Chicago Bulls Thread

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Most importantly perhaps, they scored 111. How did that happen?

[air gordon]

duh- the ball went in the basket

leave us alone with our superstitions hehe- the streak has ended so they are "working"

they're back in 8th playoff spot already

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

duh- the ball went in the basket

Exactly. But how did THAT happen?

In a serious note, I think Chicago's main deficiency is the same as last year. The lack of a starting go-to guy whoi can carrythe offense. I'm thinking Paul Pierce here. Trade, anyone?

[air gordon]

Dweaver- how did you come to that conclusion?

Last year, it was Curry opening things up in the beginning then it was Ben Gordon closing things out. Perhaps you didn't hear that Gordon was amongst the league best in 4th quarter scoring

[Andrew]

But to be fair, even Skiles seems to forget that.

[air gordon]

the main deficiency this year is their big men. it's had a domino effect on everyone.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Dweaver- how did you come to that conclusion?

The lack of a starting go-to guy who can carrythe offense.

That means someone who can and will log more than 35 minutes on the floor on any given night. I agree about the lack of size in the basket, but it would all be much easier if there was a 20 - 25ppg guy, preferably outside, keeping defenses honest.

Perhaps you didn't hear that Gordon was amongst the league best in 4th quarter scoring

Spare the irony, please, we're having a discussion here. That aside, unless BG logs starter's minutes and is consistent throughout the game, not much can come out of it.

[maes]

Pierce's cost would be too high i assume...Boston would never trade him straight up for a single Bulls player w/ TT to balance contracts. And dropping 2 of the Bull's bright spots, Hinrich/Gordon/Deng and you have a worse team than Boston currently, who are well below 50%.

Hopefully the Bulls have good scouts and can pull off a Phoenix...can that team spot undervalued guys or what?

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

If they get two lottery picks this year, it'd be nice.

[air gordon]

Dweaver- you're splitting hairs. Gordon was the go to guy. Whether he is starting or not, it makes no difference. Under Skiles system, it didn't matter who started anyway. Watch some Bulls games and you'll know what I'm talking about. BTW- Hinrich is only the player averaging 35mpg lol

There is no irony. LoL nothing can come out of Gordon if he's not consistent? If you want to discredit Gordon scoring all those 4th quarter points just because he comes off the bench, suit yourself. There's nothing worth discussing then

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Dweaver- you're splitting hairs. Gordon was the go to guy. Whether he is starting or not, it makes no difference. Under Skiles system, it didn't matter who started anyway. Watch some Bulls games and you'll know what I'm talking about. BTW- Hinrich is only the player averaging 35mpg lol

You're hetting hung on words. I couldn't care less if he starts or not. All I would like to see is a guy with Gordon's scoring touch being able to stay on the court for 35 mins plus and be a constant threat, not get all fired up in th e4th when his team is 15 points behind. Kinda reasonable, eh?

If you want to discredit Gordon scoring all those 4th quarter points just because he comes off the bench, suit yourself. There's nothing worth discussing then

Indeed. the homer always wins.

[Yougi]

I think Weaver is right. They need a Pierce caliber scorer to win it all, and that's for sure.

[Jona]

Nocioni's been playing his ass off the last games, including right now against the Raps. Why isn't he in the starting line-up?

[air gordon]

Yeh myself and a lot of Bulls fans would like to see Gordon play 35mpg too but that's up to Skiles. Gordon's per 40 minute scoring average was in the top 10 last year IIRC.

It's clear that Skiles plays favorite to Hinrich and Duhon so Gordon is already in an uphill battle just to get 25mpg. Add to that the fact he's only in his 2nd year, i would think it's a little unreasonable to expect to be a Paul Pierce-like player already

lol i think just about any team could use a Paul Pierce type player on offense

anyway- Gordon socres 12pts in the 4th in a Bulls win

[Andrew]

One gets the impression the Bulls didn't enjoy losing eight straight. Nice to see a little winning streak after all those losses.

