Cavs vs Nets Behind the Box Score: The Streak is Real
December 8, 2014Brandon Moss: Fits like a glove
December 9, 2014Happy Tuesday WFNY!
It’s been a bit of up and down few days for me as a sports fan. The Cavs won games last Thursday and Friday, and then on Saturday Ohio State delivered an early Christmas gift in the form of one of my Top Five All-Time OSU games1. However, on Sunday, the Browns brought my sports high crashing back to earth with an awful loss against the Colts. Monday night, though, the Cavaliers got things back on right track with a solid win over the Nets.
You always hear coaches say how they forget the wins right away, but it’s the losses that stick with them and linger. I believe them. I experience it all the time in Fantasy Sports. When I lose a close matchup, that loss always haunts me much more than the close wins offer relief. It’s the same thing as a fan. For all the recent wins by my sports teams, it’s that Browns loss that is affecting me the most right now.
I’m furious over this loss. There is no way the Browns should have lost that game. The defense played out of their minds, but the offense completely let them down. Even despite the offense, that game was there for the taking. If Billy Cundiff doesn’t miss a relatively easy FG attempt, the Browns probably win. If the Browns wrap up Boom Herron on 4th and 1, the Browns win the game. If Paul Kruger isn’t called for a ridiculous roughing the QB penalty, the Browns might have won. If Brian Hoyer converts maybe even just one first down in the second half, the Browns might have won. If Hoyer doesn’t throw yet another interception in the end zone, maybe the Browns get at least a FG and win the game.
Last week, I made my argument for Hoyer. I still stand by that argument. With the knowledge I had at that time, I was fine with Hoyer getting the nod. But not anymore. Now that the season is pretty much lost, the team might as well just start Johnny Manziel and find out what they have in the rookie QB. There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever to see Brian Hoyer start another game for the Cleveland Browns.
Having said that, though, I’m a little surprised with the amount of sports hate I see for Hoyer from Browns fans. Hoyer wasn’t great. He wasn’t always good. But he won some big games for the Browns and he gave us a brief respite from the never ending carousel of QBs. There’s no doubt he’s been pretty bad for over a month now. I don’t know what happened that he so quickly went from a QB who didn’t make mistakes and managed the game so well to an unreliable QB who made rookie level mistakes over and over again.
So I have no problem with fans who have wanted to see Manziel the last couple weeks. What I don’t get is the anger and sports hate that fans have for Hoyer. There seems to be some anger displacement with the decision to ride with Hoyer instead of Manziel. And rather than focus the anger on the people who made that decision, fans instead are channeling that anger to Hoyer.
But should we be mad at Mike Pettine and Kyle Shanahan? Perhaps. However, I do think the decision not to use Manziel at all last Sunday says way less about faith in Hoyer than it does a lack of faith in Manziel. And that’s what scares me the most. If this staff trusted Manziel whatsoever, we would have seen more of him by now. This staff has no special affinity for Hoyer. They didn’t pick him, he was handed to them. They picked Manziel. By all logic, we should have seen more Manziel by now. I’m terrified by the staff’s reluctance to turn to Manziel.
We’re on the precipice of yet another crawl to the finish line. I can easily see the Browns stumbling to a 7-9 finish behind Manziel, and then we’re right back to where we started. I hope that’s not what happens. I hope the Browns are sparked by Manziel’s style and the team can finish strong and build some momentum for next season. I know one thing, though. Rather than focus on all the wins this year all offseason, it’s going to be this Colts loss that sticks with me the most.
Enough Browns, though. Lets talk some NBA.
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A new breed of NBA superstars
We try to keep politics and social issues away from WFNY as much as possible. It’s not that some of us aren’t political minded people, and it’s not that we don’t think it’s important. It’s more about understanding the right time and place for such discussions. But some things are too important to ignore.
In the vacuum left behind from Michael Jordan’s second retirement in 1998, the NBA seemed to begin to lose its way. NBA stars seemed to become further and further out of touch with fans and with society at large. This most famously came to a head when Latrell Sprewell infamously refused a $21 million contract and implied that it was because the money wasn’t enough to feed his family. Of course, this was years after he choked his head coach. It was representative of an identity problem for the NBA. For years they had catered to the superstars, selling the stars to the public and turning a blind eye to some of the insanity.
Fast forward to today, and the stars of the game are much, much different. The stars of today still want to make as much money as they can, of course (and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, all of us want to earn as much as we can), but there’s a degree of tact to how they go about it, and they are much more mindful of what they say in public about it.
I suspect social media has a lot to do with that. It seems like the stars of today are more in touch with the fans and society at large. It tends to keep many athletes in touch with the people who watch their games and support them. It also makes it easier than ever for players to have a more social consciousness than we’ve seen from players in the past.
