Terry's 2 Cents

Cavs 1st Half Recap

terrybrooks — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:29:17 +0000

The NBA is at the All-Star Break. The Cavs currently have the 2nd best record in the Eastern Conference. Here’s what we know:

LeBron James has gotten better.

LBJ has taken his game to a new level this year. He’s been one of the best players in the league since he made the jump from high school, but this season he’s playing on both ends of the floor. His defense has been so good some are hyping him to make the All-Defensive Team. There have also been rumblings that he could be the Defensive Player of the Year. All that and he’s averaging 28 pts, 7 rebs, and 7 assists in just under 38 minutes a game. Can you say MVP?

Mo Williams can flat out ball.

Mo was brought here to be Robin to LeBron’s Batman and he’s filling that role much better than Larry Hughes, Ricky Davis, or Carlos Boozer could have ever dreamed. His jump shot and ability to run the team have taken a load off LeBron the entire season. When he was not orginally selected to the all-star game the team rallied around him like a bunch of big brothers. He has proven that he can score with nights of 43 and44 this season, as well as just run the show with multiple nights of above 6 assists. Good to see him selected named as an injury replacement to the all-star game.

The Cavs are deep.

The Cavs have been dealing with injuries all season. Starters Zydrunas Ilgauskas , Ben Wallace, and Delonte West have all missed time. Sasha Pavolic, Darrell Jackson, and Tarence Kinsey have also been on the shelf. Despite that the Cavs have been getting steady production from the bench. ‘Wild Thing’ Anderson Varejao has been as active as the Energizer Bunny on the glass and on the defensive end.

Wally Sczcerbiak has been key.

He’s been pressed from 7th or 8th man into the starting lineup. Wally has given this team a steady veteran presence. This is LeBron’s team without question, but Wally seems to lead the team in sacrifice. He’s played out of position, banged with bigs, knocked down shots, whatever the team needs. Questions about whether Wally will be traded have been circling all season. Don’t know if that will happen or not, but Sczcerbiak has been a great glue guy this season that keeps things together.

Looking to the second half:

The Cavs have to get back to playing intense ball on the defensive end. Offensively they’ve fallen into the old rut of watching LeBron dominate the ball. No doubt there will be times that will happen in the playoffs, but the team needs to try keep the offense moving so guys can be confident once the second season begins. Finally, if the Cavs are completely healthy once the playoffs start they have the best chance to cut the nets down in June. Let’s get the second half started.

Mangini the Man….Now What?

terrybrooks — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:41:40 +0000

Eric Mangini you’re in charge. The Browns hired the right guy for the job. Someone who wants to be in Cleveland. Someone who knows what it’s like to be a Clevelander. Someone who knows what the Browns mean to this area.

Mike Shanahan has better credentials than Mangini. He’s a two time Super Bowl champ. Now let me tell you why Mangini was the better hire.

How many Super Bowl winning head coaches win it all in a different location? No one. Not Vince Lombardi, not Bill Parcells, not Jimmy Johnson, no one. It’s not been done. Winning it all takes too much out of a coach.

11 coaches have won multiple Super Bowls. Lombardi, Tom Landry, Tom Flores, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, George Seifert, Joe Gibbs, Johnson, Shanahan, and Bill Belichick. Coaches that win it all more than once build great teams. You can make an argument that a couple of those coaches aren’t even great, merely the beneficiaries of great talent around them. However, none of the coaches from that list were ever able to reach the pinnacle of coaching in a new location. We’ve got 43 years of Super Bowl winning evidence that hiring a former Super Bowl winning coach does not guarantee winning the big game.

Mangini is 37 years old. He will come here hungry wanting to prove that the Jets made a mistake cutting him down before his coaching prime. He evidently knows how to be a successful head coach. Winning 10 games his first year in NY and 9 games his final year in NY. Mangini also wants to prove that he can succeed where Bill Belichick, his former mentor, failed. The rift between the two is well documented. If Mangini can deliver a winner here in a city that’s in desperate need of it’s Brownies to be relevent…..If Mangini can deliver a winner and validate he was the right hire…..It’s all if’s right now, but Mangini’s the Man….Now What?

Ever Gonna Lerner?

terrybrooks — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:48:46 +0000

Went to a press conference today for the Browns. Randy Lerner as expected fired Romeo Crennel. Romeo and Phil Savage were tied at the hip. I did not expect Romeo to make it thourgh this ticking time bomb of a season. Savage was a slight surprise. I thought he may get demoted. Either way, seeing a new regime will please some of the fans who thought that this duo was far from dynamic.

My biggest gripe is with Lerner. This guy is so disconnected with the franchise that he thinks it’s okay to continue to have press conferences off camera. This is not your father’s era Randy. You can’t huddle a bunch of writers and tape recorders in a room and expect to receive good p-r. You just fired the two faces of your franchise and you decide that you’ll just have 30 members come up to a private office with no cameras because you don’t like being on camera. I get it. It’s his money, his team, yadda, yadda, yadda. I understand you’re not comfortable being on camera. TOUGH!!!! You are one of 32 people who are majority owners of an NFL franchise. You owe your devoted fans who buy your team’s merchandise, sell out your stadium, drink your overpriced beverages an explanation on camera about why you’re blowing up your toy yet again. YOU OWE THEM!!!!

