Need Mo' Info

If you read the sports section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer this morning, you would have learned that the Cavaliers traded Joe Smith and Damon Jones to obtain point guard Maurice (Mo) Williams from the Milwaukee Bucks. Among the many seemingly relevant things that you would not have been able to learn from reading Cleveland's only major sports page today are: 1) Whether Williams played college ball; 2) If he did play in college, where he played; 3) How long Williams has been in the league; 4) Whether he has played for any team other than the Bucks; 5) Which team drafted him, in which round, and with which pick; and 6) Williams' career statistics.

The Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer, Bill Livingston, and Bud Shaw each filed a separate story about the Williams trade, and none of them mentions any of this information. Nor can this information be found anywhere else in the newspaper. We realize that it's easy enough to find this info on the internet, but our reading of the three Plain Dealer reports this morning would have been a significantly more meaningful experience (read, so much less irritating) with the context that this background info would have provided. This all must have something to do with the increasing irrelevance of print-media that we hear so much about.

So it turns out that Williams did, in fact, play college ball, at Alabama, after which he was drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 18th pick of the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft. He spent one season with Utah, after which he was traded to the Bucks, where he has played the last four seasons. In each of the last two seasons, Williams has averaged over 17 points and 6 assists per game. That's more points and assists per game than any Cav averaged last season except for LeBron. Williams' scoring and ball-handling skills should help. Injuries and defense are a concern for him, but GM Danny Ferry "is certain the Cavs can correct" his "suspect defense" and "is not worried about the variety of injuries that kept Williams out of about 50 games the past three seasons." If you say so, Danny.

We'll miss Joe Smith inside, but the Cavs appear to be pleased with J.J. Hickson's progress. We're OK with that. It looks like the Cavs are confident in Williams' ability to step up at crunch time, and that the Cavalier players generally respect his game. Plus, based on the photo above, he looks limber -- like he might be able to easily fit his way into small and/or awkward places. And a scoring-minded point guard should be a particularly good fit with the Cavs, who can and often do easily run the offense through LeBron, who is an excellent distributor. If Williams can be a more reliable ball handler and second scoring threat than anyone else the Cavs have had over the last few years, and it looks like he could be that, this move is a step in the right direction.

In other Cavs news, our very own Global Icon continues his quest for world domination this morning in China against the Greek team. We're pulling for the Greeks here, as we will pull for any team that USA basketball comes up against in this Olympic tournament. This is mostly because we hate that NBA pros play in the Olympics -- a no win situation. What's to prove? If the NBA pros win, OK, they damn well should have. What could be more boring? If they lose, well, that really sucks, as we've seen. We understand that it might be good for the global development of the game to have the NBA's best players play in the Olympics, but Cleveland fans have the most to lose here. The NBA season is brutal enough, and worse if your team makes the playoffs. More importantly, the NBA where the world's best basketball is played. The NBA is what counts. A Cleveland Cavaliers championship is what counts. These guys need a break, an off-season, especially our guy. We hope you'll join us in withholding support for this Redeem Team nonsense.

We'll be back tomorrow to talk Tribe, and then on Saturday for some NFL Preseason action.

Update: A nice breakdown of the Williams trade at Waiting for Next Year: "[O]nly 6 players (LeBron, Baron Davis, Chris Paul, Andre Miller, Dwyane Wade, and Mo) averaged 17 points, 6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game last year. 2 of those guys now play together in Cleveland . . ."

Update: Roger Federer, way smarter than LeBron and other Redeem Teamers, knows deep down how dumb it is to waste energy in the Olympics when his sport is played at its highest level elsewhere, and loses to James Blake in straight sets in Beijing today. ESPN fawns. Federer pretends he is mad. Goes home. Rests up for tournaments that count.

Cee...Cee...See Ya' Later!

We haven’t been motivated to post about the Sabathia trade because we don’t think there’s much to say about it that we and others haven’t already said.

Yeah, it’s great that the Indians got something for the big fella rather than see him walk for nothing like Belle, Manny, and Thome did. And they appear to have done well to get the seventh overall pick from the 2007 draft, Brewers top prospect Matt LaPorta, who looks like he can mash.

