ZoomSlowik

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 11:01 PM) The Bulls never faced a more talented team in the NBA finals and post bad boys Pistons they never played a more talented team in the playoffs. The one series loss LeBron deserves criticism for is the finals loss to the Mavericks. This year the Heat's defense is just getting absolutely shredded by the Spurs and there isn't a whole lot LeBron can do about that on his own. Jordan is the greatest of all time but the amount of criticism LeBron still gets is laughable. Just to nitpick, 94-95 Magic were more talented IMO (no bigs on Chicago) and I think you can make the argument for the Suns (not great defensively though). I agree with your general premise though. Let's blame everything on the guy averaging 27.5 a game on the series while shooting 60% from the floor! Yeah, he's not MJ, but he can score 40 the last two games and they still lose. The Spurs have just been better.

I know I'm late for this, but... OPEN WIDE FOR SOME SOCCER!!!! By the way, Brazil with the equalizer from Neymar.

If my math is right, they'd all have to sign for around $12.5 mil for it to be viable, a bit more if Haslem and/or Anderson use their ETO. They all left around $2 mil a year on the table to make this team, but that's a HUGE cut. They're all slated to make north of $20 million next year, closer to $22 million for Melo if he gets the max. That also assumes that they renounce the Bird Rights to everyone else (except Cole, who's under contract). While that's not the end of the world, they could still use guys like Chalmers and Allen and they will have to replace them for the minimum. Remember, you can't use both cap space and exceptions.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 11, 2014 -> 03:17 PM) Extremely small sample size, but in his last 9 games Dieng averaged 31 min scoring 11.9 ppg, 10.7 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. A little larger sample size but less minutes, post ASB in 27 games he averaged 22 min 8.9/8.4/1.2 in those same categories above. Thoughts on Okafor? Why didn't he play last year? Point taken on the Heat big 3 vs Rose/Melo/Love. I still think under Thibs those guys would at least be in the right position to succeed defensively. Yeah, I saw his numbers. They're extremely skewed towards the end of the year when Pekovic was out. As I pointed out, he didn't even have 20 games where he played more than 15 MPG. There's also a difference between stats and actual on-court value. Example: Derrick Favors put up 13-9-1.5 this year and the Jazz were still terrible defensively. It'd be asking a lot for him to be your defensive anchor on a team that would desperately need one. Okafor had a herniated disc in his neck and missed the entire season. I don't even know if he's going to play.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 11, 2014 -> 02:04 PM) I know I keep bring up my hypothetical scenario as if that will actually happen, and I'm aware it's little silly, but again I think Gorgui Dieng can be said good defensive center. Or if you want a veteran presence maybe Emeka Okafor at the vet min might be a good get to split time with Dieng. As for your final sentence, you're right, but you can't say it wouldn't work after seeing the Heat make 4 straight finals. Once again, Gorgui Dieng averaged 13.6 MPG this year. I don't hate him, but he's hardly shown enough to be considered a "good defensive center." Besides quality of defense, minutes is a big deal. When you factor in games where Dieng didn't play, Joakim had close to 3 1/2 times as many minutes played. He's probably not playing anywhere near that workload, which means you end up counting on lesser players to carry your defense. You'd really need someone (or more likely 2 or 3 guys) that is more dependable given the defensive shortcomings of your forwards. The Heat get away with a lot of things because of Lebron. Not only does he score 25-plus on relatively few shots, he can guard virtually anyone when he feels like it. Bosh is a legit defender as well, albiet with strength issues in the post. The Bulls would have two guys that they need to hide defensively when they're on the floor in their "Big 3", and while good, none of those hypothetical guys are Lebron on offense either.

