Chicago Bulls Thread

[Andrew]

Needless to say I hope he's successful in Chicago but I didn't care for his comments about the team's struggles a couple of weeks back, even if they were technically true, given that he's a rookie who at the time had just one NBA game under his belt. Skiles was right to call him on that.

[The X]

the Bulls need a bit of personality so Joakim Noah helps them with that....shame he's not with a team like Suns or Warriors that could use him

[Dan's Brain]

A nice win over the Bobcats. Ben Wallace looks like he showed a bit of heart with a double-double (including 19 big boards), 5 steals and the 4 blocks. Nice to see Deng and Gordon's shots falling as well.

[Indy]

Living in Chicago, I have to read the Chicago newspapers. I am getting really, really sick of seeing Joakim Noah quotes and articles about him. I find him somewhat fascinating though.

Here is a rookie that is the 10th man, yet still gets tons and tons of press in a huge market like Chicago.

After writing this, the next morning I opened the sports page and the very first thing I see: "Joakim Noah making the most of minutes."

[Dan's Brain]

Thank god we re-signed Noc in the off-season. If we hadn't, the Bulls would be probably winless right now. He's the only thing that kept the Mavs game somewhat close.

[hova-]

So how about Andres_Nocioni05

[Andrew]

I mentioned this in the Foxtel thread but it looks as like Aussie Bulls fans will be getting to see a fair few Bulls games on ESPN over the next couple of months, presumably with a few coming on Fox Sports too since they still have the wider variety of matchups. Shame they're not showing the full doubleheader today.

[dan_suth]

Geez... the Bulls just have the Pistons number. Why are the crappy teams beating Chicago but the Pistons keep getting rocked? Ended Detroit's 5 game winning streak too!

I'm just hoping the Bulls don't get the 7 seed come playoff time - Detroit might go home in the first round...

[Indy]

The Bulls are no longer a fun team to watch. The ball movement is not as crisp, they miss tons of layups, and the defensive rotations are sloppy. I love it.

[shadowgrin]

Indy's posts are no longer fun to read. He double posts, doesn't even delete the other post, and he's a mod! I love it.

[---]

Great basketball being played tonight against Boston. I laugh in the face of all the RealGMers screaming "TANK" after the shitty start. HA.

[shadowgrin]

It's a shame once Gordon and Deng get their game going on again and puts up their good numbers, they're going to get traded for Kobe.

[Dan's Brain]

Hell of a start to Demetris Nichols' NBA career. Three teams in the space of 6 weeks. He's on pace to break Chucky Brown's (Or Tony Massenburg's?) record by the All-Star break.

[---]

The Demetris signing is the best thing to happen to me Bulls-wise this year. I wanted him so bad in the draft and we got him now. Maybe if SKiles gave him some playing time... Nah, if Ty can't get off the bench for not running the floor (*cough*Ben Wallace*cough*) it ain't happening. What a waste,

If Tyrus can survive the Skiles beatdown, he's gonna be one hell of a player. I just don't know if he's mentally up for it.

[shadowgrin]

Skiles should just tell Tyrus that he'll get free money if he does what Skiles asked of him.

[Andrew]

A double digit win followed by a double digit loss. I guess that's the way it goes sometimes, it probably wouldn't be as frustrating if the Bulls didn't have a lot of ground to make up right now.

[Indy]

We were awful in the first quarter and you guys really jumped on us, but we did a much better job getting good shots in the second half. Jamaal Tinsley added Kirk to the list of point guards he has just straight up abused this year.

[Andrew]

A few thoughts after the Lakers game today:

Red remarked that the Lakers had done a great job on Gordon tonight. I wouldn't necessarily agree, to me it seemed more like the Bulls just weren't looking for him throughout the entire second half. I think he touched the ball twice in the third quarter and took two shots in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. I know I'm a bit Homerish when it comes to Gordon and Deng had his moments in the third as did Hinrich and Gordon isn't shooting the lights out this season, but seriously, at least put him to use. I notice he sat most of the fourth quarter against the Knicks the other day despite New York closing the gap and almost stealing it. I just think he's being wasted at times.

