Chicago Bulls Thread

[Valor]

So Valor; getting Okafor without losing Deng or Rose, well just no way they should trade Rose away for ANYBODY, as for Deng, I don't think chi should fear losing him when they're getting something, a package with perhaps Hinrich should get them a solid post player in return, though with this going for a post presence, and losing Deng, SF could become a problem. I feel Noah should get more minutes from Gray, his FG% will go up give him some time (better reb, blocking). Hmm, Hughes contract is up in two years (hail hail 2003).

Yeah, thats what i was talking about
Well, if they can get some serious post presence like Okafor, Deng would be worth it, Someone like Thomas or Nocioni could take his spot at SF i suppose

[Andrew]

I'd easily trade Deng and Hinrich before Gordon or anyone else not named Larry Hughes. I'd prefer to keep Deng but if he has any trade value and can bring in a post player, I think you have to pull the trigger. With Gordon, Rose and a post player, they'd have three diverse scoring weapons and Gordon would likely be able to feed off a post scorer better than Deng, who's not as strong a shooter from the perimeter.

[Oskar]

Chris Wilcox could be useful, but he's not that good. There are not too many quality post players out there right now, something that the Bulls would need.

[Andrew]

Exactly, moving some of their players and acquiring ones that address their weaknesses is easier said than done.

Meanwhile, they broke their losing streak with a win over the Wizards, that would have been quite embarrassing if they'd fallen to them (and at home, no less). Currently snapping at the heels of the eighth seed, a bit of a run could have them sitting somewhere in the top eight heading into the new year.

[Dan's Brain]

Ahhhhh dear. Derrick Rose needs stitches because he rolled over on a carving knife while in bed. He was using it to cut apples.

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

I love this kid, but how dumb can you be? At least he's not going to miss any time.

[Andrew]

[Valor]

nice find there Andrew

[Andrew]

Currently in 8th place, slightly ahead of the Knicks. This is where they can't afford to falter if they want to make the Playoffs with a decent seed, we shouldn't expect too much of a potential postseason run but I'd rather see them competitive while they assess their options and retool/rebuild. Winning certainly doesn't hurt morale and although experience tends to be a little overrated, it would be good for the returning players to once again play in that atmosphere and for Derrick Rose to get a taste of the Playoffs and be tested by them as they move forward with him as their star player. Bottom line, they can't afford to fall into a hole again early on because as last year proved, they don't have the tools to come back with a vengeance later in the year even when they had an opportunity right up until the last couple of weeks of the 2008 season.

[Andrew]

A very disappointing loss to the Grizzlies thanks in no small part to being outscored 31-20 in the third. That remains one of the most frustrating aspects of the current squad, the bar shouldn't be set too high and losses to the elite teams are to be expected because they don't have the tools to be able to hang with them at this juncture, but the squandering of winnable games, even on the road, is disheartening to see. Gordon getting into foul trouble didn't help, he only played eight minutes in the first half but was 5/6 from downtown and had 18 points in those eight minutes. Had he been able to continue that result, perhaps they would have had a more comfortable lead at the half.

[Andrew]

A more pleasing result against the Nets to say the least. If they hadn't blown the game against the Grizzlies, they'd have edged above .500.

[Andrew]

Another extremely disappointing loss, for those who didn't follow the game one way or another they actually had the late lead in regulation but Rose fouled Augustin on a three point attempt, leading to the overtime. Still, they should have taken care of business in OT but ended up being outscored 14-6, once again failing to reach the .500 plateau. Here's hoping for a win against the Clippers tomorrow.

[Andrew]

Another late lead blown leading to an overtime, though mercifully they were able to pull out the victory.

[Andrew]

The fourth quarter of the game against the Heat was just brutal to watch. Gordon's shots weren't falling and somehow Nocioni and Hughes became the top options down the stretch. Noah and Thomas are just disheartening to watch at times. I don't like their chances against the Hawks or Magic, that Orlando game could be another tough one to watch.

