Questions burning in my e-mail inbox
Posted January 1st, 2006 by Brian Windhorst
1. Larry Hughes and LeBron James exchanged some words, as did many Cavs players when they lost seven on nine games. There is no rift between them and, in case no one has been watching, Hughes level of play has been very good during this currently winning spell. I wrote about this a few weeks ago. I don’t own the patent on Cavs info, it comes from many sources and sometimes I’m behind or wrong. However, if you read this blog you probably are a keen observer and cognitively sound individual, thus I’d encourage you to evaluate the reliability of the source when judging the validity of team news.
2. As I explain in my Sunday column today, Anderson Varejao will return to full practice this week and may be back in games very soon. Also info in there on LeBron’s birthday party, Danny Ferry’s contract, Drew Gooden’s future and more. Sasha Pavlovic should also be back at practice this week.
3. I sometimes have fun with Damon Jones and sometimes his ego is an issue, but he’s well-liked by his teammates. He’s been absent in games but also helped the Cavs win some. Expect this yo-yo effect with him.
4. Just because I don’t like saying Happy Holidays every 15 seconds doesn’t mean I’m a grouch. As Danny Ferry said to me: "I guess nobody should say hi to one another, then." Ok, Ok, Happy New Year everyone!
5. Mike Brown calling the Pistons starting five the best ever was totally hyperbolic. It’s a great conversation-starter as many of us in the media killed time talking about the best Laker, Celtic and Knick lineups over the years. However, he was just using a tactic to kill the opposition with kindness. The Cavs know they can’t catch the Pistons and they’re the better team. Also they didn’t want to put too much emphasis on Saturday’s game in case they lost. It is not wise to proclaim it the biggest game of the season by which the team’s first two months will be judged because, well, what if you lose? LeBron has learned this trick, too, he just downplays everything even when he really, really cares. His 43-point performance against Larry Brown last season being exhibit A.
Check out my new podcast with Terry Pluto, as well as Pluto’s column off Saturday’s game and my game story.
Finally, I run hot and cold with Peter Vecsey of the New York Post. But his sniping with Kobe Bryant this week made for a really good column today.
January 1st, 2006 at 1:24 pm
“FYI: You’ll never see the word “rumor” in this space. Rumor is a word used by fans for the incessantly guessing members of the press who have no credible sources regarding sordid situations, trades and other inside info.”
The above is what I’ve always loved about Vecsey. He had to substantially tone down his writing style when he took the USA Today gig, but his sources have always been impeccable and second to nobody that covers the NBA. He is hard-working, incredibly gutsy and completely Teflon-coated. The man is a pit bull. Not only that, but his hairplugs are FAR superior to Reghi’s. But I digress in a major way.
With respect to Jones, your #3 comment is inexcusable. Really, Brian. For Pete’s sakes (no Vecsey pun intented), when is a local writer finally going to nail Ferry for that patently stupid contract? If not directly in a newspaper, then in another venue? That is a lot of years and a lot of invaluable cap space completely wasted on that quote-friendly fool. If that space was now available, it would make a Gooden deal glide and it would have already gotten done. The plain fact of the matter is Ferry could have simply: (a) Signed one of a myriad of available three-point specialists for one single year at the league bare minimum; or (b) made Jackson the three-point specialist in Jones’ place. The latter clearly would have been the way to go, as they wouldn’t have even needed to expend league-minimum space. Say what you want about Jackson, but he is a very sweet spot-shooter and on the books anyway. Jackson could EASILY do the exact same job as Jones. Indeed, probably a better job. What’s Jones right now, around 28th in the league in three-point efficiency? For a guy that was signed to do absolutely nothing but build a tent, collect twigs and sticks, and light a campfire around the three-point arc on Cleveland’s side of the court, let’s not mince words: That STINKS. If the NFL permitted guaranteed contracts, it would be like signing Phil Dawson to a bloated long-term guaranteed contract that screws with the salary cap for years, and then sitting back and being satisfied if Dawson spends every other Sunday missing more than half of his field goal attempts. In this hypothetical, I suppose if Dawson was a glib, pimpin’, hip-hoppin’, non-stop off-the-wall quote machine like Jones evidently is, the media would leave Savage and Dawson alone, too.
