Ranking the best teams of the last decade for the Indians was probably a little more depressing than Figgs' OSU decade recap. Seriously, that was a good writeup and you should go read it again. The Indians did have a few good years last decade with 2001, 2005, and 2007 standing out specifically. 2001 and 2007 were, of course, the playoff years, while 2005 was the year where the Indians began competing again. However pretty much everything else was a letdown, with either talent wasting away on a horrible team or not playing to its potential.
The 2000's weren't quite as profitable, as the game's economic realities eventually caught up with Cleveland, and the Tribe became another small-market team trying to scratch out a living. They notched two more Central titles (2001, 2007) and came within a game of the '07 pennant, but it was not to be. Without further ado, let's rank the 10 Indians seasons of the 2000's:
1) 2007
96-66, Finished 1st in AL Central
Scored 811 runs, Allowed 704 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 91-71
Oh 2007. I’ve never experienced such a revelation about baseball as I did watching the 2007 Indians play. This team just knew how to win and did it with a balanced attack and the help of two pitchers who had very good years. C.C. and Carmona both had flat out ridiculous years. C.C. finished with a 19-7 record and 141 ERA+ and won the AL Cy Young, while Carmona posted a 19-8 record and a slightly better ERA+ of 148. Rafael Perez and Betancourt were amazing out of the 'pen, posting sub-two ERAs and 254 and 306 ERA+ respectively. Even the beginning of the Travis Hafner decline couldn’t derail pitching like that. The Tribe's "one through nine" approach to offense showed in that only Hafner (100) and Victor (114) had over 100 RBI for the season. A lot of credit is given to a 21 year-old Asdrubal Cabrera taking over second base for Josh Barfield, who was coming off a pretty good season for the San Diego Padres but struggled in a Tribe uniform. The Indians’ series against the Yankees in the playoffs might be one of my favorite baseball memories ever. Good thing I was too busy traveling for work to watch the series that followed that one.
2) 2001
91-71, Finished 1st in AL Central
Scored 897 runs, Allowed 821 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 88-74
AL Central champs. Now that’s more like it. At two games over the Pythagorean you can’t complain too much about Charlie Manuel and how his team "did good" this season. I often refer to this year as the year the Indians 90’s successes bought one more AL Central victory. Sandy Alomar: gone. Manny Ramirez: gone. Richie Sexson: gone. OK, that last one was a joke, but the Indians did pay Juan Gonzalez $10 million for a single season of service (but I have a feeling he might show up again.) Did Juan deliver? You bet he did, to the tune of 140 OPS+ and 140 RBI. Of course Jim Thome had a 170 OPS+ and Robby Alomar wasn’t too shabby either at 150 OPS+. Pitching-wise, a guy named C.C. Sabathia had a 17-5 rookie year, but after him and Colon the team of Burba, Finely and Charles Nagy might sound good but this is 2001 Nagy we are talking about. Not that you were concerned, but 2001 saw the Indians season end with a 3-2 loss to the Mariners in the AL Division Series.
3) 2005
93-69, Finished 2nd in AL Central
Scored 790 runs, Allowed 642 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 96-66
2005 was the real target contending date following the 2002 sell-off. Three years isn’t so bad, and look: the Indians finished 93-69. However, they still landed three games short of their Pythagorean expectation, which isn’t good. Two highlights on the offensive side of the ball marked the '06 campaign. Remember when Juan Gonzalez, at age 35, was slated as a starter? Yeahm one at-bat later and Grady Sizemore is our man in center field, where he still resides. The other big surprise was Jhonny Peralta’s career-high 137 OPS+. Sure, Victor and Hafner did well too, but 2005 is the year of Peralta and Sizemore. Pitching-wise, Cliff Lee’s 18-5 was pretty much the only good pitching story, until you remember that this was also that one year Kevin Millwood pitched for the Indians. Yes, Kevin Millwood had a 145 ERA+ and led the league with a 2.86 ERA. Unfortunately, the Indians weren’t helping him out much, and so he was left with a 9-11 record. Kevin must have liked not winning since he signed with the Rangers. Not too bad a year if you forgot the White Sox won 99 games this year and won the World Series which is forever immortalized on the back of my wife’s car.
4) 2000
90-72, Finished 2nd in AL Central
Scored 950 runs, Allowed 816 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 92-70
Despite finishing nine games above a .500 finish, the Indians were still a solid five games behind the evil Chicago black socks in 2000. The top two OPS+ guys that year were Jim Thome with a 132 and Manny Ramirez with a staggering 186. So what went wrong? Well, with a Pythagorean record that would only boost the club's record by two wins, not much really. Having Jolbert Cabrera appear in a hundred games probably didn’t help but he only had 187 AB. This is 2000 so if my nineties history serves me well maybe we should examine pitching. It appears that Steve Woodard had to start 11 games - that’s probably not good. This is a team that helped Dave Burba to a 16-6 record, despite a 4.47 ERA but a 110 ERA+. I think the problem was probably a) a very good Chicago team and b) after Chuck Finley, Burba, and Bartolo Colon the Indians didn’t have a number four or five starter to carry them past 90 wins.
5) 2008
81-81, Finished 3rd in AL Central
Scored 805 runs, Allowed 761 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 85-77
Coming off the highly successful 2007 season, I don’t think hopes could have been higher for the 2008 club. Offensively, this year was lowlighted by the complete collapse of Travis Hafner (.194 average) and Victor only playing 74 games. Grady was as good as he ever was with a career high 33 home runs, but even he can’t make up for what the Indians lost. Shin-Soo Choo and Kelly Shoppach did their best and the Indians did pull off a pretty good second half. However pitching-wise we’ve got another story to tell. C.C. got off to a slow start and was eventually traded to Milwaukee where he was as impressive as ever. Somehow Cliff Lee become the 2008 AL Cy Young winner with an amazing 22-3 record and a 2.54 ERA. Unfortunately Cliff represents too large a percentage of the Indians’ overall wins. Only Scott Lewis (4-0), Anthony Reyes (2-1), and Carmona (8-7) posted winning records other than Lee. Hell even Bryan Bullington was allowed to start two games for this team. The bullpen was a mess and I think I’m going to leave it at that.