Before Monday night’s game against the Nets, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving wore “I Can’t Breathe” shirts during warmups. Again, WFNY is not the place to discuss who is right in the Eric Garner case, but in America we should applaud people sticking up for their beliefs regardless of whether we agree with them or not. Frankly, I love that NBA stars are aware of what’s happening in our society and culture and they are using their power, status, and pedestal to show support to grieving families.
There will always be a large sentiment of “stick to basketball” directed at players, and that’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If you wish players would be quiet and just play the game, that’s your prerogative. But I like it. I like that today’s NBA stars are generally businessmen and people willing to take a stand on social issues.
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Anthony Davis might be on the verge of owning this league
As we just discussed, the NBA is always a star driven league. It’s the major sport with the fewest number of active participants who actively participate in both sides of the ball the most frequently. The players wear less equipment and clothing than any other sport. It makes it easy to sell the stars to the public. In my life, I grew up with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ruling the league. Then it was Michael Jordan’s turn. After MJ, it was Shaq and Kobe’s turn to rule the league. Lately, it has been LeBron James’ NBA. But who is after LeBron? Kevin Durant has been the obvious answer for the longest time.
But maybe there’s a different, more logical answer. And that answer might be the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis. The Uni-brow is an absolute freak of nature. A player with PG skills in a center’s body, it feels like there’s no limit to just how good Davis might become.
Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins2 decided to take a look at Davis in his latest profile for SI:
Every few years the NBA presents a new prodigy, supernaturally gifted and relentlessly driven. Ant—as he is called, sans irony, like a bouncer named Tiny—is listed at 6’ 10″, 220 pounds (“245 now,” he interjects), with a wingspan longer than Yao Ming stands and a gait that can cover the floor in a dozen cartoonish strides. He is the invention of a God who already built Kevin Durant and decided to get more creative. Teammates compare Davis to a Gumby doll, a pogo stick and a variety of other outlandish toys, all elastic or spring-loaded. “I can throw the ball off the top of the backboard,” says point guard Jrue Holiday. “He’ll catch it.” The league has always attracted its share of acrobats, contortionists and high risers but never a postmodern giant quite like Davis, dribbling between his legs, elevating off one foot, sinking fadeaways and swatting them with equal assurance.
His game is a blend of art and economy. With LeBron James still acclimating in Cleveland and Durant rehabbing in Oklahoma City, Davis was the best player in the NBA through the first month of the season. At week’s end he ranked in the top 10 in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and field goal percentage. His Player Efficiency Rating was 33.3, according to basketball-reference.com, on pace for the highest ever. “He doesn’t take a bad shot,” says Pelicans coach Monty Williams, because for Davis, a leaner in traffic constitutes a clean look. Davis is doing all this, mind you, without anything resembling a go-to move. “He’s not like Kobe or Carmelo, where you put together a [defensive] plan for him and say, ‘If he gets the ball in this area, it’s a bucket,’ ” explains Kings center Ryan Hollins. “He doesn’t hurt you in one place. He hurts you everywhere.”
I highly recommend reading the whole thing. It’s going to be interesting to watch Davis’s career and see just how great he becomes.
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Soccer players trying to make half court shots
The NBA has made no secret of its desire to expand into a global sport. Perhaps no sport does more to work on grassroots campaigns to increase awareness of the game in other countries.
I recently stumbled on this video and thought it was pretty cool. The NBA Europe has a running series in which they invite soccer stars in the UK to attempt half court shots.
First of all, it was funny to see how many players are Cavs fans now. Never doubt the global reach of LeBron James. But my favorite part was Lakewood’s own Brad Friedel being the only one to make a shot. Way to represent Ohio with pride, Brad!
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That’s it from me this week. As always, it’s been fun. Have a great week everyone, and I’ll talk to you guys next Tuesday!
21 Comments
Agree with 100% with the Hoyer hate. I don’t understand it. He’s trying his best to help the team and he was a big part of this team’s best season in 7 years. If anyone on the Browns deserves the fans’ vitrol, it should be Josh Gordon. Imagine the kind of season they would have had if he would’ve stayed out of trouble and come to training camp like a professional.
If LeBron hadn’t come back, how painful would it be that the only lottery the Cavs didn’t win was the Anthony Davis one? Though it’s even more painful to think about a LeBron, Kyrie, Davis Big Three…
Since he has been on his skid, he has started to say the wrong things publically and it was very apparent after last game that he is done. He threw the whole offense under the bus instead of taking ownership for his mistakes. That is what good QBs do, they take the blame no matter what. Hoyer did this earlier, but recently he has been bad. I can imagine he is under a ton of pressure, but be a leader.
1) If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it’d be Christmas all year long.
2) It’s probably due to my conspicuous absence from social media, but I don’t see the “hate” for Hoyer. I see frustration, and disappointment (particularly, on my part, with his apparent attitude), but not hate. I think there’s a disconnect between what I see on WFNY and what’s happening on Twitter? Perhaps? I think we’ve been pretty reasonable here.
3) Go Spurs!
