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Tag Archives: Dwyane Wade
CAVS, BROWNS, INDIANS, BUCKEYES and GLADIATORS – NEWS AND NOTES
MERRY CHRISTMAS CAVS
As we told you a few weeks ago and is now being reported by the four letter network’s Marc Stein, LeBron James and the Cavs will play in a Christmas day game against Dwyane Wade and the Heat in Miami. The NBA and Cavaliers full schedule will be announced on Wednesday night around 6pm.
THE REX EFFECT ANS WHO STARTS AT QB
As we also told you months ago, Rex Grossman would sign with the Browns and the free agent QB has. We pointed out to you then that this made so much sense because he played for Kyle Shanahan in Washington and Houston, knows his offense and can help teach it to Brian Hoyer and more importantly, to Johnny Manziel. think of it this way, Grossman is to Johnny Football, what Gary Danielson was to Bernie Kosar. Grossman by the way, will wear #3.
As far as who the Browns starting QB will be in game #1 at Pittsburgh on Sunday, September 7th? Head coach Mike Pettine said he’d like to name that starter before the team’s third preseason game, preferably on their off day on Thursday, August 21st. Both Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel will take snaps with the first team offense in their second preseason game on Monday night in Washington. Here’s hoping one of the two QB’s helps the offense score a touchdown, something they didn’t do against Detroit and in their “Family Night” scrimmage.
WALKING WOUNDED WAHOO WARRIORS
Not a good time to have three key players hurt if you’re the Indians.
NICK SWISHER (right knee soreness): Was examined by Dr. Rick Parker yesterday at the Cleveland Clinic after recurrence of right knee pain. Currently gathering more information and seeking additional opinions on present condition before diagnosis and plan of care are administered.
DAVID MURPHY (right oblique strain): MRI yesterday confirmed a strained right oblique. Expected to return to Major League game action in 4-to-5 weeks.
MICHAEL BOURN (left hamstring strain): Currently tolerating planned rehab assignment without issue. Was scheduled for 9.0 innings Tuesday in AAA Columbus.
BUCKEYES BLACK STRIPES
Ohio State rookies wear black stripes on their helmets during training camp until they display actions and efforts that prove they understand the Ohio State culture on the field of “4-to-6 seconds” and go as hard as you can from “point A to point B.” Once they show they understand that, they then have their black stripes removed. It should come as no surprise that the first two rookies to have the black stripe removed from their helmet were highly touted linebacker #5 Raekwon McMillan and running back Curtis Samuel.
O – H – I – O HOOPS
Ohio State’s December 2nd matchup at Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge is set for a 9:30pm tip from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The game, one of 14 played during the three-day event, will be televised on ESPN. In his career Thad Matta has a 6-4 record in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and has won five of the last six games in the event.
TITLE BOUND
The Cleveland Gladiators, led by head coach Steve Thonn and quarterback Shane Austin will host Arena Bowl 27 at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday, August 23rd at 8pm. The Gladiators (19-1) play the Arizona Rattlers (17-3) for the Arena League Championship! Austin, pictured right, threw 7 touchdown passes in the Conference Championship game to beat Orlando and advance Cleveland to the title game.
2014 NBA FREE AGENCY WINNERS AND LOSERS
WINNERS:
Cleveland Cavaliers – With LeBron James returning home, the Cavs are by far the biggest winners this off- season. James is the best player in the world and he fills a major void at the small forward spot that’s been vacant since well, when he left four years ago. Forget that he signed a 1 year and an option year contract. James did that so he can cash in on the next TV contract by increasing his max contract dollars. He’s not going anywhere, considering how much money he can make, a young talented roster and he and his family are back home. First year G.M. David Griffin also locked up 2-time All-Star Kyrie Irving to a 5-year max contract and thus has his Batman and Robin for years to come.
San Antonio Spurs – After Tim Duncan exercised his player option for $10.3 million to return for at least one more season with the World Champs, the Spurs then went and resigned two of their own free agents in Boris Diaw and Patty Mills to team friendly contracts thanks to Duncan taking less than market value. Plus San Antonio announced that head coach Gregg Popovich agreed to a multi-year contract extension. All four moves are big wins for the Spurs.
Los Angeles Clippers – Doc Rivers added two players that will help the team’s depth and offense and he did so without overpaying for either one. Getting Spencer Hawes, a stretch-5 for less than $6 million per season for four years and point guard Jordan Farmar to replace Darren Collison who left for the Kings at about $2 million per year are very good gets.
