I am officially a second semester high school senior! Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean as much as it used to. I can’t slack off on work (much) and I have a lot of high school still left, unfortunately. But I’m on winter break for a couple of weeks, so I thought I’d take my first day to write something, even if it is just three thoughts. Without further ado…
- The Cavaliers are unwatchable as a team. Only two players currently on the roster, Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao, are worth watching on a nightly basis. Kyrie is quickly becoming a top point guard and an underrated scorer, and his passing game makes him enjoyable to watch. Of course, so does his scoring ability and quickness, but those are secondary for a point guard, especially one with court vision such as his. Andy hustles night in and night out and plays with a reckless abandon that is not known by most players in the Association. Most NBA players don’t care unless they’re on national TV, its Christmas day, or they’re in the playoffs. Otherwise, players look lazy on the court unless they’re going for fast break dunks (see Griffin, Blake). That’s what makes Varejao so great. He plays hard for every minute of every game and has rebounded better than any and every other player in the league. As of today, Anderson leads by 1.7 boards per game, and that’s just over second place! Add in 14 points per game and you have yourself a should-be All-Star and should-be Most Improved Player. Let’s just hope Andy stays a Cavalier for the rest of the season and that we don’t end up with another Zydrunas Ilgauskas debacle from a few years ago.
- Yesterday evening, word on twitter had the Indians going after Edwin Jackson. Jackson is a decent starting pitcher, so it makes sense that the Indians, who needs starters, would be interested. Unfortunately, when it was reported (by Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal) his contract demands are equal to the offer the Tribe already made Nick Swisher, I was pretty sickened. 4 years and $50 million for a pitcher with an ERA above 4 who hasn’t pitched 200 innings in a season since 2010. Luckily, it looks like the Cubs are the frontrunners for Jackson, so the Indians are about to be bailed out and they won’t make another Travis Hafner/Wayne Garland/Kerry Wood mistake of too many years and too much money for a player who isn’t durable or talented enough. Luckily, Nick Swisher is much more valuable for the price, stays healthy, and plays everyday. I am a fan of splurging on everyday players and saving on pitchers, so for that, and many, many other reasons, I really want the Tribe to make a Swish when shooting for Free Agents (cue drums).
- Cleveland State won last night against Notre Dame. Not that Notre Dame, but rather Notre Dame College. What was the final score, you ask? 77-66. Cleveland State won by 11 points against a 2-8 Division III team at home! That is not only disappointing, but downright embarrassing. The Vikings made their 2-pointers at an amazing 73 percent clip. That number is even more unbelievable when you consider that the team didn’t start a center and played a forward taller than 6-7 for a whopping minute. The team struggled from deep, going 5-16, which isn’t bad, but isn’t near the level of inside shots. From the stripe, the Vikings struggled, going a Shaquille O’Neal-esque 8-14 from the line. Yeah, ouch. If you think that’s bad, just wait until I get in to the nitty gritty of defense and ball-handling. Those numbers will make any fan of basketball cringe. The Vikings forced a nice 26 turnovers, but they committed 21 of their own. Sebastian Douglas had 6 all by himself while every starter lost the ball multiple times. Those turnovers helped allow Notre Dame (College) to shoot 51 percent from the field. If this is how Gary Waters’s team is going to play defense, the Vikings will not win more than 10 games this season. A Division I team will not lose when given 21 turnovers and 51 percent shooting from the field. Did I mention the Vikings were outrebounded 25-20? I didn’t? Gosh, how could I let that slip my mind? Against a Division III team that is 2-8 and isn’t known for being tall, a -5 margin was one of the sadder stats from tonight’s game.
As an aside, I want to mention that the best player on the court was Eric Dummermuth, a senior from Dover who had 18 points, 9 rebounds, and only one turnover in 39 minutes tonight for the Blue Falcons. The first three statistics are right at Dummermuth’s season averages, which mean he played as well against a Division I team as he does against his normal DIII competition. A great night for Dummermuth, but an awful night for the Vikings.
As I said before, now that I’m on winter break and I don’t have school or (that much) homework, I plan on writing more articles. Hopefully the Indians will give me a big signing (he knows who he is), the Vikings will play better, Dion Waiters will start being a watchable player, and the Browns will start Colt McCoy (couldn’t resist) so I can have plenty more to write about.