6) 2004
80-82, Finished 3rd in AL Central
Scored 858 runs, Allowed 857 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 81-81
We have reached the middle years which can only mean one thing. Good Travis Hafner equals bad Indians team. To be fair, two games under five hundred is not too bad for a team that allows Scott Elarton to start 21 games. The offense was solid with names that evoke such Indians memories like Belliard (always playing a shallow right field position), Broussard (streaky but good), and Lawton (hey he finally had an OK year). Cliff Lee had a breakout season going 14-8 and Jake Westbrook went 14-9. Overall it was a nice year to feel good about. If memory serves me right this was the target year that “the Indians were going to start contending again” after the rebuilding phase.
7) 2002
74-88, Finished 3rd in AL Central
Scored 739 runs, Allowed 837 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 72-90
Hey we’re rebuilding! 2002 saw the famous Colon for Lee Stevens trade that had a few other guys attached. The good news is that trade eventually turned out well. We also get two mangers this year: Charlie Manuel (39-47) and Joel Skinner (35-41). Jim Thome put up a club-best 197 OPS+ (can someone say contract year), with Ellis Burks second best at 139. John McDonald saw action in 93 games. The real highlight probably was Karim Garcia registering 52 RBI in only 51 games. Pitching-wise, C.C. did OK with a 13-11 record. Paul Shuey pretty much was this team’s bullpen going 3-0 with a 2.41 ERA and a 182 ERA+ and that’s why we traded him to the Dodgers for Francisco Cruceta, Terry Mulholland and Ricardo Rodriguez. I always liked Ryan Drese despite his 67 ERA+ for 2002. Finally, Chris Magruder getting 258 AB is too many for any team above AAA.
8) 2006
78-84, Finished 4th in AL Central
Scored 870 runs, Allowed 782 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 89-73
One step forward and two back. After posting a 93-69 record in '05 you had to be expecting good things from the Tribe in '06. Unfortunately, the Indians decided to end the year in 4th in the AL - thank god for those hapless Royals. A 29 year-old Travis Hafner put up a 181 ERA+, Grady played all 162 games, and Aaron Boone decided to suck. Fausto Carmona finishing with a 1-10 record for the year might be an indicator of some of what went wrong in '06. The '06 Tribe was simply too thin in pitching, particularly out of the bullpen, though four out of the five starters posted winning records, barely. Westbrook 15-10, C.C. 12-11, Lee 14-11, The Cobra 10-9 and actually in 14 games started Sowers posted a 7-4 and 125 ERA+. You might be wondering why 2006 is so low on my list. Eleven games under Pythagorean should be all I have to say.
9) 2003
68-94, Finished 4th in AL Central
Scored 699 runs, Allowed 778 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 73-89
2003 was the first season of recently-departed manager Eric Wedge. Five games under Pythagorean might be what should be expected from a rookie skipper. Some dude named Milton Bradley lead the team with a 147 OPS+ and some guy named Brandon Phillips had a 48 OPS+ after 370 at bats. Ellis Burks was still on the team? David Riske had a ERA+ of 192, wow. Anyway 2003 is a lost year forget about it, never happened.
2009
65-97, 4th place in AL Central
Scored 773 runs, Allowed 865 runs. Pythagorean W-L: 73-89
In 2009 the Indians became part of baseball trivia when the two pitchers who had won the previous two AL Cy Young awards faced off in the first game for the World Series. Obviously not with the team with which they won those awards. If you thought pitching was tough to come by in 2008, the 2009 squad gave up over a 100 more runs and scored 32 fewer runs. So yeah a worse record was in order. Cliff Lee was traded because, well, we didn’t need him to finish third or fourth in the AL Central. Offensively Hafner made a comeback but still only played 94 games. Victor also didn’t make it above 100 games because . . . he too was traded. Hell this is pretty much the dregs. I fully expect the Indians to be better in 2010. . . I have to.
Wednesday, July 18
The Indians through the 2000's
Monday, February 1
The Cavs through the 2000's
Is it too much to call the ping-pong ball that earned the Cleveland Cavaliers the right to draft LeBron James the single most important ping-pong ball in history? Consider how much it has changed the city of Cleveland and the Cavalier franchise, then mired in a decade of mediocrity that culminated in the laugable 17-65 2002-03 campaign. At worst, it's the most important ping-pong ball in the history of FCF. It's interesting to think that, had we not won that, we still would have ended up with Carmelo or Wade and definitely would have gotten a hell of a lot better. I'm still happiest where we ended up.
Since winning the LeLottery, the Cavs ascended slowly and surely to the ranks of the NBA elite. They're headed to a certain fifth-straight playoff spot and second consecutive division title (after a 33-year drought), qualified for their first NBA Finals in 2007, and appear poised to compete for the championship once again. Because this season won't end until June 2010, the Cavalier edition currently sitting 5.5 games atop the rest of the East isn't eligible for the list. So, let's take a look back at the Decade of LeBron:
10) 2002-03
Record: 17-65
8th Place, Central Division
15th Place, Eastern Conference
28th place (tied) out of 29 teams
Most obscure Cav: Tierre Brown
I can't believe he was on our roster: Smush Parker
Good god.
It's appropriate that I'm listening to Jay-Z bust some rhymes while I type this, as his New Jersey Nets are currently mired in a 4-41 season that makes this epically bad Cavalier campaign look like the '98 Bulls. I can't even write coherently about this team, so here are a few notes:
- Coach John Lucas (deposed mid-season) recently came out and said that the Cavs were tanking for LeBron. They were, but anytime your coach accuses your club of intentionally losing, well, you've got a decade-worst club on your hands.
