Links to the Present: Goofy Stuff Edition

Dion Waiters is getting some attention these days.  If you need a laugh this afternoon, check out Will Gibson’s swag evaluation over at Waiting For Next Year. The results are shown above. Dion is representing the Cavs well.

This confidence, this attitude, this—for lack of a better word—swag, has become Dion’s defining trait.  Swag isn’t just an on-court thing—it applies to fashion and lifestyle, too.  Dion knows this.  Before the 2012 draft, he said, “I am going to look real fly. Sharp. I will turn my swag all the way up.” He engages with fans on Twitter, often afterhours. He’s a fun human to have with us on Earth.

However, unlike most players that have swag, he isn’t what I would consider all-swag.  He’s actually like 10% swag and 90% upside.  Chris Manning of Fear The Sword shows that in a really detailed breakdown of his game, which is required reading for members of the Dion Defense club.  Manning hits on the great point that Dion has developed his game every season in the league.

While the progress wasn’t always clear, Waiters was a better and more efficient player last season than he was as a rookie. This is especially important because Waiters improved in the context of playing in Mike Brown’s stagnant offense, while also being paired with two other ball-dominant guards with similar skill sets.

He also notes that Waiters can make chaos on defense when he is engaged, although, unfortunately, that isn’t always how he plays defense.  Playing on a team with more NBA proven players should help Dion maximize his strengths, as he settles into a role made for him instead of trying to fit into the role of second man who wins games. He’ll also benefit from getting open looks and passing the ball to people who aren’t named Alonzo Gee.

I’ve said this before in posts, but Dion is going to be the most improved Cavalier this year. He may not ever be the best shooting guard in the league (something he has said he will become), but he can easily ride the LeBron Love train to becoming an elite player that gets to step up and swing games by hitting a bunch of threes or ripping 14 points off in a quarter.

The NBA has a sleep problem. While the league has extended the All-Star break this year to a full week, it did not extend the actual season.  This has resulted in even more back-to-back games and travel, which means even less time for players to get adequate sleep.  Tom Haberstroh wrote about this issue for ESPN Insider. Look at these quotes about sleeplessness that Tom presents from Harvard sleep doctor Charles Czeisler:

“Even if you restrict yourself to four hours a night for a week by having these relentless games after games after games,” Czeisler said recently in a phone interview, “that can build up the same level impairment of going 24 hours without sleep. Not to mention the fact that it also reduces the testosterone levels by an amount that’s equivalent to 11 years of aging.”

That right there is proof enough that the NBA has an issue if players aren’t getting enough sleep.  Less testosterone has never been a good thing for a sports league. Furthermore, that lack of testorone results in poor play on the court.

The study looked at 13 seasons’ worth of data and found that teams that play a back-to-back on the road perform 1.5 points per 100 possessions worse than if they had had a rest day in between.

This problem won’t be solved this offseason, but there is hope in the next couple of years that Adam Silver will address the issue.  Silver has listened to talks from Doctor Czeisler already. The Donald Sterling incident took up time that the commissioner might have used this summer to explore different scheduling options to help players get more rest. Kyrie Irving will be playing today, as Team USA looks to make it to the finals of the FIBA tournament with a win over Lithuania.  It won’t be easy, since Lithuania has the size to challenge the US.  Marc Stein thinks that Jonas Valanciunas may present some issues for the US with his back-to-the-basket game and offensive rebounding. He might, but he will have trouble keeping up with the US big men sprinting down the court every possession. Lithuania is playing without their starting point-guard who has been out for the whole tournament, which may benefit the US if their backcourt can step up.  The game is at 3PM on ESPN.