LOSERS:
Miami Heat – Like the Cavs did in 2010, Pat Riley and the Heat felt LeBron’s return was a slam dunk only to be rejected and left shaking their heads. Again no matter what you do, as the Cavaliers found out, there’s no replacing LeBron James. The Heat overpaid Chris Bosh to stay instead of going to Houston. They’re going to overpay an aging Dwyane Wade and two of their other free agent signees are injuries waiting to happen in Danny Granger and Luol Deng.
Los Angeles Lakers – G.M. Mitch Kupchick was shooting for LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. When LeBron went to Cleveland he was hoping to team up Carmelo with Kobe and Pau Gasol. Then Carmelo agreed to stay with the Knicks and Gasol left for the Bulls. Plus the “Lake Show” lost Jodi Meeks to OKC. This off-season has been one of the worst in Lakers history.
Houston Rockets – While they’ll still be a good team, the Rockets were trying to bolster their roster so they would become an elite team. They targeted Carmelo Anthony first and lost out. Then they set their sights on Chris Bosh and lost him too. Adding insult to injury, one of their fine young players, Chandler Parsons accepted an offer sheet from Dallas and Houston decided not to match it. So the high flying, long distance shooter is now a Mav. They replaced Parsons with Trevor Ariza which isn’t terrible and are said to be interested now in trying to land Kevin Love in a trade, but so far this off season Houston has had a problem getting the players they wanted.
LEBRON AND D-WADE VIDEO LANDING IN MIAMI
David Lang from Local 10 Sports in Miami was on hand at Miami International Airport to shoot this video of when the plane that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were flying in landed. James and Wade are seen here talking at the airport before heading home. The question for LeBron James is, where will home be next season? Only he knows and he’s not talking yet.
http://www.local10.com/sports/lebron-james-dwyane-wade-land-in-miami/26894842 …
(Video courtesy of www.local10.com/sports)
WHO’S ROSTER WOULD BE BETTER, THE CAVS OR THE HEAT?
LET’S PUT LEBRON JAMES ON BOTH TEAMS AND THEN COMPARE THE CURRENT ROSTERS. WHO GIVES THE KING A BETTER CHANCE FOR MORE RINGS NEXT YEAR AND BEYOND?
Cavaliers Heat
Kyrie Irving –6’3–193-22 (20.8p-6.1a-3.6r) PG Mario Chalmers –6’2–190-28 (9.8p-4.9a-2.9R)
Andrew Wiggins –6’8-200-19 (17.1p-1.5a-5.9r) SG Dwyane Wade –6’4–220–32 (19p-4.7a-4.5r)
LeBron James –6’8-250-29 (27.1p-6.9r-6.4a) SF LeBron James -6’8-250-29 (27.1p-6.9r-6.4a)
Tristan Thompson -6’9-238-23 (11.7p-9.2r-1a) PF Josh McRoberts – 6’10-240-27 (8.5p-4.8r-4.3a)
Anderson Varejao – 6’11-267-31 (8.4p-9.7r-2.2a) C Chris Bosh – 6’11-235-30 (16.2p-6.6r-1.1a)
Cavs Bench – Dion Waiters, Anthony Bennett, Tyler Zeller, Brendan Haywood, Sergey Karasev, Matthew Dellavedova, Jarrett Jack, Joe Harris and Carrick Felix.
Heat Bench – Norris Cole, Shabazz Napier, Greg Oden, Udonis Haslem, Ray Allen, Chris Anderson, Michael Beasley, Danny Granger and James Jones.
HAS PAT RILEY DONE ENOUGH TO THE HEAT ROSTER TO IMPRESS LEBRON?
Time is winding down for LeBron James to decide on whether to stay in Miami or sign with Cleveland or someone else in free agency. Here are the moves that Heat president Pat Riley has made so far to bolster his roster and try to impress LeBron, as well as Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, in hopes of keeping Miami’s “Big 3” together for a few more years. Is this enough? Will there be other additions? The clock is ticking on Riley to do more, and on LeBron to make yet another decision.
In the NBA Draft the Heat traded for the point guard who led U-Conn to the National Championship, Shabazz Napier. Supposedly, Napier was LeBron James favorite player in the draft. Is he good enough to surplant Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole as the starting point guard for Miami? Or is that still a few years away for Napier?