- 8th in the division? Who the hell aligned this league?
- Basketball-Reference has a metric called SRS (simple rating system), in which the Cavs placed last in the NBA at -9.58. I have no idea how this scale is calibrated, but I'm going to guess that's not good. The '10 Nets sport a -11.84, while this year's Cavs are 2nd in the NBA at 6.21, trailing only a certain team they've already smacked around twice. The Cavs were 1st last year.
- This club sported a -9.6 point differential. Wait, maybe that's all SRS means? We did outperform our Pythagorean by a game, so there's that, I guess.
- Ricky Davis led the team with 20.6 a game, shooting a blazing .410 from the floor. Thank goodness for Ricky's Renegades.
- The season highlight: a 89-70 destroying of the Lakers in Gund Arena, after which Darius Miles proclaimed that the Cavs would "shock everybody and make the playoffs." Unbelievable.
- Z made as much money as the next three highest-paid Cavs. Hey, at least he led the team in PER. Have I said enough about this team yet?
9) 2000-01
Record: 30-52
6th Place, Central Division
11th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Etdrick Bohannon
I can't believe he was on our roster: (tie) Jimmy Jackson, Clarence Weatherspoon
Trying to rank 30- and 29-win teams makes me feel like I'm writing a Browns piece. It's been a long time since these Cavalier teams were losing in front of 5K fans in the Gund. Anyone remember the Randy Wittman era? This team actually had a worse point differential than the following year's club, so I put them a spot lower.
There's very little interesting to say about this club. Andre Miller was really the only bright spot, leading the team in both points (15.8) and assists (8.0), though he actually was better the following year. 'Spoon led the team in boards at 9.7 a game, and Z led the team in foot surgeries with one. Sadly, that injury wrecked what could have been a decent team - the Cavs were in first place at 15-7 early, but after Z went down, stumbled to a 15-58 finish. Ouch.
8) 2001-02
Record: 29-53
7th Place, Central Division
14th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Jeff Trepagnier
I can't believe he was on our roster: Jumaine Jones
What do you want me to say about this team? Just another brick in the wall as far as their slide to the basement. As Nick pointed out the other day, you gotta bottom out in the NBA to get a difference-maker; this organization's genius was not doing so until the following year. Aren't you glad we got the King instead of Yao or Jay Williams? Me too.
Andre Miller was easily the team's bright spot, putting in 16.5 ppg and dishing out 10.9 apg. We haven't really had a playmaking point (other than LeBron) like that since then. Lamond Murray led the club in scoring at 16.6, followed by Miller and Wesley Person (15.1 ppg, .490 shooting, .444 on threes). Z's feet were getting better (11.1/5.4), but he had a ways to go. And Ricky Davis even shot a decent percentage (.480) this year! Yay Ricky!
Tyrone Hill, a solid and underappreciated Cav, pulled down 10.5 boards a game for this lousy team (point differential -3.3). Hey Tyrone, I always thought you played hard.
7) 1999-00
Record: 32-50
6th Place, Central Division
th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Pete Chilcutt
I can't believe he was on our roster: Danny Ferry (!)
Another one of these teams, eh? Lots of losses, -3.5 point differential, good year from Andre Miller, ho-hum. This team did feature one last good year from fat Shawn Kemp, at 17.8/8.8 per game. Have you started scrolling down for the playoff years yet?
6) 2003-04
Record: 35-47
5th Place, Central Division
9th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Jelani McCoy
I can't believe he was on our roster: Mateen Cleaves
Hey look, we have a new toy! His name is LeBron and he's only 18. That's really all this season was about: LeBron getting his feet wet and taking the team over from the strong, disciplined leadership of Ricky Davis. OK, that and new uniforms. I still remember LeBron initially calling the club "Ricky's team" - it's even hilarious now considering how LeBron is the unquestioned leader of the contending Cavaliers and Davis is off smoking weed and shooting 35% somewhere.
I didn't realize that the Cavs only missed the postseason by one game in LeBron's rookie campaign, despite a 35-47 record and -2.6 point differential (23rd of 29!). This was the East-West gulf at its finest, though the 54-win Pistons shocked the basketball world in June by knocking off the juggernaut Lakers to claim the championship.
Still, Year 1 of the King was fun; it was the first time in a long time where you felt like they had a decent chance night in and night out to knock off a solid opponent, and LeBron justified the hype with a 20.6/5.5/5.9 that portended the video game numbers he's putting up these days. He did shoot .417/.290/.754, so there was room to improve on that front. I mean, even Ricky Davis (15.3 ppg) was a better marksman this season, and that's saying something. Carlos Boozer emerged as a star in the making with a 15.5/11.4 line, shooting .523 from the floor before his infamous sellout in the off-season. Frankly, Paul Silas' club really made the most with pretty limited team-wide talent this season. Back-to-back first-round picks of DeSagana Diop and Dajuan Wagner are hard to recover from, ya know.
I went to my first Cavs game in a while this year with Doug - I was living in Pittsburgh and hadn't been over in a couple of seasons. Naturally, I ended up at the one game LeBron missed that year. The Cavs still beat the 76ers in a game where I got really drunk and kept pointing out loudly that Allen Iverson led the league in street cred (he had like 35 points that game) and then spilled a beer on the guy in front of me and had to inform him of this because his coat soaked it all up.
Remember the 28 minutes Bruno Sundov played this season? Good times. Any time Bruno Sundov isn't your team's most obscure player, you've got some work to do on the roster.
5) 2004-05
Record: 42-40
4th Place, Central Division
t-8th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Jerome Moiso
I can't believe he was on our roster: Moiso, again. Are we sure this is for real?
