It Was All Good Just a Week Ago: 5 Reasons for the Cavaliers Recent Struggles

Just last Tuesday the Cleveland Cavaliers were up five points, on the road against Eastern Conference favorite Philadelphia with 2:30 left in regulation. They sat at a record of 4-5 at the time, technically in an Eastern Conference playoff spot, albeit only 9 games into the season. They would go on to squander that lead and lose the game 98-97 in the Wells Fargo Center.

Since then they have dropped 4 more games in a row including yesterday’s 124-100 loss to the Miami Heat. They have been out scored in these games by an average score of 117-99. Even more startling, the average score after 3 quarters has been 95.5-73. The final quarters in each game have been 20/20 club garbage time.

So what happened? This team was showing promise not but 9 days ago and looked like they would be more competitive than we (or at least I) originally imagined. Now it seems like the bottom is dropping out. Coach John Beilein went as far as to scrap his starting lineup after halftime yesterday, playing a different rotation to begin the 3rd quarter.

Of course, understanding problems is the first step in solving them. Below I have 5 big reasons I think are tantamount to the Cavaliers’ recent struggles. All statistics referenced either come from basketball-reference.com or NBA’s tracking data and stats.

  • The Cavaliers average 7.2 of their shots being blocked per game. Only the Atlanta Hawks are worse at 8 shots blocked.

The league’s best teams at avoiding blocks average about half of this. Two of the last four losses have included double digit blocked shots against. There are 11 Cavaliers that have had a shot blocked during their most recent losing steak, and the only regular to not have been rejected is Larry Nance Jr. I think a lot of this can be attributed to a lack of flow in the offense. In their last four games, the Cavaliers are just one of three teams in the league to assist on less than half of their made baskets. They aren’t moving the ball effectively and are putting up predictable and often difficult shots. The chief culprits in this have been Tristan Thompson, who has gotten blocked 5 times in 3 games and Collin Sexton who has been blocked 6 times in the last 4 games.

Sexton in particular appears to be desperately, and ineffectively trying to create offense- mostly for himself. During this losing streak, the majority of his shots are coming after 3 dribbles or more. His second most popular location to shoot from during this span has been the area inside the paint but outside of the restricted area. This has also been his least efficient shot according to effective field goal percentage (35%). This would dictate he is forcing his way into the paint to take contested shots near, but not at the rim and he is missing a lot of them. Naturally, he is getting blocked on others. When placed in this situation it seems like it would be a perfect time to draw the defense’s attention and then kick out to an open player. Unfortunately, Sexton is still averaging just 2 assists per game this season. His offense hasn’t been the only individual struggle though.

  • Cedi Osman hasn’t been good, especially defensively

I wrote in my Cavaliers preview that this was going to be a key year for Osman. The 3rd year forward was headed into a contract year with a full season of starting under his belt at the age of 24. This was the make or break year for the Cavs to commit to this high-potential 2nd round draft choice. They took that pressure away though by signing Osman to a 4-year extension just one game into this season.

Osman has not re-paid the Cavaliers for their faith as of yet.

Opposing teams have feasted on him on the defensive end of the floor. They are shooting 69.2% on field goals within 10 feet of the rim when Osman is the primary defender. This would dictate that size is killing him, especially when he is forced to play the power forward position. Miami power forward Julius Randle scored 30 points in the Cavs’ match-up with the Heat last Thursday in Cleveland. While Osman wasn’t always defending Randle, he was primarily. Osman would also be the main defender against Philly’s Tobias Harris when Harris scored 27 points on just 14 shots this past Sunday and for Duncan Robinson’s 9 for 12 on 3 pointers night that occurred yesterday in Miami.

Meanwhile, Osman’s Offensive Rating for the season is 99, with a rating of 100 being average. So for all his trouble on the defensive end, Osman hasn’t been proficient offensively either. His offensive ratings of 94, 66 and 76 in three of the last four losses are even worse to boot. But he isn’t the lone player to struggle on offense.

  • Tristan Thompson has been shut off offensively.

Thompson had been a rather large focal point of the Cavaliers’ offense in their first 9 games. He was effective enough that ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote about how pleasantly surprised he was with how capable Thompson had been on the floor this year. Thompson didn’t play yesterday for rest reasons and perhaps the break was appropriate as for the season he is averaging 11.6 field goals a night. Over the last 3 losses before yesterday however, he had put up just 6.7 shots per game and was shooting just 45% from the field., compared to 53% for the season. Most notably, he only shot 3 times last Wednesday against the Heat in 23 minutes. Perhaps Beilein was right to keep him off the floor yesterday. I hope this means his minutes will be able to go back up in the coming games as Thompson hadn’t played under 30 minutes in a game before this now 5-game skid. He hasn’t played more than 28 since the streak started.

  • Wear and tear is starting to set in already.

Thompson isn’t the only regular Cavalier to miss time lately. Both Kevin Love and Larry Nance missed Monday night’s game against the Knicks in New York and I think the team paid dearly for their absence. Truly, some of the problems I am listing here are inter-connected. A lack of Love and Nance led Osman to more minutes at the power forward position, where Randle was able to take advantage Monday night. Additionally, the Knicks had 19 offensive rebounds in that game, a clear indicator of the lack of effective big men for Cleveland.

The Cavaliers also appeared lost on offense without the ability to run plays through Love, further worsening Sexton’s previously mentioned shot selection problems. They also turned the ball over 19 times to New York’s 7, leading to an assist-turnover ratio of less than 1. Absolutely brutal.

Additionally, the schedule hasn’t done the Cavaliers any favors. This week includes two back-to-backs, including a trip from Dallas to Cleveland with consecutive games on those trip days. This comes at the end of a 3 game road-stand that started with a home game followed by a game in New York also on consecutive nights. This schedule dictates that these current woes could get worse before they get any better. Which is bad, because defense requires effort and…

  • The Cavaliers are having trouble guarding anyone

For example, Cleveland has played Miami twice during this losing steak. The Heat have shot 54.4% and 52.6% in those games. The scoring is coming from stars and non-stars alike. In the first Miami game on the 14th rookie guard Kendrick Nunn scored 23 points with 8 assists. Another rookie, Tyler Herro had 16 off the bench. Journeyman center Meyers Leonard was 5 of 6 from the field and 2 of 2 from three.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBgCuLkLYEY

In the next game in Philly, Tobias Harris killed the Cavs for 27 points on 14 shots leading to a phenomenal True Shooting Percentage of 90.7% (aided by Osman, as I mentioned earlier) . The Sixers shot 54.8% as a team for the game, aided by 11 Ben Simmons assists. Randle then ran wild in the following contest scoring 30 points on 17 shots and a 70.6% field goal percentage. Yesterday, it was the Duncan Robinson show as Miami shot 51.4% from three point land as a team. Probably the best stat to depict how horrible the defensive effort has been during this losing streak though is the 95.5 points per game the Cavaliers have averaged allowing through 3 quarters each game. For comparison, Cleveland has scored 97 or less for full games in 3 of their 5 recent losses.

