy like Otto as Harv mentions. Definitely the youth plays into the diluted drafts.
But, I still contend the draft is only really weak at the top. There are alot more intriguing guys throughout the draft than usual. Even into the 2nd round.
As your internet friend, I’m telling you – track your comments. You are a certified draft crazy, you research and develop theories, you feel compelled to respond to every draft comment, That sounds like criticism but not intended that way. Just saying it’s clear that counter-punching isn’t doing it for you, so you’re now doing articles in a comment section. Go on, fly, I’ll follow you.
🙂 no doubt, I love the draft beyond the normal point of sanity. particularly the NBA draft.
I prefer the counter-punching. I’ve always thrown my big boards here, though it probably is overkill. At some point, I’ll probably start something up, but, for now, I enjoy the lack of commitment of the comments section 🙂
I don’t even know if I could say those three are best long-term either but you clearly have spent alot of time on it where I have not so time will tell.
Kinda ironic that the draft would be weak at the top with the Cavaliers leading the way. Very unfortunate. Very Cleveland. I agree that there are more intriguing guys later. This is probably due to so many people not being able to determine how well these guys will translate to the pros. I really still wouldn’t mind seeing the Cavaliers trade down perhaps receiving a pick next year. The problem is with all of the “we don’t want to be in the lottery again” talk they’ve kind of made that hard to sell. Kinda of like drafting Noel who may not play until December if lucky.
we had the #1 pick in 2 of the best drafts to have that pick the last 10 years. we were due for a “down year” one 🙂
Very true. The time has come or at least is very near to start making that second time pay dividends. Three consecutive years of being near the bottom is entirely enough. Mark that down as another reason I’m not on the Noel bandwagon.