[Andrew]

Hughes Again Wants More Minutes In Chicago

Larry Hughes has spoken out for the second time in five weeks about his minutes with the Bulls, the Chicago Tribune is reporting.

"I don't accept it, but I deal with it," Hughes, who is averaging 26 minutes a game, said Saturday night.

When Hughes last spoke out Nov. 18 in Los Angeles, it prompted a meeting among himself, coach Vinny Del Negro, and GM John Paxson.

"I've said what I needed to say," Hughes said. "Hopefully, it gets better moving forward. If it's justified, it's justified. But you can look at whatever you need to look at as far as production. I think it's in my favor."

"I'm not a spot-minute guy. I don't play well in that situation. If you want me to produce, I have to be out there. I can make a difference at both ends if I play."

If I were Del Negro or Paxson, I'd be inclined to suspend him. His whining to the media is not the kind of distraction they need. They had the previous meeting but now I think it's time to get tough. He's too old to be acting like a spoiled brat.

On a more positive note, Ben Gordon just became the team's all-time three point leader.

[shadowgrin]

Seven consecutive posts Andrew. Jeez, you really love your horrible Bulls. Even The Shield thread had two persons posting in it most of the time. I don't even think Jao's fitness thread had this much consecutive post from a single poster.
(If you're going for some sort of NLSC record, sorry for breaking it with this post )

[Andrew]

Not at all, I was hoping some of the other Bulls fans would chime in at some point but I guess it's a conversation we've all had before.

[Bodz]

Truly an avid fan of the Bulls. Some would have switched teams since the breakup of the Jordan Dynasty; but I've got to take my hats off for you, Andrew.

[Andrew]

Only the bandwagoners. The championship years really did spoil us Bulls fans and the years that have followed it haven't always been fun to watch but I've never considered switching to another team. I think in the wake of the dismantling of the championship teams I've taken more of an interest in the rest of the league and am less of a homer for the Bulls than I was when I was 14 but I still passionately support the Bulls. I did take a brief interest in the Wizards during Michael Jordan's last comeback but that was definitely only because he was there. The moment he hung up his sneakers once more, my interest waned and the Bulls still remained the team I ultimately wanted to see do well first and foremost.

[Bodz]

I had similar sentiments; after Jordan's 2nd retirement I took an interest in some of the players that were supposedly touted to be the next "Air" successors. Unfortunately, they didn't dazzle (or should I say capitvated) the audience like Jordan did.

Back in the early 90s, there were a few of the NBA commercials which I thought were pretty cool. One of my fav was the Bruce Hornsby's "That's Just The Way It is"; where the commercial showed comparisons between Dr J and Jordan.

[Oskar]

I'm a fan aswell, but yeah .. the Bulls aren't really good right now and it's funny that everytime Rose has a bad game most peeps on RealGM call him bust, next game he has 27-7 and everyone's like " Oh my god, lil' LeBron ! " or something.

Without Rose and Gordon, this team .. yeah, uh ..

[Andrew]

Yeah, people throw the "bust" label around way too liberally. You can't fairly call a player a bust until they've at least played two or three years in the league and have little to show for it. A player less than halfway into their rookie campaign, especially one who's been playing as well as Rose more often than not, is far from being a bust.

That seems to be the trend though these days, update someone's "status" after every game. As I mentioned in the Lakers thread, Bill Walton blew the Celtics' Christmas Day loss in Los Angeles way out of proportion, suggesting they were in trouble after racking up nineteen wins in a row. So much for the big picture.

[Fcuk Orlando]

I think Chicago could do better if they start Nocioni over Sefolosha

[Andrew]

Possibly, I guess they want him out there as part of the second unit and provide a bit of a scoring punch. Hopefully Deng's only out a week instead of two and he can step back into the starting five sooner rather than later.

[Oskar]

Nocioni ? This dude's been .. awful lately. I don't know, but atleast I've never liked him.

[Andrew]

He has a tendency to be a black hole, which is alright if his shot is falling but he's not really a potent enough scorer to justify it. He's a gritty defender and all that but the Bulls' biggest problem right now is scoring, outside Gordon and Rose.