Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

Yeah, it's tough to say what a fair price is, the way salaries are changing. Like I said, $10-12 million seems to be the new $5-8 million. I'll give the front office some credit and say they won't offer him $25 million a year or anything like that. I doubt he'll have enough leverage to get top dollar elsewhere, so I expect a more modest offer will be on the table. Again though, I think we're all getting used to eight digits being the mid-range for salaries, so I really don't have an exact figure in mind. Not Jimmy Butler money, how's that?

Biyombo and Ezeli are solid possibilities, sure. I doubt they'd have the same impact as Whiteside, but they're probably more realistic options.

[air gordon]

and there's still the backup pg and wing depth issues. fair to say brooks should be gone and MJD is on decline/should be relegated to reserve role. snell may be out of the league after next year. Moore has proved to be a steady combo guard off the bench but may have also played himself into a contract the bulls won't pay

i'd like to see the bulls go after Lin or even the scrappy dellavedova via free agency. they need to stabilize the position already

lol imagine an offseason of biyombo and lin plus some lottery pick. will you be satisfied with that???

[Andrew]

We may have to come to terms with such an offseason. It's kind of the way it's been in recent times!

I'd like to see them retain Moore, but you're right, there probably will be other offers that could lure him away. Brooks should definitely be gone. He's had his moments, but not enough of them, and I don't think his services are required any longer. It's a shame Snell didn't pan out after it looked like he might blossom, but as it stands, I certainly won't mind if they just cut him loose.

[Moz]

Biyombo and Ezeli are solid possibilities, sure.

How bout Speights, Sullinger or David West? I reckon rim protection will not be a problem while Taj, and if there's any truth to it, Jo is on board. What they need is someone who will be at the receiving end of those kick out passes from Rose or Butler who happens to be also capable getting buckets in the paint... Al Horford might have a steep price but if it's reachable or they can work out something off it without giving up too much, they should go with it.

What a shame that His Soreness is having one of the most serviceable season he has in 4 or 5 years and they got eliminated... As mentioned, he'll not be traded since the "Thibs" wound has not yet healed. Best way is let him play his contract and if he doesn't give a hometown discount, let him walk. Dump Brooks, Snell,and Bairstow then re-sign Holiday and Felicio. Let Dunleavy, McDermott, and Mirotic play the season and trade the odd man out in the trade deadline. I hope Taj will be on his "contract year" brilliance so that they can get a solid replacement or complementary player for him if they decide to put him in the trade block again. And lastly, Hoiberg needs to man up... Jimmy Buckets is Lebroning him...

[air gordon]

horford would be great. they would prolly have to do a salary dump trade to sign him if he's looking for the max

it would make a lot of sense to bring in a bunch of shooters to surround rose & butler. with no gasol around next year there will be more touches available but no big to hit the aforementioned kickout (niko?)

i think it's Rose who will be in contract year brilliance. he's been gunning for the max contract since the start of this past season

[Andrew]

What's the general feeling on Niko? I still he has a nice skillset, but his shooting percentages leave something to be desired. Well, 38% from three-point range is OK, but 40% overall is less efficient than I'd like to see from a forward.

Horford would be great, but I'm not getting my hopes up there. I wouldn't be surprised if he stays in Atlanta.

[air gordon]

i think he's worth keeping around but no longer untouchable. i'd like to see the bulls clear up their glut of PF's (trade taj ) so they can see what they have in Niko and Portis

his TS% is decent and last year he had a solid free throw rate. maybe with no pau around and him being paired with a good defensive center, he will prove he is a starter level player

[Andrew]

That's true. I remember a couple of people really hyping him up before he joined them, so perhaps I got ahead of myself and got my hopes up a bit too much.

[Andrew]

Well, that's all she wrote. They finish a game above .500 and avoid losing on the final day to Philadelphia, so there's some pride salvaged, I suppose. Meanwhile, Rose sat out the finale with "Rest" being given as the DNP reason. Guess he's got some important stuff coming up.

[Moz]

I hope Niko continues to be Mirza Teletovic-like so that he can be packaged whoever they will sell on the off season or trade deadline... I'm still not sold on him since when his treys are not falling, he's useless... It seems that I kinda overlooked the Hinrich trade since as the days pass, Holiday is looking like a solid player. Confident and very dependable on defense. Perhaps put Butler back at the 3 and insert him as a starter until they get a solid wing. Snell is still serviceable so he can be a reliever of those 2. Dunleavy is obviously still nursing his back so he can be relegated to the bench...