I was very impressed with Lebron’s gesture, not because he wore the shirt – he could have done that without thinking – but because of his response to questions about it. Unlike most of his public decisions, this one was not long strategized – he apparently got the shirt before the game from Jarrett Jack’s people – and his statements about it were nuanced and thoughtful.
I hereby declare today P Diddy Day. 😀
I think it’s funny that athletes standing up for citizens who have been innocently murdered has somehow become “controversial”. Especially considering how little Lebron or any athlete has actually said or done. I guess today donning a t-shirt or making a hand gesture is really going out on a limb. It makes me appreciate that much more Muhammad Ali and just how great he was.
Re: Hoyer – I felt all year long that the Browns wanted to ride Hoyer as long as possible to let Johnny learn. They did that, and Hoyer did as well as can be expected from a guy with his skill set, until a few weeks ago when he slipped a few notches. Once that happened, I felt that it was time to move on last week even as I was fine with the coaches making their decision. At this point, it should be clear that it’s time to move on. Thank you Brian for a nice run and letting this team develop around you instead of wasting a year. Now it’s Johnny Football time.
Re: Browns – Can we take a step back and think about how good this defense is? If this team were scoring at a slightly better rate, we’d be seeing them able to really let loose on opposing QBs, and even with being put in terrible position all day, they’re still succeeding. I’m really looking forward to next season to see what they can do with an improved (hopefully) offense on the other side.
Re: Athletes – I have no problem whatsoever with athletes making whatever statements they wish so long as they don’t impact their jobs (I would object to them striking or whatever over it). I also find it absolutely silly that so much attention is paid to it. These are athletes with limited (for the most part) understanding of politics, of events that have occurred, and are often doing so more for the reaction to their statements than anything else. That’s not to say that it’s an ingenuine reaction, but we don’t see as much done when cameras aren’t rolling to improve society outside of what’s mandated by their teams or the league. They’re citizens making statements, and kudos for that, even if I disagree with their sentiments.
Brad Friedel’s BAY VILLAGE squad defeated my high school in the state soccer tourney in the 1900’s. Never knew he was actually from Lakewood. Wish he had stayed there.
absolutely. I have lost so much respect for him. A QB should never throw his teammates under the bus the way Hoyer has. It’s been awful.
Is there any wonder that Josh Gordon won’t lay out and make a play for the guy? Also, Gordon probably sees how many inaccurate balls Hoyer throws over the middle, and he doesn’t want to get crushed like so many other Browns receivers have this season.
People have been on Gordon’s case, but he has not been in football since August. He has been banned from the team facilities, practices, and games, so I can see why he is a little rusty. Totally his fault, but I didn’t expect him to start where he left off. Hoyer leaves people to dry with passes at times too. I just don’t see how things went so bad so fast.
Love / Hate choose one
“1900s”
Man, when you put it that way, it really depresses me.
I refuse to be boxed, bound, or otherwise dichotomized!
(Possibly) Unpopular opinion time. Hoyer is getting a pass from a lot of fans because he’s a Cleveland guy. He’s been underthrowing, overthrowing, throwing behind his receivers and chucking balls into double coverage for a solid month now, half of which Gordon was inactive.
When he single-handedly torpedoed what’s left of the Browns season (whether he was responsible for keeping the season alive for so long is a different discussion), I finally found myself being able to deal with Manziel’s inevitable rookie mistakes rather than Hoyer’s regression and ineptitude.
Was there air in the basket balls they were shooting? When Brad’s shot hit the rim it didn’t rebound it just died.
To say that athletes have a limited undertanding of the events that have occured says a lot about how unaware you are yourself of this issue. The majority of players in the NBA come from these neighborhoods. These are their brothers and fathers being gunned down. They are more informed then most of us. Unfortunately the political climate and the institutions they work for limit how much they have the right to say.
THIS! All the “real fans” who don’t read blogs were defending hoyer for weeks. I think your view of the social media landscape is confined mostly to wonks
If they were talking about the general issues related to race I’d agree. They are not; and in fact, barely discuss those issues in general outside of highly notable issues, which is part of my point. They instead opine primarily on the popular side of moderately controversial events. That’s not quite the same.
FWIW, I do respect stuff like Lebron’s program in Akron and the like, which deal with issues head on and with somewhat less national fanfare.
Ah yes, the “because he’s a hometown boy” thing. My favorite. It’s not that some folks may be legitimately concerned that this rookie is not yet now (and perhaps never will be) ready to play quarterback in the NFL, it’s that they are swooning over where Hoyer is from. Right.
http://www.reflectingdarkness.com/Gifs/SPN/EyeRollCoooomeOn.gif
Look, I’m not saying there may not be ANY people out there like that, but man…talk about insulting the intelligence of a significant portion of fans.
“They instead opine primarily on the popular side of moderately controversial events.”
What’s the unpopular opinion? That unarmed citizens deserve to be executed like dogs at the states discretion?
Also, this is one of the most important issues facing race in The United States.
Educate yourself: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595586431
Please take the political diatribe elsewhere.