But the situations with Belle, Manny, and Thome were all different. The Tribe was either contending, and didn’t want to give the guys up for the stretch run, and/or had other reasons to think they would stay. C.C. gave no indication that he would stay. We suppose this is a little sad, and it has us thinking about things like loyalty, and a salary cap.


But -- and despite the fact that he was throwing at a tiny tiny strike zone against the Red Sox -- we’re also thinking of Cy-Cy’s 8.80 ERA in last year’s playoffs and wondering if he has the mental toughness to get it done when it counts the most. We’re also thinking that Sabathia’s physique doesn’t exactly call the phrase “world class athlete” to mind, and whatever implications that might have on his mental toughness, it certainly calls his durability into question.

The trade is also nice for Tribe GM Mark Shapiro because it has everyone talking about the time when Shapiro traded Bartolo Colon for three young All-Stars (and one superstud) to be, Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and the since departed Brandon Phillips. Good job there Mark, yes, but not enough to get you out from under the Curse of Wahoo. This one won't be either.

But speaking of getting out from under The Curse, we have to be happy for the big fella on that point. What could be better than going from Wahoo to Bernie Brewer? So cheers to C.C. -- all the best to ya' Big Fella. Better bring us a couple, Bernie B. We're prone to spillin' that first one.

They Would Have Built a Statue

4/12/08 Update: Sabathia smoked again by Oakland. Three and a third innings, TWELVE hits, NINE earned runs. His ERA is now 11.57 on the season.

After being touched up by a weak Oakland lineup for four runs, six hits, and four walks in 5 1/3 innings yesterday, Tribe ace and reigning AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia is 0-1 with a 7.59 ERA after his first two starts this season. We believe that this slow start is substantially a result of Sabathia’s inner conflict over his impending decision to either remain an Indian, or leave Cleveland to take more money to pitch elsewhere. We expect more of the same from C.C. this season until this inner conflict is resolved.

We hope that C.C. has the chance to speak with his old teammate Jim Thome about this decision, as Thome was the last Indians superstar who was confronted with the same choice. Sabathia might take note of how comfortable Thome looked back in Cleveland when he took him deep twice on opening day at Progressive Field. Thome decided to leave Cleveland for Philadelphia in 2002 for what amounted to a difference of a few million dollars. At the time, Thome was the Tribe’s all time home run leader, and one of the most beloved Cleveland Indians in the team’s history. Thome broke down in tears at the press conference where he announced his decision to leave Cleveland. His decision broke the hearts of Indians fans everywhere.

Things didn’t exactly work out for Thome in Philadelphia, and he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2006. Thome is probably the best hitter on a mediocre Sox team, but he has not been, and odds are that he will never be, embraced by the city of Chicago as a hero the way he was here in Cleveland.

We don’t think it’s stretch to say that Thome would make a different decision today if he could do it over again. We know that he still lives in Northeast Ohio. He and his wife liked the area so much that they have decided to raise their children here. It might have been more fun to raise them in an area where their father was the most beloved player in Cleveland baseball history. We have to wonder whether that’s not worth the difference between $85 and $80 million alone. We also have to wonder what Thome would have meant to the Tribe’s playoff run last year. Regardless of the answer to that question, we know that Thome would have rather been playing in the postseason than sitting at home. He will probably feel the same way this fall.

They almost certainly would have built a statue of Thome outside of Progressive Field if he had stayed. Maybe he could have made up the extra millions in endorsements alone, or maybe those millions would be worth it simply to buy the peace of mind that would have come with staying home with the franchise that drafted him and raised him; the peace of mind that would have come with being a legitimate hero to a region of millions of people who are fiercely loyal to their hometown ballplayers; and the motivation that would have come with the chance to bring those people their first championship in 50 or so years. And there’s no telling what it would be worth to actually bring that championship home.