The local media really never attacked Ferry while he was stinking up the court, either. Which frankly, was very fair at the time. After all, Ferry was a professional about it, he tried hard, and he kept his mouth shut. It was not Ferry’s fault he was signed for 10 years to destroy the salary cap and wave a towel. It was Embry’s. But now it is time somebody planted some teeth. The gloves should be off. Ferry is not a player anymore and he is totally fair game. Jeez, even if the criticism is nowhere as acidic as Vecsey’s caustic keyboard, at least somebody should write SOMETHING. Don’t you think? This will hurt the team in 2007 and 2008, too.
But other than all of the above, I’m totally fine with Jones’ signing. It was an extremely prudent move. And since Ferry saw fit not to sign Dale Davis, I now strongly urge Ferry to make some very strong cap maneuvers to be able to lure Ryan Stack out of retirement and get him inked to a five-year Ira Newble-like contract.
January 1st, 2006 at 2:45 pm
As usual, I enjoy your blog, Brian. Keep up the good work! I’m glad you’ve noticed and mentioned the improved play of Larry Hughes of late. I think he’ll be a better Cav next year than this, but it’s been encouraging that he’s doing better, and I’m glad you noted the very strong effort against the Pistons. For the season thus far, do you think he’s justified his contract?
I hope we see a similar level of energy this year from Varejao. I’m a little worried that — as Cavs fans — we may be expecting a level of performance from Varejao that he hasn’t yet shown an ability to sustain. (Not so much his energy as his performance.)
Re: Damon Jones. Don’t you think it’s the nature of the beast that 3-point guys go hot and cold from game to game. I’m not pimping for the guy as an MVP or anything, but doesn’t it seem to you that he’s performed essentially to expectations?
Happy New Year’s! Hi!
I’d love to see another comparison between LeBron and Jordan. I’m not saying he’s better than Jordan, but James’ performance thus far is the superior to Jordan at the same age. It has to be: If I’ve done my math right, James will still be younger at the end of this season than Jordan was before he played his first NBA game.
January 1st, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Alan:
I’m no Damon Jones fan on account of his one-dimensional game, his defensive lapses, and his showboat mentality. Nonetheless, he’s getting the job done and is substantially less expensive than most other top shooters.
Looking at the top 20 players in 3-Pointers Made this season, the averages are 6 years experience and $7.6M salary.
Jones has 7 years under his belt and gets paid $3.5M this year. He’s #8 in 3-Pointers Made.
I don’t see what your evidence is that a young, inexpensive player or a journeyman could be more successful in Jones’ role. The only young guy (3 years or less) who’s made more 3-Pointers than Jones this season is Kyle Korver, and Korver has a higher salary and a longer contract than Jones! In fact, nobody who’s made more 3-pointers gets paid less than Jones.
Jones has an On-Court +/- of +6.5 per 100 possessions, with a Net +/- of +2.1 per 100, so his offense is helping the Cavs more than his defense is hurting them.
How about more data to back up your points and less hyperbole?
January 1st, 2006 at 5:57 pm
I was hoping to do nothing but relax today, but now a really silly post has really got me started. For some reason, this Jones thing really, really, really bothers me….Damon Jones is being paid to do NOTHING but hang around and shoot three-pointers. What is so difficult to understand about this fact? This is IT. Nothing more. No dribbling, no penetrating, no passing, no play-calling, no tough D, no getting in opponents’ heads with rugged play like a casual quick elbow in the mouth and/or a sneaky knee in the family jewels. Just shoot three-pointers. This IS his job.
