Chicago Bulls Thread

[Oskar]

Two rather easy games for Toronto and two quite hard for Chicago.. Pfft, just win fellas.

[Andrew]

Two rather easy games for Toronto and two quite hard for Chicago.. Pfft, just win fellas.

Indeed, the Raptors have a much easier end to the season. As I said, time to overachieve.

[Andrew]

Toronto beat Detroit, so the last two games are must-wins. I'm not exactly confident they can pull it off, but here's hoping.

[Valor]

Toronto beat Detroit, so the last two games are must-wins. I'm not exactly confident they can pull it off, but here's hoping.

First time i am not happy about Detroit losing games

Hopefully Boston and Charlotte will rest some of their core players and thus, give Chicago a chance of winning And hoping for a Knicks win against Toronto

[Andrew]

Bulls lead by three at the half. They had a pretty good 16-2 run there but tapered off a bit towards the end of the half; shame Hinrich's three at the end came too late. Stands to reason a shot like that would go in when it doesn't count, like Flip Murray's fling last week. I think Toronto's winning their last game, so they're going to have to hold on and take this one and the final game against the Bobcats if they're going to get in.

[Andrew]

Phew...closer than the final score suggests, but a great fourth quarter effort by Rose and Hinrich as they both topped 30 points, Noah gobbled up the rebounds again though I held my breath every time he put the ball on the floor. Not that he can't, but he pushed his luck a couple of times. Charlotte is still basically a must-win, though hopefully the Knicks do them a tremendous favour.

[Valor]

Phew...closer than the final score suggests, but a great fourth quarter effort by Rose and Hinrich as they both topped 30 points, Noah gobbled up the rebounds again though I held my breath every time he put the ball on the floor. Not that he can't, but he pushed his luck a couple of times. Charlotte is still basically a must-win, though hopefully the Knicks do them a tremendous favour.

I am rooting for David Lee to get a 20-20 and dominate the Raptors front court for a Knicks victory

[dare]

Who holds the tie breaker between Toronto and Chicago?

[Lamrock]

Toronto

[dare]

Oh then it is a must win against Charlotte, hopefully Chicago makes it because a Toronto vs Cleveland is not fun to watch.

[George7]

i'm so happy with this win!
It was a heart beat in the most of it ,but luckily there was a great Rose and Hinrich was clutch at the last qtr

Hopefully New York will play a game at the level they can,cause their roster is better than Toronto(and maybe with Bosh as well) and Lee-Gallinari-Mcgrady make the bulls a big favour,though a win over Charlotte will settle it and leave out the heart beat from the wait of the other result

[Andrew]

They certainly can't leave anything to chance. Ideally the Raptors will lose which free the Bulls to...well, choke...but I have my doubts that the Knicks will be that helpful, so they're just going to have to get the job done in Charlotte.

[Andrew]

So, they're in the Playoffs. The loss to New Jersey aside, they put in an admirable effort to get the job done in the last couple of weeks. As I've said before I'd like to think it bodes well for their chances of luring a quality free agent, being a team that has a few talented players already and finishing at .500 with another playoff appearance to their credit. Surely it has to strengthen the selling point of "If you come here, we can take that next step". As for the series itself, I'm not expecting anything better than a lone win at the United Center and hopefully being competitive in the other four games, but I wouldn't be too unhappy with that and that would be respectable enough given how overmatched they are.

Meanwhile, Rose was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for April.

[George7]

he deserved it for sure

[Lamrock]

Not the most impressive way to start game 1...

[Andrew]

Or the series in general. But not surprising, as I said in the series thread I'm not expecting them to really threaten to take a lone game until they get back to Chicago.

[Andrew]

So, the 2009/2010 season is over for the Bulls. Time for the traditional end of season "eulogy" post I guess.

On the whole, it was a better season than I had anticipated. There were some excruciating lows like the ten game losing streak and the home loss to New Jersey, scattered moments of excitement with wins over superior teams and the five game winning streak that put them a few games over .500 just before injuries struck and the aforementioned losing streak, and a pretty respectable ending to the season as they came from behind to finish at .500 and qualify for the Playoffs, where they had their moments against the Cavs. Rose came on strong after a slow start, Noah continued his improvement and they positioned themselves to chase a quality free agent this offseason. I had expected worse and it certainly could have been, considering it could've easily been a throwaway season as they gutted the roster for the upcoming free agent sweepstakes, credit has to be given to the thin roster and Del Negro for refusing to give up.

Speaking of Del Negro, it should be noted once again that he was treated horribly by Paxson and Forman this year. I'm not the biggest fan of Del Negro but he's done a respectable job given the roster he's had to work with and he's been nothing but professional...depending on which reports about the shoving match with Paxson one chooses to believe. I still think if they've got a chance to bring in a coach with more experience and a proven track record like an Avery Johnson or Lawrence Frank or whoever then they should certainly do that, but I have to admit I'm not as keen to see Del Negro booted out the door as I was early in the year. You have to give credit where credit's due.