Kinda like the previous year, only a little more successful. The Cavs subbed Drew Gooden in for the departed Boozer, ditched Ricky, and acquired a little-known Brazilian big man named Anderson Varejao in a rooking of a trade with the Magic, and ended up with seven more wins. They tied New Jersey for the 8th slot in the East but lost out on a tiebreaker. Couldn't the NBA have overruled that and put the Cavs in? Who the hell wanted to see a declining Net squad when we could get LeBron's playoff debut? Oh well.
Bron got a lot better at 27.2/7.4/7.2, bumping up all of his shooting percentages significantly and truly announcing his arrival in the NBA. Z and Gooden started a three-year run as forces in the Cavalier interior, posting averages of 16.9/8.6 and 14.4/9.2. Jeff McInnis handled the point capably with 12.8 pps and 5.1 apg, but clearly wasn't the long-term solution for the Cavs. Neither was Silas, who was canned mid-season.
Also: we had Robert "Tractor" Traylor this year, along with Jiri Welsch. I always enjoyed the Tractor's game, while I didn't enjoy anything about Welsch's performance.
4) 2007-08
Record: 45-37
2nd Place, Central Division
4th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Kaniel Dickens
I can't believe he was on our roster: Larry Hughes. It feels like he's been gone for a decade!
Playoffs:
Won 1st round vs Washington (4-2)
Lost Conference Semis vs Boston (4-3)
Good news, Cavs fans: the next four teams all made it to the postseason, as 16 of the league's 30 teams do each and every season.
Remember this team? This is the Cavalier playoff club people tend to overlook, and for good reason; they posted a -0.3 point differential yet managed to outperform their Pythagorean by five games to sneak into the playoffs as a four seed. Needless to say, coming off an Eastern Conference championship, people expected a bit more out of the Cavaliers.
The biggest story of the year was the massive mid-season trade that brought Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Ben Wallace, and Joe Smith to town. It made the Cavaliers a much stronger club, led to that game where we won with like six dudes, and helped a so-so team make a reasonably good playoff run. LeBron edged even closer to MVP territory with 30 ppg (leading the league) to go along with 7.9 boards and 7.2 assists per contest. Now that's the LeBron we know! Z had a career year at 14.1/9.3 , backed by 11.3/8.3 from Drew Gooden. Can you believe we still had Larry Hughes for most of this year? He shot a miserable .377 for the season.
The Cavs dispatched the Wiz in the first round of the Playoffs for the third straight year (of course they did) despite some transparent and rather pathetic thug tactics form the Bullets, and faced the 66-16 #1 seed Celtics in the Conference semis. Home court advantage was huge here, as the home team won all seven games in the series. It's a shame we had to play four of them in Massachusetts. Considering that the Celts went on to win the NBA title, that's not a bad way to go out. You could argue that this club could sit at #3 on this list, but I liked the '05-'06 team's defense and spirit.
3) 2005-06
Record: 50-32
2nd Place, Central Division
4th Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Zendon Hamiltom
I can't believe he was on our roster: Luke Jackson
Playoffs:
Won 1st round vs Washington (4-2)
Lost Conference Semis vs Detroit (4-3)
I'm not going to lie to you - part of me was tempted to leapfrog this club over the team that went on to win the Eastern Conference. But ultimately I decided that was getting too cute; this team won the same number of regular-season games and two fewer playoff series, and that means a lot. Still, I maintain that had they corralled that rebound and managed to knock off the Pistons in Game 6 of the East Semis, they could have taken down the Heat and then the Mavericks, especially if LeBron got a third of the crazy calls Dwyane Wade ended up getting. Ah, what could have been.
Nevertheless, this was a hell of a year, one that saw Cleveland make their first playoff appearance in eight long years in Mike Brown's first year at the helm. They had a +2.2 point differential and, at 50-32, outpaced their Pythagorean by two games. LeBron got the team over the playoff hump in his third season by posting a 31.4/7.0/6.6 line. Interesting that this career-high in ppg was not the one that earned him his lone scoring title. Z and Drew Gooden held their own in the middle, posting averages of 15.6/7.6 and 10.7/8.4, respectively. Considering that chuckers like Larry Hughes and Flip Murray placed 2nd and 3rd in scoring average for the Cavs, it's remarkable that they came so close to a berth in the Conference Finals.
The Wizards series was simply awesome, including three games decided by one point each (all won by Cleveland!), two of which required overtime. Tremendous. I still remember walking around in the rain in Schenectady trying to find a place that'd let me watch the first game; the Grog Shoppe garnered hundreds of dollars in business from me and my friends over the years for doing just that. LeBron had roughly seven game-winners in this series, or so it seemed, as Washington started down the road to becoming the Cavaliers' perennial first-round whipping boys. LeBron opened the playoffs with a triple-double in a Cavalier win, and notched two clutch game-winners (fuck you, Skip Bayless) before dishing to Damon Jones for the baseline series-clincher in a 114-113 overtime win in Game 6.
Then came the East Semis against a strong Detroit Piston club. Cleveland looked outmatched at first, losing two games in the Palace including a 27-point blowout in Game 1. But they started to lock things down on D, led by the emergence of defensive stalwart Anderson Varejao, and ran off three straight wins to take the Pistons to the brink of elimination. After a tough home loss in Game 6, the Cavs ran out of gas and Detroit cruised to the Conference Finals, but the Cavs, with their much-improved defense installed by Brown, served notice that they were going to be in the conversation for years to come.
2) 2006-07
Record: 50-32
2nd Place, Central Division
2nd Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Dwayne Jones
I can't believe he was on our roster: Scot Pollard
Playoffs:
Won 1st round vs Washington (4-0)
Won Conference Semis vs New Jersey (4-2)
Won Conference Finals vs Detroit (4-2)
Lost NBA Finals vs San Antonio (4-0)
Some have called this the worst NBA Finals team ever, but who cares? We made the Finals! The Cavs had a solid if unspectacular regular season, ending up 2nd in the conference at 50-32. The real key was the Bulls somehow losing to the Nets in the final game of the season, granting the Cavs a dream path to the Finals. First up was a Wizard team without their top two players, whom the Cavs ripped 4-0, followed by a so-so Nets team whom the Cavs put away 4-2, setting up the inevitable rematch against the Pistons.
