Somehow Cavs GM Danny Ferry has become a local and, somewhat, national villain. NBA writers and most local fans are anticipating a difficult start for the Cavs for two reasons. First, their brutal early schedule. That's already been well document on this blasketblog.
Second is the absence of Andy Varejeo. Let me make one thing clear: Varejeo is worth, maybe, four million dollars annually. He's asking for ten million. Sir, you're welcome to spend the season in Europe, Asia, or on any other continent willing to give a big man of limited abilities ten million dollars a year. We don't need you for that price.
That brings me back to Danny Ferry. Somehow he's been blamed for Varejeo's absence as well as the underwhelming performance of the Cavs free agent class of 2005. At that time, Ferry was praised for bringing in Hughes, Jones and Marshall. Their fragility and erratic performances have nothing to do with Ferry! Now, all of a sudden, people are leaping all over him.
National writers and fans alike need to chill the fuck out. The consensus is that Ferry and the Cavs did nothing this offseason. That's because he, Ferry, had no resources to work with this offseason. The team had zero draft picks, due in no part to Ferry. They have no tradeable pieces outside of Boobie Gibson and he's untouchable.
Of course they also had zero salary cap room for free agents. I don't blame Ferry. I applauded Ferry for his '05 moves. So did most national writers. And those writers can't have it both ways! They can't laud Ferry for his aggressiveness in '05 and rip him for not spending in '07. The NBA salary cap doesn't work that way.
I guess in closing I will simply suggest everyone, fans and writers alike, relax, lay off poor Danny Ferry and allow the team to play. They will win or lose with virtually the same squad as '06. And that's not the bad thing some make it out to seem. Maybe Andy comes to his senses and tells his brother, who's his agent, to go fuck himself. On second thought, that won't happen. I hope you like Greece Varejeo.
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4 comments:
The Varejao business is insane. While he would obviously represent an advantage over Dwayne Jones, they don't seem to be missing him much - they're outrebounding opponents 46-40, a wider margin than last year, and rebounds is all he offers other than a dependable four fouls per 20 minutes. Like a lot of people, I applauded his hustle and the fact that he appeared to be gradually refining his game (read: looking less silly), but yeah, he's not worth a big contract by any means. I'm much happier Sexy Pavlovic is back.
Yes, Ferry had his hands completely tied this season, mainly due to bad decisions by John Paxson (imagine if he hadn't effed up the Boozer deal. Oh well.), but I think people are jumping on him because of the Pavlovic and Varejao holdouts. You just don't see holdouts that often in the NBA, and I think it suggests to many people a really messed up organizational culture. I can't say I disagree. This team has never gelled in any meaningful way, I think they may actually be less than the sum of their parts.
Plus, who liked the Hughes, Marshall and Jones signings? I hated all of them. The Hughes deal was clearly a desperation move in the wake of the failure to sign Redd, and Marshall and Jones were really weak attempts to address a need (ie. outside shooting) that wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact that this team is clearly not (and was not) just one piece away from being a title contender.
What can you say about Ferry this year? Who knows, he actually had no flexibility whatsoever. But I think there is a clear acceptance of a losing culture in Cleveland, as well as an "every man for himself" mentality within the club that is totally unacceptable. And I don't believe that starts with the players. Unless there are serious organizational changes with this franchise they might as well fold when LeBron departs for greener pastures in a couple years for all I care.
When the Indians made the ALCS I actually got nervous about what would happen if they won a World Series. My entire sports fan life has been built around heartbreaking losses. I realized during that series that I'm ready for a Cleveland team to win a title, and that I'm no longer going to spend my time and money rooting for a bunch of scrubs and crybabies.
By the way did anyone happen to notice the picture of OJ Mayo on the cover of USA Today today? He looks more ancient then Greg Oden. Seriously, he looks like a retired funeral director or something. Didn't he turn 18, like, this year?
Something weird is going on. This must be due to bovine growth hormone or something. There needs to be a further investigation. Maybe girls are right in insisting on organtic milk.
That picture is *amazing.* He looks like a college megastar from the 70's who flopped in the NBA but they dressed him in his old jersey for a photo shoot on the 30th anniversary of his 122-point game against Wichita Tech.
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