Chicago Bulls Thread

And Andrew DeClercq as well...

I dont think either of them will make it. Both been out of the NBA for too long, and i'd rather see Malik Allen and Luke Schenscher stay with the team.

If Kemp was signed, i could see him having a similar impact to what Vin Baker had on the Clippers last year. i.e. none.

Eerie, seeing as though I brought him back in my NBA Live 06 Chicago Dynasty. I was hoping it would happen last year, I wouldn't be against it now either. I'd prefer him to Schenscher or DeClercq.

wow, kemp actually looks really good there. Good find I really hope the Bulls pick him up, i would love to see him out on the court for at least one more year

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/paxson_fe ... 60921.html


Don't know if anyone saw this article about how Pax has put the team together, but it's a great read. First of a two-parter, focusing on specific moves of his tenure.

This edition: The drafting of Kirk Hinrich; Hiring Scott Skiles; the Jalen Rose trade; the 2004 draft (Gordon, Deng and Duhon) and also the Jamal Crawford trade.

If we weren’t able to get rid of Jerome’s contract in that deal, we may not have done it.”

interesting thought. would have made things very different.

I know it's a biased opinion but assuming the Bulls meet or exceed expectations this year, I think Paxson has to snare Executive of the Year for 2007. Obviously the contrast between the Paxson era and the post championship Krause era makes Paxson's accomplishments look even better but even so, he's done a great job so far. Perhaps the acquisition of Ben Wallace will be the final move that earns him the top executive honours; not that he needs to win the award for us to know he's a top GM but it'd be nice to see his efforts and accomplishments recognised.

What are your expectations exactly for the Bulls?

I reckon 45-50 wins and reaching the second round of the Playoffs would be setting the bar at a realistic level. I'd be somewhat disappointed with a first round exit.

I reckon 45-50 wins and reaching the second round of the Playoffs would be setting the bar at a realistic level. I'd be somewhat disappointed with a first round exit.

yeah likewise. i can see them reaching top 4 in the east, and beating a team like washington or the celtics. And either Ben Gordon or Kirk Hinrich will join Ben Wallace in the all-star game.

Here are Chris Mannix's expectations:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/w ... 20/mannix/

That said, the Chicago Bulls will win the NBA championship this season.

As happy as that would make me, i dont know if any Bulls fans could realistically expect a title this year.

The Bulls gave the Heat a very good battle in the playoffs while they had no answer to Shaq due to no post defense (Chandler could get some blocked shots but I don't think he was consistent enough). With the addition of arguably the best defender/shot blocker in the NBA (Ben Wallace) and a nucleus of very good young players (Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni), I think the Bulls are fully capable of getting to the Finals and possibly winning.

I'd say any less than 50 wins in the reg season is below the teams capabilities.

As far as the playoffs, they should be able to get into the 2nd round, and from there be competitive with anyone they face. It's not a stretch to see them go into the Finals, but i don't see them winning just yet.

As happy as that would make me, i dont know if any Bulls fans could realistically expect a title this year.

I'm not saying they will win the championship, but personally i think the Bulls are getting close to that mentality, or at least for the fans, where they should expect to be in the finals/win one

Kenny Williams brought that mentality a few years back when he took over as GM. for the Sox He said it himself. Championship or bust

I think Paxson and Williams share the same philsophy of setting a standard of excellence for their respective ballclubs.

with the roster they have, i'm expecting at the least for the team to reach the 2nd round. iirc, Stern passed the ruling of overral team record will be used to determine conference seedings. that should help the Bulls since they do play in the toughest division in the East

http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/paxson_fe ... 60925.html

Second part of the Paxson feature. He talks here about bring in Nocioni, the Eddy Curry trade, this years' draft pick trades, signing Big Ben and finally trading away Tyson Chandler.

Another good read, and you can see how tough it was on Pax to trade away Eddy. We cant really judge the ultimate success of it yet, but it was still a deal that needed to be done. In any case, it broke the Bulls' stagnation.

I do agree with you air gordon about the championship mentality, but i also think that was never present until now.
Big Ben has won a title, and PJ Brown has got to want it so much that it hurts, and this will be the force between the ultimate push for the title. While we may not see a title in PJ's tenure, just having him play in front of Tyrus Thomas and Nocioni will do wonders for their work ethics and desire to win. (I'm not saying those 2 guys dont have that strong work ethic, it's just that the vets will inspire them to work even harder.)

I'm really looking forward to this season and indeed the next few seasons, because being a Bulls fan is fun and exciting once again.

The Bulls gave the Heat a very good battle in the playoffs while they had no answer to Shaq due to no post defense (Chandler could get some blocked shots but I don't think he was consistent enough). With the addition of arguably the best defender/shot blocker in the NBA (Ben Wallace) and a nucleus of very good young players (Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni), I think the Bulls are fully capable of getting to the Finals and possibly winning.

The Bulls did not solve their problem with post defense or offense this summer, which is why I have changed my mind on how much they've improved.

IN the bulls-heat series, it was Shaq who was mopping up the Bulls. Chandler couldn't stay on the floor and Shaq made mince meat out of everyone else.

i think subtracting the uneven play of Chandler and whichever guy they would pair with him and adding Ben Wallace & PJ Brown instead makes the bulls post defense better. just my opinion

post scoring? that's another story i'll just say it's good to finally have someone that can catch the ball off the pick and roll and finish. ft's another story too

great articles btw. Paxson was truly pissed about how the Curry situation ended up.