Who in their right mind gives a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract to a goof that nine other teams quickly dumped, and can’t do a thing but chuck up inaccurate random three-pointers like some snot-nosed kid egging Brian’s condo on Halloween? He’s a personality and a quote machine. He’s a black Carrot Top, only a lot more funny. O.K., fine. But for that type of compensation, anything less than #1 in the league in three-point percentage is unacceptable. Period. Four years and a total of over $16 million towards a finite salary cap? Want to know a major reason why they can’t maneuver to fit Latrell Sprewell under the cap right now? Want to know a major reason why they can’t maneuver under the cap to take a shot at acquiring Ron Artest right now? Want to know a major reason why they haven’t been able to move Drew Gooden yet?
Luke Jackson. Luke Jackson. Luke Jackson. The salary was already on the books. He can shoot an accurate open long-range shot. Leave precious cap space available for later. Add one plus one. Apparently it takes more than a Duke undergraduate education to do the math.
$7.6 million dollar average salary for Steve Kerr wannabees…That’s a new crazy stat I haven’t read before. Notice I said “stat,” not fact. Because it isn’t. And what does “years experience” have to do with anything? If “years experience” has relevance, then acquire Dikembe Mutombo to shoot three-pointers. Man, talk about a guy with experience. Dikembe and I were living in a cave and finger-painting pictures of bison and wooly mammoth on the cave walls long before Damon Jones was even a gleam in his daddy’s eye.
And please, don’t quote bogus statistics. That +/- thing is one of those countless misleading pieces of junk that is used whenever the use suddenly becomes convenient. Name each and every other player who is on the floor at the same time as Jones. Are they the Cavs best players? Or are they the stiffs like Mike Wilkes Booth and Shemp Hamilton. Or whatever their names are. Reading ridiculous stuff like this makes me want to cry more tears than Dick Vermeil standing in an onion field. Reminds me of that one really, really loony statistic, which had been leaked to the media by the Cavs PR crew and then blurted back out by the entire local print media and paid parrots like Michael Reghi, as if it was really something with substance. This back when the Cavs first made Ira Newble a starter. I don’t recall exactly what it was, but for the purposes of this post, it was saying something to the effect that the Cavs were 25-8 while Newble was a starter instead of coming off the bench and playing the exact same amount of minutes. As if Newble in the starting lineup as opposed to a different bench jockey in that sorry shooting guard slot had one iota of effect on the resulting record.
Ridiculous. Different year, same nonsense. The Cavs’ people pulled that same stunt back when they were looking under rock after rock after rock desperately trying to find a starter, any starter, at small forward. If they didn’t otherwise find a salamander, they found Mike Sanders. So distribute the PR showing the record while Mike Sanders has been starting. And sure enough, the local marshmallow media ate it up. Yum, yum.
I ate a corned beef and pastrami sandwich during each of the last eight Cavaliers games. *Obviously*, this is not any mere coincidence. Never mind Jones’ amazing pinpoint accuracy. Go ahead, look it up: In the last eight games, I am #1 in the NBA in corned beef and pastrami karma. And the Cavs’ record is 7-1 during this corned beef and pastrami streak. Distribute this statistic for print distribution.
Hey, what’s Bud Shaw’s fax number?
January 1st, 2006 at 11:18 pm
Forgot to say: Another very enjoyable Podcast with Terry, Brian. Please, no more Reghi.
With that being said, Terry always seems to look for the very best in people. And I think he sometimes puts his very good heart in front of his very good brain.
A “max contract” to re-up with the Cavs means comparatively very little in millions of dollars over the life of that contract. You said so yourself. Furthermore, James is already on record as saying within the next 15-20 years he wants to be the “richest man in the world.”
Sure, winning is important to James. But it’s already been leaked that his Nike dough alone will rise exponentially if he plays in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. It is far, far more money than the small difference in a re-upped “max contract.”
And never mind Nike and the other major contracts he already has. If you’re a marketer looking for a high-profile endorsement spokesman, will you be far more inclined to sit down with James’ agent and negotiate and pay an appropriately astronomical through-the-stratosphere fee if your very high-profile spokesman is centered in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles…or CLEVELAND?