The Cavaliers will have to clean up at least some of these issues if they want to get back to their winnings ways. This is a season of growth and their is a lot for Beilein and company to work on. To be fair, they are only 1 loss worse than I predicted as this point, but early flashes of competence have turned into the issues we see now.

There isn’t a lot of time to snap out of this. Five more games are to come in the next eight nights, but if Thompson can play effectively coming off of rest and young players like Osman and Sexton can show up in multiple facets, the Cavs have the ability to have wins ahead of them.

A Re-visit: Astros and Warriors Both Dealing with Their Very Different Demises

Both foreshadowed on this very site in the past month, the Houston Astros and Golden State Warriors are both former champions of their realms that are now being disgraced in current times.

During the Astros-Yankees ALCS this year I wrote about the rumors surrounding the Astros illegal sign-stealing. Well, just in this past week The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke an official story that the Astros’ antics aren’t just a rumor. The article is behind a paywall, but includes corroboration by former Astros (and current Athletics) pitcher Mike Fiers. Allegedly, the Astros were using at least one camera in center field to relay what pitch was coming to their batter through a series of sounds, often including banging on a dugout trash can.

In recent days, former pitcher Danny Farquhar also spoke about his experience facing the Astros. A breakdown video of Farquhar’s appearance on September 21st, 2017 as a member of the White Sox highlights evidence of the tactics that the Astros used. The video is shown below. Viewer discretion is advised, the gentleman who put up the video does use foul language.

I also wrote about how while its was pretty apparent that the Astros were doing this, it wasn’t very helpful to them in their endeavors to win baseball games. Minute Maid Park may have more spy cameras than a Mission Impossible film, but the Astros have been just as good of a hitting team on the road during their 3 year run of dominance as they have been when their abilities have been… technologically enhanced… at home.

Meanwhile, other teams are livid. They want to drag the Astros through the mud for this. Houston General Manager Jeff Luhnow was met very coldly this past week at the annual off-season GM meetings. Players have gone on to mocking the Astros on social media and the like, including Cleveland’s own Mike Clevinger (also notice that the first 4 replies to the tweet belong to Logan Allen, Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac and Marcus Stroman).

My concern though is that Rosenthal alluded that the Astros weren’t the only team using illegal means to steal signs. Everyone is ignoring the “Part of a Much Broader Issue” portion of the headline. The Boston Red Sox have already been punished in 2017 for illegally using Apple Watches. There are now rumors about other teams as well. What are the chances that some of these players and executives will be eating crow when their own organizations get popped for doing similarly? Major League Baseball is investigating the entire situation, including interviews with Houston staff, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and former Astro and newly-named Mets manager Carlos Beltran.

Punishments are coming. We just don’t know how severe they will be yet or who will face them. I would not be surprised to see the Astros face a hefty fine, as well as a loss draft picks and international free agent pool money. However, will Luhnow face suspension? What about manager AJ Hinch? Both have been presiding over this farce. It is yet to be seen if player participants will be punished as well. The Astros could be absolutely decimated by this act that really didn’t statistically seem to help them. Sometimes winning at all costs really can be to your detriment.

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All-New NBA Instant Replay, and That Pesky Human Element

So… something weird happened Thursday night in the Miami Heat’s victory over the Phoenix Suns from Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix . However, I want to describe it before you see it. Don’t scroll to the bottom of this entry until you’ve finished reading.

Its the 3rd Quarter and the Heat lead by 5 with about 4 minutes left. Suns guard Jevon Carter plays a passing lane and intercepts a pass on the defensive end of the floor. He charges down the left wing to the other end, draws in the defense as he gets to the rim and flips a quick pass to the cutting forward Cameron Johnson on his right. Johnson leaves the ground attempting to finish a lay up and gets bumped on the play by Miami star Jimmy Butler. Johnson misses the lay up, the whistle blows and Johnson is set to head to the free throw line.

There’s just one thing… Butler is adamant that he didn’t foul Johnson. Luckily, this is the first year in NBA history where his team has recourse. Not only does Butler believe he didn’t foul, but head coach Erik Spoelstra confidently calls a timeout, followed by a wave of his right hand in a circular motion. Indeed, he’s calling for a coach’s challenge.

The coach’s challenge is newly implemented this year in the NBA, after years of being a part of other major American sports. Adam Silver and company are following suit in an effort to clean up officiating decisions. And who can blame them? Instant replay is there to make sure the call is absolutely, positively correct.

In case you don’t know the new rule and didn’t click the link, each team gets one challenge per game. Coaches can challenge a personal foul call against one of their own players, an out of bounds call or a basket violation, such as a goal-tending. Personal fouls can be challenged at any time; out of bounds and basket violations cannot be challenged in the final 2 minutes of regulation or overtime. The league office can also request a review of any such similar play, including in the final 2 minutes.

Sounds good, right? So Spoeltra knows exactly what he is doing. He calls a timeout as required, followed by signaling for a home run (you’ll see what I mean when you see the vid), which is the signal required by rule to challenge a call. He struts confidently onto the floor, certain of himself. Butler looks incredulous. In his mind, there is no way on God’s green Earth that what just transpired was a foul. A green light flashes on the scorer’s table and the referees head to the monitor.

For the next 2 minutes everyone sits around and waits. Any discernible momentum for the game is gone. Players, coaches and fans stand by idly. At home we can see the replays on television.

Its clear. Johnson makes an offering at the rim, expecting one of the better defenders in the league in Butler to challenge his shot. Butler does something funny though. He keeps his arms down and rotates his body completely away from the play. He does the opposite of fouling. Really, he does the exact opposite of defending. Contact is minimal to negligible. Lots of us who have even just played pick up games can empathize with Johnson. He didn’t miss the layup because of contact. He missed the layup because he was anticipating contact that never came. No wonder Spolestra and Butler look cool as cucumbers.

This call should be a snap. The referees spend nearly 2 minutes at the monitors. They must be trying to go over how to reverse a foul call into a non-call. This is a new concept after all.

Having come to their conclusion the purveyors of basketball justice return to the floor and…THE CALL STANDS?!?!?!

There is no justice.

And ladies and gentlemen, this is why I hate instant replay in sports. We all just wasted our lives, killed the momentum of the game, blew a Miami timeout and brought a lot of attention to a questionable call. All of that, just to still get the call wrong.

Now take a look for yourself and tell me that I’m wrong.

Instant replay was supposed to promise us the right call every time just by its existence. The mere fact that officials can go back and look at the play again and correct themselves itself theoretically now means we should expect perfection. Unfortunately, its just not that simple.

