by Pistol on Mon May 12, 2008 1:31 pm
by Andrew on Mon May 12, 2008 1:44 pm
by Andrew on Mon May 12, 2008 1:50 pm
by Lamrock on Mon May 12, 2008 1:54 pm
by Lamrock on Mon May 12, 2008 1:59 pm
by Pistol on Mon May 12, 2008 3:32 pm
Chicago Sun-Times
Bulls fire Skiles and sign new coach.
The Chicago Bulls said goodbye to Scott Skiles and hello to new head coach Scottie Pippen. A couple of weeks back, when rumors were a'foot about Skiles being fired, Pippen showed interest in the position. This is a quote invling Pippen's interest in the coaching job..."What's my disadvantage?" Pippen asked. "No NBA coaching experience? [Scott] Skiles' record with the Bulls wasn't that great. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do what you've done your whole life. I've played basketball, run teams and won....They didn't put me at point guard because I could dribble good. They put me there because I could run a team. I wasn't the best dribbler, the best shooter. I wasn't a point guard. But I knew how to run a team."
Pippen has a very long history with the Chicago Bulls. He is only one of four men to have his number hanging from the rafters here in Chicago. Pippen currently has six rings around his fingers as a player and now would like to add one as a coach.
He has long sought a comeback after having a shortened career due to a knee injury. After playing a few games over in Europe, Pippen decided that his only way back onto an NBA court would be as a head coach. When Skiles was officially fired, Pippen contacted Bulls management and said he was interested. Desperated to regain the old Bulls swagger, Bulls' management figured bringing in a former Bull great to lead the Bulls was perfect.
When Ben Gordon was asked about the hiring he answered, "I am excited to play for someone who brought such supremecy to the Bulls. It will be nice to get one of those shiny things on his fingers." Luol Deng responded to the hiring with some humor, "Oh it's just great...I have to play small forward for a guy that basically owned the position and now all his focus will be on me. I guess this means I have to play some intesnse defense"
Pippen becomes one of the younger NBA coaches at the age of 42. Pippen has been given one year to prove what he has. At the end of the 07-08 season the Bulls will decide if they want to stick with Pippen or not.
by Pistol on Tue May 13, 2008 2:25 am
Chicago Sun-Times
Pippen makes big announcement
Newly hired Chicago Bulls head coach Scottie Pippen is making his presence knownvery quickly. Pippen announced that he was looking at a possible roster shake-up. How would he be able to do this? By holding an open tryout to all free agents in the NBA. Pippen talked to GM Casey Lee about the idea and Lee agreed to do what Pippen wanted.
There will be two days of open tryouts for all free agents who want to come. From there, Pippen will select thirteen free agents to stay for an extended tryout out. Joining the thirteen free agents will be seven players from the Bulls roster. Pippen released a list of eight players who are safe from teh tryout and listed seven players who will join the open tryout to try and keep a spot on the Bulls roster.
Safe from tryout
1) Ben Gordon
2) Kirk Hinrich
3) Luol Deng
4) Andres Nocioni
5) Tyrus Thomas
6) Joakim Noah
7) Drew Gooden
8) Larry Hughes
Players who must participate in tryout
1) Thabo Sefolosha
2) Chris Duhon
3) Aaron Gray
4) JamesOn Curry
5) Shannon Brown
6) Cedric Simmons
7) Demetris Nichols
Once Pippen has thirteen free agents he will split the twenty players into four squads. Squad one being the players with a likely spot on the roster and squad four being players that are likely to be cut. The players will switch squads throughout the process due to their performance.
by Pistol on Wed May 14, 2008 1:34 am
by Pistol on Wed May 14, 2008 1:52 am
Chicago Sun-Times
Thirteen have been chosen!
After a two day tryout with many free agents showing up, Coach Scottie Pippen narrowed the field down to thirteen. These thirteen players will be joining the seven Bulls players that must participate in a tryout. Pippen tried to get a mix of veteran, youth, quickness, speed, and some key positions out of the thirteen free agents. Out of the thirteen there are two point guards and two shooting guards. There are three palyers at each small forward, power forward, and center.PG D. Washington | 63 ovr | 0 yrs pro | Memphis | 6'2 |
PG J. McInnis | 64 ovr | 10 yrs pro | UNC | 6'4 |
SG G. Green | 72 ovr | 2 yrs pro | H.S. | 6'8 |
SG M. Vinicius | 67 ovr | 1 yr pro | Brazil | 6'8 |
SF D. Noel | 64 ovr | 1 yrs pro | UNC | 6'6 |
SF A. Hardaway | 70 ovr | 13 yrs pro | Kansas St. | 6'7 |
SF D. Miles | 72 ovr | 6 yrs pro | H.S. | 6'9 |
PF B. Outlaw | 67 ovr | 14 yrs pro | Houston | 6'8 |
PF J. Williams | 64 ovr | 1 yr pro | Wyoming | 6'10 |
PF C. Sims | 63 ovr | 0 yrs pro | Michigan | 6'10 |
C D. Davis | 61 ovr | 16 yrs pro | Clemson | 6'11 |
C D. Watkins | 61 ovr | 0 yrs pro | Syracus | 6'11 |
C M. Ilic | 50 ovr | 1 yr pro | Serbia & Montenegro | 7'1 |
by Pistol on Wed May 14, 2008 6:07 am
Chicago Sun-Times
Pippen looking to make first move?