EDIT: Thanks to their start they've got a higher winning percentage compared to this time last year.

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

And they're 8th seed right now.

[John WB]

Do you bulls fans miss Eddy Curry?

do you miss shaq?

Curry's been really doing good for us lately. He's had some big clutch shot blocks lately too.

actually hinrich has been mediocre so i dont' know where you're getting that from. he's shown he's just as streaky as Crawford but with a little more defense

Crawford's defense has actually been pretty solid this year. The problem with him is the aforementioned streaky shooting, and his poor shot selection.

[air gordon]

Do you bulls fans miss Eddy Curry?

do you miss shaq?

Curry's been really doing good for us lately. He's had some big clutch shot blocks lately too.

actually hinrich has been mediocre so i dont' know where you're getting that from. he's shown he's just as streaky as Crawford but with a little more defense

Crawford's defense has actually been pretty solid this year. The problem with him is the aforementioned streaky shooting, and his poor shot selection.

Crawford and Curry were my two of my favorite Bulls...

I"m glad that Curry is doing well. Knicks fans just need to have some patience. The whole heart problem fiasco prevented him from coming into camp in top shape which probably resulted in those leg injuries.

Curry showed gradual improvement in his overall game while he was in Chicago but I thought he was held back by Skiles, who kept him on a short leash. And with a teacher like Brown, I think Curry could turn into a future all star

I don't mean to rip on Crawford. I'm just saying if you play Hinrich out of position, similar to what the Bulls did with Crawford, he becomes the same type of player Crawford was

...

Finally- we're seeing Hinrich at his natural position PG. He's definitely benefitting from this and Gordon's presence at SG

[air gordon]

Minnesota deserved the win tonite

KG quietly dominated this game and was terrific down the stretch. He should have had a triple double, should have ended up with 15 assists if Griffin could hit a friggin open jumper

For some reason whenever the Bulls play the T'Wolves, Garnett plays closer to the basket, which makes him an even more dangerous player


Chandler has hands of stone. Unless off a lob, it seems like a blessing when he does catch the ball. Nocioni was great and his 4th Qtr heroics almost was enough to the Bulls a win

[Andrew]

You know, perhaps my confidence in Skiles has been shaken too much and maybe unnecessarily so, but I'm amazed Ben Gordon continues to start. As a starter, he's shooting better, dishing out more assists and scoring around 18 points per game.

I'm yet to get any of the latest DVDs so I am yet to see the last few victories...are they still for the most part scrapping to wins or are they looking a lot better as a unit at the moment? The good performances by the usual three or four players suggests they're doing better offensively but that's just a conclusion I've drawn from the boxes.

[Drex]

Did Chandler fouled out in 16 minutes?

[air gordon]

I'll let you find out for yourself, Andrew

Yeh drex- what a piece of shit! What's worse was in the 4th, Chandler had 4 turnovers in a row. The Boxscore didn't credit him with those TO's but he either had a charge, couldn't catch a pass, or threw the ball away on consectutive possesions. that put the team in a hole

and Jona- That's too bad Nocioni isn't starting but at least he's making the most of his time on the court.

[Andrew]

I'll let you find out for yourself, Andrew

Should have seen that one coming. Ah well, it'll only be another week or so. PonTel's pretty on the ball even with posting to Australia.

[air gordon]

honestly it's better off you see for yourself and form your own opinion. In their wins I've seen them shoot better, get to the FT line more, get more production from the interior guys. I don't know what to call it other then "playing better". To me, Hinrich looks more comfortable as the full time PG and seems to benefit from Gordon's presence as defenders actually pay attention to Gordon

Skiles says he doesn't see anything different with Hinrich which is surprising. Chalk it up as Skiles again showing his undying love for Duhon

[Andrew]

Well obviously I'll form my own opinion once I see the games, I was just wondering what yours was. Looking forward to getting those games, moreso than the losses that have been coming in the last couple of weeks.