Image is everything. To say that Cleveland is perceived by much of the nation to be the armpit of America is not an exaggeration. Fans who’ve lived in Northeast Ohio their entire lives simply can’t grasp this fact.
Terry’s Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan comparisons are simply not valid. Those are two lower-profile types of guys who aren’t on the mad hunt for endorsements. They’re both filthy rich, but they don’t “need” more wealth and fame. They’ll do just fine.
On the other hand, James is the clear billboard spokesman of the future NBA. James wants and needs more money. The NBA wants and needs more money. James and David Stern can say all the right things publicly, but just who are they kidding? Jordan is gone. O’Neal is in the twilight of his career. Kobe is an unnatural backdoor love machine. The page is turning, and James is Stern’s new Jordan.
Advertisers strongly demand James in New York.
Madison Avenue strongly demands James in New York.
The NBA strongly demands James in New York.
James strongly states that green (not Celtic green) is his new favorite color.
I mean, who needs a crystal ball. Just use a calculator.
Yes, going out and signing free agents sends a nice message. Yes, taking care of James’ posse sends a nice message. Yes, taking care of James’ mother sends a nice message. Yes, bending over backwards to his every whim sends a nice message. But all the nice messages in the world will never change the fact that LeBron James is still LeBron James. All the nice messages in the world will never change the fact that Cleveland, Ohio is still Cleveland, Ohio.
He is King James. But the business world sees him as King Tut. With all his riches to be worshipped and put on display for future purchase. One can have all the faith in the world, but on this physical planet, that is the way this world works. I’m certainly no religious scholar, but anybody who knows anything about the Bible knows that no matter how hard Moses bitched and moaned to God, the pyramids were never put on dollys and moved to the sand dunes of Akron near Mike Pruitt Honda.
Broadway Joe Namath would not have been Broadway Joe Namath if he played for the Browns and resided in Parma. I mean, could you imagine a guy named “Parma Joe” Namath doing a Hanes panty hose ad on television?
Clyde Frazier would not have been Clyde Frazier if he wasn’t a Knick. I can tell you this from seeing it first hand. I happened to be working at the old Loews Cedar Center on a night when Frazier came to see a movie soon after the Knicks traded him to Cleveland. Evidently nobody told Clyde that Cleveland nightlife is just a tad different than what he found in The Big Apple. But I’ll save that hilarious story for a rainy day.
I really hope Terry is right. But unless Cavaliers fans have lungs the size of a billion Kirstie Alleys, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
January 2nd, 2006 at 6:01 am
The Damon Jones debate is interesting.
It would be interesting, Enkidu, to check those 3-pointers made leaders, and see how many of them are essentially three-point men. That is, if Jones is mainly a one-dimensional player, how much do the other one-dimensional three-point shooters make. It would be especially interesting to compare similar players and salaries. That’s why I liked your post, and the salary aspect went essentially unanswered. I suspect Jones is making around the going rate for players like him.
It’s interesting that many dislike Jones at 3.5 million (which is a pittance in NBA terms), but we like (or don’t hate) Snow at 7 million (and for the next two years).
I don’t understand the grumbling about his success rate. Okay, Jones is making 40% of his threes. That’s a really good percentage, even if it is down considerably from his previous season’s percentage.
I think the Cavs identified a good three-point shooter and signed him to a reasonable contract. (Just like they did with Marshall, who admittedly has other skills to peddle, and who was subsequently paid a higher dollar figure).
The CAVS improvement in 3-point FGs is notable this season. Last year, they were among the very worst NBA teams in pct. (I think 5th worst at .332.) This year, they are middle of the pack (13th, .354). Last year, they attempted only 11 threes a game; this year, due in part to greater success, they’ve attempted almost 19 a game.
The increased number of threes hasn’t hurt their overall shooting percentage. Last season, the Cavs were the sixth worst shooting teams in the league if you adjust for twos and threes together (ADFG%). This year, they’re the sixth best. That’s a huge leap in improvement (.030).
