Chicago Bulls Thread

[mp3]

I remember when Wallace signed for the Bulls in 06 and everyone thought Chi would be a force again but Ben wanted no part of the team and gave up pretty quickly!

Not a fan favourite in the windy city hey?

[Andrew]

Not exactly. I respect his accomplishments, but with his role in the Malice at The Palace and seemingly not having his heart in it in Chicago, I'm not a fan.

[air gordon]

it's a shame for Noah.

Thibs was blasted by management for overplaying his starters. ironically Pau will probably be playing +35 minutes if Fredberg has a say. he's already playing through injuries...

after the GSW game there are a lot of road games coming up. so far 8-9 on the road. things could get messy

ben wallace got old quick once he inked the big contract. i was excited at the time he was picked up. Tyson chandler was hardly the consistent player/defensive force he turned out to be with dallas when he was with the bulls.

head band wallace had some moments with the "try hard" bulls but never lived up to the contract/fan's expectations

[Andrew]

Not to dwell on the past too much, but do you think Chandler would've become the same player had he remained in Chicago, with the coaching staff of the time? I have a feeling it was one of those situations where a change of scene was needed for him to truly blossom as a player.

[air gordon]

I believe it was a Tyson chandler issue. I think it was with New Orleans he mentioned how there was so much pressure on him to save the Bulls franchise. Tyson was a great run and jump player but once you put a ball in his hands he became terribly mechanical. The Bulls had traded a 20pt scorer in Brand to get him. They needed more than the garbage man type on offensive he never evolved from

You think the Bulls are a contender in the east? Has Fredberg made the right decision of putting Snell back in the starting lineup and Niko to the bench?

[Andrew]

On paper, if they were healthy and playing up to their potential, I think they could be. As it stands, I'm less optimistic. To be a bona fide contender, you need to show more consistency than they have so far. Granted, we have half a season to go, but with each passing month, "Oh, it's only (whenever)" becomes less of a valid excuse. Ten games in? Sure, still figuring things out. Fifty, sixty games in? You need to have it pretty well sorted by then.

[mp3]

Not to dwell on the past too much, but do you think Chandler would've become the same player had he remained in Chicago, with the coaching staff of the time? I have a feeling it was one of those situations where a change of scene was needed for him to truly blossom as a player.

Yeah Tyson wasn't really developing when he was with the Bulls it wasn't until he was traded that he showed signs of life, he only really played well with Chris Paul and the Hornets when he had someone making him look good as I am sure not many people will remember his career with the Bobcats when he just wasn't involved at all and his career looked doomed before the Mavs picked him up.

[air gordon]

I don't think he ever developed really. Kudos to him for becoming that defensive anchor for Dallas. At the spot he was drafted at, he was a bust. Actually most of that draft was a bust.

Free Bobby Portis

[Andrew]

I'd say Pau Gasol was the best player in that Draft. Ah well, at least the Bulls got him eventually, I suppose. Tony Parker, Zach Randolph, Joe Johnson, Shane Battier, Richard Jefferson, Gerald Wallace, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley, and Mehmet Okur are the other standouts, or at the very least, players who managed to stick around for a bit and get significant playing time.

Oh, and Brian Scalabrine was in that class. Can't forget about him.

Going to catch the Warriors game today. Could certainly get ugly, but I'm hoping they'll at least give more of an effort than the Cavs did the other day.

[Andrew]

Well, they managed a slightly better effort than the Cavs did, I suppose. There is this: Despite An Embarrassing Loss, Derrick Rose & Jimmy Butler Did Something No Other Backcourt Has Done This Season

One thing stood out as a minor positive for the Bulls; Derrick Rose & Jimmy Butler are the first starting back court to outscore Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson. Rose scored 29 points and Butler 23, combining for 52 points, while Curry scored 25 and Thompson 20 for a total of 45 points.

Rose came out to play from the get go, posting 21 points in the first half and looking spry and explosive. He had to take himself out of the game earlier than usual after expending too much energy too early. He only played 30 minutes but this was some of hte best basketball he has displayed this season.

Butler only scored 4 points but picked it up in the second half as he typically does. He got to the free throw line 12 times and shot 7-16 from the field.

Of course, as the article notes, the 31 point loss is the statistic that matters the most at the end of the day. But it was nice to see the effort, especially the way Rose was getting to the basket in the first half. Another throwback there. Moore's a player I'm thinking they should definitely hold onto. Gasol looked...old.

All aboard the Bobby Portis bandwagon. All newcomers, please check in with Portis Authority.

[air gordon]

at least there is that haha

being ever the pessimist, i mean optimist- Rose's TS% is up in January is 54.7. let's disregard the assist numbers

[air gordon]

I'd say Pau Gasol was the best player in that Draft. Ah well, at least the Bulls got him eventually, I suppose. Tony Parker, Zach Randolph, Joe Johnson, Shane Battier, Richard Jefferson, Gerald Wallace, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley, and Mehmet Okur are the other standouts, or at the very least, players who managed to stick around for a bit and get significant playing time.

Oh, and Brian Scalabrine was in that class. Can't forget about him

perhaps i was being hyperbolic there
just the bulls luck they ended up with 2 of the top 4 picks in a draft where the top prospects ended up as busts (sans Gasol).

[Andrew]

As uncomfortable as it feels to defend Krause, picking high schoolers was all the rage at that time. It seems like everyone was making that mistake. Of course, there was also Fizer the year before...