Thome had a chance at all of that, and he sold it for a few million. We have reason to think that it might have been worth a lot more than that. C.C. now has a chance at the same thing, but his opportunity might be worth even more than Thome’s was, given the nucleus of young talent that now surrounds Sabathia on the Indians roster. Could this chance possibly be worth less than going to New York or somewhere else to be a hired gun on a roster full of imported high priced talent? Has any player earned 'all-time great'/'face of the franchise' status on any major league club after being brought in after spending ten years of his career somewhere else? In view of all of this, we enjoyed Thome’s home runs against Sabathia on Opening Day as signifying something more meaningful than the resulting runs on the scoreboard. We can only hope that somewhere inside of him, C.C. was aware of what Thome gave up to leave Cleveland. Of course, C.C. will face tremendous pressure to do the same thing, if not from the MLB players union, then at least from the other teams who will try to lure him away. Whatever C.C. decides to do, we look forward to the day that we in Cleveland have our own Cal Ripken, or Tony Gwynn, or Kirby Puckett, or John Smoltz, or Chipper Jones, or even a Biggio or Bagwell (damn this list is short) who will turn down more money for something less tangible, but seemingly more important.

Frownie Bytes

I agree with loyal Cleveland Frowns reader Big Dood, who said, “I think you’re due for a sports post now.” Currently in the works is an essay on why Roger Clemens is the most sympathetic figure in sports today. The piece will be titled “You Would Too” as in when Biggie Smalls said “you should too, if you knew, what this game would do to you.” Until then, some thoughts on the recent trades and free agent signings by the Browns and Cavs:

It was a busy week for the Browns, who signed quarterback Derek Anderson to a three-year deal and former Patriots receiver Donte Stallworth for seven years, and added defensive linemen Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams via a pair of trades. These moves in total demonstrate that GM Phil Savage knows that football teams win by controlling the line of scrimmage. As Marla Ridenour points out in today’s Beacon Journal, the Browns realized terrific results with last season’s offensive line upgrade, and hope for the same on the other side of the ball in 2008. Savage candidly proclaimed that Rogers and Williams will help the Browns more than any of the defensive linemen likely to be available with the draft picks that the Browns traded away. Time will tell if he is correct, but at the very least, both of the new defensive linemen will help some; as their performance for their previous teams was by all accounts better than any the Browns received from anyone on their d-line last season.

The primary area of concern with the new linemen is with Rogers’ character. According to Ridenour, Rogers has tremendous physical ability, but “his attitude, consistency and conditioning have often been questioned. He never speaks to the media. He once jokingly said at the Lions' complex, 'Cut me. I'm a cancer.' Last June, he allegedly groped a woman at a strip club. He served a four-game league suspension in 2006 for taking a banned dietary supplement and underwent knee surgery.” We have reason to be optimistic that Rogers won’t be nearly as much trouble in Cleveland. As Coach Romeo Crennel points out, “a lot of people need motivation to be at their best, and that’s part of coaching.” Further, the tone of any organization is set at the top. It can be argued that the Lions have the most incompetent managers of any team in recent NFL history, and that a change of scenery and better leadership in Cleveland will provide Rogers an environment in which he is more likely to settle down off the field, and thrive on it.

That the Browns did not overcommit to Derek Anderson further demonstrates that Savage understands the tremendous influence that the guys in the trenches have on the performance of the skill position players. A three year deal with $10 million guaranteed for Anderson is eminently reasonable and is nowhere close to the ridiculous deals like Matt Schaub’s that Anderson was pointing to as comparable to what he deserved. This gives Quinn another year to develop as an NFL quarterback, provides the Browns security in case of an injury, and creates a healthy competition for the Browns starting job. Anderson is no dummy. He almost certainly could have signed a longer term deal with more money elsewhere, but wherever he landed he was highly unlikely to end up on a team with as much offensive talent as the Browns. If he were to end up on another team it might easily have been proven that Anderson is much closer to a mediocre quarterback than a Pro Bowl quarterback. Of course, people can change. There’s a chance that Anderson gets hungry, realizes what’s at stake and what’s at his disposal, and elevates his game to another level next season. In any event, with Anderson and Quinn, the Browns are surely stronger at the quarterback position than they would have been with Quinn and whoever would have replaced Anderson.

One commentator has noted that the Anderson signing leaves the Browns with “one paranoid starter and one sulking backup,” a situation that could “throw a wrench” into the Browns ascent. But this signing will only play out in a negative way if the Browns are indecisive as to the results of what should be a healthy competition between the two quarterbacks. One last thing to consider regarding Anderson is that Savage likely realizes that Anderson’s value is generally overinflated, and for this reason is a trading chip that is more valuable than the late first and third round picks that the Browns would have received if they lost him in free agency. The Browns can get more for Anderson now that he’s signed to a relatively inexpensive three-year deal.