This may not be your passion like it was your father’s, but I’m sure you enjoy the comfort that your father’s passion keeps you living in. You don’t believe 10 minutes on camera to tell the fans why you want to go another direction is justified? You don’t think they should hear (and see) you explain why they should keep believing in a franchise that has delivered 2 winning seasons in the 10 years that it’s been back on the lakefront. A franchise that has 1 playoff appearance in 10 seasons!?!?

Randy…Let me level with you. A change needed to be made with the organization. When you hire your next GM and in-turn your next head coach make it count. I know you won’t subject yourself to the public ridicle if you make the wrong decision, but the people of Cleveland deserve better than a reluctant owner AND a bad football team.

Romeo’s Last Stand…

terrybrooks — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:34:55 +0000

Romeo Crennel is in Pittsburgh getting ready for likely his final game as head coach of the Browns. Romeo has been ripped by the media and the fans for a crummy season. In fact Romeo’s been ripped for 3 bad seasons out of 4 as head coach. Let me be one of the few people to defend Romeo. He’s not free of blame by far. Romeo is the head coach and when teams lose, coaches get fired. Make no mistake. It looks like Romeo is being setup to be the fallguy for an orginization that needs some orginization. The Browns are in disarray and it doesn’t just sit solely at Romeo’s feet. If you want to criticize game management and challenge flags, Romeo’s been guilty. If you want to criticize player personnel that falls in GM Phil Savage’s lap. The Browns should have never started the season with this group of linebackers and secondary. While the defense has gotten better during the season, the defense gave away two critical games to Baltimore and Denver that started the dominoes to fall in this disappointing season. The players almost to a man seem to have Romeo’s back, it’s unfortunate that hasn’t translated to the field. Romeo will likely be fired with the next few days. He’ll be fine. He can work next year as another team’s defensive coordinator if he chooses. Or sit at home and enjoy his free money. I just want all the Browns fans to know that just because Romeo leaves doesn’t mean all of your problems are going away.

Believe the Hype…Cavs have Championship Swagger

terrybrooks — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:16:46 +0000

No one on the corner got swagger like us…..The lyrics from the hottest song in hip hop right now. Those lyrics may as well be the theme song to the Cavs season. LeBron James has always been a phenom. Now he’s got the pieces around him to make a run to the title. I know what you’re thinking. It’s only December. How can you make that statement? When you look at how the Cavs are constructed they can play any kind of ball. They can go small. They can play big. They have shooters. They have guys who can create their own shot. They’ve got the best player in the world. On top of all that they have completely bought in to the philosphy that defense wins championships. During the 11 game win streak LeBron was sitting during most 4th quarters not because the Cavs were putting up 120 points a game, it was because the Cavs were holding teams to 86 points a game. Offensively Mo Williams allows LeBron to play off the ball. What a difference that’s made in LBJ’s game. He can roam on the offensive end without the burden of having double teams attack him on the perimeter. The Cavs are going to give teams fits all season.

One last thing…Let me give some love to Zydrunas Ilgaukas for becoming the Cavs all-time leading rebounder. Props Big Z!

Browns Down…Again

terrybrooks — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:34:15 +0000

The 4-9 Browns were beaten to a pulp by Tennessee. What could we really expect? Ken Dorsey is a really nice guy, but he’s a 3rd string quarterback. No team in the NFL is going to survive a season with their 3rd stringer. Look at Dallas this season when Romo went down. Yuck! The Browns were playing on the road against the argubly the best team in football with a guy who was cut by this team last season. You knew what outcome was before the team plane touched down in Nashville.

There’s 3 games left in the season and if the Browns even come close to winning a game with the way this team looks right now I’ll be surprised. (One of the remaining games is against 1 win Cincinnati at the Stadium) I don’t think these guys are going to quit on Romeo Crennel, but it doesn’t matter at this point. Crennel’sl fate was decided weeks ago. He’s playing out the season and going down with his head held high. It’s too bad this will likely be his last chance as a head coach in the NFL.

The Browns are staring at their 8th losing season in 10 years since returning back to the Lakefront. There’s no quick fix this offseason. With a weaker schedule next season and a high first round draft pick, optimism will return as soon as the weather turns. However as you know living in Cleveland, it seems like it takes forever for the weather to turn.

Here’s my 2-cents

terrybrooks — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:41:17 +0000

Welcome in to the first dropping of “Terry’s 2-cents”. Blogging is a worldwide phenomenon at this point. To set this piece of cyberspace apart I plan to give you insight to my career and an opinion on most everything. This will at times be editorial, but the goal is to always be informative, and hopefully entertaining.

Browns just wrapped up. Improved to 3-4. The city shall now start to drink to kool-aid, AGAIN! This team has to get to 500 before they can be taken seriously. Baltimore comes to town next week and we’ll see how Derek Anderson performs against a physical football team. You see “good DA” or “bad DA” so much that calling him inconsistent is unfair to the word inconsistent. Now I’m not going to rip DA for being in the game. I respect Romeo Crennel for standing by his guy. If he thinks this guy (not Brady Quinn) gives him his best chance to win, so be it. But with everything that’s happened with Kellen Winslow and GM Phil Savage this week, expect heads to roll at the end of the year. Romeo has to hope DA performs these last 9 games or both he and his QB will be former residents of Cleveland.

Now there’s your first two cents. Don’t spend it all in one place.

-T

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colleenseitz — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:36:54 +0000

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