Plays like this one are subjective. There is no cut and dry answer. There is no clear and present boundary between a blocking foul, a charge call and a non-foul. It is all subject to the interpretation of a human. A flawed human, who can either rightfully agree or disagree with the thousands of wannabe referees in the crowd. He can also just be too proud of himself to change the call, want to cover for his fellow referee colleague, or any other number of reasons that he or she might interpret a call a certain way.

On the other hand, some calls really are cut and dry. Out of bounds calls. Goal-tending or not. Is the ball-handlers foot on the line or not? No judgment there. Just facts.

But even these calls aren’t always that simple. There are times where we want the spirit of a rule, but not the actual rule to the letter of the law. Baseball has these. Think of all the base runners called out by replay because when the runner slid his body came off the bag for a millisecond.

Think of Game 6 of just this past World Series this year where the umpires rightfully called runners interference on Trea Turner. Thousands of fans were in an uproar. The rule was implemented to the letter, but its practicality is questionable. Replay isn’t about practicality. Its about black and white where sometimes it doesn’t or shouldn’t exist.

But those aren’t basketball examples! Try the 4th Quarter of Game 1 of the 2018 finals. Kevin Durant was called for an offensive foul late in the game when he bowled over LeBron James on his way to the rim. Referees declared they were using replay to judge if James was in the restricted area when making contact with Durant. This is legal. They could use replay to see where LeBron was clearly positioned. Strangely, the rulesalso allowed for referees to then reverse any judgment made on the foul. In the end, the charge call on Durant was reversed, but not even because LeBron was in the restricted area. He wasn’t, but the refs used the review as an opportunity to reinterpret their original judgment into a blocking foul. Two different views, two different decisions and in a pivotal moment the referees changed a judgment call- a call contradicted by the referee expert on the broadcast (see below).

Replay often is time consuming, impractical and doesn’t work as intended. And really, its no one’s fault. Even in the most crystal clear of times it can be wrong. Which is why I say that if leagues want to use it on cut and dry calls, then more power to them. Be aware though that plays viewed in the replay lens may not always be as clear as they appear. Its only ever going to work to the best of the ability of the people being employed to interpret it.

Its harder than you think to get rid of the human element.

Baseball Cliff Notes: World Series Game 7 Edition

I have a lot of thoughts about last night. I’m just going to give them, start to finish. Consider this like Cliff Notes.

Early Innings

  • Zack Grienke was absolutely masterful. His second pitch of the night was an absolute bullet hit by Trea Turner that Alex Bregman snared out of the air at 3rd base. Other than that, he was untouchable. He had allowed 1 base runner in his last 16 batters faced before Rendon’s homer in the 7th threw AJ Hinch into a panic.
  • On the other end, Max Scherzer was solid. This is a guy who wasn’t able dress himself just days before pitching because he was in so much pain. Gutsy performance. Houston did a really good job early of being selective and making him work. They also hit some good pitches.
  • Yuli Gurriel’s homer in the 2nd in particular, was off a good pitch. It was a slider down, Gurriel was out on his front foot but got it in the air and got some help from the short porch.
  • In that same inning, there was a chance for this game to get away from Scherzer early. He gave up the homer to Gurriel, then left a fastball right down the middle to Yordan Alvarez for a laser of a line drive single. Carlos Correa then also hit a good pitch for a single. He waited back on a fastball on the outer half of the plate and beat the shift.
  • Robinson Chirinos then tried to bunt and I don’t know if that call came from Hinch or if he was doing it on his own, but it was a bad call. Why is your 8 hitter bunting for your 9 hitter, who is hitting .137 in the playoffs? Chirinos popped up the bunt. Man, was that a gift. Wasted at bat with men on 1st and 2nd and no outs.
  • .137 hitting Josh Reddick then grounded out for the 2nd out but Scherzer still almost botched the inning. He fell behind in the count 3-0 on George Springer. Springer swung on 3-0 and smashed a sinking line drive to left that Juan Soto had to catch off his shoe tops. A couple inches there and its 3-0 Houston, instead its 1-0 after 2 innings.
  • Houston was putting another good inning together in the 3rd. Jose Altuve hit a good slider for a single. Bregman put together a good at bat that led to a walk. Scherzer was really letting it fly against Alvarez a couple batters later. He hit 96 on the radar gun multiple times in the at bat. Alvarez still got on top of a 96 mph fastball above the zone and hit it to the track in center. If they are using the juiced baseballs its probably 4-0 Houston at that point. Instead it remained 1-0.

Middle Innings

  • Even with the low scoring, 1-0 game going into the 4th and with how good Greinke had been, neither pitcher recorded a strikeout until the 4th inning. Can you imagine that in today’s game? There were 2 former Cy Young winners pitching, by the way. I don’t know this, but I think the hitters were trying harder to put the ball in play given the weight of the game.
  • To that point, this is such a game of inches. Soto catches a ball off his shoe tops to end the 2nd inning and end a threat. Correa’s RBI single in the 5th bounced off Rendon’s glove at third base while he was in a full dive. He really almost had it, instead its a run scored and Alvarez went from 1st to 3rd.
  • Then there was the requisite asinine umpire review. Alvarez slid into 3rd on the play and Washington challenged that he came off the bag for a millisecond while being tagged. Luckily common sense prevailed and he was called safe. It just turned into a waste of a minute and 52 seconds of our lives.
  • In case my bullet points aren’t an indication, I was taking notes. After the 6th inning I specifically wrote in my notes “By no means should Greinke be removed. Pitching like a man on fire.” Foreshadowing.