If you prefer conventional stats, in straight shooting percentage, the Cavs were 15th in the league last year (.447), and they’re in the top third this year (.457). This is incredible when you consider that shooting more threes should lower their overall shooting percentage, yet they’ve still improved.
Perhaps Jones isn’t the reason (and certainly he isn’t the sole reason) for this improvement, but it is worth noting that team shooting (on threes and on field goals in general) coincided with his arrival.
I’m willing to admit I could be wrong on this, but I’d like to see the evidence.
January 2nd, 2006 at 1:10 pm
How many players in the league who’ve been on 10 different teams have fresh multi-year contracts? And how is $3.5 mil this year, with more than that next year, a “pittance” when it prevents other transactions? It’s not a “pittance,” it’s a four-year contributing roadblock. Put Luke Jackson in the role to shoot 40%. Or sign Jason Kapono for one year at the league minimum to shoot better than 40%. Two far better choices than years of tension desperately searching for that can of Drano to unclog a salary cap so as to be able to improve the level of talent on a roster. Latrell Sprewell and Ron Artest can both do a lot of very effective things around the basketball court, including strangling people, but one thing they’re not is a plumber.
And that Snow nonsense again completely misses the mark and has absolutely no concept of what immediately preceded it. The sole reason they’re now stuck with Snow’s contract is solely due to Paxson’s foolish signing of Kevin Ollie to a ridiculous multi-year Damon Jones-ish contract. This is not Major League Baseball. The NBA Earth revolves around the Salary Cap Sun. Franchises do not trade players. Franchises trade player contracts.
Why do some people insist upon sticking to their empty guns and insist upon reviewing “evidence” of scientific numerical mumbo-jumbo consisting of algorithms and formulas and percentages and hexagons and a really hot-looking hypotenuse on the side of a triangle as opposed to simply using their God-given common sense?
January 2nd, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Glad to see you respecting the two-comment rule, Alan.
January 2nd, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I’ve been told I dress like a derelict, Don. Which tie do you think I should wear with this gravy-stained shirt? You clearly have a keen eye for posting detail, and I’m harboring Phil Savage and Maurice Clarett in my basement. It’s pretty crazy right now. Any guidance from you would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance.
January 2nd, 2006 at 6:12 pm
I’m back from the Dominican Rep. Man was it nice down there. Good to see we had a decent game against detriot, but I mean it’s not like they have the best starting five ever or something….*grin* Good to see Alan is still posting. I say we raise the two drink max. to 5 if people are posting to a direct person. Oh and what was your excuse for dumb comments before the pain killers Tucker?
January 2nd, 2006 at 6:54 pm
According to Wikipedia, the average NBA salary for the 2004-2005 season was 4.9 mil per player. Undoubtedly with the new agreement, that will go up — at least a little — this year. So Jones is making something around 2/3 of the NBA average.
He was being pursued by Miami (for approximately the same money, maybe a little more) before he signed with Cleveland, so they also felt that he was preferable to Kapono (who has great 3-point numbers, no argument) and they also didn’t flinch about his cost.
I want Luke Jackson to be a success, but if someone’s eyes are telling them that he’s a superior player right now (or thus far in his NBA career) to Damon Jones, they need a much, much, much stronger prescription. I retain hope he will be, and I know he had a great rep as a perimeter shooter in college, but we haven’t gotten a sniff of that since he was a Cav. BTW, .362 career shooting percentage as a pro. (I realize it’s a very limited sample.) That’ll help the team.
The reason to ask for evidence is because so many people make so many ridiculous assertions. I’m not surprised that a person noted for making crazy comments wouldn’t want to support that position.
Stats can of course be misused. So let me spell it out: League average on threes is about 35%. The Cavs were horrible at this last year, and they’re better (if still not good) at it this year. A big part of the improvement is Damon Jones who is ninth in the league in the number of shots he has taken and who leads the team in 3-point percentage. (He takes among the most of these shots on the team and he makes the most.)
How is this (or the statistical argument that preceded it) an inappropriate use of statistics?
