Bulls To Let Ben Gordon Go?

[rangercal]

BTW, that hamstring situation happened in the 1st half.

 

He played through it,he laid it all on the line, even with his contract situation. His defense yesterday is the last thing I will b**** about.

 

So Jake, get your facts straight.

 

 

 

We are toast without BG. Most of you might get your wish. BG just might have played his last game as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

Edited April 27, 2009 by rangercal

[Steve9347]

We are toast without BG. Most of you might get your wish. BG just might have played his last game as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

Talk about over-reaction. I'd say everyone here wants BG to play while under contract, as he's our best scorer. We don't, however, want to spend valuable cap cash to lock him up when better options will be made available in due time.

[rangercal]

I'm talking about the series, Steve.

[nitetrain8601]

How often is Kirk guarding the other teams SG? Salmons? When, in the history of BG, have you seen him guard the other teams go-to G? Never, ever ever ever ever. And he never will, which affects the rest of the team who have to pick up the slack.

 

But despite that, there is no stat for dumb in the NBA (that I know of). I've watched way too many BG "shake n bake" moves fail, too many triple teamed air balls fired up, and too many selfish shots taken to justify resigning him.

 

Don't turn this into another 2006 Deng fiasco: hype the s*** out of an average player to the point that we give him a ridiculous contract and are held hostage by him for the next 5 years. We need to focus on building around the ridiculous 20 year old point guard we have and not forcing this "core" that has supposed to have been "coming together" for 4 years now. Its not working. Without BG next year, we still have a solid, competitive lineup with Salmons and Deng. Then when summer 2010 rolls around, we will have almost $30 million dollars to spend on the likes of LBJ, Wade, Amare, etc.....signing BG destroys that hope.

 

And if you think we have no shot at that FA class, what team would be in better position than us? "Hey _______(Insert MVP caliber FA here), would you rather play on a team with Rose, Deng, Thomas, Noah or Eddie Curry?" If we have $30 million to spend and that group of guys, add LBJ or Wade and we are instant championship favorites. What other team in that summer has that to offer?

 

Ben's guarded the "go-to-guard" a lot this year. In the past, yes, Kirk was the guy to handle the shooting guard, but not this year with Kirk getting injured, and Ben and Derrick starting. Kirk doesn't play a whole lot of minutes, and recently, he's been guarding Pierce. It's always been Ben guarding him throughout the year and he's been able to outproduce that player more times than not. So your argument is pretty null and void since I stated he improved on defense and is no longer a liability there in which you want to believe in that myth.

 

Does Gordon put up selfish shots? No. He's more efficient scoring wise than Wade and LBJ actually as well. Again, as I've stated before, in the top 20 in scoring, Ben has the lowest amount of FGA only behind Dwight Howard for anyone who averages over 20PPG. So to say he is selfish and jacks up shot for the hell of it is incorrect and erroneous. Again, another myth. Now does Ben take heatcheck shots? Hell yes he does. But that's what all great scorers do. Jordan did it. Kobe LBJ and Wade sure as hell do it. I'll take those 3 or 4 heatcheck shots a game if he's still keeping up his insane TS%. Plus, I think he may be only behind Tyrus Thomas in terms of FTA per game on this team, so I don't wanna hear he doesn't get to the line either.

 

Also, you want to advocate keeping Deng, but not Gordon? Wow. Also, the commentary on Gordon is amazingly funny. Rose catches no flak though, even though he makes lazy turnovers, again 7 turnovers last game as well, as well as much worse defense. Hello, the guy he's guarded is averaging a triple double.

 

 

I don't give a flying f*** about defensive efficiency ratings. I can see how bad he is on defense with my eyes. And I don't understand why it has to go back to Rose all the time? Everyone understand pretty well that he's a horrible defensive player. But he's also a 20 year old rookie PG. Gordon has cornered the market on the ole/turn stile defense, can't work around a screen for the life of him, and probably allows more cuts to the hoop than any other player in the NBA.

 

No one is denying that he has improved defensively. But he's gone from a horrific defender to a bad-to-average defender. If you're legitimately saying that Ben Gordon is a better defender than John Salmons (when 100% healthy), then you need bifocals.

 

J4L, no one is denying that Gordon can score. It'd be nice if he could do it more consistently though. And number's don't back up any argument of that, because he has horrible nights and great nights, that's why they're called average. I'd have NO issues re-signing him if he was more consistent offensively and better defensively. With that said, if he wants to come back at a reasonable amount, abso-f***ing-lutely do it. If he wants a ton of money, peace the f*** out.

