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Saying One Thing Doing Another

July 2nd 2009 04:28

Saying what the fans want to hear has been increasingly popular lately for coaches/players who are being rumored to leave their current team. They say they would love to return to their current teams and then jet as soon as the opportunity comes. Nick Saban said he wasn’t going anywhere when he was coaching the Miami Dolphins and ended up leaving for the University of Alabama at the end of the season.

The latest example of this is Ben Gordon who said he’d like to return to Chicago. But today he agreed to a 5-year $55 million dollar deal with the division rival, Detroit Pistons. This is only $1 million more per year than the Bulls offered Gordon two years ago. For someone who claimed to have wanted to stay a Bull, $1 million more per year doesn’t seem like that much more for a professional athlete. The deal was agreed upon on the first day of free agency, looks like he gave the Bulls plenty of time to match or better that offer. The Bulls would have been crazy to do so. This is exactly why the draft was such a failure. They had plenty of options to ease losing Gordon to free agency which seemed inevitable when the rumor came out that the Pistons were willing to pay him $11 million per a year.

The Bulls went in the completely wrong direction with the draft. They drafted at a position, small forward which was already manned by John Salmons and Luol Deng. Then drafting a player just like one we already have but he’s older and not half as athletic. At 16 the Bulls could’ve taken any one of the five point guards taken immediately after they picked Johnson. This would allow Hinrich to back up Salmons at the two. Now he’s supposed to back up both spots? At 26 they passed on Wayne Ellington, Toney Douglas and Jermaine Taylor all players who know how to put the ball in the bucket from just about anywhere on the floor.

Can we rescind the trade that sent Thabo Sefolosha for a first round pick please? The once crowded back court is looking quite thin at the moment. The inability to re-sign Gordon means Hinrich is most likely staying put. Guessing what the Bulls do now is almost impossible I just hope the bad decisions this off-season are over. Although letting Gordon walk has been the best one so far. Who would think that letting your leading scorer for the last four seasons walk would be your team’s best decision of the off-season thus far?

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Posted By: Matt Fox - Category: No Category

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Disappointing Draft for the Bulls

July 2nd 2009 01:46

How this draft makes any sense for the Bulls is beyond me. Gar Forman failed miserably in his first draft as a GM. Can I start a petition to get John Paxson back please? Niether player makes the Bulls a better team, at least this year. In the long run I still don’t like either pick.

Let’s start with the 16th pick James Johnson. He’s 6”7’ and plays the 3 or the 4? He didn’t shoot the ball well from the college 3-point line. His best year was 32 percent and the NBA’s 3-point line is three feet longer. At the 4 spot I don’t think he’ll fair much better. He wasn’t a great defender at Wake Forest and being undersized doesn’t help his chances any. There are a few things he does have going for him. He’s a good passer with good ball handling skills for his size. Some people have said he’s kind of a point forward but how does that help the Bulls when they already have Derrick Rose. Another thing that scares me is that he showed up to workouts 15 lbs over-weight, that doesn’t show me much dedication to getting better when you’re a middle first round pick trying to improve your draft stock. I really don’t see how he fits in with the Bulls.

The 26th pick of Taj Gibson is much of the same. He’s 6”9’ 210 lbs and a decent athlete. To me he’s a poor man’s Tyrus Thomas. He’s already 24 and his potential doesn’t seem to be very high. He showed absolutely nothing in his last game as a Trojan. He fouled out while scoring three points. During his three years at USC Gibson showed virtually no improvement in his game. His stats across the board are similar in all three years.

All this talk about how the drafting of these two disappointing picks meaning the end for Tyrus Thomas is a joke. First of all Taj Gibson is older than Thomas! Gibson is not half the athlete Thomas is. Johnson is undersized at the 4. I’ve even read something where people think Johnson will overtake Deng. I think I’m going to leave that one alone because anyone who thinks that clearly doesn’t know basketball at all. The trade rumors surrounding Thomas should be surrounding our picks. Trade both of them for someone who can actually help us now or don’t sign either of them, let Gordon walk and get some real front court help. There are plenty of options out there this year. Carlos Boozer (if he opts out), Paul Millsap, David Lee (a double-double machine), Antonio McDyess, Chris Wilcox and David Bass would all be better options than the Bulls dud draft picks.

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Posted By: Matt Fox - Category: No Category

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My Dream Draft for the Chicago Bulls

June 24th 2009 18:34

The NBA Draft is coming up on Thursday and the Bulls have two first round picks, the 16th and 26th. Seeing as though my college team is the North Carolina Tar Heels I’m always rooting for the Bulls to draft players from Michael Jordan’s alma mater. Two years ago when the Bulls had the ninth pick the last player I wanted was the one the Bulls drafted, Joakim Noah. I was hoping Brandon Wright would still be available but of course he went one pick ahead at 8 to the Charlotte Bobcats. Looks like the Bulls made out on that pick so far.

