Now that the NFL season APPEARS to be getting underway shortly. I am very much interested in listening to the Cleveland fans and media in regards to the Browns. In particular I will be interested to see the browns draft picks, I for one feel the Browns had a n excellent draft and I even feel it was better than last years draft in which the browns got great quality in the likes of Haden, Ward, Hardesty and others. I personally believe that Taylor will be a monster against the run, teamed up with Rubin. Looking forward to Jabaal Sheard but, I feel he will need another proven big time DE on the other side of him to prosper. I also believe that Greg Little will have the most impact of the rookies that the browns selected. The reason I say this because he is someone that can catch anything and everything and will look to catch alot of balls from Colt McCoy who doesn't have a strong arm and will concentrate on throwing short passes.
On Colt McCoy.....
I will be watching very closely the balls the Colt throws. I want to see what kind of throws he makes, especially I want to see if he can make the deep out throw to the sidelines and the deep ball down the middle of the field. Last year, I can count on one hand how many times he made these types of throws. I don't know if it was him or the coaching staff but , I don't think he will have the same excuse this year if it wasn't him. With Hillis, a healthy Hardesty with Cameron Jordan, Little, MoMass and Robiske, I think it's time for Colt to put those critics to rest who question his arm strength ( I am one of those critics).
On the Indians...
Shame on those media folks and fans who think the Indians should just stand back and do nothing, simply because they don't feel that the Indians should give up prospects to go after pieces they might need. These individuals don't learn from previous failures where the Indians had chances to get ballplayers to put them over the top but, elected to go with prospects who either had marginal careers or was later traded for something else that didn't put the Indians over the top. I would like to see the Indians go out and get Hunter Pence, he would be my first choice because he is an impact player. Other players under consideration would be Morse from Washington, Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francoeur, Chris Davis and a few others. I also, would like to see the Indians get a Super Sub and another starter preferably a vet who can come in and win some games down the stretch . I would love to see the Indians bring up both Jason Donald and Jason Kipnis to go in their infield. Donald could play third and Kipnis would be a real stick at second base.
On the Cavs trading JJ Hickson...
This was a typical Cleveland move IMO. First, the Cavs have no one to start at Power Forward if we were to start the season. Tristan Thompson isn't even close to be ready to start. I do like his defense and the fact that the Cavs are making a more concerted effort to improve the defense, however, you must score at some point in time and the mere fact that you don't have anyone in the front court that can score consistently at all anymore is troubling. I also don't like the fact that they traded a guy who is 22 years old and over the last 40 games averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds, AT 22 !!!! I know people mention that he isn't very smart and doesn't get it on defense. This maybe true but, some times and coaches no how to get the max out of players who seem to be weaker in some areas. Also, what I find hypocrtical is that the Browns fans will be quick to work around Colt McCoys weakenesses such as, his suspect arm, his limited athletic ability, his propensity to be injured. They will be quick to defend him but, they will say get other players around him and the players around him aren't any good. JJ Hickson has weaknesses, his players weren't very good but, he thrived and was shown the door instead.
One last thing the person they got for Hickson is a back SF on a good team and will be marginal at best. THe draft pick you will probably never see, SO you gave away a 22 year old, who averaged 18-12 his last 40 games for nothing !!! Also, if money was the issue and the fact that JJ was going to ask for $10 million a year. I think your argument is weak because Andy Verajao is very one dimensional and is getting $8 million at 28-29 !!!
This was a horrible move by the Cavaliers and it took away the euphoria I had when they drafted Irving. Also, the cavs weren't able to pull the trigger on the TPE. This IMO is totally unacceptable and depending on how the season goes once the lockout ends and the other moves they might make then it might be time to start taking a look at both Scott and Grant to see if they are what we need in our coach and GM.