I have a very hard time worrying about Love's defense when our starting PF the last several years has been CARLOS BOOZER. It's not really possible for him to be worse than that, and plus/minus ratings suggest Love is closer to a "nuetral player" on defense (for a team that was actually 12th in defensive efficiency this year by the way). It's an issue, but for the Bulls the much more important factor is that he's a brilliant offensive player that would stretch the floor.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 11, 2014 -> 11:37 AM) The key to Love for Noah vs giving them a lesser package is not giving up their draft picks. Then with Love here they could trade Taj for another 1st rounder. That's 3 first rounders and enough cap room to potentially add another star, or at the very least a guy like Lance Stevenson. I'd much rather give up the draft picks. Mid-first picks don't usually get you more than a rotation player. You'd also have to fill quite a few holes around Rose and Love since a lot of their current rotation players would be gone. If you end up with something like Lance Stephenson with your money, that's a colossal fail since he's not nearly as useful/as good a fit as Noah. Even if you get Melo, you'd need to somehow find a good defensive center on the cheap to be a real contender. That's also kind of a waste of assets because you're not going to have three 25 PPG scorers on the same roster, someone's production would take a sizeable hit.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 02:21 PM) If he was a top 5 player he'd get his team into the playoffs at least once. He's a top 15-20 guy who pads his stats. I'd love him on the Bulls, but surprisingly I think i'd rather have Melo. Playing in the West makes it a lot tougher. Melo would be on a multi-year playoff drought as well if not for a weak Eastern Conference (no way that team wins 54 last year in the West). Hell, the Knicks didn't even make it in the East this year! Do you know how hard that is?!?!? Other decent reasons Love hasn't made the playoffs... 1) He's only been KEVIN.LOVE. for 3 of his 6 seasons. He wasn't quite there yet his first two years (and Rambis was playing him under 30 MPG) and last year was a lost cause due to his hand injury. 2) KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Among his numerous other errors, he took two PG's in the top-5 and didn't end up with Steph Curry or Ty Lawson. We're not having this discussion if they get either of those guys. Top-5 is a bit much, but he's clearly a stud player. He's much better on offense than defense, but the same can be said for numerous other top players. Put him in a frontcourt with Noah and it's much less of an issue. While Noah for Love makes sense in a vacuum, it's going to be hard to fill in the rest of the roster unless absolutely everything goes right. Rose/Love/Noah is something you can easily work with and the same can be said for Melo.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 05:14 PM) I'm swapping Noah for Dieng, there's a drop off there but it isn't huge. Dunleavy for Melo, I don't even remember if Dunleavy was any good defensively. Love for Boozer is probably a push if not a slight advantage to Love. Taj for Payne, I've read mixed reviews on Paynes D. We've seen guys like Nate Robinson and Kyle Korver come in here and play capable D. I think they'd be fine. There isn't a sizeable drop-off from a guy that made first team All-NBA/All-Defense to a guy that only has 19 games where he played at least 15 minutes in his NBA career thus far? Interesting. It would be extremely risky to go with Dieng and another unproven guy at center, especially considering that Love and Melo are both below-average defenders.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 7, 2014 -> 09:00 AM) He is? I would assume ss2k5 is confusing Martin with Incognito.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jun 6, 2014 -> 10:08 AM) Has anyone tried Revolution Dos Osos? I had it on tap recently. It kind of reminded me of some of the Three Floyds stuff with the hops-heavy finish. I also had a Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown, which I thought was delicious. It was surprisingly easy to drink given its ABV of 9.8%. Meh, Undercover Shutdown wasn't nearly as good out of the bottle, it had a noticeable bitter carmel after taste. This thread isn't nearly as fun without Flasox JIm.

Has anyone tried Revolution Dos Osos? I had it on tap recently. It kind of reminded me of some of the Three Floyds stuff with the hops-heavy finish. I also had a Lagunitas Undercover Shutdown, which I thought was delicious. It was surprisingly easy to drink given its ABV of 9.8%.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jun 3, 2014 -> 03:28 PM) I was disappointed when I went to Bell's. Founder's was a way better experience. I've heard Founders has a kick-ass brewpub. It's borderline for a day-trip though (3 hours each way according to mapquest).

I'm going to assume that some of you have visited some of the breweries in the Chicago area. Any suggestions on ones to visit/avoid or general advice? I'm going to try to hit a few of them this summer. Some of the ones I'm looking at are Two Brothers, Lagunitas, Revolution, Goose Island and Three Floyds (which you probably guessed from my last posts). Any other suggestions? Still debating if I want to try to check out ones that are a bit farther like Bells, Founders and New Glarus.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 1, 2014 -> 07:14 AM) 3 Floyd's is a very good brewery but their prices are high and a lot of breweries have caught up to their style. That's a whole separate discussion on the latest shift in craft beer, but not relevant now. Interestingly you are picking beers that lightly hopped which means to should probably avoid 3 Floyd's as they over hop everything. Allagash and Ommegang are great choices. But if you want Belgian beer, try Chimay. If you haven't tried Bells Oberon, give that a shot. If you can find Victory beers, try the Prima Pils. They aren't cheap, but neither are most craft beers unfortunately. It seems like everything is $10 or 11 with some places charging that much for a 4-pack! I also really don't like the shift to larger bottles.I might buy more Allagash if it weren't $18 for one bottle! I agree that 3 Floyds is a departure from my usual style, but I enjoyed Robert the Bruce and Alpha King is growing on me.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 31, 2014 -> 11:39 PM) Great brewery tour right near the HOF. It's a good weekend to spend hitting both of those. Would love to do that some day, but it would take more planning and initiative than I usually have to get out there.

QUOTE (G&T @ May 31, 2014 -> 09:45 PM) This doesn't help you much but if you find yourself in Madison, WI Gumballhead sits in shelves. Of course, IMHO, you should find a different brewery to seek out. Yeah, it'd be easier for me to just drive to the brewery. Not a fan, huh? I admit it's starting to seem like they're more trouble than they're worth. If it makes you feel any better, I've purchased a fair amount of other stuff during this search (mostly Ommegang and Allagash).