Donte Stallworth is a first-round talent with 1,000+ yard potential, and, coupled with Braylon Edwards gives the Browns a pair of deep threats who could end up in the end zone on any given play. Joe Jurevicius is a solid possession receiver, but does not have Stallworth’s game breaking potential. The concern with Stallworth is injury risk.

On the subject of injury risk, we’ll have to be patient in evaluating last week’s Cavs trade because injuries have kept the team from playing with all of its pieces in place. In addition to Ilgauskas and Boobie Gibson, who are both currently out with injuries, LeBron has been plagued with an ankle issue, Varejao has had problems, and Gooden and Hughes both missed significant time before being traded to the Bulls. At what point do we have to ask, who the hell is training these guys? The Cavs are one LeBron injury away from being a D-League squad, and LeBron’s duck-toed gait is a good recipe for future long term back problems. The obvious solution here is yoga. For now I will say that for all of the attention that athletes generally pay to their musculature, they pay shockingly little attention to the bones, tendons and ligaments that provide the underlying structure to this musculature. This will be a subject of a future post about Cleveland Frowns favorite, Kelvim Escobar. Stay tuned.

Wallyball!

One thing that I find unsettling about the NBA, in comparison with the other major sports, is how dramatically the character and quality of a team can change in an instant with one (or two) big trade(s) or free agent signing(s). Shaq’s moves to the Lakers and then to the Heat, LeBron joining the Cavs via the draft, and this year’s Celtics are good recent examples of this phenomenon -- which bothers me much less when it’s my own favorite team that is the beneficiary. Yesterday’s blockbuster between the Cavs, Sonics, and Bulls might be the most recent example. There is little question in my mind that the Cavs are a much better team after sending Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons packing for Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and Joe Smith.

Anyone who doesn’t think that the Cavs are substantially better likely overestimates the contributions of Hughes and Gooden, who both came out of college with their games focused entirely on scoring points -- almost entirely from mid-to-close-range. Neither of them shoots a consistent three pointer, and neither is a dominating physical presence inside. Neither Hughes nor Gooden does anything that LeBron does not already do much better (see Exhibit A below), yet both demanded their shots, and complained when they didn’t get them. They both seemed to think that they were there to play the same role as LeBron, which is somewhat understandable because this was the role that they both played in college. Neither adjusted to being second fiddle. Gooden was rarely in the lineup at the end of close games, and little needs to be said of Hughes blog-inspiring performance in last year’s playoffs. Finally, neither Hughes nor Gooden carried themselves on the court in a way that projected any discernable veteran leadership.

Ben Wallace and Wally Szczerbiak each bring something to the Cavaliers that was missing before. Szczerbiak gives the Cavs a three point threat that they have not had in the LeBron era. He has improved his shooting percentage from behind the arc in each of the last five seasons, and is shooting 42.8% from downtown so far this season. Szczerbiak will open the floor for LeBron and Z inside, and instantly makes the Cavs a more dangerous team on offense. Wallace brings a physical presence that is matched by very few in the league. While he has been a disappointment in Chicago, the Cavs do not need him to be the same player that he was when he was four-time Defensive Player of the Year in Detroit. Wallace can bang with any big man in the league --East or West -- something else the Cavs have not had in the LeBron era. Moreover, a change of scenery is particularly likely to rejuvenate Wallace, who was a bad fit in Chicago from the start. Recall that former Bulls coach Scott Skiles would not let Wallace wear a headband in games. Would you not be disgruntled if you had hair like Ben Wallace's and Skiles told you that you weren't allowed to pull it back with a headband? Wallace will be treated like a grown man on the Cavs, who should reap the benefits of Ben’s new outlook.

Delonte West and Joe Smith are also good additions. Before he was shipped to Seattle from Boston in the Ray Allen trade, West was steadily developing into a solid pro, improving every year in Boston before moving to an uncertain situation in Seattle. The Tacoma News Tribune describes West as “a good shooter (37% career on 3 pointers) who – at 6-foot-3 – jumps well, can drive to the basket and defends bigger players well.” We’ll take it. Thanks. Joe Smith should help too. A former number one draft pick, Smith is a solid veteran who is having an excellent season. As NBA guru John Hollinger reports, Smith will consistently hit an open 17 footer, and, along with Szczerbiak and West, “will reduce the number of “five on one” defenses that LeBron has to face.”