Moving forward, I'd have to echo a popular and often repeated sentiment that Rose and Noah are the only untouchables on the team. Rose looks to have a bright future and while I wouldn't go all out and label him a franchise player - certainly not a bonafide one in the way more established stars could be called franchise players, or to the point where they shouldn't aim for a top tier free agent - but I think he could be. At the very least, he's capable of helping the team immensely. Same goes for Noah, I wasn't sure about him his first season and a half but along with Rose he's easily one of my favourite Bulls and someone they should keep as they take another shot at building a better roster.

Gibson hasn't turned out too bad so far, hopefully he continues to improve. I've always warmed up a bit to Deng and Hinrich again though if there's a good deal on the table then the Bulls should pull the trigger. Hinrich has had some clutch moments over the last month or so however and Deng isn't a scrub, just too passive at times to be a consistently effective player in crunch time or a stable second option. Same deal with Hinrich I guess though I have more faith in him to hit the big shot or the key free throws...at least more often than Deng. If they're bringing in a top free agent though, I think those three players are capable of making up a decent rotation as they won't be called upon to be better than they are (as they are at the moment). As for players like Murray, Miller and Warrick, I wouldn't be opposed to them returning depending on the price. They're obviously not a priority though.

As far as free agents go, obviously you start at the top. I don't think LeBron's leaving Cleveland but plenty of teams will make their pitch and I imagine the Bulls will be among them. There's probably a more realistic chance of Bosh or Wade leaving their respective teams though and I'd love to see either of them in Chicago. Bosh gives them a legit 20 and 10 post player with the versatility of range on his jumpshot to keep the defense honest, along with Noah and Deng he'd make a very respectable frontcourt and fill a hole that the Bulls haven't been able to plug for years. As for Wade, the question has been raised before as to whether he'd work out with Rose in the backcourt but frankly it's worth a try if there's any chance of bringing him to town. I don't pass on Wade or trade Rose just because of the concern they wouldn't pan out before they've played a game together. There are much worse roster experiments they could try (like, say, signing Ben Wallace for $15 million per year) than a backcourt of Wade and Rose.

Depending on whether or not the rift with the Suns front office has truly healed, perhaps Amar'e Stoudemire will be an option and I wouldn't mind seeing that either. Boozer would be another fine option if he and/or the Jazz are looking to move on. I still wouldn't mind David Lee despite question marks about his defense and the possibility he could be overpaid. Alongside Noah, his ordinary defense might not be so much of a problem and so long as he's giving them 20 and 10, I could see it working out. They also need a reliable and potent three point shooter, to fill the void that Ben Gordon left last offseason. If he's open to a pitch and the price is right, I'd love to see them pick up Ray Allen though that's probably unlikely.

All in all, the future is promising with a little bit of talent in place already and cap space that they hopefully won't waste on another Ben Wallace or Ron Mercer-like signing. With any luck, their strong finish and (at times) respectable showing against the Cavs will help their pitch to free agents, suggesting that they can be part of a successful Bulls team if they come to town and they're not going to have to drag them out of the basement single handed. As for the 2009/2010 season, it featured some of the lows we've come to expect of the team in the last decade but some good and above all promising moments as well. Not too bad I say, things could be a lot bleaker. At the very least, we had it a lot better than Nets fans.

[George7]

Nice post above ,Andrew
My concluding post now(far too smaller )

Conserning Del Negro: I would rather see Paxson leave the team,than Del Negro.He had good year concerning the roster he had and that is the same with 08-09 season.Paxson in the other hand,made not that good team management,concerning the trades and signings,as well as coach hiring and relationships with them,which obviously was not good at all.

About the future of the team:this summer should be a turning point.The right moves should be done in organising the team and making the Bulls from first-rounder to Championship contenders(At least at Atlanta's or Orlando's level,which is a pretty good one)
First shop from high-tier FA,signing LeBron is not the only solution.As I posted earlier , signing a great SG and PF should be the 1st concern.
Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh,would be ideal to me(as Wade-Bosh wouldn't be paussible in salary terms),or Amar'e and Boozer as mentioned above,who will match well with Noah and Rose and make a solid team in both the paint and the wings.
As important should be the signing of quality bench players who can provide the team solid points and make the starters able to take some breathes.Rose should be considered the base of the team and should be helped to develop farther more and also Noah should be the starter C and should be one of the bases of the new team along with the new starter FAs

About this season,at the middle of Feb i expected this season to end bad,but the season was better than i would expect given the roster and the moves in trades and signings

[NovU]

Depending on whether or not the rift with the Suns front office has truly healed, perhaps Amar'e Stoudemire will be an option and I wouldn't mind seeing that either. Boozer would be another fine option if he and/or the Jazz are looking to move on. I still wouldn't mind David Lee despite question marks about his defense and the possibility he could be overpaid. Alongside Noah, his ordinary defense might not be so much of a problem and so long as he's giving them 20 and 10, I could see it working out. They also need a reliable and potent three point shooter, to fill the void that Ben Gordon left last offseason. If he's open to a pitch and the price is right, I'd love to see them pick up Ray Allen though that's probably unlikely.