Does anyone have a reliable source for Three Floyds? I can find Robert the Bruce and Alpha King fairly easily, but can't get Gumballhead or Jinx Proof despite visiting like 8 places that supposedly carry it in the last week.

QUOTE (scs787 @ May 26, 2014 -> 12:40 PM) Only problem there would be if Mirotic comes over....Unless of course we trade Taj for Melo . That said, I always see people listing Melo as a PF when talking about this dream scenario. He's capable of playing the 3 right? Question....If and when they get rid of Boozer, assuming it's not in a trade for Melo/Love, how much cap money will they have to spend? Will it be the whole 16+? In said situation, where they can't get a "superstar" would you rather they sign a few guys on 1 year deals and hope to get a "superstar" the following year, or do you spend it all on a guy like Gordon Heyward who's not exactly a superstar but is a damn fine player. With Boozer off the books and no one else dumped, they'd have around $12 million to work with. That's probably not enough to get a real stud, and does not include Mirotic (can't use cap space and the MLE). It'd be especially difficult to get a RFA like Hayward in that scenario since their team would almost certainly match.

QUOTE (Boogua @ May 23, 2014 -> 09:00 PM) I'll defer to zoom on these, but I've heard McDermotts jumpshot is good enough to make him a korver type guy at least. A bit bigger and maybe not as great at the three (but still above average). Probably better at creating although he doesn't have next level athleticism. I like vonleh a lot. He's going to be a plus rebounder no matter what and I really like his offensive upside. Ha, there are actually better people to comment on Vonleh since we have a bunch of Indiana fans. I've only seen him a couple of times. It seems like he has good tools but hasn't put it together yet. I don't think he dominates right away, but you hope he turns into the next Aldridge or Bosh. The big question with Dougie McBuckets is who he guards. He's not particularly quick or explosive, don't let his repectable combine numbers fool you. His steal/block numbers were insanely low (34 steals and 14 blocks IN HIS CAREER), which is usually a bad sign based on the statistical prediction models that are out there. He's a stellar shooter with some crafty moves, so he'll get a shot. He might not be able to stay on the floor though.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 21, 2014 -> 09:23 PM) Coming into the year guys like Parker, Wiggins, Randle, Smart, and Exum were talked about as franchise players. Now add in Vonleh, Embiid, and Gordon. Hell, LaVine's got the tools to be something crazy. Will they all be? No. But if this draft could live up to the hype and produce at least three franchise players, we can see that turn around with Dipo and Co. in Orlando getting help, Philly is adding to MCW and Noel, Bucks have got some decent pieces. Only one who will f*** it up are the Cavs who will likely draft McDermott #1 overall cause Cavaliers are incompetent f***s. It kind of reminds me of 2008 with the number of interesting prospects but lack of consensus. You just have to hope you get Westbrook or Love instead of Beasley or Mayo.

Back to actual discussion... Can this draft help bring a little more balance to the league? Five of the top 6 picks in a supposedly strong draft go to Eastern Conference teams and 3 of them have an extra first as well (Philly and Orlando both have two lottery picks). It will take a few years, but I think it could help unless they take all the busts.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 20, 2014 -> 08:33 PM) This is pretty spot on. Wiggins/Parker (especially Wiggins) should be able to showcase their games much more in the pros. These sissy ass college coaches that micromanage EVERYTHING held both back, imo. I think the pros will help Wiggins more than Parker. He really needs space, and transition opportunities right now, and there's much more of that in the NBA.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 20, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) I feel like drafting Parker is like taking Carmelo. It's a good bet. I'd have much rather had Melo coming out, he was a better athlete and a bit more productive (albiet on slightly lower percentages and in more minutes). Parker can get there, but I don't think he's nearly that level of lock.

There are pluses and minuses to all of the top three. I think you can make the case for each of them... Wiggins +: athleticism, length, two-way potential -: offense still a work in progress, though I think his game fits better in the NBA Parker +: scoring ability, polish -: not sure who he defends, could see his efficiency dipping against NBA athletes (not quick enough to get by them consistently, not big enough to post them up) Embiid +: Great length and quickness, better touch than most young bigs -: Back could already be an issue, defensive awareness needs work, shies away from contact. If he had no injury issues, I'd probably take Embiid. Like many scouts/executives, I have a weakness for athletic bigs that can score. As it stands, I think I'd lean Wiggins slightly over Parker. I think Wiggins is a quality defender with at least a decent offensive game while Parker might be a guy that scores in the teens but doesn't impact your team much. However, I could see any of those 3 being the right answer pretty easily.