Finally, all four of these newcomers arrive in Cleveland, oasis of hoops promise (LeBron makes it so), having been saved from depressing situations in Chicago and Seattle. If these players stay healthy, they will do things for the Cavs that the players they will replace did not and would not have done (as pictured in Exhibit B, below). We know that with LeBron, anything is possible in the Playoffs. Cavaliers fans should be very excited about these possibilities after this trade.

Update: Hughes continues to complain -- 2/23 Akron Beacon Journal, Page C4: "It's no secret that my style of play didn't fit the system. . . . I felt I could be more productive. There wasn't as much ball movement and player movement. There was just a lot of 'space the court and wait.' That's just not how I like to play." Gosh Larry, it must have been awful playing with LeBron, having to play in the NBA Finals and everything. We wish you the best in finding a team that lets you play how you like to play.

Remember the Jordanaires

With the 2008 NBA trade deadline approaching, the Cavaliers front office faces increased pressure to make a deal from sources that seem to have no regard for whether that deal will improve the franchise’s health in the long term. For instance, Phil Taylor in this week’s Sports Illustrated wrote of the front office’s “sluggishness . . . in failing to upgrade the roster over the summer.” Worse, ESPN.com ran an absurdly pointless piece on the Cavs reaction to this week’s Shaq trade, the purpose of the article apparently being to let us know that LeBron James and the Cavs would like to add another star player to their roster. We’re left to wonder how this desire to add a star makes the Cavs different from any other NBA contender.

Much of this nonsense is due to the national media’s burning desire to see LeBron leave Cleveland. These outlets constantly watch for fodder for the storyline that LeBron would be better off elsewhere, and it’s easy to understand why they are quick to run unsupported pieces to reinforce this theme. To the extent that pressure on the front office comes from Cleveland fans, we can chalk it up to impatience and paranoia -- also understandable. Fortunately for Cavs fans, this pressure is unwarranted.

Evaluating the Cavs decision to stand pat with their roster requires a look at the deals that were/are available to them. At best, the Cavs would have to trade Daniel Gibson, Drew Gooden, Ira Newble (with his expiring contract) and perhaps even Larry Hughes to even have a chance to pick up one of two veteran guards, Jason Kidd (in his 15th year as a pro) or Mike Bibby (a 10 year pro), to fill the hole at the point guard position. Leaving aside the question of whether either the Nets or Kings would be willing to make a deal like this, it is unclear that dealing a pile of young and (with the exception of Hughes) inexpensive talent for an aged veteran would make the Cavs better off in the long run. If LeBron and the Cavs are to meet our lofty expectations, i.e., win multiple championships in Cleveland past 2010 (when LeBron’s current contract expires), it will take more than adding Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby in 2008.

The decision to sit tight now must also be judged in view of the next two offseasons, when $35 million of contracts set to expire in 2008-09 will have the Cavaliers in excellent position to strengthen their roster. By this time, the Cavaliers will have had at least one more year to come together as a team, and the organization will have a better idea of the value of the pieces that they have in place. Remember that Michael Jordan did not win a Championship until his seventh season in the NBA. His teammates, like LeBron’s today, were widely considered a fatally inferior supporting cast, and were dubbed “The Jordanaires.” This disparaged group is nearly the exact same supporting cast that was good enough to help Jordan and the Bulls win three consecutive NBA titles from 1991-94.

With over $35 million in contracts set to expire between now and 2009, the Cavs won’t have to rely on their current supporting cast to win a Championship between now and 2010, but it’s far from an impossibility. LeBron is, like Jordan, a singular talent who makes all of his teammates better, and has already shown a marked improvement in his game from last season when he dominated the Eastern Conference Championship. As LeBron and his teammates continue to improve, the NBA Playoffs in Cleveland will continue to be interesting. With the potential for an explosive roster upgrade between now and 2009, the Cavaliers patience in 2007 and 2008 is entirely reasonable.