Late Innings

  • Then to start the 7th he just leaves a fastball in the middle of the plate to Anthony Rendon. John Smoltz called it a changeup in the broadcast booth, but it was 89 mph, which is on the low end for a fastball for Greinke at this point in his career. I think he just mislocated. One mistake, the lead is cut in half to 2-1, and AJ Hinch begins pooping himself in the dugout.
  • Greinke then walked Soto. The 2-1 pitch was called a ball, but it looked like a strike to me. Its a shame, because the walk led to Hinch pulling Greinke. Too early!
  • Obviously, I would have stuck with Greinke. He made one mistake and then walked a guy with an iffy call involved. I think you have to trust you’re highly regarded starter there. Its become so en vogue to pull starters in playoff games that I think that Hinch managed the game in a way to try to avoid criticism. It didn’t work out for him.
  • But, a lot of people have made something of Hinch going to Will Harris instead of Gerrit Cole. I really didn’t mind that. Harris had not given up a run in the playoffs before entering the game last night. Yes, he’d pitched a lot, but he had pitched a lot because he had been incredibly effective.
  • It was also not the beginning of an inning, not a prime time to go to Gerrit Cole, who has one relief appearance in his entire career going back to college.
  • Harris immediately gives up the 2-run dinger, and the lead to Howie Kendrick. Hinch panics even more and goes to Roberto Osuna, his closer in the 7th. It works for the time being, but its 3-2 Washington now at stretch time.
  • Its still 3-2 in the top of the 8th. Osuna is still in. Adam Eaton walks with 1 out. Closers typically aren’t used to having to control the running game. Eaton steals second, mostly due to a lack of attention from Osuna.
  • So now, 2 outs, a man on second, Soto is up with first base open. He’s a lefty. Right-handed Kendrick is on deck with right-handed Osuna pitching. The Astros didn’t intentionally walk any batter all season long. They should’ve broken that rule for Soto. Instead, he singles in Eaton, now its 4-2 Washington going to the middle of the 8th.
  • I wonder if Dave Martinez would have stuck with Patrick Corbin in the 8th if Washington hadn’t gotten that insurance run. Corbin was fantastic himself though. 3 innings, 2 hits, no walks.
  • Specifically, Corbin’s bottom of the 8th was huge. One of the biggest pitches of the night was him striking out Jake Marisnick on a 3-2 count to end the inning. It was still a 4-2 game at the time.
  • That out allowed Washington to let Daniel Hudson go for a traditional 3-out save in the 9th. No need for him to get an out to end the 8th, sit back down and then come back in the game. It also kept the Astros from getting Springer to the plate with a chance to tie with one swing.
  • Hudson didn’t shy away from the moment in the 9th. He blew away Altuve with a fastball and then got Brantley with nasty offspeed. It was 6-2 at the point, but those were still the biggest pitches of his life.

Post-Game Thoughts

  • Not a very classy move by Gerrit Cole to only speak to the media as an agent of himself and not as an Astro. I get being upset at the outcome and not getting a chance to be a part of the game, but that’s not exactly the type of leadership and attitude I’d be thrilled with if I’m thinking of giving him a boatload of money this offseason. Ability talks though. He’s definitely going to get paid.
  • Congrats to the Nationals, man. They earned this. They won 5 games will facing elimination this postseason.
  • I’m happy for them and for DC. They hadn’t won a World Series in that town since 1924. The Great Depression and the second World War hadn’t happened yet. Absolutely incredible! Good for them.
  • Ken Rosenthal is a tiny man. He looked so little in that sea of Nationals.
  • Shoutout to Walgreens
  • Shout out to Bryce Harper
  • And lastly, and most importantly… Just 145 days until Opening Day!

Warriors Win! Everything is Back to Normal… Right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGEcatCPKOU&app=desktop

I was about to look really silly.

That’s right, after Sunday night’s brutal 120-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, I was ready to proclaim this year’s version of the Golden State Warriors to be an absolute shell of their former selves. And for good reason! They had lost their first two games of the year by a combined 47 points, given up 141 in their opener vs. the Paul George-less Clippers, and failed to score 100 against the similarly Paul George-less Thunder. In neither game did the ever lead. I was ready to get onto this space, and start talking about how Golden State hadn’t just lost Kevin Durant to both injury and free agency, or how it sounds more and more like we won’t see Klay Thompson at all this year. I was also going to talk about how much the losses of Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston really meant to their play on the floor and their locker room. I was going to write about the lack of suitable replacements for all the players they have seen leave their roster and how once the injuries start rolling in, they don’t seem to stop. It was quite the story of doom and gloom.

This was all before Monday night’s match-up with the New Orleans Pelicans. And lo and behold, all those stories of a down-trodden former champion were thrown to the wayside. Following a tweak to their starting lineup and subsequent rotation changes, the Warriors played some inspired basketball. Despite shooting an incredibly startling 13.6% from the field in their first two games, Jordan Poole was thrust into the starting lineup tonight by Steve Kerr. The rookie used this as an opportunity to score more points in this one game (13) than his first two in the league combined (11). The Warriors hit some of the old, traditional hallmarks of their brand of play as well. An 11-0 run in the 2nd quarter stretched their 4 point lead to 15. They had 72 points at half-time and 103 by the end of the 3rd quarter. Draymond Green grinded and facilitated his way to a 16-17-10 triple double. The lead peaked at about 10:30 remaining in the 4th quarter. Warriors 108, Pelicans 79.

And for all of that. For Steph Curry’s 26 points and 11 assists. For the +36 that Draymond Green provided when on the floor. For the move by Kerr to ditch Marquese Chriss in the starting lineup and go straight to a small ball lineup with Green and Glenn Robinson III as the largest starters on the floor I just have one thing to say.

I still don’t think this Warriors team is very good.

Sure, they were on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. This much is true. However, they came into town to play an also win-less Pelicans team without its 1st overall pick in the draft (Zion Williamson), nor its best veteran player (Jrue Holiday).

From the very get-go it was clear the Pelicans were flat. The first four minutes of the game included a 1 of 7 start from the floor for the Pels, and 4 turnovers. The lack of focus and desire was palpable.

Twice the Pelicans had passes stolen off the inbound in this game. They shot 54.5% from the free throw line.

Golden State out-rebounded New Orleans by 20 rebounds, 61-41. 19 of those rebounds were the offensive variety, 8 more than the Pelicans.

With the Warriors sheer lack of size, there is absolutely no excuse to be out-rebounded like that. This team is playing Draymond Green, Marquese Chriss and Eric Paschall as its biggest men on the floor. Green is great, but he is 6 foot 6. Chriss is tall, but had already played himself out of the starting lineup. Eric Paschall is a 6 foot 7 rookie that Bob Myers took in the second round just a few months ago.

And while we are on the subject of size, New Orleans shot 47 threes. Forty-seven! I don’t understand the lack of interest in getting to the rim– getting outscored in points in the paint when you have the bigger players. Yes, threes are a big part of the game today, but so is getting shots around the rim.

I watched this game myself. I saw the play on the court. This was more of a game that New Orleans lost than Golden State won. It was absolutely gift-wrapped.

And that would mean that in a certain way, the Warriors remain win-less. The nervousness about this season still remains with some of their fans, and I totally can understand where that comes from. In that linked article, they are excited about the energy provided by Omari Spellman…

Yes, inevitably they will get some of their size back and contribution from guys like Spellman will be less necessary. Center Willie Cauley-Stein will make his Warriors debut after he returns from injury, and Kevon Looney will return soon as well to fill out their center rotation. Green and Curry will look great on certain nights. Kerr will mix and match new, young players. He will give them chances to learn and grow and they very well may be better for it. And to be completely fair, we really are still just three games in. I am sincerely teetering on the line for this being a hot-take.