Shabazz Napier- PG-6’1-180-22–U-Conn stats (18p-6r-5a) (40% – 3FG)
In NBA Free Agency so far, Riley has received verbal commitments from free agents Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger after losing out on the likes of Kyle Lowery and Marcin Gortat while getting non-committals from Pau Gasol or Luol Deng. Here’s a look at what McRoberts and Granger did this past season in the NBA. How much of an upgrade are they over who the Heat had on the bench or in the starting lineup last year?
Josh McRoberts- PF-6’10-240-27 –Hornets (8.5p–4.8r-4.3a) (36%-3FG)
Danny Granger- SF-6’9-228-31–Pacers/Clippers (8.2p-3.2r-1apg) (34%-3FG)
The first day players can officially sign their contracts is Thursday, July 10, 2014. Dan Gilbert and the Cavs, along with Pat Riley and the Heat, are hoping to know before Thursday what decision LeBron has made so it leaves time for either team to go after other free agents if LeBron tells them no.
THINKING OUT LOUD ON LEBRON, JOSH GORDON, WORLD CUP AND MORE
Not only has Dwyane Wade’s on-court game diminished, so has his endorsement game. When the only commercial we see you in now is for the “Endura Cool Towel” which you can buy at Lowes, you know your superstar status is in question. Think about that LeBron!
The longer this free agency period goes in the NBA without a legit free agent willing to take less money to play in Miami, the Cavs chances, as well as all the other teams in on the LeBron James sweepstakes increase daily. I had the Cavs chances at 30 percent yesterday. I’ll improve that to 35 percent today.
So yes, Cleveland has a decent shot at getting LeBron James back if he doesn’t retrun to the Heat. If that happens thank yous need to be sent to the Spurs, Endura Cool Towels, Kyle Lowery and others.
The Indians off season moves, or lack thereof, are hurting their chances to win the Central Division, as they trail first place Detroit by seven games and second place Kansas city by three games. Here are the moves that hurt the most.
They elected not to resign starting pitcher Scott Kazmir who is now (10-3, 2.53era) with the first place Oakland A’s.
Aaron Harang was a spring training invite for the Indians, but was told he didn’t make the Indians opening day roster, so he used a clause in his contract to opt out and become a free agent. Soon after, he was picked up by the Atlanta Braves where he has posted an 8-6 record so far with a 3.67era.
They passed on adding a power bat, which they so desperately needed like Nelson Cruz in free agency and all he’s done so far for the Baltimore Orioles is hit 27 home runs, while driving in 70 with a .286 batting average. How good would he look in the middle of the Tribe’s order?
I will give the Indians credit for not re-upping Ubaldo Jimenez (3-8, 4.52), saying so long to Chris Perez and not caving in to Justin Masterson’s ridiculous demands for a huge contract, but the earlier mentioned moves that they didn’t make have really hurt.
There’s still time to do something before the trading deadline of July 31st, but they better act quickly if they not only want to still challenge for the division title, but also the two A.L. Wild Card spots. With 76 games to go the Indians are 5½ games out of the second Wild Card spot.
On a positive note, let me be the first to say congratulations to Michael Brantley for representing the Indians at this year’s MLB All Star Game. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but this is a no-brainer. If he doesn’t make it, an investigation should be done by the FBI and the CIA with Major Legaue Baseball. Brantley is the Tribe’s best all-around player and he has the numbers to back that up (.319-13HR-56RBI) through 86 games.
I can remember saying it on the radio, TV and on KennyRoda.com over the last two years. I never worried about wide receiver Josh Gordon during the season, but when he’s away from the Browns in the off season is when you should be very worried about him, and how accurate have those statements been? Wow, you talk about throwing away a chance at stardom, that’s exactly what Gordon is doing. He’s soaking wet with talent, but prefers partying and allegedly breaking the law over a successful career in the NFL. He needs some serious help to get his life together as former teammate D’Qwell Jackson pointed out on Twitter yesterday.
If Gordon is suspended for a full season, and reports suggest that we should find that out here in the next week or so, the Browns will have 14 other wide receivers on the roster that combined for one touchdown catch last season. Yes that’s right, one TD grab! Nate Burleson caught one in Detroit in the 9 games he played for the Lions.
I said it then and I’ll say it again; not drafting a wide receiver somewhere in the draft was a big mistake by Ray Farmer and the Browns. I wanted Sammy Watkins in the first round, but I can understand the trade down to select Justin Gilbert and get Buffalo’s number one pick next year. But to ignore the WR position the rest of the draft was a bad decision by Farmer.
