MLB News: Indians bring in more spring depth, sign Elliot Johnson
January 27, 2014How can the Browns improve their rushing attack for 2014?
January 28, 2014Cleveland sports fans are waiting. Thus, while we’re all waiting, the WFNY editors thought you might enjoy reading. Because you never know how long we might be waiting. So here are assorted reading goodies for you to enjoy. Send more good links for tomorrow’s edition to tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
“Not only are the Cavs 7th league-wide in defending the pick and roll according to Synergy Sports, but Irving himself is in the 54th percentile defensively in that set. It’s isolation where he burns, allowing .97 points per possession in the 24th percentile of the league.
He also gets torched in hand-off situations (1.2 points per possession) and getting caught behind screens (1.0 points per possession). In short, if he has help, the Cavs are helping. If he doesn’t, he gets eaten up. That’s an effort issue.” [Moore/CBS Sports]
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The market for Jimenez and Santana- “After the Reds, we find the Giants, who have a shaky Ryan Vogelsong and even shakier depth behind him. They don’t seem to be in the market for either starter. The Phillies, Astros, and White Sox could all improve by a couple games, but neither the Astros nor the White Sox look set to contend, and the Phillies really don’t either, even though the front office might disagree. Eventually you land on the Indians. The Indians are looking at a potential gain of a couple wins, and they’d also like to have Jimenez back if that’s at all possible. At issue is the cost, which is the same for everybody. The Indians aren’t big spenders, and recently they’ve talked about how content they are to sort through internal starting options.” [Sullivan/FanGraphs]
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“But the Browns have the same old problem they’ve had since the weekend that the late owner of the team, Al Lerner, put his stamp of approval on Tim Couch as the first pick of the expansion Browns in 1999: They don’t have a long-term quarterback of the future (unless Brian Hoyer, 28, is far better than he’s shown in his four-team, four-start NFL career), and they don’t have anyone to coach one. That’s the biggest problem with the Browns now. There’s no consensus as to who will be the offensive coordinator, and certainly no consensus as to whom the team will draft in May for the new coordinator to coach. And what if the Browns, who love Johnny Manziel, are trumped in their effort to draft Manziel by another team—assuming Johnny Football is the top quarterback on the board, which is too early to say now. The Browns have gone six straight seasons with at least 11 losses, and they are far from out of the woods.” [King/MMQB]
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“Sunday will be the fourth time in the current playoff format that the no. 1 seeds from each conference have played in the Super Bowl, and the first since Peyton Manning’s Colts lost to the Saints four years ago. Even more rare are the contrasting styles on display in this Super Bowl. Since the merger, only four championship games have featured the no. 1 scoring offense and the no. 1 scoring defense, the most recent example coming 23 years ago when the Giants played Jim Kelly’s Bills. Look at the numbers just a little deeper, and a clash at this level is even less likely. Football Outsiders’ DVOA statistic measuring team efficiency starts in 1989, and Sunday will be the first time the top offense and top defense have ever met in the Super Bowl.” [Mays/Grantland]
2 Comments
So, to summarize, the Cavs need defense (particularly from Irving), the Indians need a starter they cannot likely afford, and the Browns need a QB.
hey, this sounds familiar.
Yeah, please get the sharp objects away from me after reading Rick’s selections. When the best local sports news is that Ubaldo may return on a 1 year so that Callaway can take out his watch and hypnotize for another year, I’m half expecting to be reading quotes from Bill Musselman and Forrest Gregg.