Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

Mixed emotions here. Glad to see him back earlier than expected and putting up big numbers, dismayed that it had to come at the Bulls' expense.

[air gordon]

so Hinrich could be missing time because of his thumb. the road trip is almost over. Jennings has cooled off & Bogut won't be killilng the team w/5ft left handed hooks

the bulls should finish the road trip 2-4

Guess you spoke too soon. Glad to say that Bogut came back & had a good game. He's finally becoming the Bucks' MVP

Yeh he made that surprise start and indeed killed the bulls. he got in the way of a few Bulls drives- which could have been a reason why on the last play of the game Rose passed up a drive to the basket/deferred to Miller for an open jumper

How bad is James Johnson? didn't even sniff one second in this one. The bulls had 9 "active" players. No Hinrich or Tyurs Thomas. Gray's still recovering from injury. Jerome James probably doesn't play this year

Del Negro even put in "assistant coach in a uniform/towel boy" Lindsey Hunter for 22 stinkin' minutes (in at crunchtime too)

Paxson should just send him to the DLeague. it says a lot that he couldn't get PT in the bucks game. there's no sense in letting him rot away on the bench. what a waste of a pick

[Andrew]

Not to defend the pick as it would seem to be thrown away (sending him down to the D-League seems like the best course of action, too) but who should they have picked instead? Ty Lawson is a standout name taken after Johnson but they didn't really need another point guard. DeJuan Blair perhaps, but given how far he fell he's a good candidate for who they should've taken instead of Gibson. Aside from that, I'm not sure who else I would've taken instead. I'm not liking the pick so far, but can't suggest a markedly better alternative so I'm interested to hear your take on that.

[J@3]

Hindsight's 20/20 of course but Darren Collison, Omri Casspi, Rodrigue Beaubois, Toney Douglas, Jonas Jerebko, Marcus Thornton and Chase Budinger are looking pretty good at this point.

[Dan's Brain]

Yeah I wanted Budinger at the Gibson pick and Blair at 15/16 (whatever it was). Gordon was all but gone, and they needed a decent backcourt scorer. Thornton would also be great right about now, as would Beaubois.

[air gordon]

after this year's draft, the bulls brass were selling us on this idea that they filled the need of more frontcourt depth. bull the fucking shit.

when Tyrus Thomas got hurt with James & Gray already out, they didn't even sign anyone! not even a courtesy signing like Othella Harrington. Management was content with a roster with only 1 backup big man- Brad Miller (who has been shit this year). James Johnson doesn't count. as i said earlier- with the roster quite short handed, he couldn't crack the rotation. i'm convinced that del Negro plays only 4 players if he only has 5 healthy bodies and James Johnson is one of those healthy bodies

ANDREW- i'm not against the bulls taking Johnson. he was a skilled offensive player in college and the offensively challenged bulls could use those skills. my point is why bother drafting him, give us lip service & say he fills a need only to sit him when clearly there's a void in the frontcourt? who knows? maybe he's not a hard worker in practice, can't remember the plays, comes late to practice. i haven't read anything about it from the bulls beat reporters though


but i'll answer your question anway- who should they have drafted? they should have just traded the pick away.. or pick an experienced PG like Lawson or Collison so they can trade away Hinrich for expiring contract(s) and have enough $$$ to sign 2 stud FA's in 2010... or at the least resign Ben Gordon

[Andrew]

Bulls prevail in Gordon's return to Chicago. He had 18 but shot 6/16 including 2/8 from downtown and had five fouls coming off the bench. Not the kind of game that would make the Bulls sorry they let him go, but there have been other times when they could've done with his firepower; it would've been too disheartening had he shot them down. In any case, glad to see them get the win, with the rest of the East cooling off their 7-9 record has them right there in the top eight again.

[air gordon]

the guy was playing on a sprained ankle. he was a game time decision. what were you expecting, andrew?

it's a shame that Gordon was booed when he checked in and continued to get booed whenever he got the ball. how does Ben Wallace get a free pass?

The bulls go on a 5 game losing streak, win 1 game, and now they are right back in the thick of the playoff race. lmao

[Andrew]

the guy was playing on a sprained ankle. he was a game time decision. what were you expecting, andrew?

Sheesh...I know he's not 100%, I was surprised to see him back in the lineup. I was just noting his performance (as I've been sure to mention more positive performances so far this season) and commenting that it's not the kind of performance that would make the Bulls sorry they let him go as I'm sure he would've liked to have had. I suppose I should've specifically noted his injury.

Anyway, that is a shame he got booed especially if Ben Wallace didn't.

[air gordon]

I agree Gordon would have wanted to go off on them but if you saw the game you could see the guy was playing on one leg

The Bulls don’t need Gordon to torch them up to make them regret they miss him. They could just look at their league rankings on offense

There was a quote from Ben Wallace in the daily herald where he totally makes himself look like an idiot

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=341386

"I took (the Bulls) farther than they'd been since Mike," said Wallace, referring to Jordan. "So I had no trouble. One player don't make no team. One player doesn't cause a team to win. One player doesn't cause a team to lose. That's why they call it a team. Michael couldn't do it until he got help."

[Andrew]

No way. That's approaching Stephon Marbury/Ron Artest levels of delusion and stupidity.