Ultimately though, Curry is 31. That’s nothing in LeBron-Years, but for a point guard that’s going to be leaned on more this year than any other year of his career, that can be troubling. D’Angelo Russell may play the same position as Klay Thompson, but he isn’t Thompson. He isn’t even half the defender that Thompson is (well, technically he is: 4.5 Defensive Wins Shares over the last 3 years to Thompson’s 7, but you get the point). Really, he is more KD-lite, getting all the isolation possessions on a team that doesn’t really need isolation possessions unless they are coming from the most prolific scorer in a generation. Green needs to put up a Defensive Player of the Year caliber of a year, and that will mean doing more of what he did tonight and less of the -23 effort he put together Sunday. It will mean providing more for a squad that exited Monday night with the league’s worst Defensive Rating despite the victory. All the other guys? They just have to play replacement-level basketball and hope the above three stay healthy. With that, and only that will the Warriors make the playoffs in a dastardly deep Western Conference.

And what a far cry that sentiment is from one year ago today. 4 non-playoff teams in the West last year appear to have improved their rosters and are looking to vie for playoff spots that don’t really exist for that taking. Can the Warriors lose so much talent and really maintain a playoff-level of basketball both physically and mentally? Does the hangover over 5 straight Finals appearances get to them if they continue to slog out of the gates? At what point do they just punt the season because they are without Thompson and could really stand to benefit from pairing his return with a high draft pick in 2020?

Most importantly, could you imagine having all these questions about the Warriors last season? I sure couldn’t. But here we are.

The mighty have fallen despite last night’s easy indications. They are going to take their time to get their barrings, and perhaps a draft pick, before they stand back up.

A Season Of Questions: A Cleveland Cavaliers ’19-’20 Preview: Part 3- The Predictions

So technically, maybe this last post isn’t exactly a preview. The NBA season hasn’t only started but the Cavaliers are mid-game right now as I am typing this. I apologize for the delay in the last post of my preview, but we are here now nonetheless and the content is still good.

Last time I left off with a thought about how the Cavs may or may not be putting together pieces for the future in players like Darius Garland, Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton. Well, to know for sure they will have to play the games and find out.

In the spirit of this notion, I have played the schedule game: meaning I have gone through the Cavs schedule, attributed a win or loss to each game and come up with a final record. Below are some thoughts on how that has gone, and then the official record I have come up with.

  • Things are slow to start out. The Cavs drop their first 3 before beating the Bulls at home to end the months of October.
  • They somewhat hold serve for the beginning part of November. I have them at 6-9 after a win on the road in Dallas on the beginning for a back-to-back, where they then have to travel home to play Portland!
  • From there, the bottom drops out. I have them losing their next 12 in a row before a December 18th victory at home over Charlotte to make them 7-21.
  • That losing streak actually includes a 6 game home-stand, but they are all suspected playoff teams: Portland, Brooklyn, Orlando, Milwaukee, Detroit and Orlando again.
  • This stretch also includes a back-to-back at home and then Philly and then another back-to-back at home against Houston and then on the road in San Antonio!
  • They actually round out the rest of the year at 3-2, including that Charlotte game and will go into 2020 with a record of 10-23.
  • That will turn into a 6-3 stretch going into the New Year and I have January as their best month, going 7-9. This includes road wins at Memphis and Detroit as well as another win at home vs. Detroit and another decent Minnesota team
  • They will close out January with a home loss to Toronto, bringing them to 17-32 on Jan. 31st.
  • February brings a lot of rest, only 5 games before the 20th of the month in part due to the the All-Star break. They go 2-3 in those games, but 1-5 afterwards. 20-40 by the end of the month.
  • That end of the month going into March leads to another losing streak, this time 9 games before a road win in Chicago on March 10th.
  • Oddly enough, once again all but 2 of those 9 loses will come at home. 3 games come in 4 days including a New Orleans road game followed by home vs. Indiana back-to-back. Then Utah comes to town just a day later. Then Cavs get rewarded then with 3 homes games vs. Boston, Denver and San Antonio for their efforts…
  • Cleveland will still get 3 more wins in March, including another road win in Atlanta on the 2nd night of a back-to-back, but they really sputter down the stretch.
  • They go 1-7 in April to end the year, ending at 25-57. Their only win in April is a home win vs. Phoenix.
  • Six straight loses to end the year bring them from 25-51 to 25-57.
  • Biggest winning streak: 3 games: 12/18, 12/20 and 12/23 vs Charlotte, Memphis and Atlanta, respectively, all at home
  • Best win: 2/1 at home vs. Golden State or 3/14 on road vs. Atlanta who is fighting for the playoffs

And there is your final record. For those so inclined, I have the Cavaliers taking the over in Vegas, as the odds-makers have them set at 24.5 wins. My sheet with every game written out is posted below to download. Forgive me, its very basic and bare-bones.

Cavs Schedule GameDownload

Since I’m in the mood of making predictions today, I think I will take a crack at some statistical guesses on team leaders for the season. I would love to be able to take a look back in April and see how I did. To conclude, my stat predictions are down below. All stats using an average (eg: Points Per Game) assume at least 50 games played with the Cavs

Here’s to a fun season watching these young guys grown.

Leaders Predictions

Games Played: Cedi Osman/Collin Sexton (82)- Sexton played 82 last year, Osman led the team in minutes per game

3 Pointers Made: Collin Sexton (147)- one of 3 guys with over 100 threes last year, expect even more of a focus on shooting from deep

Rebounds Per Game: Tristan Thompson (11.1)- one of the best rebounders in the league. I think he stays healthier than Kevin Love and is less likely to be traded as well.

Assists Per Game: Matthew Dellavedova (4.9)- I think Sexton and Darius Garland split ball-handling abilities for the 1st team, but Delly’s usage will be high off the bench. Remember that Ast% from last year.

Steals Per Game: Larry Nance Jr. (1.1)- doesn’t lead the league in steals like he wants, but does finish in the top 10.

Blocks Per Game: Larry Nance Jr. (0.7)- this one is kinda a crap-shoot. No one averaged over 0.6 blocks last year. Nance is athletic enough to challenge some shots, more so than Thompson or Love.

Points Per Game: Darius Garland (18.3)- has a very Sexton-like scoring year, but slightly better. Love is either disqualified by trade or injury.

Bonus Prediction: Kevin Love doesn’t get traded, but its because he misses December thru February with another injury. Jordan Clarkson does get dealt though for at least one draft pick and a return contract to match him.

A Season Of Questions: A Cleveland Cavaliers ’19-’20 Preview: Part 2- Those That Return

In our first segment we looked at the fresh faces that will be donning the wine and gold this year, but today, we will look at the contributors to this year’s Cavalier team that will be returning from last season.

We will start with the most prominent. Namely, the Cavs bring back a lot of front court talent between Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr.

