Official 2008-2009 NBA Thread

[MHizzle85]

Fellow Bulls fans, what do you think of trading for Jermaine O'Neal?

[Kyyle23]

Fellow Bulls fans, what do you think of trading for Jermaine O'Neal?

 

Will he ever be "right" again?

[Balta1701]

Fellow Bulls fans, what do you think of trading for Jermaine O'Neal?

One. Giant. Contract.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Fellow Bulls fans, what do you think of trading for Jermaine O'Neal?

 

I'd do it in a second if it rids us of Nocioni AND Hughes. I hear they want Gooden, though. Maybe we can get rid of all 3? Hopefully Hinrich plays out of his mind between now and the trade deadline and we can ship his ass out. Give guys like Thomas and Thabo every chance to prove they can be legitimate players (Tyrus has looked real good of late). That's what the rest of this season should be about. Evaluating and determining once and for all who we're going to keep around Rose and who we're going to let go. Forget about the playoffs. Making the playoffs in the NBA has become so overrated. I can't stand it when .500 teams or even teams below .500 make the playoffs and people get all excited.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Jordan4life

[ZoomSlowik]

It only makes sense if Hinrich or Nocioni is involved so we get some extra money off the cap for 2010. You can't really depend on O'Neal to be anything more than a monster expiring contract with his injury history.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Will he ever be "right" again?

 

Probably not. But he'd automatically become our top big. He was putting up 14/7/2 before getting hurt. Maybe playing with Rose would help? I don't care. I just want Nocioni and Hughes gone.

 

One. Giant. Contract.

 

It's up at the end of next season. We'd be no worse off than if we kept Hughes and his horrible contract. At least with O'Neal we'd get back a legitmate, if no longer all-star worthy, big, while breaking up the pathetic logjam at SG/SF.

[Kyyle23]

WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA EDDY CURRY

[rangercal]

WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA EDDY CURRY

I really don't think this is true. I mean, it can't be, right?

[GoodAsGould]

I really don't think this is true. I mean, it can't be, right?

 

At the end it mentions the guy has had trouble with the law a couple times in the past, I tend to take Curry's side in this story.

[Kyyle23]

At the end it mentions the guy has had trouble with the law a couple times in the past, I tend to take Curry's side in this story.

 

The problem with something like this is that it will hang onto a celebrity forever. It doesnt have to be true

[Steve9347]

Have I mentioned that I've boycotted the Bulls yet?

 

John Paxson should be fired. He hasn't made one correct choice as GM in over 4 years aside from picking Rose, which the opportunity to do so was luck anyway.

[rangercal]

Have I mentioned that I've boycotted the Bulls yet?

 

John Paxson should be fired. He hasn't made one correct choice as GM in over 4 years aside from picking Rose, which the opportunity to do so was luck anyway.

 

The trade with the cavs was a good move imo. It was to fix his Ben Wallace mistake though.

[DBAHO]

Some good points here from Steve Kyler of Hoopsworld;

 

The Chicago Bulls have a number of problems, there is little doubt about that. A few weeks ago Bull's head coach Vinny Del Negro cited lack of effort as the core problem his club was facing, singling out energy guys like Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. Today the Bulls' problem is leadership, according to KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

"I don't think that's one of the team's strengths right now," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Our younger guys will develop into that, Derrick especially."

 

"It's tough when you have your captains out," Del Negro said. "But still when you're a captain, no matter if you're in street clothes or not, you have a responsibility and a respect from the players that it has to come from them. It can't always come from me or the coaching staff. As guys take more ownership of the team and understand what leadership and work ethic are all about, guys follow suit."

 

"If they can't make good basketball decisions, then I'll have to make good coaching decisions and get us to share the ball more."

 

Who in the room is buying that the Bulls' problems are leadership or effort? Could it possibly be coaching? Maybe a roster that has far too many guys that play the same position? You have to hand it to the Bulls, they struck out on Mike D'Antoni over money, and they went for the dare to be great move in hiring Vinny. The hope was you could surround Vinny with veteran assistants like Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff and build the next Avery Johnson or Doc Rivers. That's hasn't worked out as planned, what you have now is a coach with almost zero credibility with his team, alienated and disenchanted players and the season is going nowhere. Call me silly, but look at the teams that are winning games – leadership comes from the top, not the middle. Vinny may have some points on what's fundamentally wrong, but at some point he's gotta start shouldering some of the blame too.