Someone needs to tell Kirk Hinrich he's a point guard. It's great when the shots are falling but his decision making could be much, much better when it comes to taking the shot himself and finding teammates. It's also troubling to see him rack up six turnovers alongside eight assists.

The offense looks really stagnant, with little player movement. Even when guys are trying to post up, it seems to be Hinrich dribbling around the perimeter and then throwing up a tough shot with the shot clock winding down. I know their strength is on the perimeter because they don't have that scoring presence in the post but they don't even seem to try. Whether this is Skiles' design or Hinrich's decision making, something needs to change there,

Speaking of Skiles, he's still going away from lineups at the oddest of times. It's not just leaving Gordon out of the game or ignoring him in the offense these days...Thomas made a few shots and was looking like he might have a fine game and he ends up playing just 22 minutes thanks to some garbage time. I know, I know, it's too easy to blame the coach but between the losses, the stagnant offense and former Bulls performing better elsewhere, you can't help but wonder if it's time for a change. No better candidates spring to mind however.

Aaron Gray outperforming Ben Wallace despite playing fewer minutes is just sad. Don't get me wrong, if Gray turns out to be anything more than an afterthought from the 2007 Draft then that's fantastic, but something's wrong when your second round pick proves to be the better option than the guy who's getting $15 million per season. Wallace needs to get over whatever's keeping him tied to Detroit, forget about those days and start earning that ridiculous contract.

Bulls/Celtics and Bulls/Spurs are going to be shown here in Australia over the next week. I'll be watching and hoping for the best, but those could be two very painful games to watch.

[Dan's Brain]

Aaron Gray!

A double-double against the Wiz, following an impressive showing against the Lakers.

I'm still as high as a kite on this guy, and I think he could contribute quite a bit down the stretch. But there is one stat that's troubling me, especially when you consider who he's backing up. AG (better nickname coming) is shooting a Big-Benesque 36.8% from the line, which is troubling, given that he plays in the same frontcourt as Wallace and Tyrus (both subpar FT shooters).

[shadowgrin]

You'll ignore his crappy FT shooting when he starts dishing out double-doubles every game.

Yeah right.

[Cartar]

22 posts in 1:25 Shadow , keep it rollin

[shadowgrin]

I'll stop now. You just jinxed me, asshole.

[dan_suth]

Scott Skiles Fired

Chicago Bulls ' Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson today announced that Scott Skiles has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach.

In a statement released this morning, Paxson said:

“This was a difficult decision to make, but one that was necessary at this time. Scott helped us in many ways during his time with the Bulls; most importantly, he helped this franchise get back to respectability. I am appreciative of his hard work and the imprint that he left on our team.”

At this time, no decision has been made on Skiles’ replacement. On November 28, 2003, Skiles became the fifteenth head coach in franchise history when he succeeded Bill Cartwright. Over the span of five seasons with the Bulls, he compiled a record of 165-172 (.490) and guided the team to the playoffs three consecutive years, highlighted by a first-round series sweep of the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. In eight-plus seasons as a head coach in the NBA, Skiles owns a career coaching record of 281-251 (.528).

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... es_skiles/

Ben Wallace said Saturday he would welcome personnel changes if it would help the club.

"That's one of those things that goes along with this league," said Wallace. "Change is not always bad. If everybody wants to be here we have to step it up and go out there and play basketball."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3167808

Anyone else as shocked as I am?

[-Young Buck-]

I am shocked. I mean he has been having 1 bad year and he gets fired? Wow.

[Lamrock]

I am also in awe, and a little disappointed. I have a feeling the Bulls will regret this deeply. I can't wait for Andrew's response.

Its a bit of a rash move though, since its only 25 games into the season, and in 04-05, they had a worse record at this point. I never thought he would lose his job before Isiah Thomas.