Nance might be the low-key best player on this team. I believe he was last year, at least. He’s an athletic big that can finish around the rim as well as be a surprisingly adept passer. His creativity with the ball should lend itself well to Beilein’s offense. He was also the Cavs’ best defender last year and was in the top 20 in steals, a stat he claims he wants to be among the league leaders in this year. He will start the year likely in a bench role, but should be more than poised to step in if there are any injuries.

Thompson was having a great season last year until he got injured, although I think some of his offensive output came at the benefit of Love’s own absence. He did show an improved ability to score around the rim though and shot nearly 53% from the field. Both he and Nance want to open up their offensive games this year and try to stretch the floor with deep shots, including 3s. Exemplified by making 33 threes last year, Nance has shown an ability to do this in the past. Thompson on the other hand, is a player that has struggled with knowing which hand to shoot free throws with, let alone perfecting jump shots from the field in game action. Color me skeptical. Alternatively, Beilein has come out and said anyone who proves to make shots in practice will not be scolded for taking them in games.

Love could very well could make his 6th All-Star team this year as he has had a year to become re-acclimated to being the number 1 option in an offense. He, along with Nance and Thompson compose a very strong rebounding front-court that could prove helpful if the team can pick up their defensive efforts. The question becomes though, how many possessions will the Cavs really want to waste on the 31 year old Love? He’s proven a great locker-room leader, but would the team not be better served to allow reps to guys like Darius Garland, Cedi Osman and Colin Sexton (more on them to come)? Will the Cavs trade Love? Will he be healthy at the appropriate time for him to be traded in the first place?

Love isn’t the only trade question on the team either. This squad is a mix of young potential players and veterans. 6 vets on this team are on the last year of their contracts: Thompson, Osman, Brandon Knight, Jordan Clarkson, John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova. How many of these guys are not going to be interested in being a part of a tank job, particularly when so many will be coming off the bench in lieu of younger talent? I think a number will welcome a trade, and their behavior in the locker room will have a lot to do with how smooth of a transition lies ahead for this Cavaliers team. With the exception of Osman and maybe Dellavedova I would not expect any of the above to return after this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6oQc8kaPrg

With Osman in mind, this is a huge year for him. The man that replaced LeBron at starting small forward has a lot to prove, and a lot to gain coming into a contract year. He could be poised for a breakout as his improved scoring ability and creativity with the ball should aid him well in Beilein’s offense. He shot well down the stretch last year but looked super inconsistent in his time playing for Turkey at the FIBA World Cup this summer, costing them in dearly in the final minutes of a couple games. He will have to cut out the major gaffe’s he’s been susceptible too, but if he can he has real talent as a rotation player in the NBA.

Its odd, but Dellavedova was a bit of a godsend last year when he was brought back to the Cavaliers in a mid-season trade. I am not fooling myself, I’m sure his acquisition had a lot to do with instilling good will with Cleveland fans in a bleak season by having a fan favorite player return. Further, Milwaukee was more than willing to off-load his $9.6 million per year, but he was a cool head who was able to handle the ball and initiate offense, something the Cavaliers desperately needed last year and used until his season ended with concussion issues. Delly had the best assist rate on the team by far, at 31.3% and with there still being questions about Garland as a facilitator, he very well may continue to have a significant role on this squad.

Another big part of the team’s ball-handling woes last year comes from the performance of Collin Sexton. Sexton was the 8th pick in the draft for the Cavs last year, and to be fair, was absolutely brutal at times. Labeled a point guard, he average just 3 Assists Per Game, in just under 32 Minutes a Game, coupled with 2.3 Turnovers Per Game. He proved much more of a scorer, averaging 16.7 Points Per Game with an ability to get to the rim and more shooting range than expected. Personally, I think he needs to cut out some of the long 2 point shots he takes. They made up 21% of his repertoire last year and made him a less efficient scorer than he could have been. He was also a bit of a turn-stile on defense, accumulating negative Defensive Win Shares, but to his credit, improved throughout the season and received All-Rookie Second team honors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6J5xM5fPyg

Sexton however was not the only guard on the team who needed the ball in his hands. Jordan Clarkson was one of the bright spots on a bad team last year, but it came mostly in a scoring role off the bench. He led the league in 10+ point games off the bench and scored 16.2 Points Per Game. He absolutely benefited from an injury-stricken second unit that didn’t have a ton of scoring talent around him, but he has proven to be a young player with quality scoring potential. Expect Clarkson to get a lot of run again early this year, but to not be part of the future plans of the team. I really believe a play-off bound group would love to snatch him up for bench scoring down the stretch. The Cavs should showcase him early, and he deserves the minutes.

But really this brings us to the crux of what this team is. One on hand, you have a number of front-court vets that are accomplished and bring quality basketball to the floor. On the other, you have 2 young point guards, both of whom so far show more of a penchant for scoring than passing, are undersized and of questionable defensive ability. I fear 2 things. For one, we have seen this rodeo before. Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving did not get along, despite what they might have said back in the day (see linked video for a laugh). I truly believe those Cavalier teams earlier this decade were on a train to nowhere before LeBron rescued them. You had 2 ball-dominant guards, both of whom wanted to handle and were not great defensively, and the team struggled for 4 long years. This might be where the Cavs are headed. My second fear is a lesser one, and it is just that ultimately, Sexton and Garland can be cordial members of the same team, but the floor just isn’t big enough for both of them at one time. I ultimately think this will be a benefit, as I personally think Sexton is eventually better suited as a spark plug off the bench for a playoff team, similar to former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams. However, can the team stick it out with both players long enough to build a team where its suitable to run Sexton off the bench? To conclude my thought, I will say that I do not blame the Cavaliers for what they have done. They believe they have taken the best players available in the draft. The 76ers took center Joel Embiid even though they had a young center in Jahlil Okafor in their starting lineup and that decision has worked out for everyone in the long run (except Okafor). You can’t pass up on talent when its there, not when you so desperately need it in order to compete.

Unfortunately for now though, this team is a bit of a mess. Its a conglomeration of talent that I just don’t think really has a sense of direction yet. I think if the Cavs wanted to roll out their 5 best players on the floor at the same time they would not be able to as three of them are Love, Thompson and Nance to go along with Clarkson and Garland (I THINK, who knows! He only played 5 college games!). Love, Thompson and Nance would never work together, not unless Love played a weird version of small forward since he can stretch the floor, but can’t guard the other teams’ 3 position. Not even mentioned above is Ante Zizic, another 7 foot center that looked like a really promising player for the Cavs in spurts last year., was 4th on the team in Win Shares Per 48 Minutes and 4th in Offensive Rating.

This is a big year in the transition of the team though as they will need to figure out if Sexton and Garland fit together, and if not, how bad the damage is. They also need to figure out if Cedi Osman is in their long term plans, see what they can get for Jordan Clarkson and if they could really bring in a bomb’s worth of talent for Kevin Love. There will be a lot of dead money coming off their cap this off-season, which they will want to hold on to. Either Garland is a real piece and a franchise player in a league where you need at least 2 of those pieces to really compete, or the Cavs are still at least 2 seasons away from finding both of their cornerstones and starting to really build something.