[Steve9347]

Fire Pax

Fire VDN

 

Hire me.

[RockRaines]

Have I mentioned that I've boycotted the Bulls yet?

 

John Paxson should be fired. He hasn't made one correct choice as GM in over 4 years aside from picking Rose, which the opportunity to do so was luck anyway.

I've boycotted them as well until Noah is off the team entirely.

[Balta1701]

It's up at the end of next season. We'd be no worse off than if we kept Hughes and his horrible contract. At least with O'Neal we'd get back a legitmate, if no longer all-star worthy, big, while breaking up the pathetic logjam at SG/SF.

Actually, we might well be a lot worse off. Hughes's contract is like $12 million, O'Neal's is like $22 million or something like that.

 

But...if you can take 1 of the 2 guys you're stuck with, i.e. Hinrich or Nocioni, and turn them in part in to O'Neal, then you've made an intelligent move for that huge contract.

[Steve9347]

I've boycotted them as well until Noah is off the team entirely.

I think I've boycotted them until

 

Pax is fired

VDN is fired

Kirk is gone

Noc is gone

Tyrus is gone

Noah is gone

Deng is gone

Thabo is gone

Hughes is gone

Hunter is gone

Gray is gone

 

The one guy I actually like other than Rose (Gordon) is the only one who they aren't keeping. I guess I can also handle Gooden since his contract is expiring. It's just hilarious.

[Steve9347]

read this

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...e=Jordan-090113

[RockRaines]

I think I've boycotted them until

 

Pax is fired

VDN is fired

Kirk is gone

Tyrus is gone

Noah is gone

Deng is gone

Hughes is gone

Hunter is gone

Gray is gone

 

The one guy I actually like other than Rose (Gordon) is the only one who they aren't keeping. I guess I can also handle Gooden since his contract is expiring. It's just hilarious.

Ill cosign on the ones above. It infuriated me so much watching the team that I did the same thing you are doing, I simply told myself I wouldnt watch them anymore.

[ThunderBolt]

I’ll wait for someone who knows more about basketball then I do to slap me down, but would anyone be averse to giving Memphis coach John Calipari another shot at NBA coaching? The benefits for this are two-fold for one: he has a father-son relationship with Derrick Rose and would make him far more comfortable in his transition as an NBA player, for another he runs the dribble-drive offense that we were looking for when we went after Dantoni. We might even be able to save some face by firing Paxson and "promoting" VDN to the front office.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Thunderbolt

[ZoomSlowik]

There's a difference between the dribble-drive-motion and the 7 seconds or less system that D'Antoni runs.

 

The former is based around having players that can successfully drive to the basket and either finish himself, find the big man on a lob when the defense collapses, or passing it back out to the perimeter when the next player either drives himself or takes an open jumper. The Bulls sort of run that now but poorly, basically they set a pick for Rose (officially the DDR doesn't use picks, it relies on spacing) and if he doesn't get to the basket it gets kicked out to someone that generally shoots a jumper. As constructed they can't run it particularly well because Rose is their only consistently effective driver and Gordon is their only guy that can consistently hit outside jumpers, ideally you have at least two guards that can do both (ie Harris and Carter in New Jersey).

 

D'Antoni's system is different, it's predecated on playing at a fast pace and shooting a large number of threes. Ideally the team gets an open look within the first 7 seconds of the shot clock and forces the other team into mistakes by playing at their pace. To run it at maximum efficiency you need a solid PG that can be dominant in transition, create good shots for himself and others in the halfcourt and ideally hit 3's, at least two wing players that hit a high percentage from outside, an athletic and versatile forward that has SF skills but can also defend the other team's PF, and an athletic big man that can run the floor and get some easy baskets. Rose and Gordon are pretty good fits, but they'd need to change their roster quite a bit at the forward spots.

 

I don't really think Callipari and the dribble-drive-motion is going to solve the problem since the roster is horribly flawed, but then again it'd be hard to be worse than Del Negro.