Coach Scottie Pippen of the Chiacgo Bulls has been rumored to be in trade talks with the Los Angeles Clippers. Pippen is a big fan of taller point guards and seems to be interested in Shaun Livingston of the Clippers. Livingston stand at 6'7 while the smaller Kirk Hinrich stands only at 6'3.
These rumors are showing that Pippen is ready to make the Bulls into his own. He is ready to re-shape this roster and make it into what he feels is a championship caliber team. A quote that the Sun-Times got from Pippen at an earlier date states:Pippen criticized Gordon's shooting, saying the guard is "out there shooting for a contract" and that "taking bad shots is a sign of a lack of respect for your teammates. You think I'm going to run back if I know B.J. Armstrong is jacking it up?'' Pippen said. ''My shot is just as good as his. That's what players think." Pippen also criticized Hinrich, saying he's "not that talented," the newspaper reported. "You can't have midgets running your backcourt," the former Bulls great added, "Little guards always put you in a vulnerable position."
Could problems be afoot in the Bulls' lockeroom or is this Pippen's way of motivating his players?
by Lamrock on Wed May 14, 2008 7:33 am
by Pistol on Wed May 14, 2008 4:34 pm
Chicago Sun-Times
Tryouts off to a quick start.
Coach Scottie Pippen's open tryouts have officially begun with the twenty players participating in minor drills today. The guards and small forwards shot around and competed in a 3pt contest while the centers and power forwards played in one on one games and worked with post coaches. After those events the twenty players were put into four different squads based on their performance with squad one being the best and squad four being the worst.
Big Man 1 on 1
D. Davis vs M. Ilic [11-7]
Pippen's thoughts: Davis showed a lot of strength against Ilic as he pushed him around and jumped to a quick 7-0 lead. Ilic on the other hand struggled at first, but never gave up. Ilic showed a lot of heart and showed how much he wants this. He ended up coming back and tied the game 7-7. That is when Davis used his verteran poise to play smarter and finally beat Ilic 11-7. Although Ilic showed a big lack of talent, I really am impressed with his determination, plus he is pretty big.
D. Watkins vs A. Gray [11-4]
Pippen's thoughts: Plain and simple...Watkins is the most athletic out of the four centers. He shows quickness, strength, and can throw the ball down hard. Gray never stood a chance. Even with Gray's ability to block shots and shoot the mid range jumper, Watkins was just to quick and athletic. He blew by Gray and made easy work of him. I was really impressed with him and as of right now he is really up high in my books.
B. Outlaw vs C. Simmons [11-3]
Pippen's thoughts: One word...nothing. That is exactly what Simmons showed me. NOTHING. I am still trying to figure out how he made the Bulls team in the first place. Outlaw on the other hand looked great. Attacked the glass and didn't let Simmons get a board over him. Outlaw played much smarter and physical. Simmons is on really really thin ice.
C. Sims vs J. Williams [11-8]
Pippen's thoughts: Wow Sims looked great! I really like him and could see him getting immediate playing time if I kept him around. He showed all the great tools of a slashing power forward and not to mention he has great size. Williams looked very good too however. He showed some signs of a jumper and showed great athletiscm. He showed great determination in his loss to Sims.
Top 3pt Shooters
The four that stood out most were Curry, Hardaway, Green, and Vinicius.
Squads Info: As said before players will be split into squads, with one being best and four being worst. The squads will play one half of basketball against the starting five for the Chicago Bulls team. Which is Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Drew Gooden, and Joakim Noah. Pippen will make one cut on the first day, then two cuts and then another two cuts. Once a player is cut, a player from the Chicago bench replaces him on the squad. The three bench players are Tyrus Thomas, Andres Nocioni, and Larry Hughes. Once five are cut then there will only be three squads. The same process will follow till there is two squads. After that they will battle it out for the last seven roster spots and remember only four of those seven will be on the active roster.
Squad 1
C. Duhon
T. Sefolosha
A. Hardaway
C. Sims
D. Watkins
Squad 2
J. Curry
G. Green
D. Nichols
B. Outlaw
A. Gray
Squad 3
J. McInnis
M. Vinicius
D. Miles
J. Williams
D. Davis
Squad 4
D. Washington
S. Brown
D. Noel
C. Simmons
M. Ilic
by ChiFan23 on Thu May 29, 2008 12:53 pm
) but how are you going about playing these scrimmages? Are they outside of Dynasty mode and if so, how were you able to create custom teams?
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