The discovery begins on Wednesday in Orlando. In my last preview entry we will be looking at the schedule and I will be making a prediction on a season record for the Cavaliers.

A Season Of Questions: A Cleveland Cavaliers ’19-’20 Preview: Part 1- New Additions

For my next few posts I will be previewing the 2019-2020 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team mired in questions as they try to rebuild themselves. This is part one, where I will look at the team’s background, as well as new additions.

To begin this preview, we must first look back. Last year’s Cavaliers went into the season knowing that the best player in the world would no longer suit up for them. Still, they decided to hold onto All-Star forward Kevin Love with hopes he could propel the remnants of a four-time Eastern Conference Championship squad to a playoff spot. Those aspirations though were clearly not in the cards, as expectations were likely too optimistic, and injuries played a large role in keeping most of the team’s talent off the floor. Love was certainly not an exception in this as he only played in 22 games last season.

Ultimately, the Cavs went 19-61 and the team statistics were just as ugly as the record. They were 29th in Points Scored Per game and 29th in Pace. Unfortunately, this was not the product of a slow, methodical, defensive-minded style prompted by Coach Larry Drew. To that point, Cleveland was also dead-last in the NBA in Defensive Rating. In fact, the analytics dictate that Love, once panned as the defensive weak link on a number of teams with championship aspirations, was the 3rd best defender on the team in both Defensive Win Shares and Defensive Rating. To be fair, Love was good defensively in limited action, but still, the juxtaposition is staggering.

However, that was then and this is now. For their pitiful and perhaps understandable effort, the Cavaliers were not able to come to terms with Drew on what his future should look like. He departed the organization and John Beilein has been hired away from the University of Michigan to lead this year’s club. Beilein is expected to nurture a young pool of talent this year and into the future, which should be an easier transition to the pros than he would receive on a star-studded team with high expectations. He is a long-time college coach, used to teaching young prospects, and should be better equipped for this type of crew. He also runs a motion offense that lends itself to creativity and empowering the players, it should be fun to watch, assuming the players can master it.

I do have questions though. Beilein is 66 years old, just 4 years younger than the league’s oldest coach. That elder statesman just so happens to be Gregg Popovich, a 23 year veteran head coach with 5 championship rings. Is Beilein really long for this job? I do not expect this Cavaliers’ rebuild to be a quick turn-around into contention. Brett Brown was 52 when he took over the Philadelphia 76ers rebuild and was given miles and miles of job security. It took 4 years for those Philadelphia teams to get over .500 with Brown. Beilein has just 4 years until his seventh decade on this Earth and a front office with a history of finding coaches to be disposable. Even if the ultimate move is to hand the reigns over eventually to the much younger Associate Head Coach JB Bickerstaff, who is to say the front office can stick to that plan? Do they want to? How much of Bickerstaff being hired is based off of his father being a Senior Basketball Adviser to the team? He’s a coach that’s already had 2 head coaching jobs, albeit both were interim efforts, but neither lasted longer than 2 years. For the moment, Beilein will be tasked with teaching, and I do feel good about his ability to bring talent up to speed. He coached NBAers Tim Hardaway Jr, Caris Levert and Glenn Robinson among others while at Michigan, had a .650 winning percentage there and made it to the Final Four twice.

On the court itself, the biggest additions for the Cavs this year have been their draft picks. Despite having the 2nd worst record in the league in the 2018-2019 season, Cleveland had to settle for the 5th pick in the draft due to the new lottery rules. They used this selection on Vanderbilt guard Darius Garland. I believe the Cavaliers drafted Garland on the premise of best player available, and I applaud them for that. However, I have serious questions about the player they deemed the best at that moment. Garland led Vanderbilt in Points Per Game and shot nearly 48% from the 3 point line as a freshman last year… in a grand total of 5 games played. Yes, he played 5 non-conference college games, and then called it a career as he had injured his meniscus in the 5th game of the season, requiring surgery. This would not be the first time the Cavaliers would take a freshman guard who didn’t even play a full season of college basketball due to injury (Kyrie Irving), but I still find it troubling. Irving was close to a unanimous first pick in the draft and you cannot say the same about Garland. Scouts still sing his praises. They love his footwork, quick release and general scoring ability, and I feel this was a pick taken likely on potential, but the relative unknown is quite concerning.

The Cavaliers made 2 other picks in the first round of the draft as well. Dylan Windler is a 4-year guard out of Belmont taken 26th overall. He’s actually my favorite pick for the Cavs in this draft and while not being flashy, I think he can be a rotation player in this league for a long time. He was a markedly improved shooter from range at Belmont and should be able to transition into the Association as a wing who can both shoot and rebound. He averaged 10.8 Rebounds Per Game as a senior at 6 foot 8. This league is now built on players that can shoot while having at least the partial skills sets of big men. Windler can definitely play a role in that regard in the future.

Lastly comes the very last pick of the first round of the draft. The Cavaliers traded up to take a player, who was named the biggest steal of the draft in the annual rookie survey. Kevin Porter Jr. is a bit of a developmental project, but he could be a very good one. He’s a great athlete and could project into a defensive stalwart if he applies himself to that end of the floor. However, he is another guy that did not play much in college due to both a quad injury and being suspended by USC for an undisclosed conduct issue, which could be a gigantic red flag. For a player that might not even get that much action this year, will it be worth it to keep around someone that might not be the best teammate? I appreciate the Cavs going the extra mile to find talent where others might have passed, perhaps this is an overreaction on my part, but I certainly have questions.

A group of fresh faces both young and old will try to re-invigorate this Cavaliers team as they are still in the beginning stages of a rebuild. In my next entry we will focus on the players that will be returning to the floor for Cleveland next year to aid this young talent in their transition to professional basketball. Expect more content fast, as the season approaches this coming week.

The Yankees are Concerned About Astros Sign Stealing. Should They Be?

In case the intro post didn’t make this clear, I love sports. I love them enough that if there is nothing better to do on a weekend afternoon, sometimes I will just turn the television on and watch whatever random game that I can find at my leisure. A few months back, I was having one of those afternoons and ended up settling into a game of regular season women’s college softball.

There was nothing particularly special about this game, I don’t even remember what schools were involved any more, but there was one specific peculiarity that I do remember. ESPN U’s budget for this game must have not been especially large, because the center field camera wasn’t in the traditional spot. Instead, any runner on second base, standing in the ready position on base was in full view of the camera, as was their right hand, down by their bent forward knee, using their digits to pantomime the number of fingers the catcher was showing to the pitcher. They were stealing signs. Blatantly, rudimentarily and, in clear view of regional television.