The Cavs stuck it to the Pistons in the East Finals, avenging the previous year's seven-game series defeat, thanks to LeBron's insane 48-point double-OT performance in The Palace in Game 5, and a glorious Piston meltdown in Game 6. They got swept by a far superior Spur club in the Finals, but an Eastern Conference title is nothing to sneeze at.
This year's Cavs sported a +3.9 point differential, and placed 5th in team defense, something that has been a strength throughout the Mike Brown years. They made their money on the boards too, averaging a positive rebound margin of four a game. This was key since they shot basically the same (.447) as their opponents (.448). One of those two numbers is good.
The King started to fully realize his potential, putting up a 27.3/6.7/6.0 line. Isn't it crazy how that doesn't even look that good anymore? His shooting percentages were nowhere near current numbers (.476/.319/.698), but he still managed to will a shaky club into the Finals. I mean, Larry Hughes was our second-leading scorer this year! IHS posted an awful .400 bricking percentage. Wow. Z and Drew Gooden were both strong once again in the middle at 11.9/7.7 and 11.1/8.5, respectively. But look at the rest of our rotation: Pavlovic, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Daniel Gibson, Varejao before he became coordinated, etc. It's frankly amazing that this club made the Finals, but man was it ever fun.
1) 2008-09
Record: 66-16
1st Place, Central Division
1st Place, Eastern Conference
Most obscure Cav: Trey Johnson
I can't believe he was on our roster: Lorenzen Wright
Playoffs:
Won 1st round vs Detroit (4-0)
Won Conference Semis vs Atlanta (4-0)
Lost Conference Finals vs Orlando (4-2)
I know they didn't make the NBA Finals and the '06-'07 squad did, but you can't possibly convince me that this wasn't the best Cavalier team ever. That '07 team had a really favorable draw - they would have been absolutely torched by the Orlando team that knocked out the Cavaliers.
But before we get to that: what a season! 66 regular-season wins. LeBron claiming his first (and richly deserved) MVP award. Two consecutive playoff sweeps. A +8.9 point differential. Winning the Central by 25 games (that's not a misprint). A 39-2 home mark. All those games where they were up like 60 by half and LeBron and company spent the second half making jokes on the bench. The family photos. A few highlights from the best team in Cavalier history:
- 'Bron's buzzer-beater against the Warriors.
- The ridiculous comeback win in the Rose Garden against Portland.
- Taking the mantle from Detroit on Super Bowl Sunday with a 90-80 win.
- A 13-game win streak in March.
- A scrappy second unit almost pulling out an improbable win over Philly in a meaningless regular-season finale. Would have been nice to tie Boston's record.
- I got to attend the first two games of the Detroit steamrolling. That was fun.
- LeBron's ridiculous game-winner in Game 2 of the Orlando series. The morning after that was literally the worst hangover of my life, but it was totally worth it.
That loss was a soul-crusher, though, wasn't it? It's dulled a bit because they're still really good, better in fact, but man, that's hard. (Don't think they're better this year? We turned Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, and Sasha Pavlovic into Shaq, Anthony Parker, and Jamario Moon, plus LeBron somehow got better). I thought for sure they were headed for their first NBA title, but no, Orlando had to hit 86% on threes for the entire series so stupid Dwight Howard and coach Ron Jeremy could get rocked by the Lakers in the Finals. Not that I'm bitter.
But I think the '09-'10 squad can get it done. When I'm writing this column in 2020, I'd be more than happy to put this year's model in the #1 slot and maybe have "Won NBA Finals" somewhere in there. Go Cavs.
Tuesday, January 5
The Buckeyes through the 2000's
There's a lot of good stuff - let's rank these 10 memorable squads:
10) 2000
Record: 8-4
4th Place, Big Ten
michigan result: L 38-26
Bowl Result: Outback vs South Carolina, L 24-7
Team MVP: RB Derek Combs
This was the last of the John Cooper era, which explains the inevitable loss to michigan. You can tell that it wasn't a very successful year when Derek Combs was the MVP and I have no recollection of anyone by that name playing for Ohio St. The QB tandem was Steve Bellisari and Stanley Jackson, neither of them being very good. Reggie Germany and Ken-Yon Rambo were the receiving duo, and the only thing good about them was how awesome Rambo's name is. There were a few standouts from the 90's that carried over to this team like C LeCharles Bentley and CB Nate Clements, so it wasn't all bad. It was also the sophomore campaigns of safeties Mike Doss and Donnie Nickey, who would come to play much larger roles as time went on.
The Bowl game was a beat down at the hands of none other than Lou Holtz himself in the Outback. Not a very good ending to Cooper's career or a start to the decade, but as we all know, things got much better after that.
9) 2001
Record: 7-5
3rd Place, Big Ten
Michigan result: W 26-20
Bowl Result: Outback vs South Carolina, L 31-28
Team MVP: RB Jonathan Wells
Well, not too much better, as the '01 team wasn't much of an improvement from the previous year. It did, however, provide some optimism, as Jim Tressel took the reins and really got fans and players alike to buy into his philosophy, especially when in his first public appearance as head coach at an OSU basketball game he talked about wanting to beat michigan. Remember, this was right after we had to suffer through the Cooper years against michigan, when he once called it "just another game." Bellisari and Jackson were both back and continued splitting time behind center, but the RB position got an upgrade with Jonathan Wells. Other than those guys, the rest of the team was basically just a young and inexperienced version of the 2002 team that won the national championship. Michael Jenkins, Will Smith, Matt Wilhelm, Doss and Nickey all saw significant playing time but weren't quite ready to become stars yet.
