Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

I guess I should've seen that coming. I've said my piece, I shall harp no more upon it.

However, since the subject of shooting guard, perimeter play and surrounding Rose with the right talent so that he doesn't have to do it all himself has been broached: what still needs to be done to improve the team? I realise they're 14-8 and first in the Central which is great to see, Rose is playing great and yes, Deng's knocking down threes too at a pretty impressive clip...I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth here or downplay their improvement. But looking ahead, do you think they do need to add another swingman to make up for Bogans' inconsistency and Brewer's lack of a three point shot? More of a pass-first point guard to back up Rose?

[The X]

They should be starting Brewer. That's why I thought they brought him in, not to start friggin' Bogans

[George7]

I don't know,just thinking...

What if Korver started as a SG? Can't this work?

[Dan's Brain]

I don't know,just thinking...

What if Korver started as a SG? Can't this work?

I wouldn't make that move. With Gibson forced to the start, Korver has been the Bulls' best reserve, providing instant offense. I wouldn't want to mess with that too much. Had they been able to sign j.j. Redick, then I would imagine that he'd be performing the same role.

I have faith in bogans. Not sure why. I think he'll be better suited to playoff time as will kurt Thomas. But I'd like to see brewer starting in the meantime. And have him, rose and deng barrelling down the court on the fast break, running teams out of the game in the 1st quarter and after the half, and then having Korver bury them from outside.

As far as personnel changes go, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. Possibly some more genuine front court length so the team doesnt lose too much defensively when Noah is on the bench. Doesn't need to be anyone amazing. Asik will be fine in the long run but he isn't there yet.

[Andrew]

I'd leave Korver on the bench too, it seems to be a good fit for him.

[Breems]

I've just recently started following the Bulls since Brewer was traded there (I watched him grow up in Arkansas) and had a simple question...

Why is Grandpa Bogans starting ahead of Brewer? I simply don't understand Thbodeau's philosophy here. This debate doesn't simply stem from the fact that I'm a Ronnie Brewer fanboy, nor does it imply I hate relentlessly on Keith Bogans (I think he's a fine player [off the friggen bench]). If we had better options at the SG position, I'd perfectly understand Brewer taking a backseat due to his lack of go-to scoring ability.

This article angered me even further, which states:

Bogans is staying in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future ... whether you like it or not.

Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/load-o- ... z182ndXcdu

Bogans is shooting 39% from the field and 28% from the perimeter while going 0-fer in his past two games from the field.

Brewer, meanwhile, is shooting 51% from the field (on more attempts).

Now I acknowledge it's early in the season and Brewer's shots are a bit less extended than Bogans', but if he's producing more offensively, why not?

Additionally, Brewer has logged several more minutes in the past 3 games, so why not give him the starting nod? That's what he was hired for... a defensive SG who can score on cuts to the goal and, albeit limited, decent shooting.

[Andrew]

Stability in the second unit, I guess. It's probably more important that he gets the minutes and finishes games rather than starting them, but I'm a little surprised that Bogans has started every game since the preseason. I figured that role would go to Brewer when they signed him.

[air gordon]

Bogans became the default starter since Brewer was hampered with the hamstring injury in the preseason. it looks like he's rounding into form so maybe thibbs does put him with the starters soon

i think Bogans is slowly being eased out of the rotation. Since the bulls went on that big road trip- Bogans minutes are significantly down/Brewer's minutes are up. i say Thibbs is playing lip service to keep Bogan's confidence up/trying to get whatever he can out of him. you put Bogans in the 2nd unit and he's even more worthless

what still needs to be done to improve the team?

ADD:
a big guard that can defend and hit 3's
a big man to deal with the likes of Howard, Bogut, etc

[Andrew]

Presumably they'd be relying on the MLE and any other exceptions they might have to do that. Some of the noteworthy unrestricted free agent big men and swingmen this offseason include Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins, Caron Butler, Tyson Chandler, Shane Battier, Yao Ming, Michael Redd, Kelenna Azubuike, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson, Carl Landry, Peja Stojakovic, and Andrei Kirilenko (a full list can be found here). Once you whittle away the ones unlikely to take a paycut or leave their current teams, the ones whose health is questionable and of course the ones that don't fit that criteria, do any names stand out? Do we need to be thinking smaller names here?