This is nothing new. For as long as there have been signs for bat and ball games, teams have been trying to steal them. We used to even try to steal them in high school. The last time the Indians won the World Series, back all the way in 1948, there were allegations of signal theft using some suspicious scoreboard work. For the most part, if it happens on the field with uniformed personnel and no special technology, I am okay with it. If your opponent’s signs are not sophisticated enough to not be deciphered, then have at it. This seems to be pretty popular opinion in baseball thought.

But like most things, this lives on a spectrum, and while players on the field seem to be free to steal signs, it sure seems the Houston Astros like to push the envelope.

The allegations against them are significant. Last year, after being swept in three straight games during the ALDS, the Indians warned the Red Sox about Kyle McLaughlin. McLaughlin wasn’t Houston’s lead off hitter or lefty specialist out of the bullpen. He was an unlisted employee of the team, caught taking photos of the Indians dugout. MLB went on to investigate McLaughlin and the official ruling was that he had broken MLB rules, but supposedly was not stealing signs himself. Instead, he was taking photos to ensure the Indians weren’t stealing signs. Essentially, he was doing a suspicious looking thing that looked like stealing signs, but was really making sure their opponent was actually not stealing signs. Or that’s how the story goes at least. MLB sent a memo to the remaining playoff teams at that point last year warning them about funny business, and that was the end of the story for 2018.

No further punishment was unveiled besides Boston dismissing Houston in 5 games, and that brings us to now. For both games of this year’s ALCS thus far, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has done his best mime impression, cycling through finger signs and body touches while delivering orders to the Yankees pitching staff. Its has worked, as the Astros have only scored 4 runs total in both games, splitting the match-ups at Minute Maid Park. New York to this point, has said nothing, but it sure seems clear that they are a little concerned with the safety of their signals.

And it seems that they should be. This appears to be a home ballpark phenomenon for the Astros. I don’t know if the photographer is afraid of flying or what, but it appears teams get paranoid about going to Minute Maid Park. Andre Knott, who used to work in the media for the Cleveland Browns and now works as a dugout reporter for Indians’ games has said as much on a 2018 podcast, claiming that how the Indians staff has treated going to Houston reminds him of when the Browns would visit Foxboro (around the 6 minute mark).

But what do the Astros get for their efforts? Like I said before, this appears to be a Minute Maid Park phenomenon. Since 2017 and the beginning of their rise to the top of the American League, the Astros have hit .270 at home, good for 4th best in baseball over that time. Their on base percentage of .343 is also 4th best and their strikeout rate of 18.1% is the best in baseball over that span of 3 years while playing at home. However, over the same time period the Astros hit exactly .270 on the road as well. Not only is that the exact same batting average as at Minute Maid, it’s the best road average over that span of time. By 11 points! An OBP of .342 and a K rate of 18.5 % are lesser than at home by a minuscule margin, but are also better than any other team since 2017. They are easily the best road hitting team in baseball since 2017. Either Houston has been stealing signs on the road as well, or they should flat out stop doing it because its clearly not worth the risk.

Further, everyone wants to point to Houston’s home record this year as being suspicious. They were indeed the only team to win 60 games at home over the 2019 season. What is not being mentioned though is that since 2017, the Astros have won more games on the road (157) than any other team. Boston has the second most victories, with a 15 game valley coming between the two American League foes. Houston came down to Earth a bit this year as they were tied for 3rd most road wins at 47, but that’s still really good, and these cheating allegations go back multiple years. You would think that would bare through in the numbers, but Houston has easily been just as good on the road as they have been at home since rising to power in ’17.

Then again, maybe Jose Altuve, George Springer and company are just really good hitters. Maybe the Indians were just displaying sour grapes about another playoff disappointment when they gave the Red Sox the heads up. Maybe all the data is insignificant; the numbers are a matter of random variation.

I can’t tell you what the real answer is, but for better for worse I can guarantee college athletes will continue to show one finger for rise ball while standing on second base, and Astros employees will need to remember to turn their flash setting off. They need to do whatever it takes to get an advantage.

Or maybe they don’t?

Intro: Welcome to the Game

Hello and welcome everybody. I am proud to announce the first ever post for this new website I have created. 

This. Is. Pick-Up Sports: Cleveland! (Vince McMahon voice).

On this website I will be providing commentary on sports topics I feel passionate about. Based out of Cleveland, OH, there will be a lot of Indians and Cavaliers talk here, but I also fully intend to talk about their leagues as large. If I am passionate about it, you will read it. We will probably even get into Blue Jackets and hockey content!

You might notice though, the Browns are conspicuously absent from the conversation. Yes, there will be a lot more baseball and basketball talk on this site than football. The Browns and really NFL are just not a major interest for me at this moment. I intend to get into why at a later date, but for now just know I would be doing you a disservice by dwelling on the sport. It would be similar to the two times a year that ESPN forces Stephen A. Smith to talk about baseball. Not pretty! Further, football coverage is saturated anyway. Turn on ESPN in the afternoon in June. NFL Live will be on. Turn on sports talk radio in Cleveland any day of the year, chances are you will get Browns talk (or probably even more likely, a commercial). I want to use this site to give some shine to the Indians, Cavs and their respective leagues, along with even a sprinkling of hockey talk.

While we are on the topic of me, you will probably want to know why you should read this site anyway. I do have a background in baseball as a player and coach, even up to the college level. For the most part though, I am just a passionate, but intelligent fan. This is not a day job. I am writing merely for joy. Because I want to. If one other person enjoys reading, its all worth it.

In this day and age of talking heads in sports, I have found a real value in the perspective of the outsider. Journalists and former players are great and an imperative part of the media. However, some of my favorite platforms for consuming sports information come from shows, writers and podcasts that feel familiar. The content is dressed as though its coming from the surprisingly knowledgeable guy you are sitting next to at the bar, or from the casual phone conversation that you are having with your dad. That is what we are aiming for here, and I hope we can foster some conversation. Comments are always welcome.
And that is why this is called Pick-Up Sports Talk. This is not professional. Its not for money. I am here because I enjoy it and I hope you will join in. Right now, I am shooting around in my driveway, hoping for some readers so we can run a game. Comments are always welcome. I will even take on other writers, if you want to send me your ideas, at pickupsportstalkcle@yahoo.com.

Lastly, I want to apologize for the formatting of this site. This is my first foray into my own site, and I absolutely do not know what I am doing with design. If anyone is reading this, and wants to make a little cash sprucing up my set-up, I am all ears. Use the same email address from above in order to contact me.

Next time you hear from me, there will be real content. I am already loading up ideas for posts. They will be coming, but for now, Game 1 of the ALCS has just started up. I am going to set aside the keyboard and enjoy.

Until then.