@ Colt McCoy/Browns, It's true that Colt's arm may be "suspect". We did find out that he was still nursing an injury. How much truth the injury effected his play is still an unknown. However, when did arm strength and deep passes become the end all be all to how good a QB is? I recall Brian Sipe lacking in that area in addition to a little unknown QB by the name of Joe Montana. To further back up this point look at Anderson. He had a rocket for an arm and it got him nowhere. One more example would be Vick. Once he settled down and learned to get more comfortable he became much more effective. Thus showing the "intangibles" outweigh the athleticism. Now before you hear me crown McCoy the next Saint of Cleveland let me say Colt still needs to prove himself this season. As fans let's not take the, "Wait for Colt to fail" mentality. Let's take the "Watch for Colt to Succeed" attitude. Either way this season we will know what direction we have to head in.
ReplyDelete@ JJ All the Cavilers fans that I talk to are still scratching their heads at this one. So when you make a reference to people "Backing Colt, while dumping Hickson" I suspect that you are referring to a very small percentage of fans. I personally have a greater chance of seeing bigfoot in Columbus or the Lockness monster in Erie before I'll find a fan that sees the Logic in dumping Hickson.
ReplyDelete@ The Tribe... This is where I feel you really hit the nail on the head. We are in contention for the division and we have pieced together enough talent and luck to make it this far right at the top of our division. It's time the front office shows the fans what they promised...Although we have remarkable talent in some areas we are lacking even more so in others. However, we aren't that many players away from a team that can take us to the post season. Put up or shut up Dolans!
ReplyDeleteFirst off i appreciate your work here Hiram. I don't have enough time right now to write about your comments on Colt and the Indians but here's my thing about your JJ article. While i was shocked at first on how little we got back for a 22 year old PF who at the very least has shown some promise in the second half of the season last year (on offense) i came to the conclusion that the trade wasn't as bad as a lot of fans think.
ReplyDeleteIt was a clear sign that JJ was gone after we drafted Tristan at 4 this year (i would have taken Jonas but that's another story) and with one year left on his contract (and him not being the longterm solution because of his shortcomings on defense which btw where the reason why Mike Brown stopped using JJ once we reached the playoffs in 2009 although he was part of the starting lineup that won almost 70 (!!!) games in the regular season that year) i think it was the right decision to give him up now. Imagine if there is no season at all (or only a few months of play) which isn't out of the question and JJ becomes a restricted free-agent and asks for 8-10mio a year because of his stats at the end of last year (and wtih players like Drew Gooden getting 35mio for 5 years i'm convinced there are teams out there that would be willing to give JJ that kind of money).
With JJ just not playing winning basketball (=give effort on defense) and therefor not deserving that kind of money they would probably let him walk and get nothing in return (all of a sudden getting a pick in the 15-20 range and a player that could become a starter down the road if you surround him with the right players the trade doesn't look as bad). Sacramento basically rented JJ for a few months (i'm sure there will be a short season) and then can decide if they want to pay him like a cornerstone (which no good GM would).
A lot of people keep mentioning that we might not see this pick at all because of the heavy protection but i'll guarantee you we'll get it. Sacramento has not made the playoffs since the 06/07 season and for us not to get it they would have continue to suck until the protection ends (and the pick becomes a second rounder) in 2017. As far as i know there has NEVER (i repeat NEVER) been an NBA team that hasn't made the playoffs in such a long timespan and looking at their core (Tyreke Evans, Cousins, Jimmer...) they'll probably be the 8th seed in 1 or 2 years. Plus ask yourself the question if JJ is as good as you think he is wouldn't he be able to at least help them to sneek in the playoffs with 2 young players that could become allstars down the road (Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins)?
Now to your weakest argument the fact that Anderson Varejao gets paid 8mio a season (some people mention that he gets close to 10mio a season at the end of his contract but that's a team option so it's not at all a given that we'll pay him that kind of money when he'll be around 33 years old). I bet you that almost every contender would take Andy with that contract and once we put him on the trade market (and i hope we will because he'll turn 29 soon i think we should trade him while his value is still high) there will be a lot of teams interested in him (there are reports that the Lakers, Portland, OKC and even the Celtics have already asked if Andy is available....on a sidenote i would love to trade Andy for Jermaine O'Neal and the Clippers 2012 pick the Celtics currently have). He's just the kind of player that every contender wants because he plays WINNING basketball (he's the perfect 6th man off the bench)
anyway keep up the good work and cu in the moohead chat room,
Bruce