Do you think anyone will be traded by the deadline? I get the feeling they'll hold onto everyone and ride out the season with what they've got.

[air gordon]

Once you said defend krause, you lost me there haha

I think it was off an article of nbadraft.net Krause said he took someone's advice (didn't say who) to stay away from the spaniard. But enough of that era...

Can you think of any trade Pax and or Forman has made to improve the team, midseason or offseason??

As long as the $ is rolling in, ownership won't pressure the management to make a move

Heck I think the last improvement trade made was when krause traded for Randy Brown

[Andrew]

Yeah, "defend" is being a bit kind. That won't happen again.

Maybe the deadline trade back in 2009 that brought in John Salmons? Not exactly Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol - nowhere near it, in fact - but decent at least, probably their best deadline deal. As for other deals, they swindled a few lottery picks out of the Knicks, though of those, only Joakim Noah panned out. Before that, you've probably got to go way back to Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman, and Olden Polynice for Scottie Pippen at the 1987 Draft. So yeah, not a lot of amazing trades in recent memory.

[air gordon]

Good calls there. I suppose you can put the Jalen rose trade too. Either way management has been too conservative

This was supposed to be a championship roster according to management but this team clearly needs a starting caliber wing opposite butler and whatever you call this pg situation is an issue

[Andrew]

I'd probably put the Rose trade up there with the Salmons deal. We are setting the bar fairly low of course, when it comes to trades in recent years. But that was decent, too.

Saw that Johnny Bach passed away on January 18th. He was 91, which is obviously a good, long life, but still sad news all the same. Wasn't he the one who coined the "Dobermans" nickname for MJ and Pip? He certainly had a hand in crafting that defense.

[Moz]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/audio/the-s ... goff-show/

Chicago Bulls Gar Forman and John Paxson possibly turning on each other? Reinsdorf favors Paxson according to a Joe Cowley report.
Also mentioned Fred Hoiberg has done everything he can to make this roster work but when 5-6 guys want different things, it's not working most nights.

Reinsdorf will fire both Forman and Paxson, will promote Stacey King as President/GM, will let Pau and Jo walk out, will trade Rose and Taj for draft picks then proceeds going tank mode next season [/corymach]

Last 2 wins coincides with Pau shooting the lights out... Although they did pretty good in the Cavs game, the last few ones showed that they really miss Jo in the defensive end... Butler is less spectacular since the 53 point effort but can't complain since he, along with Rose, are the only consistent ones the past games... Can't wait what's in store on the trade deadline...

[air gordon]

i like goff... he tells it how it is. i'll listen to their podcast when Cowley is on and also B&B when Schanowski comes on wednesdays. they do not hold back punches unlike the rest of the local media (kc johnson ahem).

Pau playing his way to... wait for it... CLEVELAND! makes sense since GM lebron is in win now mode.

Taj was awesome yesterday...

you think Gar-Pax will really make a move??

RIP Johnny Bach. Architect of the Doberman defense

[Andrew]

You mean, a move towards each other in a threatening manner, or a move as in a trade? Both seem plausible, apparently.

History says if a deal is done, it'll be a salary dump at best, with a slim chance at getting a decent pick they'll actually get to keep. I wish I could be more optimistic, but after reflecting on their past moves, I'm just not expecting much from them as far as pulling off some shrewd deal either before or at the deadline.

[Moz]

I don't know if they will but here are some of the rumored possible trades for them:

- Pau for Afflalo
- Kevin Martin for either Taj or Jo
- Taj for Evan Fournier and Channing Fry
- Niko for Otto Porter
- Pau for Rudy Gay
- Pau and McBuckets for Caldwell-Pope and Ilyasova

The Detroit deal would be fantastic, Niko for Porter is a no-brainer, the rest are meh...

[air gordon]

KCP. UGH!!! i refuse that deal based on the previous discussion of his wnba like name haha

i would take on KMartin if Dieng is included in the package.

speaking of moves, the bulls will have some money to spend this offseason pending Pau opting out and letting Noah walk. they will be fighting a good number of teams to overspend on the marquee names.

who is your guy to overspend on with no guarantee they land him?
Harrison Barnes
Batum
Fournier
Bazemore
Deng (eek!)
outside the box and even more unlikely: Horford, Conley, Whiteside

[Moz]

who is your guy to overspend on with no guarantee they land him?
Harrison Barnes
Batum
Fournier
Bazemore
Deng (eek!)
outside the box and even more unlikely: Horford, Conley, Whiteside

None of them... perhaps Lebron or Durant haha. Both Courtney Lee and Jeff Green are unrestricted free agents so perhaps it's safe to say, since they're targeting a wing, that they'll also try to land them if they freed up some capspace... Chandler Parsons would be great but I reckon they can't afford him... Hmmm I'm going for Batum or Jeff Green then

[NovU]

If I had to choose I'd say Barnes is one guy that's worth overpaying. He's only 23 and he's more than good already. Many wonder what he'd be like if he was taking 20 shots a game and there's probably a good reason why. Worth the risk imo.

Even tho he could be redundant to Butler, I think it'll be a nice experiment.



Outside the box, perhaps Wade?

[air gordon]

i think Barnes would be the best fit. he is the prototypical Fredberg player- versatile on both sides of the ball, hit's the 3, not a ball stopper on offense. and he's only 23. too bad all the other teams will be falling over themselves for him.

after barnes and batum, the rest are on a tier below. if the remaining guys are JGreen and/or Lee, may as well bring back Pau