Chicago IMO is capable of beating Miami in a playoff series as long as they can check Wade. Ben Wallace can guard Shaq 1-on-1 and do a pretty good job.

even if Hinrich did ok on Wade last year... limiting or at the least not letting Wade go bonkers in a 7 game series is one tall order

limiting or at the least not letting Wade go bonkers in a 7 game series is one tall order

fingers crossed that Thabo is every bit the defender that all of the reports have suggested.

And noce can hold his own as well, and it would create some good mismatches.

seems a little too ambitious there. i don't think there's ever been an international player who came into the nba and immediately became a defensive force. in fact, there aren't too many great international defenders to begin with hehe

there aren't too many great international defenders to begin with

Darko!
From what I've read about Thabo, he has the potential to be a good defender i.e. long wingspan, athletic, but he's not a NBA-ready defender yet.

seems a little too ambitious there. i don't think there's ever been an international player who came into the nba and immediately became a defensive force. in fact, there aren't too many great international defenders to begin with hehe

AK47, Gasol (2+ bpg as a rookie), Nocioni, Ginobili, Rasho Nestorovic...

There are a lot of international players who are only in the NBA because they are just tall, but anyone like that is going to be bad overall. For every Johan Petro there's a Robert Swift or Loren Woods.

But Thabo seems to be a legit player with good athleticism, i have high hopes for him.

Regarding the playoff performance...i expect only slightly better results than last year...because not much has changed. Indy is correct IMO, the Bulls have done zippo to address their biggest roadblock, getting someone who is a consistent overmatch for his position who can draw fouls, get the other team over the foul limit, and force double teams to cause defensive movement.

I'm pretty dismayed by the Bulls move on draft day. They went in with #2 and came out with neither Roy, Morrison; and didn't even get any height like Alridge.

Gordon, I think you are going to be seriously disappointed by Ben Wallace's interior D. Ben isn't as good without a big body to defend the post with him. He is an absolute disaster when he tries to body up and guard someone man to man, just wait untill you see what Jermaine O'Neal does to him.

Rasheed is an oustanding post up defender and took all of the pressure off Ben allowing him to freely rotate to the weakside and play help defense.

PJ Brown is serviceable, but not good enough to take that load off of Ben.

lol, you make it sound like ben wallace is horrible at defense

seems a little too ambitious there. i don't think there's ever been an international player who came into the nba and immediately became a defensive force. in fact, there aren't too many great international defenders to begin with hehe

AK47, Gasol (2+ bpg as a rookie), Nocioni, Ginobili, Rasho Nestorovic...


But Thabo seems to be a legit player with good athleticism, i have high hopes for him.

all were ok but none had the impact that Hinrich_12 is expecting of rookie Thabo (lol stopping Wade?!). AK and Manu made great improvements as defenders iirc in their 2nd years. but i am encouraged so far with what i've seen and heard about Thabo

Regarding the playoff performance...i expect only slightly better results than last year...because not much has changed. Indy is correct IMO, the Bulls have done zippo to address their biggest roadblock, getting someone who is a consistent overmatch for his position who can draw fouls, get the other team over the foul limit, and force double teams to cause defensive movement.

was there even that type of player available in FA or in the draft?

I'm pretty dismayed by the Bulls move on draft day. They went in with #2 and came out with neither Roy, Morrison; and didn't even get any height like Alridge.

the jury is still out but right now Aldridge is broken

indy: Wallace and Brown cannot be as disastrous as Sweentey and Chandler were last year

was there even that type of player available in FA or in the draft?

That's the big question, and i freely admit i don't know...but at least picking Roy or Morrison would have been a gamble they can play their game on the next level. Perhaps Pax did decide there was no playmaker in the draft of that caliber, and instead went with the best talent for the future.

Here's a Sun Times article about the Bull's needs this upcoming season, and Paxson talks specifically about our big deficit in fouls given & taken.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketba ... 01.article

The Bulls committed 2,038 fouls last season to opponents' 1,883, attempted 505 fewer free throws than their opponents (1,967 to 2,472) and made 469 fewer baskets from the line than the opposition (1,452 to 1,921).

"When you just look at our field goals,'' Paxson said, ''I believe we were six points a game more than our opponents. That is a lot of points. So you don't need to be a basketball genius to know we just had too many silly fouls. We break it down possession by possession, and there were silly fouls, not where you're trying to take a charge or stopping a guy on a layup. Just too many reaching, slapping fouls when we're in the penalty.

I disagree with Pax that the Bulls just started getting slap happy. They fouled because Ben Gordon is simply not capable of cleanly stopping Shawn Marion on the break. Duhon is not going to be able to stop Kobe Bryant. We're so small, one screen and a defensive switch and you've got BG guarding some other team's SF, like Matrix or Melo.

all were ok but none had the impact that Hinrich_12 is expecting of rookie Thabo (lol stopping Wade?!).

i'm not expecting anything from him. i did say that my fingers were crossed. my hopes are high, and i dont think it's outside the realm of possibility, but i do believe that he is several years away from being a stand-out defensive player.

And more than anything, he gives the bulls another option, which speaks volumes for their depth. And it's this depth that provides the Bulls with their greatest strength.