 

And Jenksy Cat, a good number of teams will have a ton of money in 2010. The Pistons should be one of them.

 

So you don't care about defensive ratings, stats, what coaches are seeing, what even writers are seeing, you just want to believe in what you're saying. That's okay. No one has stated he's a horrible defensive player for about 2 years now which I thank Skiles for making him decent and Kirk for teaching him technique. Everyone states he's average to slightly above average, in which he is. Sometimes, he's even better.

 

And when did I ever ever state Gordon is a better defender than Salmons? I said he's a better SG than Salmons, in which we really haven't gotten to see Salmons play SG with the Bulls at all this year. Salmons, even with his injured groin has great defense and always has since playing in Philly. Offensively though, he's one of the biggest blackholes in the NBA.

 

And numbers do backup the fact that he's consistently scoring. Even in bad games he's having, he used to get 2 points. Now he's at least getting double digits.

 

All of it comes down to if the Bulls can avoid the luxury tax. Trading Deng would be the easiest since Kirk's contract was frontloaded, so now he really won't be making much at all and he actually has been producing as a combo guard off the bench. Deng has been useless. If we were able to trade him for Travis Outlaw, I'd jump for joy.

[lostfan]

Why the hell do people keep saying Rose gets a free pass? No he doesn't. Posters on this board almost unanimously agree that he was brutal on defense this year. Just because it isn't said every other post doesn't mean nobody believes it.

[whitesoxfan101]

BTW, that hamstring situation happened in the 1st half.

 

He played through it,he laid it all on the line, even with his contract situation. His defense yesterday is the last thing I will b**** about.

 

So Jake, get your facts straight.

 

 

 

We are toast without BG. Most of you might get your wish. BG just might have played his last game as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

 

Losing BG would hurt the Bulls at least in the short term (ie in 2009-2010 and in this series if he doesn't play anymore), but to say they are "toast" without him is over the top. I give him credit for playing through injuries yesterday though, and also for hitting a big 3 pointer.

[nitetrain8601]

Why the hell do people keep saying Rose gets a free pass? No he doesn't. Posters on this board almost unanimously agree that he was brutal on defense this year. Just because it isn't said every other post doesn't mean nobody believes it.

 

It's because people only attribute it to him being a rookie rather than laziness. He has the size and athleticism. He has pretty good technique, but fact is, he doesn't try to play defense a ton of the time which is why guys like DJ Augustin could go off on him. He coasts a ton. I have more of a problem with that, but no one does.

[Balta1701]

It's because people only attribute it to him being a rookie rather than laziness. He has the size and athleticism. He has pretty good technique, but fact is, he doesn't try to play defense a ton of the time which is why guys like DJ Augustin could go off on him. He coasts a ton. I have more of a problem with that, but no one does.

I'm willing to give him a pass on it for now for multiple reasons:

 

1. He's a rookie

2. He has a dreadful coach

3. He's going from a 40 game season to at least an 88 game season, hopefully more. With that change, the conditioning difference is so big...we saw guys like Wade and Lebron take a couple years to round in to solid defensive players when they came up, and simply having the energy to keep the effort up throughout the game was a big reason why.

4. His body still has development to do, especially in the strength category.

[Steve9347]

I'm talking about the series, Steve.

Exactly. You said "most of you got your wish"... no one wished he'd be gone for THIS series.

[rangercal]

Exactly. You said "most of you got your wish"... no one wished he'd be gone for THIS series.

 

I don't know about that. I don't have time to dig up posts, but they are within this thread that may not be direct, but are very suggestive that say otherwise.

[jenksycat]

Ben's guarded the "go-to-guard" a lot this year. In the past, yes, Kirk was the guy to handle the shooting guard, but not this year with Kirk getting injured, and Ben and Derrick starting. Kirk doesn't play a whole lot of minutes, and recently, he's been guarding Pierce. It's always been Ben guarding him throughout the year and he's been able to outproduce that player more times than not. So your argument is pretty null and void since I stated he improved on defense and is no longer a liability there in which you want to believe in that myth.

 

Does Gordon put up selfish shots? No. He's more efficient scoring wise than Wade and LBJ actually as well. Again, as I've stated before, in the top 20 in scoring, Ben has the lowest amount of FGA only behind Dwight Howard for anyone who averages over 20PPG. So to say he is selfish and jacks up shot for the hell of it is incorrect and erroneous. Again, another myth. Now does Ben take heatcheck shots? Hell yes he does. But that's what all great scorers do. Jordan did it. Kobe LBJ and Wade sure as hell do it. I'll take those 3 or 4 heatcheck shots a game if he's still keeping up his insane TS%. Plus, I think he may be only behind Tyrus Thomas in terms of FTA per game on this team, so I don't wanna hear he doesn't get to the line either.