[J@3]

Several sources believe the Bulls are agreeable to a package of Thomas and Jerome James(notes) for Knicks forward Al Harrington(notes). Thus far, Walsh has resisted parting with Harrington, but discussions are still active and the teams have explored different combinations in recent days that would ultimately deliver Thomas to the Knicks.

“Nothing is imminent, but both sides would like to figure out a way to do this,” one league executive briefed on the talks told Yahoo! Sports.

The Bulls believe Harrington’s ability to score coupled with a $10.2 million expiring contract make this a worthy exchange. Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni has long been fond of Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward whose nimbleness and athleticism makes him an intriguing fit for New Yor

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=a ... &type=lgns

[benji]

Holy crap, I was messing around with the Trade Machine last night and trying some trades with the Bulls and Kings. Did a Tyrus and James to Kings for Kevin Martin. Then I started dicking around with other teams and did that same trade for Harrington.

kingjames23 eat your heart out.

[air gordon]

supposedly Paxson has had a hard on for Harrington for some time now. the bulls need scoring fo sho. what i don't get is the athleticism of Tyrus Thomas can somehow be better harnessed/is even more intriguing in NYK. the Bulls have a quick PG in Rose, mobile swingmen in Salmons &Deng, and the fleet footed Noah at center. The bulls have successfully failed in developing/utilizing Thomas while he's been here. for christ sakes VDN was starting Taj Gibson over him

If Harrington carries more trade value, then i'm for this trade. i forgot what a scoring frontcourt player looks like anyway

I think Paxson is secretly trying to trade away every bulls 1st round pick made post-Jordan era

you really know how to pull our heart's strings, benji lol

[Andrew]

If Harrington carries more trade value, then i'm for this trade. i forgot what a scoring frontcourt player looks like anyway

Agreed. Worst case scenario, Harrington's contract expires at the end of the year giving them cap room.

[air gordon]

assuming the deal goes down- how do you feel about losing tyrus thomas for virtually nothing? Tyrus Thomas is a free agent at years end as well if the bulls don't give him the qualifying offer

thoughts on Harrington playing on the bulls??

[Andrew]

As always, there's that nagging thought that he might get traded and fulfil his potential elsewhere. However, as you said the Bulls have not been able to successfully develop or utilise him thus far, so between having him go to waste in Chicago or being a solid player elsewhere, I think having him be a solid player elsewhere is the lesser of two evils. Either way he's not helping the Bulls, but it's more disheartening for him to be not helping them while being a part of their roster, if that makes sense. At this point, I'm comfortable with the idea of the Bulls rolling the dice on it.

I think Harrington could be a good solution to get them through the year, maybe he's someone to try and hang on to beyond this season but the best case scenario might be that he helps them be respectable this year which in turn helps the team establish itself as an appealing free agent destination, then comes off the books giving them cap room to go after one of the prominent free agents who's more likely to take them further. Right now, he definitely strikes me as a short term solution, albeit one who'll likely perform better than Tyrus Thomas.

[George7]

Personally i believe more Tyrus Thomas than Harrington

[Andrew]

If he lived up to his potential, I'd much prefer Thomas as well. But for whatever reason, whether it's his fault or the Bulls', it doesn't seem like he's going to fulfil that potential in Chicago. As I said, if it's between having him go to waste on the Bulls and take up a roster spot/cap room/minutes on the court or being a solid role player elsewhere, the latter is the lesser of two evils.

[air gordon]

interesting points..

The Bulls won't have the cap space to sign a 2010 FA stud if they resign Thomas/give him the qualifying offer. i guess his fate was sealed even before the season started

i think the bulls have missed his weak side shot blocking and athleticism. and not having that wildcard on offense. can't fault Gibson for trying but he may be the worst starter in the NBA. he's a poor rebounder and is a stiff on offense.

for a 3/4 season rental, i'll take Harrington's scoring over Thomas shot-blocking. Harringtons ability to score in the post/hit perimeters shots will balance out the bulls offense. driving lanes will start opening up for Rose... the bulls can run a legit pick-n-roll.. wow good times

it's worth noting this would be another high draft pick let go by the bulls for nothing. Management has really back themselves into a corner with their 2010 plan

[Andrew]

It remains to be seen whether it will happen though, apparently nothing is imminent.

[NovU]

phpBB [video]

I think Noah was so much annoyed by Lebron's dance. I mean who wouldn't be. It's one way to celebrate but it's one way to piss of opponent as well.

Last night against Raptors, I think Noah was still affected and frustrated. Double techies and bye bye. He's playing good this season, but he still needs to control emotions and be more consistent.

[shadowgrin]

Last night against Raptors, I think Noah was still affected and frustrated

I doubt he was still affected by LeBron in the game against the Raps. Noah is probably screwed in the head again at this time of the season. Something must be going on with him.

Or Noah could just be jealous with LeBron's dancing...

[J@3]

I'm watching the Bucks game, LeBron's dancing and carrying on while on the bench. Yelling at people and being a fucktard generally. Keep in mind at that point he had 2 points and 2 turnovers in 13 minutes on 0-2 shooting.

[kingjames23]

haha just saw the clip of Jack from the Raptors tying his shoe during a play. he held the ball and none of the Bulls tried to steal the ball. Bulls get no respect this year. damn. Andrew gotta be fuming.