The Bowl game was a thriller, as the Buckeyes traveled to the Outback to face Holtz and South Carolina for the second straight year. It looked like it was going to be another laugher, as Carolina had a 28-7 lead going into the 4th quarter. OSU scored the next 21 points to tie the game, only to watch the Gamecocks kick a last second field goal to prevail. Trust me this time, things definitely got better from here.
8) 2004
Record: 8-4
5th Place (tied), Big Ten
Michigan result: W 37-31
Bowl Result: Alamo vs Oklahoma St, W 33-7
Team MVP: K Mike Nugent
Going into the '04 season, expectations were pretty high in Columbus even though most of the starters from the previous season were gone. The reason for this optimism was the coming of freshman "sensation" quarterback Justin Zwick. After having an unbelievable high school career and being named Mr. Ohio, Zwick was expected to dominate at the collegiate level as well. Not so fast, my friend. Zwick had an awful first few games, and was eventually benched in favor of a fellow freshman that was not nearly as heavily recruited and much less publicized, Troy Smith. I wonder how things would have changed if Zwick had just been average for four seasons. Would we have even seen Smith?
DB's Chris Gamble and Dustin Fox were about the only stars that were back from the '02 title team, along with Mike Nugent. That explains the poor record, but it did provide an opportunity for younger players to step up, and many of them did. Sophomore WR Santonio Holmes and freshman RB Antonio Pittman both made their mark, as did freshman WR Ted Ginn, who had his breakout game in the Alamo Bowl. I'll never forget that play when he reversed his field and should have been tackled 10 times before breaking off a long run.
The season provided some exciting moments, like the triple overtime victory over Philip Rivers, Jerricho Cotchery and N.C. St. It also began the winning streak over michigan, which now stands at six games. The Bowl game was an interesting story. Troy Smith had a great season after taking over the QB spot, but he got suspended for the game (for a D.U.I. I believe, but not positive) and the Buckeyes had to go back to Zwick. He responded by having a great game, as OSU pounded Oklahoma St 33-7.
7) 2003
Record: 11-2
2nd Place (tied), Big Ten
Michigan result: L 35-21
Bowl Result: Fiesta vs Kansas St, W 35-28
Team MVP: WR Michael Jenkins
I originally had this team ranked #5, but Andy talked me into moving the two most recent seasons ahead of it. Going by overall talent, this group should be higher, but it was a disappointing season, and the fact that they lost to michigan was the final decision maker in moving them down. They basically had the same group of guys that won it all in 2002, including Craig Krenzel, Mike Doss, and Chris Gamble, so expectations were super-high going into the season. Those expectations were crushed in mid-October when the Buckeyes took their 19-game winning streak into Madison, Wisconsin. With the game tied at 10 in the 4th quarter, OSU linebacker Robert Reynolds choked out Badger QB Jim Sorgi, literally. While on the bottom of the pile, you could actually see Reynolds' hands around Sorgi's neck. Sorgi had to be taken out of the game, because he physically couldn't talk loud enough to call the plays. Enter Matt Schabert, who ultimately throws the game-winning 80-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans in the game's final minutes. Damn you, Reynolds.
Ohio St won their next few games up until the loss to that school up north, but ended the season on a high note by beating Kansas St in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeye defense did an excellent job containing Wildcat superstar running back Darren Sproles, freshman WR Santonio Holmes had his break out game, and the best senior class of the decade ended their incredible careers with a W.
6) 2009
Record: 10-2
1st Place, Big Ten
Michigan result: W 21-10
Bowl Result: Rose vs Oregon, W 26-17
Team MVP: S Kurt Coleman
This was a very up and down season, as Terrelle Pryor's inconsistency led us through a roller-coaster year filled with entertaining highs and devastating lows. We'll begin with the lows, as OSU's hopes for an undefeated season and National Championship were again put to a halt early on at the hands of USC. Unlike the previous season, Ohio St actually outplayed SC in this one, but Matt Barkley's last-minute drive buried the Buckeyes. By far the worst game of the season for Pryor and the Bucks came in West Lafayette with an eight-point loss to a bad Purdue team, where Pryor turned the ball over four times himself.
That being said, there were far more good moments of the season, headed by last week's Rose Bowl win over Oregon. Hopefully this shuts up some Big Ten bashers and people who insist Tressel "can't win the big one." There was also the dominating victory over Penn St in Happy Valley, and of course our annual stomping of the wolverines.
Senior captain Kurt Coleman led a devastating defense that was supposed to be on a down season for a group that lost some big playmakers. Ends Thaddeus Gibson and Cameron Heyward were spectacular, as were linebackers Brian Rolle and Ross Homan.
5) 2008
Record: 10-3
1st Place (tied), Big Ten
Michigan result: W 42-7
Bowl Result: Fiesta vs Texas, L 24-21
Team MVP: RB Beanie Wells
After they won the Rose Bowl, I considered swapping the '09 squad with this one, but decided to stay put due to the fact that this team had some things that the '09 one didn't, namely Beanie Wells, Malcolm Jenkins, and James Laurinaitis. All three of these guys were on my All-Decade team, so I had to put their team in the top half.
True freshman Terrelle Pryor was very inconsistent in this season as well, so the passing game never really took off. WR's Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline were coming off very productive junior seasons, but both had disappointing years. So OSU rode their horse, and Wells responded by having an unbelievable season, comparable to those of Buckeye legends Eddie George and Archie Griffin. The defense was top-notch as always, led by the aforementioned Jenkins and Laurinaitis, as well as LB Marcus Freeman, S Kurt Coleman, and DE Thaddeus Gibson.
The season started off very poorly, when the Buckeyes got manhandled in the Coliseum by USC. Later on, OSU dropped a nail-biter to Penn St but still got a share of the Big Ten title after a 35-point drubbing of michigan. The Fiesta Bowl was a thriller, but Colt McCoy's last minute TD pass to Quan Cosby ended the Buckeyes' season in defeat.