[air gordon]

Yeah Rose has important stuff coming up- spending time with his son and orgies *bazing*

Moz- snell is hot garbage and the boogeyman checks the closet and under his bed for tony snell before he goes to bed

on to the GarPax press conference....
i think they are cowards for having this while the national media is following bryant's last game & the warriors making history. plus it was the blackhawks playoff opener

i will give them credit for calling out the coach on certain aspects, derrick rose's defense, butler's leadership but...

they say everyone is being held accountable but it only applies to the players and coaching staff. how are either of these guys jobs safe after this debacle?
they said they aren't using injuries as an excuse but kept on mentioning it in the press conference
talked about team not being tough/having no fight, hoiberg needing to get his players to play how he wants, training camp will be demanding.... this is what the last coach brought to the table

for shits and giggles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkhEQNyAQQM

phpBB [video]

[Andrew]

Everyone will be held accountable, but some will be held more accountable than others. I doubt any of us are surprised, so let's all collectively facepalm. *smack*

[Moz]

Joakim probably make a good impression on that close door meeting they had recently hence the rumor of the management wanting to re-sign him. They can possibly get him at a bargain price since the idea of him coming back as a starter can be enticing to him and of course he still has his injury problems. I reckon he did a good job as a point center for the second unit and he'll not be a problem if they decide to give Hoiball another try. You can't rely on him offensively but he's been a great facilitator.

[air gordon]

Does anyone know what hoiball is?

[Andrew]

Unsuccessful?

[air gordon]

1 for the peanuts gallery lol

1 year in the hoiberg era and i for one am not sure what his offense is. do you?

[Moz]

Does anyone know what hoiball is?

The playset they have before some players started whining about their touches? That one where everybody is running around touch passing and shooting a lot of threes?

[Andrew]

Yeah, from what we were seeing in the preseason, it seemed to be a lot of movement, hand-offs, and it was opening up some driving opportunities and open jumpers alike. As the year went on though, it didn't seem like they were doing any of that, and the half-court offense was just stagnant.

[air gordon]

Bulls ranked near last or were in the bottom 3rd in:
Points in paint
Fast break points (ironic as Hoiberg is always talking about picking up the pace constantly)
3pts attempts and makes
Free throw attempts
2pt fg%

Upper tier in
Ft and 3pt%

Upper middle for assists so I'm not sure you can call the offense stagnant

[Andrew]

I suppose not, but it didn't seem to be as quick or free-flowing as those early season and preseason games, nor open up the same good looks as the season wore on. Maybe the players just weren't buying into it enough. As much as I've expressed scepticism about Hoiberg, I do have to admit that he deserves some benefit of the doubt there.

[air gordon]

remind me again of this free flowing offense/easy open shots early in the season (are you really referencing preseason play?!). the memory goes quite easily as life goes on. i can recall them winning grind it out type games. Niko starting out hot then falling off, Rose taking and missing a lot of shots, Gasol actually coming up with some big defensive stops late in games, the team shooting around 40% (not counting pushovers like Brooklyn).

[Andrew]

Sure, I'll reference preseason play. That was our first glimpse of it after all, and though the shots weren't falling, I remember a few of us saying that it looked like the idea might work.

From BBall Breakdown:

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I take it that that's as good an example as any, and a succinct demonstration of the way it's supposed to work (except more baskets being made, of course).

Incidentally, searching "Hoiball" on YouTube yields this:

phpBB [video]

[air gordon]

Lmao I believe I posted the vid during the preseason... The bball breakdown one

After rewatching, the Bulls were still using those sets. Especially the zipper cuts with butler/Pau and drag screens to get Pau some touches in the post.

The dribble hand off action was nice but I believe a lot of the space was created was due to Niko being the starting pf. Once Niko's game went south, the spacing went out the door.

Showing preseason stuff is ok but it's not a proper indicator of it working in its full glory since its.. The preseason. During the regular season when teams are actually defending a lot of the sets/action would end up high screen n roll between rose/Pau.

But I will agree with on the players not buying into the system... Specifically rose, butler, Pau since they all wanted their touches. The offense seemed to running smoothly when either butler or rose would miss games

[Andrew]

Cool moment from Game 7 of the Hornets/Heat series.

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[air gordon]

Pip still looks like he can play...

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/sca ... vin-durant
Our good ol' friend, Scal, advocates Ainge and the Celts to cash in Nets pick and some player(s)for Butler.. Paving the way to signing Durant

if the ping pong balls lead the pick to being 1 or 2, would you trade Butler for it and perhaps one of smart or crowder?