 

Also, you want to advocate keeping Deng, but not Gordon? Wow. Also, the commentary on Gordon is amazingly funny. Rose catches no flak though, even though he makes lazy turnovers, again 7 turnovers last game as well, as well as much worse defense. Hello, the guy he's guarded is averaging a triple double.

 

I go on what I watch. After Gordon hits 1-2 shots, its game over. He will be shooting the next 8 times down the court no matter what, miss or make. I go on never ever watching a bulls game and thinking "damn, look at Gordon's D there". I go on the fact that not one championship caliber team has a player like Gordon (and no, that's not a good thing).

 

And where the f*** did I say the Deng signing was good??? I'm pleading with the idiots of Chicago to NOT turn this into another f***ing 60 million dollar dump on an average player. We are stuck with Deng for 4 more years of a ridiculous contract, I don't want to ruin the franchise for another 5 years by s***ting out money for BG. If he wants to resign for 3 mil a year? Cool, go for it. But paying 10+ for him would screw us for yet another handful of years.

 

I agree that we will be an above average team with BG, but I want more than that (and so should every other fan). I want to have the money to go balls out next summer and potentially bring another dynasty to Chicago. I don't want to go .500 ever year and get bounced in the first round of the f***ing playoffs which is the most we will ever get with BG as our guy.

[ZoomSlowik]

Does Gordon put up selfish shots? No. He's more efficient scoring wise than Wade and LBJ actually as well. Again, as I've stated before, in the top 20 in scoring, Ben has the lowest amount of FGA only behind Dwight Howard for anyone who averages over 20PPG. So to say he is selfish and jacks up shot for the hell of it is incorrect and erroneous. Again, another myth. Now does Ben take heatcheck shots? Hell yes he does. But that's what all great scorers do. Jordan did it. Kobe LBJ and Wade sure as hell do it. I'll take those 3 or 4 heatcheck shots a game if he's still keeping up his insane TS%. Plus, I think he may be only behind Tyrus Thomas in terms of FTA per game on this team, so I don't wanna hear he doesn't get to the line either.

 

This whole section is quite biased.

 

-First off, Devin Harris and Paul Pierce also take fewer shots per game than Ben, and Chris Paul is at 16.1 attempts.

 

-Second, using that as the reason that he is the "most efficient" is a flawed stat because many of those players average far more than 20.7 points. Wade takes 6 more shots but also averages 9 and a half more points. Lebron takes 4 more shots and averages almost 8 more points. Durant takes 3 more shots and averages 4 and a half more points. I think you get the point.

 

-To continue on that last point, he's not quite the super-elite scorer you make him out to be. Of all of the qualified players that scored 20 PPG, only Al Harrington and Joe Johnson attempted fewer free throws. He also finished tied for 69th in true shooting percentage (34 of which played over 30 MPG) and tied for 13th among qualified shooting guards, so I'm not sure how that's "insane". Very good, yes, elite or most efficient, no. In order for him to fit either of those descriptions he'd really have to be a bigger threat off the dribble. While he's not terrible in that regard, he's not particularly good at it either.

 

 

He is an elite shooter that the Bulls need a lot more than most teams given their lack of scoring up front and highly questionable ability to create shots outside of him and Rose. That said, he is not a superstar or franchise changer that they must keep at all costs (yeah, yeah, neither are Deng or Hinrich). If they can retain him for somewhere below Deng's contract value (not making a comparison on which would be worse, just a reference point) then by all means bring him back. However, if they simply can't come to terms with him, life will go on. Salmons and Deng are reasonable short-term solutions at the wing spots and they'll have quite a bit of cap space to work with in 2010.

Edited April 27, 2009 by ZoomSlowik

[ZoomSlowik]

I'm willing to give him a pass on it for now for multiple reasons:

 

1. He's a rookie

2. He has a dreadful coach

3. He's going from a 40 game season to at least an 88 game season, hopefully more. With that change, the conditioning difference is so big...we saw guys like Wade and Lebron take a couple years to round in to solid defensive players when they came up, and simply having the energy to keep the effort up throughout the game was a big reason why.

4. His body still has development to do, especially in the strength category.

 

I would add that the PG position typically has a very low success rate for first year players. Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Stephon Marbury are the only rookie PG's that come to mind that contributed above average play at the position. Rose is well ahead of what you can typically expect from a young PG and expecting him to be a complete player this early is kind of ridiculous.