4) 2005
Record: 9-2
1st Place (tied), Big Ten
Michigan result: W 25-21
Bowl Result: Fiesta vs Notre Dame, W 34-20
Team MVP: LB A. J. Hawk
This might have been the decade's most complete team when you consider how balanced they were on offense, defense, and special teams. The offense was led by QB Troy Smith, who had an amazing season. RB Antonio Pittman was also very good, and Santonio Holmes, Ted Ginn, and Anthony Gonzalez made up the decade's best receiving corps, not just at Ohio St, but possibly the nation. This is starting to sound like a broken record, but the defense was amazing again, led by team MVP and Butkus award-winner A.J. Hawk.
In what would become a trend later in the decade, the Buckeyes lost an early contest against a highly rated non-conference opponent. I attended this one, when Vince Young threw a touchdown pass to Limas Sweed in the game's final seconds to lead Texas to victory. They also lost a close one to Penn St, but ended the year on a seven game winning streak, including pounding Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. The 650+ yards that the Irish gave up was the most ever in the storied program's history.
3) 2007
Record: 11-2
1st Place, Big Ten
Michigan result: W 14-3
Bowl Result: National Championship vs LSU, L 38-24
Team MVP: RB Beanie Wells
Todd Boeckman stepped in at the quarterback position, attempting to fill the shoes of departed signal-caller and Heisman trophy-winner Troy Smith. He did an admiral job, being named to the All-Conference team and bringing his team to the National Title game. Beanie Wells was the feature of the offense, and was named team MVP for the first of what would be two consecutive years. Brians Robiskie and Hartline had big seasons before becoming afterthoughts as seniors. The defense was devastating, with DE Vernon Gholston breaking Mike Vrabel's single-season sack record, and linebackers James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman and corner Malcolm Jenkins becoming household names.
OSU won the first 10 games of the season, but suffered what appeared to be a season-ruining defeat at home against Illinois. After disposing of michigan (again), the college football gods were wearing scarlet and gray, as every team ahead of the Bucks lost in the final weeks of the season and the one-loss Buckeyes found themselves in the National Championship. This turned out to be a bad thing, as they were stomped by LSU.
2) 2006
Record: 12-1
1st Place, Big Ten
Michigan result: W 42-39
Bowl Result: National Championship vs Florida, L 41-14
Team MVP: QB Troy Smith
This was the most talented team of the 2000's, but are only ranked #2 due to the end result. Troy Smith won the Heisman trophy, Ted Ginn was, well, Ted Ginn, Anthony Gonzalez was as good of a #2 receiver as you will ever see, RB Antonio Pittman had a stellar season sharing carries with freshman Chris Wells, Quinn Pitcock was an All-American defensive tackle, and sophomores Vernon Gholston, Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis, and Marcus Freeman burst onto the defensive scene.
Ohio St ran the table in the regular season, going 12-0. The highlights came in Austin, Texas as the Bucks avenged the previous year's loss against the Longhorns by routing them 24-7, and in The Shoe when Ohio St edged michigan in what was being called "The Game of the Century." OSU and scUM entered the game as the top two ranked teams in the nation, and Ohio St's late interception sealed a 42-39 Ohio St victory.
Much controversy surrounded who the Buckeyes' opponent would be in the title game, as OSU was the only unbeaten team in the power conferences. Should we be forced to beat michigan again? Give undefeated, untested Boise St a shot? The BCS decided that Florida was the most deserving, and Ohio St went in as heavy favorites. The Buckeyes started the game the best way possible, as the human-highlight reel Ted Ginn took back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Everything went downhill from there, hard and fast. Ginn was injured during the touchdown's celebration, and spent the conclusion of his college career on crutches. Florida went on a 41-7 run, embarrassing Ohio St and the Big Ten, and marking the beginning of my unbelievable hatred for Tim Tebow, which has grown every single day since.
1) 2002
Record: 14-0
1st Place (tied), Big Ten
Michigan result: W 14-9
Bowl Result: National Championship vs Miami, W 31-24 2OT
Team MVP: QB Craig Krenzel, WR/CB/Ret Chris Gamble
If a team wins one championship in the decade, is there really any question on who should be #1? This team will always hold a special place in my heart, as they were the first (and currently only, c'mon Cavs!) of my favorite teams to win a title. Craig Krenzel didn't have the strongest arm or quickest feet, but his accuracy, decision-making, and leadership led this team to a perfect season. Freshman sensation RB Maurice Clarett did most of the offensive work, and WR Michael Jenkins provided many big plays. C Alex Stepanovich and T Shane Olivea anchored the decade's best offensive line. This was a very good unit, but the strength of this team was definitely on the defensive side. The top secondary of the decade was made up of Chris Gamble, Dustin Fox, Will Allen, Donnie Nickey, and Mike Doss. Other standouts included DE Will Smith, DT Kenny Peterson, and LBs Matt Wilhelm and Cie Grant. They also had the nation's best kicker in the 2000's, fan favorite Mike Nugent.
Ohio St had probably the most exciting season that I will ever witness, in any sport. It started with a shoot out win over Texas Tech, then blowouts over Kent St and Washington St. The first of many nail-biters came against Cincinnati, when Will Allen intercepted a pass in the endzone with 30 seconds left to complete a four-point win. Chris Gamble was used on defense for the first time in this game, and had an interception which made Tressel think that maybe this could be a good idea. After crushing Indiana to start conference play, OSU had another surprisingly close victory against a 2-3 Northwestern team.
Trailing Wisconsin in the 4th quarter, the Buckeyes needed a 50 yard pass to Jenkins and a late INT in the end zone by Gamble to win this one, 19-14. In Happy Valley, Gamble started on both offense and defense for the first time, and had a pick-six to help the Bucks beat PSU, 13-7. Ohio St finally had an easy one the following week when they pounded Minnesota 34-3.
