Sunday, April 25, 2010

Good Win for the Cavaliers

Well today the Cavs got a fantastic win today and it wasn't just because of the egg they laid the other night in Chicago. As a team, they played fantastic, tenacious defense, along with some class A scoring and really took it to the Bulls at the United Center.

Consider the stats -
First the obvious, the score was Cle 121 Chi 98. Anytime you score over 100 points on the road, and hold the opponent to under 100, it means you're playing some darn good defense. It was the third quarter where the Cavs really turned it out with 37 points and held the Bulls to 24. That's the way you want to come out in the 3rd quarter - beat the opponent down so that in the fourth quarter you can just cruise to victory.

Second, let me tell you a little bit about the shooting. The Cavs held the Bulls to a stifling 37.4% shooting in today's game. 37.4%! That's incredible, especially when you factor in that the Cavs shot 53.2% from the field tonight with 48.0% (12/25) on 3-pointers. Free throws were a different issue, with the Cavs shooting a lackluster 73.5% (25/34) while the Bulls shot 81.2% (26/32). ABC's commentators mentioned during the game that the Cavs have done more work on free throws in practice during the playoffs than they did during the regular season - that's starting with free throws and practicing them in the middle and end of practice as well, as opposed to just the end. They were the worst free throw shooting team in the league during the regular season, and I just don't think that's going to cut it in the playoffs. Making free throws in the playoffs can often be the difference between an win and a loss. Hopefully they'll get it right.

Third, the supporting cast really stepped it up today! Why did we trade for Antawn Jamison? If you guessed so he could score 24 points with 7 rebounds, you are correct! 9/16 from the field, 1/3 on three pointers, and 5/7 on his free throws, excellent numbers. Throw MoGotti Williams in there, who hit three after three after three. I can only say three three's because that's all he actually hit (3/6), but it seemed like a lot more during the game. He was 6/10 from the field, and 4/6 from the line, good for 19 points. JJ Hickson too, I guess when Lebron calls you out and wants you to get more playing time you produce. He had 10 points, 2 rebounds, shooting 3/4 from the field and 4/4 on his free throws (100%, that's how you win ballgames).

Fourth, how can you possibly describe Lebron James? This guy was simply UNREAL today, just unreal. 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists good for the 5th triple double of his playoff career. He was 9/10 on his free throw attempts, 6/9 on his three's (that's half of the team's three's) and overall 11/17 from the field. He was making shots like nobody's business, including a buzzer beater at the half, and then another buzzer beater from just under half court to finish the 3rd quarter. At one point in the fourth quarter, ABC commentator Mike Tirico exclaimed "Stop it! Just stop it!" after Lebron hit one of his 6 three's.

This was an extremely encouraging day for the Cavaliers, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in person on Tuesday when I expect they'll take the series in 5 games.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Hafner Update

So I saw a little clip of a Travis Hafner home run and this makes me think he might actually be back in form. This home run was hit to one of the deepest parts of Comerica Park in Detroit - a definite pitchers ballpark. Not only does the ball travel a long way, but the swing looks like what we were used to seeing in 2006. Take a gander and see what you think.

~MAS

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Musings on Mr. Hafner...

Continuing my little musing session about four key players on the Indians...

Ever since the '06 season when Travis Hafner hit .308 with 42 home runs and 117 RBI (in only 129 games! He missed the month of September after being hit on the hand by a bitch against the Rangers), he's been on a nosedive into irrelevancy. Some thought '07 was a year where he started off in a bad way because his contract wasn't settled, but signing the 4-year $57 million extension didn't really help either as he ended the season with a .266 average 24 home runs and 100 RBI. Then his shoulder quit on him and 2 years of that 4 year contract extension went right down the drain.

There are a few theories as to why Hafner's body suddenly started to quit on him, one being that after the '06 season he quit taking steroids because MLB started to really crack down on the players. I don't want to say that I believe he was taking them...but I have a pretty strong inclination that Hafner was shooting up something. I mean, come on, it's not like he just went from 42 to 24 home runs, he also dropped his doubles production down to 25! That's terrible for someone who from '04-'06 hit 41, 42, and 31 doubles (and remember, that 31 was in a season shortened by a month). It's common knowledge that steroids can lead to muscle deterioration, and I guess I think that's why his shoulder gave him enough issues to take him out for basically two seasons.

So now that Hafner has sort of taken the Indians to the cleaners with that huge ass contract the past couple years, he seems to be back in the saddle and riding the Mustang. According to a bunch of reports that I've read, there are no more restrictions on how many days in a row Hafner can play as there were last year, and he was hitting the ball in spring training like he hasn't in years. I remember reading from either Anthony Castrovince of mlb.com or Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer something to the tune of, "He may not be hitting Pronkville like he used to, but Hafner appears to be back in form."

I certainly hope that's true. If not, then hopefully Russel Branyan can get over his bad back and hit another 30 home runs like he did last year. Although I sort of doubt we'll be seeing much of Branyan and his strikeouts this year. But that's a $2 million down the tube for another post...

~MAS

Monday, April 5, 2010

Opening Day 2010!

It's the beginning of a new era for the Cleveland Indians. As the beat writer for indians.com Anthony Castrovince so eloquently put it in his CastroTurf blog post: Acta One, Scene One - the first game of Manny Acta's tenure as the Manager of the Cleveland Indians. But not only is this the beginning of a new manager's tenure, it's a chance for the revival of four key players' careers - Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner. We'll start with the Pitchers.

First off, Jake Westbrook starts today for the first time since May of 2008. It's got to be a nerve racking experience, pitching for the first time in two years after Tommy John surgery to rebuild a pitching elbow, but I think that if anyone can bounce back to be as effective as he once was it's Westbrook. Consider that before the injury, from 2004-2007 Westbrook made at least 25 starts and kept his ERA under 4.50 for all of those years. If you just consider from '04-'06, as Westbrook was injured for a little bit of '07, he had win totals of 15, 15 and 14, pitched at least 210 innings, and had at least two complete games in each of those three seasons. He's also a sinker-ball pitcher, so it's not like he relies solely on his velocity and curveball to strike people out. Even though he's no spring chicken at the age of 32, I think his temprement and attitude should be just the right recipe for success this season.

Second in the rotation is Fausto Carmona. Now he has been known as sort of a head case who wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he has given every indication since playing winterball that he has gotten himself straight. He had an excellent spring, and Mike Redmond seems to know just how to handle him (as the now catcher of the Red Sox Victor Martinez used to do) and will be Carmona's personal catcher throughout the year. I'm all for anything that gets Carmona at least a little close to the dominant starter that he was in '07 when he went 19-8 with a 3.06 ERA in 215 innings from 32 starts. In that season, Fausto only walked 60 batters. In '08 and '09, seasons where he pitched 120.2 and 125.1 innings, respectively, he walked 70 batters each. That's part of the reason why Acta has stressed so much the importance of pounding the strike zone - walks are the enemy. But I do believe that Carmona has worked hard enough and shown a lot in Spring Training to give hope that he will once again show that form that got him votes for the Cy Young Award in '07 (which CC Sabathia won...although he had "."s in his name back then).

So here's hoping to a good season for the both of them. The '10 Indians starting rotation will definitely need their consistency and stability if they're going to be competitive this year. I'll be back later with my take on Hafner and Sizemore.