[nitetrain8601]

I'm willing to give him a pass on it for now for multiple reasons:

 

1. He's a rookie

2. He has a dreadful coach

3. He's going from a 40 game season to at least an 88 game season, hopefully more. With that change, the conditioning difference is so big...we saw guys like Wade and Lebron take a couple years to round in to solid defensive players when they came up, and simply having the energy to keep the effort up throughout the game was a big reason why.

4. His body still has development to do, especially in the strength category.

 

He's been bad all season long. From beginning to end. It's not an energy issue, it's a laziness issue. His scouting report from high school states that. His scouting report from college states that. I know for a fact his high school coach always got on him for this, but he hasn't changed. John Calipari has stated it's one thing he would love to see him improve and there were times last year when he actually did take him out, just to yell at him and ask him to stop being lazy and coast. Those issues have nothing to do with the coach, being a rookie, or how many games he has played. That would mean, he was trying to play defense at all times in the beginning of the season, but his technique is wrong. When he actually decides to bend his knees and d up, no one gets in front of him. The scheme, going under on the pick and roll and switching each time, may be bad, but Rose's man defense is what needs the most improvement, which tells me, the issue is not the major problem.

[nitetrain8601]

I go on what I watch. After Gordon hits 1-2 shots, its game over. He will be shooting the next 8 times down the court no matter what, miss or make. I go on never ever watching a bulls game and thinking "damn, look at Gordon's D there". I go on the fact that not one championship caliber team has a player like Gordon (and no, that's not a good thing).

 

And where the f*** did I say the Deng signing was good??? I'm pleading with the idiots of Chicago to NOT turn this into another f***ing 60 million dollar dump on an average player. We are stuck with Deng for 4 more years of a ridiculous contract, I don't want to ruin the franchise for another 5 years by s***ting out money for BG. If he wants to resign for 3 mil a year? Cool, go for it. But paying 10+ for him would screw us for yet another handful of years.

 

I agree that we will be an above average team with BG, but I want more than that (and so should every other fan). I want to have the money to go balls out next summer and potentially bring another dynasty to Chicago. I don't want to go .500 ever year and get bounced in the first round of the f***ing playoffs which is the most we will ever get with BG as our guy.

 

Really? So even though Gordon averages about 15 or 16 shots a game as this team's leading scorer, go to option and SHOOTING guard, he supposedly hits 2 or 3 shots a game and then starts taking shots over anyone? Wow, that's funny because that means he's hitting ridiculous shots left and right by looking at his percentages and his output on a per game basis. So if he's doing that, I hope he continues as the numbers suggest, it's a good percentage shot from him. Also, move Salmons over to SG, do you really think he's better at running the offense and sharing the ball? Because you're delusional if you think so. In fact, out of the players who do play on this team, I'm 99% sure, he takes the lowest assisted shots on the team by a good margin.

 

This team with

 

Rose

Gordon

Salmons

Insert big man here in 2010

Noah

 

is infinitely better than

Rose

Salmons(if he resigns, he is a FA after 2010 and he's also on the wrong side of 30)

Deng(who has gotten worse over the past 2 years)

Big man

Noah

 

Also, there's a different between Deng and Gordon. Deng was a guy the Bulls signed off of potential they thought he had. He had not produced more for this team than Gordon has over the same course of time. He was better at rebounding and that's it which is expected for a SF. His defense wasn't great up until this year in which defense is all he could do and he did it at an All-Defensive team level. Deng never showed improvement, however, when he signed that contract. He's the same player he was his rookie year. Yet, people here wanted Deng resigned and Gordon not. Gordon, on the flipside, has become better each year and has improved on different aspects of his game. He's also been a gym rat since he's been here and does what he needs to do. Never did he ever complain about coming off the bench, but yet people think he hates it.

 

 

With a guy like Deng, even after bringing in a superstar, it's going to be hard to be championship level since we would have no consistent outside threat. Heck, there's not many threats in the league like Ben.

 

This whole section is quite biased.

 

-First off, Devin Harris and Paul Pierce also take fewer shots per game than Ben, and Chris Paul is at 16.1 attempts.

 

-Second, using that as the reason that he is the "most efficient" is a flawed stat because many of those players average far more than 20.7 points. Wade takes 6 more shots but also averages 9 and a half more points. Lebron takes 4 more shots and averages almost 8 more points. Durant takes 3 more shots and averages 4 and a half more points. I think you get the point.