Out of all the names you mentioned above, I like Boozer the most. That also goes same for Miami as well. Many may disagree, but I think he's the safer bet in this coming off season over Amare or Bosh. Not only he comes cheaper, but he also won't try to be The Man on the team. I think him and Rose can turn out to be something close to Deron and Boozer tandem in Jazz, if not better. That's probably also the reason why I prefer Boozer to be with Wade as well. Bosh and Amare are individually better though, no doubt about that.

As for Wade in Chi, I don't think the chemistry will be there. Wade will probably end up stealing usage from Rose, which will likely slow the development of Rose. Also other than Chi being his hometown, I don't think Rose and Noah being the core and future of the team is that tempting for Wade to play there. But I agree it will be fun to see, how the experiment goes.

[Andrew]

Conserning Del Negro: I would rather see Paxson leave the team,than Del Negro.He had good year concerning the roster he had and that is the same with 08-09 season.Paxson in the other hand,made not that good team management,concerning the trades and signings,as well as coach hiring and relationships with them,which obviously was not good at all.

If Del Negro goes, then I feel Paxson and Forman should follow him out the door. It's not going to happen though, they're going to be given a chance to do something with all the cap space. I really hope they've learned from their past mistakes and aim as high as they possibly can. If they end up with another Ben Wallace or Ron Mercer-type signing, then they've screwed up too many chances and clearly don't have the vision to improve the team. The damage will already have been done but if they're booted out after that perhaps someone with more sense can come in and clean things up as Donnie Walsh has done in New York. But as I said, hopefully they've learned from past errors and are committed to making sensible moves, like using the cap space to bring in someone who can help the team take that next step. A novel idea, I know, but it might just work.

As for Wade in Chi, I don't think the chemistry will be there. Wade will probably end up stealing usage from Rose, which will likely slow the development of Rose. Also other than Chi being his hometown, I don't think Rose and Noah being the core and future of the team is that tempting for Wade to play there. But I agree it will be fun to see, how the experiment goes.

Maybe, but if the opportunity is there then I think you've got to give it a try. That's the catch though, I'm not sure Wade's on his way out in Miami and I expect more than a couple of the big names will stay where they are, making all the excitement about the 2010 offseason much ado about nothing. That said, the Bulls should be reaching out to them as soon as they're allowed to contact them and make their pitch. They have to aim high and see if any of the top names are interested, at this point they should not be coveting an Al Harrington or Tracy McGrady.

[air gordon]

Hello…
Nothing new to add to the discussion. Just a few cents here

The Del Negro situation was pretty embarrassing. the way he was treated by management, you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. But then he has his Vinny moments like blowing that huge lead to the Kings at home and you remember why you want him gone.

What will be more embarrassing is if Gar-Pax don’t hire the replacement immediately after VDN’s firing(assuming this new coach is not coaching on a playoff team). They’ve had all this time to figure it out who they want…I think since January Gar-Pax stopped openly supporting VDN.

Making the playoffs was nice and all but you have to consider 2 things: Chris Bosh broke his face and Kirk Hinrich was clutch. 2 things unlikely to happen again.

Roster-wise… it’s the same story every year- need a big guard/perimeter shooting and post scoring. Almost every game Hinrich was hot, the bulls were winning. Not consistent enough/can’t rely him to be that guy. it’s a shame Salmons only found his balls after he got traded to the Bucks.

The rest of the roster, sans Rose-Noah, are replaceable parts. Let’s hope Gar-Pax will get it right from the start and not put together a half a NBA roster for half the season

I’m not expecting a homerun in the offseason (wade-james-bosh). And It’s scary with those 2nd tier FA’s. they all have question marks: Stoudemire’s & Boozer’s health. Lee’s effectiveness outside the NYk system. Joe Johnson’s age. And all these guys want the big bucks/long term contracts. Whoever it is that Gar-Pax get will either put the final nail in their coffin or bolster the team out of it's middling status.

what's worrisome is that the Bulls will probably get in a bidding match for these 2nd tier guys. unless you're the Spurs, you're going have to overpay to get a FA. Personally i'd feel most comfortable giving the big bucks to DLee. he has the least amount of issues. he can play his natural position,PF. he's a good pick and roll player, decent passer. and he's still relatively young and has no major injury history. As for SG. i have no clue. anyone have any suggestions????

as for this season- i honestly enjoyed following the Thunder and Kings more then i did the Bulls. how sad

[Andrew]

As for SG. i have no clue. anyone have any suggestions????

No one on the market springs immediately to mind as a perfect fit, though I wish they'd held onto Thabo a little longer. As I said before I wouldn't mind if they could pick up Ray Allen for a couple of years at a decent price but it seems unlikely and is far from perfect given it would be a short term solution at best.

[George7]

Allen at a 2-year contract for 6 mil at most will be great.

[Murat]

What? Are you sure? If sure, Bulls will have a strong team.

[Andrew]

Allen at a 2-year contract for 6 mil at most will be great.

It would be a decent short term solution while they explore other options. As air gordon said, it's a shame Salmons didn't find his game until after he was traded to Milwaukee but if the extra cap space can be put to good use this offseason then hopefully it'll be worth the short term setback and gutting of the roster.