LeBron James’ crew slipped behind the Boston Celtics after getting blown out by the Spurs last night, and they are only two games ahead of the third-place Washington Wizards.
That prompted a story from SI.com with a laughable headline but some useful information.
After getting blown out by the Spurs and falling to second in the East, are the Cavs still title contenders? https://t.co/OOCLdg4XK7 pic.twitter.com/1v7HkPM5u8
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 28, 2017
Specifically that would be that they are very bad defensively according to advanced metrics.
Cleveland is 29th in defensive efficiency since the All-Star break. That's right, only the flagrantly tanking Los Angeles Lakers have had a worse defense than Cleveland over the last month of the regular season.
Of course they are going to contend, and I would not bet against them pulling it together in time to make another run through the East (at least).
They still have LeBron, after all, but perhaps the young guns in Boston or Washington can get them, sort of like LeBron’s Cavs did the aging Pistons in 2007...
.@MrCavalier34 shoots straight, dishing some hard truths and detailing what the @cavs need to do to get their swagger back. pic.twitter.com/wcbLjqHgY7
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) March 28, 2017
One team voted against the Raiders' moving from Oakland to Las Vegas, and surprisingly enough it wasn't the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mike Brown has a reputation for being a contrarian (and sometimes comes out on the right end of the issue in the long run, but he told the team's website he is not concerned about having an NFL team in America's foremost gambling haven.
"There are all kinds of things in this deal intended to police that," Brown said. "I assume there won't be problems. We have a gambling casino in Cincinnati and within 100 miles I don't know how many there are. The problem is probably not unique to Las Vegas."
Furthermore, he said he feels the Raiders had exhausted all reasonable options to stay in Oakland.
"When you went out to play in the coliseum in Oakland you could understand this was a stadium that was a contemporary of old Riverfront Stadium," Brown said of one of the last stadiums that shares with a baseball team. "Put yourself in their shoes. How would we be doing in Cincinnati if we were still in Riverfront Stadium? It would have been impossible. That's what they were facing in Oakland. They had to correct it."
The story sort of glosses over the acrimony between the Bengals, Cincinnati and Hamilton County (as well as the feelings among some the team got a deal that is not really fair to those public entities), but it is interesting to get Brown’s perspective nonetheless…
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Archie Miller did not pull a Pat Kelsey and pull out of his new coaching gig at Indiana. (Presumably the Hoosiers gave him a few million good reasons for that.)
The former Dayton Flyers coach was introduced to the media in Bloomington yesterday, and we had our folks there.
Here’s what he said about the fan support in the Gem City:
.@whiotv Here's what Archie Miller had to say when I asked him what he would say to the @DaytonMBB fanbase as he moves onto Indiana: pic.twitter.com/9cGT8afiBU
— John Bedell (@JBedellWHIO) March 27, 2017
The next challenge will be the same one all coaches face when stepping up to the highest level of competition: Fighting the other blue bloods for the best players in the country.
No matter how successful a coach is in a league like the Atlantic-10, recruiting against Kentucky and Duke is just a different animal.
Of course, taking one of Dayton's top recruits with him to IU would give him a jump start…
Speaking of coaching changes, Akron is also in the market for a new leader after Keith Dambrot left to take over at Duquesne.
One of the first steps he takes to turning the Dukes into a team that can rival Dayton could be to sign a player from the Flyers’ backyard.
Torrey Patton, a 6-foot-4 senior from Trotwood-Madison we chronicled last week, tweeted last night he had an offer from Akron and an offer from Duquesne right around the time news was breaking of Dambrot leaving one for the other.
Blessed to receive my first Division 1 offer from The University of Akron #GoZips ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/P8aRIJ34wC
— Torrey 24 (@swag2423) March 28, 2017
🔴🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/cY4vQrEQYz— Torrey 24 (@swag2423) March 28, 2017Blessed to receive my 2nd Division 1 offer from Duquesne University
Also worth noting: Before taking over the Zips, he was head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, where LeBron James was a young player and Dru Joyce II was an assistant.
Joyce replaced Dambrot, and the current coach of the Fighting Irish saw firsthand how good Patton can be in the state tournament last week.
Perhaps that is not a coincidence...
Trotwood's Torrey Patton on taking over the game in the second half pic.twitter.com/wEMBkhZYo3
— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) March 23, 2017
The Reds were clobbered by the Giants yesterday as Cody Reed gave up 10 runs.
That continued an alarming trend as Cincinnati closes out spring training:
This turn through the rotation was tough on six of the seven pitchers trying to nail down the open rotation slots:
Reed allowed 10 runs in 3 2/3 in Monday's 14-2 loss.
Tim Adleman allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings Sunday against the Clubs
Robert Stephenson was hit for four runs in four innings Saturday against the Cubs
Sal Romano had his worst outing, giving up seven runs, five earned in 4 2/3 innings on Friday against the Brewers
Amir Garrett gave up six runs in five frames Saturday to Oakland.
Rookie Davis was tagged for five runs, three earned in 4 2/3 innings Sunday against Seattle.
Bronson Arroyo allowed only two runs in four innings last Thursday, and he is set to pitch today against minor leaguers.
Opening Day starter Scott Feldman will go against the Dodgers today, and Brandon Finnegan toes the rubber tomorrow in the Cactus League finale against the Indians.
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