©Kenny Roda
Thank you Jurgen Klinsmann, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard and the rest of the U.S. soccer team for an exciting run in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
I thought I’d never say this, but I’ve become a full-fledged soccer fan! Yeah that’s right, the guy who used to rip the sport on the radio many years ago, now has fallen in love with the sport! I think I’ve missed two World Cup games. I watched every minute of every game played by the United States and was thoroughly depressed when the U.S. Men’s National Team was knocked out in the round of 16 by Belgium.
I’m hopeful that other new U.S. fans like me will stay with the sport and help it grow in notoriety over the next four years leading up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
I Believe!
HANDICAPPING THE LEBRON SWEEPSTAKES
For those asking me to handicap the LeBron James sweepstakes, I will, but I really don’t know. Only James does, just like in 2010.
I will say this though, the fact that the Cavs, with a group that reportedly included Dan Gilbert, had a meeting with LeBron’s agent Rich Paul, is a good sign. That tells you that the fences have been mended to a degree between the two sides or the Cavs would have never even received a sit down with Paul to talk about LeBron’s future. Are things all hunky dory between Gilbert and James? No, and they may never be like they once were. But, business is business, and I’m sure the two can tolerate each other enough if it meant winning championships and making lots of money.
So with that in mind, I’ll put on my handicapping hat and give you my best guesses on where I think LeBron James could end up.
As far as the percentages of LeBron staying in Miami versus coming back to Cleveland or going to another team, right now I see it this way. Pat Riley and the Heat are still the front runners until “Riles” proves he can’t add the necessary players to Miami’s roster to make LeBron happy. So let’s put the Heat’s chances at 50 percent. As of now they’re still the leaders in the clubhouse. But if he does stay with Miami I expect his contract will be for only one or two years.
The Cavs, with an All-Star point guard in Kyrie Irving, plus that young nucleus of high lottery picks, cap space and multiple future first round picks are in second place in my opinion. This young roster has to be enticing to LeBron especially with the addition of Andrew Wiggins, or knowing that David Griffin could take some of those young players and trade them for a proven All-Star like Kevin Love. Add in he could come back home to be closer to his family and his Akron roots, along with it being a great story that would help repair his image even more. All that plays in to me giving the Cavaliers about a 30 percent chance, which is a better percentage than they had in the recent draft lottery. That percentage goes up if none of the All-Star caliber free agents want to take less money to play in Miami, or if Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade can’t agree on how to divide up the free agent money with their salaries.
So how do I break up the remaining 20 percent that’s left? There are reportedly four other teams that have talked with LeBron’s agent Rich Paul in recent days; Suns, Lakers, Rockets and Mavs. I’m adding a wild card just in case in the L.A. Clippers. Let’s give them each a 4 percent chance of luring LeBron away from South Beach.
The Lakers, only if Mitch Kupchak can miraculously team up LeBron with Kobe and Carmelo Anthony and it is “Hollywood”.
The Rockets, if James would consider playing with James Harden and Dwight Howard with all three getting max contracts, but what would the rest of the team look like?
The Mavs, because Dirk Nowitzki took a pay cut to create cap space for LeBron and maybe one other All-Star caliber player.
The Suns, who were 14 games over .500 last year and failed to make the playoffs in the Western Conference by just one game. Phoenix does have a nice young group of players, but no All-Stars and they’d have to make some serious moves to get LeBron and maybe another top flight free agent.
And finally my wild card out of left field the Clippers, because LeBron’s best friend Chris Paul is on the team. Also they’re a playoff team with a coach he respects greatly in Doc Rivers who is now in charge of pretty much everything. If the league acts swiftly and jettisons Donalrd Sterling, the Clippers could appeal to LeBron, but they’d have to make some serious moves to acquire James.
So there you have my best guesstimate as of today on where “King James” could end up. Tomorrow it may be different, and then change again on Monday and every day after that until he signs. LeBron is truly the only one who knows which way he is leaning. I believe he will give Miami every chance to bolster its roster, so he can stay there for another year or two, but the clock is ticking. If “The Chosen One” doesn’t feel that the Heat have improved enough in free agency, he is going to choose the team that he believes has the best roster and gives him the best chance to win. And who knows, that just might be Cleveland! If so, they’ll have beaten long odds again to win the sweepstakes.