Meanwhile, nice fourth quarter to put away Indiana, though Rose was shaken up; hopefully it's nothing serious. Great game for Boozer with 22 points and 18 rebounds. That's six in a row, if they can take care of business against the Raptors they've got a good opportunity to keep the streak going with the Clippers and Sixers at home, then one in Washington. After that it's the Knicks in New York, the Pistons in Detroit, then they close out the year with the Bucks and Nets at home. That's a pretty favourable schedule with the Knicks being the only plus .500 team they're facing on the road.

[The X]

Meanwhile, nice fourth quarter to put away Indiana, though Rose was shaken up; hopefully it's nothing serious. Great game for Boozer with 22 points and 18 rebounds. That's six in a row, if they can take care of business against the Raptors they've got a good opportunity to keep the streak going with the Clippers and Sixers at home, then one in Washington. After that it's the Knicks in New York, the Pistons in Detroit, then they close out the year with the Bucks and Nets at home. That's a pretty favourable schedule with the Knicks being the only plus .500 team they're facing on the road.

With the way Bogut is starting to round into form, he should have a field day & Bucks should win that one hopefully.

I think Bulls will win only 4 of those 7 games with losses to the Knicks & Bucks & they'll lay an egg against one of those other teams.

[Andrew]

You'll forgive me if I hope otherwise. Four out of seven isn't an unreasonable prediction, I'm going to say at least five out of seven though.

[The X]

Five out of seven is what they should do minimum, six out of seven would be great.

[Breems]

Five out of seven for me.

[puttincomputers]

I would not mind Gortat coming to the Bulls in some way.

[Andrew]

I would not mind Gortat coming to the Bulls in some way.

That's not happening without a trade.

[air gordon]

my pick is Josh Howard. he has a lot of question marks but his skillset fits the bill: skilled on offense- good spot up/pull up jumper. has 3pt range. gets to the FT line. AND is a good defender

other considerations
Anthony Parker. Aaron Afflalo. Reggie Williams. Corey Brewer.


I never realized how much trash Boozer talks. my favorite one was when he yelled at Hibbert "stupid!" after Hibbert bought his shot fake which lead to an uncontested shot by the basket. another solid game off the bench for Brewer....

[Andrew]

Good choices. Finding that big man is a little tougher, considering they'll only have the MLE it might have to be a case of one piece at a time.

Would we all agree that second round of the Playoffs is the absolute minimum for this season not to be a major disappointment? Going further than that is a tall order given they'll run into either the Celtics, Magic or Heat but getting out of the first round and taking a couple of wins in the second round seems a realistic expectation.

[benji]

a big guard that can defend and hit 3's

I can give you two out of three with J.R. Smith.

ESPN claims there's something in the works there.

[Dan's Brain]

Would he then be waived to make room for Ben Wallace?

We've been burned once before.

[air gordon]

yeh i

a big guard that can defend and hit 3's

I can give you two out of three with J.R. Smith.

ESPN claims there's something in the works there.

yeh i saw he was on the list and kept on looking further down lol

i'll take him as a one year rental if denver agrees to pay 3/4 of his remaining salary. if smith thought being in karl's doghouse was bad... wait til he starts attending bulls practices

Would he then be waived to make room for Ben Wallace?

We've been burned once before.

did Jr smith burn us before? i know he torched us with a bunch of 3's one time but we won that game

[Dan's Brain]

yeh i

Would he then be waived to make room for Ben Wallace?

We've been burned once before.

did Jr smith burn us before? i know he torched us with a bunch of 3's one time but we won that game

He was part of the Tyson Chandler trade that allowed the Bulls to sign Ben Wallace.

[NovU]

Surprising how quickly Boozer became comfortable playing with his new teammates.

[Andrew]

He's not looking for 25 shots a game and has shown himself to be a willing passer. That helps.

[Martti.]

Bad news for the Bulls - both Noah and Rose are hurt. Both are day-to-day and they have a fairly easy schedule coming up, so I hope the injuries won't result in many losses.

[Andrew]

Looks like both are expected to play today.