I think when some people can’t refute an argument, they stick out their tongues at it.
January 3rd, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Kevin:
Great question about whether players who play “similarly” to Damon Jones receive comparable salaries. I did some checking in a few basic offensive categories.
For every:
Two-point shot, DJ makes 3.1 three-pointers.
Assist, DJ makes 1.2 three-pointers.
Offensive rebound, 8.3 threes.
Defensive rebound, 1.5 threes.
In other words—as we’ve heard so many times already—he’s definitely a 3-point specialist.
So who else is like DJ? Well, it turns out there’s only one other player in the league with similar ratios. And the winner is . . .
James Posey, MIA 3.3 / 1.3 / 3.5 / 0.5
I guess we see now why Miami didn’t keep both DJ *and* Posey.
No other NBA player makes more than 2 three-pointers per two-pointer.
Oh, and Posey earns $5.9M this year.
For those who love numbers, here are other players with somewhat similar styles:
—DJ— 3.1 / 1.2 / 8.3 / 1.5 / $ 3.5M
Richie Frahm, MIN 1.9 1.1 7.5 0.8 $ 0.7M
Scott Padgett, NJ 1.3 1.1 0.8 0.4 $ 1.8M
Eddie Jones, MEM 0.9 1.1 6.4 0.7 $14.6M
Luther Head, HOU 1.5 0.7 4.8 0.6 $ 1.0M
Sasha Vujacic, LAL 1.9 0.5 2.2 0.5 $ 0.9M
V. Radmanovic, SEA 1.1 1.3 2.1 0.6 $ 3.2M
Of these, Posey, Jones, Head and Radmanovic are among the league leaders in 3-Pointers Made (more than 40). So it looks like DJ’s salary is about average for similar players. But there’s so much variation!
There must be a good way to scale the salaries and the above ratios to minutes played or shots taken, and to 3-point percentages. The goal would be some overall price/performace ratio for 3-point specialization. Unfortunately I can’t immediately figure it out. Any ideas?
Anyway, let’s take a look at two players who have been suggested as alternatives to DJ:
Jason Kapono, MIA 0.7 1.4 2.6 0.5 $1.0M
Luke Jackson, CLE 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 $2.0M
So despite being good long-distance shooters, they take more inside shots and rebound more, as one would expect from a small forward. Besides, don’t the Cavs already have a starting small forward this year?
Oh, and one last discovery. The players *least* similar to DJ are:
D. Wade, MIA 0.01 0.01 0.06 0.02
A. Miller, DEN 0.01 0.01 0.05 0.02
B. Knight, CHA 0.01 0.00 0.07 0.01
I don’t know what this means, but the presence of two former Cavs is startling!
August 3rd, 2006 at 8:04 am
I am EXTREMELY disappointed and dismayed at the dismisal of long time Cavaliers broadcaster, Michael Reghi. For years he has served the Cavaliers Organization faithfully and loyally, even when they weren’t winning 50 games a year, and long before Lebron James. He suffered along side us all during the tragic Shawn Kemp years. He consoled us, when we lost a Cavaliers favorite, in Bobby Phills. He invigorated us when he made his calls from the sidelines during the close games and kept us watching even if the Cavs were winning in a blowout. On any given weekday night, when I sat down to tune in to Fox Sports Ohio for a Cavs game, it was as much for the precise and exciting calls of Michael Reghi, as it was for the dazzling feats of excellence from Lebron James. His trademark “FLIGHT # 23!!!” calls, will not soon be forgotten, surely missed, and never duplicated. I IMPLORE you, if there is anyway that you know of, for me to contact him directly to express my condolences, and show my appreciation for his hard work and dilligence, PLEASE respond to me, using my private email address which is enclosed.
Sincerely,
A disgruntled, disappointed but ever faithful fanatic to the Cavaliers, and Michael Reghi,
Chris Dietz
Email Address: Chrsdtz33@AOL.com
ChrisDietz33@Hotmail.com