[whitesoxfan101]

It's just hard to watch the Bulls right now, I think impossible to do so on a nightly basis. The only thing that keeps the Bulls from falling into full fledged "I'll occasionally watch and I still like the team, but i'm disinterested due to the lousy product" status like the Blackhawks did from about 1997 through 2007 is Derrick Rose, and even having him is a byproduct of either luck or NBA intervention, depending on who you ask.

Edited January 13, 2009 by whitesoxfan101

[DBAHO]

There's a difference between the dribble-drive-motion and the 7 seconds or less system that D'Antoni runs.

 

The former is based around having players that can successfully drive to the basket and either finish himself, find the big man on a lob when the defense collapses, or passing it back out to the perimeter when the next player either drives himself or takes an open jumper. The Bulls sort of run that now but poorly, basically they set a pick for Rose (officially the DDR doesn't use picks, it relies on spacing) and if he doesn't get to the basket it gets kicked out to someone that generally shoots a jumper. As constructed they can't run it particularly well because Rose is their only consistently effective driver and Gordon is their only guy that can consistently hit outside jumpers, ideally you have at least two guards that can do both (ie Harris and Carter in New Jersey).

D'Antoni's system is different, it's predecated on playing at a fast pace and shooting a large number of threes. Ideally the team gets an open look within the first 7 seconds of the shot clock and forces the other team into mistakes by playing at their pace. To run it at maximum efficiency you need a solid PG that can be dominant in transition, create good shots for himself and others in the halfcourt and ideally hit 3's, at least two wing players that hit a high percentage from outside, an athletic and versatile forward that has SF skills but can also defend the other team's PF, and an athletic big man that can run the floor and get some easy baskets. Rose and Gordon are pretty good fits, but they'd need to change their roster quite a bit at the forward spots.

 

I don't really think Callipari and the dribble-drive-motion is going to solve the problem since the roster is horribly flawed, but then again it'd be hard to be worse than Del Negro.

Hence why someone such as Luol Deng is such a horrible fit in VDN's offense right now.

 

You've got build your offense around the strength of your players. Yes, Rose should be able to drive and penetrate, that's his game. But unless you have forwards like Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu sitting out on the perimeter, that type of offense isn't really going to work.

 

I've long been tooting Tom Thibodeau's horn as a head coach. When you look at Boston's D, and how Rondo has come on as a point guard, and yet all of the forward likes Pierce etc. don't have to jack up 3's, that's why I thought he was the perfect candidate for the Bulls.

 

If they win less than 35 games this season (distinct possibility), they need to blow everything up, and rebuild with a new GM and coach.

 

Because the danger is, even with such a big market, if you can't get the team into a top 4 playoff contender with Derrick Rose, what's to stop his bolting when his rookie contract finishes?

[Steve9347]

Some caller just called 670 and said Eddy Curry turned gay when he punched Brendan Haywood in the balls.

 

Annnnnd I changed it to Q101 after that.

[nitetrain8601]

Hence why someone such as Luol Deng is such a horrible fit in VDN's offense right now.

 

You've got build your offense around the strength of your players. Yes, Rose should be able to drive and penetrate, that's his game. But unless you have forwards like Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu sitting out on the perimeter, that type of offense isn't really going to work.

 

I've long been tooting Tom Thibodeau's horn as a head coach. When you look at Boston's D, and how Rondo has come on as a point guard, and yet all of the forward likes Pierce etc. don't have to jack up 3's, that's why I thought he was the perfect candidate for the Bulls.

 

If they win less than 35 games this season (distinct possibility), they need to blow everything up, and rebuild with a new GM and coach.

 

Because the danger is, even with such a big market, if you can't get the team into a top 4 playoff contender with Derrick Rose, what's to stop his bolting when his rookie contract finishes?

 

They're good because they have 3 superstars and there's a good chance all of them will be HOFers when all said and done. Bulls defense would improve, but alot of people did not like the offense ran in Houston as a result of setting up Tom's defense. The dribble drive motion offense which Boston runs a bit of, works, but that's because again, they have studs on their front line. Notice how their bench sucks at running the system. It's the only system I know though that will cover a PG's inability to hit a jumper as it predicates on the ballhandler driving for the most part.