This year I would like to see an all baby blue draft. The selections I have in mind for the Bulls will fill two needs and fit the criteria of players the Bulls typically draft. These players played on this year’s National Championship Tar Heels team. One has been a college phenom all four years and broke many long standing records in the ACC. The other player has continued to get better in each of his three years at UNC. He went from a one-dimensional player to the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament this year.

At 16 the Bulls should take college legend Tyler Hansbrough. Although Hansbrough is likely to not become a superstar, he is exactly what the Bulls need. To build off last year’s playoff run the Bulls need some solid role players. Hansbrough measured up better than expected physically and is surprising scouts with his workouts. He has impressed so much that there is talk of him going 11 to the Nets. He would bring the Bulls relentless energy off the bench. He has the mid-range game that Tyrus Thomas thinks he has. As unorthodox as his post game might look he finds a way to put the ball in the bucket with those hook-push shots. Hansbrough has a knack for getting to the free throw line where he converts on more than 80 percent of his attempts. He will push the other Bulls players in practice. Whatever the coaches tell him he needs to work on he will. Hansbrough will come into the league with a chip on his shoulder. He has a desire to prove his critics wrong. If Hansbrough is available at 16 I hope the Bulls continue to go with their recent formula. A guy who’s coming into the league determined, already seems to have a never ending motor and is a proven winner is a guy I would like on my team.

With the 26th pick I would like to see the Bulls draft someone to replace Ben Gordon who the Bulls should not resign as I said earlier. The replacement should resemble Gordon. The selection should be Wayne Ellington. He is a sharp shooter from the outside. He has more size than Gordon and is a better defender and rebounder. He knew what he needed to work on after withdrawing from last year’s draft. He improved in nearly every statistical category from his sophomore year to his junior year. He also improved his defense which was one of the knocks on him from a year ago. He has that same clutch factor that Gordon has. At UNC he hit big shot after big shot. Granted he won’t be able to fill Gordon’s shoes right away he would be a nice scoring option off the bench.

If the Bulls do go the Carolina route it’ll allow John Salmons to start at the two guard and Hinrich to back-up Rose and Salmons. Hansbrough and Ellington would bring energy off the bench with Miller and Hinrich. This would be a nice nine player rotation that includes Deng returning to the starting small forward spot. I know this is an unlikely situation but it’s fun to hope it’ll happen.

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Posted By: Matt Fox - Category: No Category

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Bulls Biggest Off-season Question

June 19th 2009 18:58

The biggest question the Bulls will be faced with this off-season is to re-sign or not to re-sign Ben Gordon? There are positives and negatives for each decision the Bulls could make.

Let’s start with the positives. Gordon has been the Bulls leading scorer for the last three seasons. He carried the Bulls in parts of the epic playoff series against the Boston Celtics. He seems to have built chemistry with Derrick Rose and is just the shooter Rose needs to open the lane. Gordon was in the top 25 in points per game, free throw shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. In the clutch, he has come through time and time again ever since he put a Bulls jersey on. In the playoff series with the Celtics he came up with big shot after big shot

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Posted By: Matt Fox - Category: No Category

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Must-win for Magic

June 11th 2009 23:29

The Magic won the first of the must-win games in game 3. Game 4 is another must-win game. They can’t afford to go down three games to one to the Lakers. A win by the Lakers would almost guarantee them the championship. Even if the Magic were to win game 5, they would have to go into LA and win two games in a row. They have a better chance at winning three games at home in a row and taking one of two in LA. To win game 4 they are going to have to do much of the same things they did to win game 3. The chance that they shoot their way to another NBA Finals record 62.5 percent is not likely.

The Magic will have to follow the same game plan though and Mickael Pietris will have to stay out of foul trouble because he’s the best option to guard Kobe Bryant. He has the size and strength to deal with Bryant as well as the offensive prowess to make Bryant work on the defensive end. That could have been the reason Bryant looked tired in the latter part of game 3. Game 3 also saw a more selfish Bryant which is exactly what the Magic want because not one player can win a game by himself

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Posted By: Matt Fox - Category: No Category

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NBA Finals Prediction

June 5th 2009 21:59

Howard and Bryant battle for rebound

This was supposed to be the finals that featured two of the biggest stars in the NBA today. The dream match-up many people including mainly David Stern and Nike was that of Kobe vs. Lebron. Nike even had puppet commercials banking on the fact that the two would square off in the finals. There is often a debate about who is the best player in the game Kobe or Lebron and this would’ve been the chance to settle that debate. There is one problem though, basketball is a team sport. The NBA was advertising and marketing for not two teams in the finals but two individuals

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