Up next was a trip to Purdue in the infamous "Holy Buckeye" game. Trailing 6-3 with two minutes to go, Tressel made a rare bold call when he went for it on 4th and 1 instead of letting Nugent attempt a 50+ yard field goal. In an even more bold move, Krenzel went deep to Jenkins and completed a 40 yard touchdown pass to win it, a play which prompted Brent Musburger to exclaim, "Holy Buckeye!" Chris Gamble ended another comeback attempt by intercepting Kyle Orton in the final minute.
It took overtime for OSU to beat Illinois the following week, with Maurice Hall, filling in for an injured Clarett, scoring the winning touchdown. In the final week of the regular season, Ohio St defeated michigan, 14-9. Will Allen picked off John Navarre at the goal line in the game's final play to clinch an undefeated regular season.
Ohio St came into the National Championship game as big-time underdogs, facing a Miami team that was riding an absurd 34-game winning streak. The Buckeyes came out inspired and focused, and surprised everyone by leading 14-7 at halftime. In the third quarter, Ohio St had the ball inside the 10 yard line, when Krenzel was picked off by Sean Taylor. In the play of the game, Maurice Clarett stripped Taylor on his return to keep the ball in OSU's possession. Later in the same quarter, Will Allen put on hit on Willis McGahee, appearing to rip his leg in half, and Willis was done for the day. Miami kicked a late field goal to tie the game and send it to over time.
Trailing by seven, Ohio St seemingly missed a 4th down, and the celebration began for the Hurricanes. On what would become known as "The Call," a late flag came in and Miami was called for pass interference. With new life, the Buckeyes brought the game into double OT, where they won it with a Mo Clarett touchdown and a goal line stand on the two yard line. The game will forever go down as one of the greatest upsets in college football history, and my favorite game of all time. I still watch it at least once a year.
All-Decade Team
This was a lot easier to pick than I had expected. There was a few guys that I had to leave off that I would have liked to have put on there, but I didn't have too much trouble for the most part. Obviously there are a lot of guys from the '02 team that I ranked as the #1 squad.
QB Troy Smith ('04-'06)
RB Beanie Wells ('06-'08), Antonio Pittman ('05-'06)
WR Michael Jenkins ('00-'04)), Ted Ginn ('04-'06)
TE Ben Hartsock ('01-'03)
C LeCharles Bentley ('98-'01)
OG Alex Stepanovch ('01-'03), Nick Mangold ('04-'06)
OT Alex Boone ('05-'07), Shane Olivea ('00-'03)
DE Will Smith ('00-'03) Vernon Gholston ('05-'07)
DT Kenny Peterson ('99-'02), Quinn Pitcock ('02-'06)
LB Matt Wilhelm ('00-'04), A.J. Hawk ('02-'06), James Laurinaitis ('05-'08)
CB Chris Gamble ('02-'06), Malcolm Jenkins ('04-'08)
S Donnie Nickey ('00-'03), Mike Doss ('00-'03)
K Mike Nugent ('02-'06)
P A.J. Trapasso ('04-'08)
Honorable Mention: QB Craig Krenzel ('00-'03), RB Maurice Clarett ('02), Santonio Holmes ('02-'05), Anthony Gonzalez ('03-'06), OT Kirk Barton('04-'07), DE Thaddeus Gibson ('07-Pres.), DT Cameron Heyward ('07-Pres.), LB Marcus Freeman ('05-'08), CB Dustin Fox ('02-'05), S Donte Whitner ('03-'06), S Kurt Coleman ('06-Pres.)
I will love Krenzel until the day I die, and I still haven't forgiven Smith for his BCS performance, but the QB position was still a no-brainer. Smith was the only Heisman winner in the decade, and simply an incredible player. Beanie was an obvious choice for RB1. I thought about Clarett for the second one, but he only played one year and was just such a mess. Pittman was a really good back for a couple of years. WR was the toughest because I had the most trouble leaving Holmes and Gonzalez off, but I don't think you could go away from Jenkins and Ginn. Ohio St has just been loaded with stud receivers, dating back to Cris Carter in the '80s then on to Terry Glenn, David Boston, and Joey Galloway in the '90s to these guys in the 2000s. The tight end position has mainly served as an extra lineman for the Buckeyes, as they spend the majority of their time blocking with a few catches sprinkled in. That being said, Hartsock definitely did the most damage catching passes out of any other TE in this decade, plus he has a ring. I had to do some tinkering with the o-line, because the three best guys (Bentley, Stepanovich, Mangold) all played the majority of their time at center. So Stepanovich and Mangold went to the guard spots, where they both played occasionally throughout their careers. Although Barton was pretty good, Olivea and Boone were obvious choices at the tackles.
On the defensive side of the ball, I found it to be just as easy. Gibson and Heyward have been good, but are hurt by the fact that their senior seasons won't be a part of this decade, so the line had the easy selections of Smith and Peterson from the championship team to go along with Pitcock and single season sack record holder Gholston. The linebackers were the easiest choices on the team. When I was doing some research for this article, I found several sources that had Hawk and Laurinaitis on their All-Decade team for the nation, so clearly they're deserving of spots on the OSU squad. Wilhelm wasn't nearly as good as those two, but still a great player and leader on the championship defense. The secondary was a lot tougher, with standouts like Coleman and Whitner not making the cut. Doss and Jenkins were easy picks, but going with Nickey and Gamble was a more difficult decision. The deciding factor was that they each won a championship and the other guys didn't. Kicker was the most obvious choice on the board, as Nugent was everyone's choice for kicker of the decade throughout the entire nation. I debated between Trapasso and Andy Groom at punter, but ultimately decided to go with Trap.
We should all consider ourselves to be incredibly lucky to be fans during this time period. The talent level of players and teams that we have witnessed over the last ten years will be very difficult to match. Here's to hoping we can have another stretch like this over the next decade.
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