 

-To continue on that last point, he's not quite the super-elite scorer you make him out to be. Of all of the qualified players that scored 20 PPG, only Al Harrington and Joe Johnson attempted fewer free throws. He also finished tied for 69th in true shooting percentage (34 of which played over 30 MPG) and tied for 13th among qualified shooting guards, so I'm not sure how that's "insane". Very good, yes, elite or most efficient, no. In order for him to fit either of those descriptions he'd really have to be a bigger threat off the dribble. While he's not terrible in that regard, he's not particularly good at it either.

 

 

He is an elite shooter that the Bulls need a lot more than most teams given their lack of scoring up front and highly questionable ability to create shots outside of him and Rose. That said, he is not a superstar or franchise changer that they must keep at all costs (yeah, yeah, neither are Deng or Hinrich). If they can retain him for somewhere below Deng's contract value (not making a comparison on which would be worse, just a reference point) then by all means bring him back. However, if they simply can't come to terms with him, life will go on. Salmons and Deng are reasonable short-term solutions at the wing spots and they'll have quite a bit of cap space to work with in 2010.

 

I admit, I did not check the stats for over a month, and I can't now but I'll take your word for it he's now behind Paul, Pierce and Devin. Also keep in mind, Pierce has Allen & KG when healthy, Paul has West(though I'd say he's more impressive than Gordon, but I expect him to be as he's the best PG in the game) and Devin has Vince. Until the Bulls get or develop a consistent threat other than Ben, he's taking a ton of these shots with the defense gameplanning against him solely, depending on if Rose wants to be aggressive that day.

 

And the argument really isn't flawed using your reasoning. Because people here are stating he jacks up shot after shot with no regard. If that's the case, if he's able to shoot as much as Wade, Durant and LeBron without being crucified by you guys, I'm sure he'd average more points. The argument, however, is that Ben takes too many shots and he needs to completely defer to Derrick and Derrick should be the first option everytime down. I say, when Derrick is ready to do that, hell yes. But until that happens, don't get on Ben for taking as many shots as he does.

 

And Joe Johnson is a guy many people would like to replace Ben. Hey, I like Joe too and if he were to come here with a big man, I'd certainly be down for that. The fact that Ben doesn't take many free throws doesn't help the argument that he isn't an elite scorer. It just means he doesn't take as many free throws as those around the league. Some of it has to do with him not getting calls, some of it has to do with his game being perimeter based.

 

I agree with your last point. I think it seems like I'm an extreme Ben Gordon fan. I'm really not. If we could get a Wade or LeBron and we have to give up Ben, I'm more than happy to pack his bags. If it becomes a story of geting Amare or Bosh or keeping Ben, I'd go for the big man. With that said, I think those big guys would work better as well as Rose with Ben there and Luol gone.

 

I don't even want Gordon to get some huge contract. I'd be willing to give him a contract with incentives which would be 10 million a year if he obtained. We would have to get rid of Deng though which I have never wanted since he ducked Josh Smith and Andre Iguodala at the draft camps.

 

 

I would add that the PG position typically has a very low success rate for first year players. Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Stephon Marbury are the only rookie PG's that come to mind that contributed above average play at the position. Rose is well ahead of what you can typically expect from a young PG and expecting him to be a complete player this early is kind of ridiculous.

 

Agreed. He's an excellent player, and even though I wanted OJ, Derrick has been just as good, no wait, he's been better than Mayo overall. I thought either of them were excellent picks though. The only thing I wish he would improve on is his agressiveness. If he had that down, he could be a superstar as soon as next year.

[jenksycat]

Really? So even though Gordon averages about 15 or 16 shots a game as this team's leading scorer, go to option and SHOOTING guard, he supposedly hits 2 or 3 shots a game and then starts taking shots over anyone? Wow, that's funny because that means he's hitting ridiculous shots left and right by looking at his percentages and his output on a per game basis. So if he's doing that, I hope he continues as the numbers suggest, it's a good percentage shot from him. Also, move Salmons over to SG, do you really think he's better at running the offense and sharing the ball? Because you're delusional if you think so. In fact, out of the players who do play on this team, I'm 99% sure, he takes the lowest assisted shots on the team by a good margin.

 

This team with

 

Rose

Gordon

Salmons

Insert big man here in 2010

Noah

 

is infinitely better than

Rose

Salmons(if he resigns, he is a FA after 2010 and he's also on the wrong side of 30)

Deng(who has gotten worse over the past 2 years)

Big man

Noah

 

Also, there's a different between Deng and Gordon. Deng was a guy the Bulls signed off of potential they thought he had. He had not produced more for this team than Gordon has over the same course of time. He was better at rebounding and that's it which is expected for a SF. His defense wasn't great up until this year in which defense is all he could do and he did it at an All-Defensive team level. Deng never showed improvement, however, when he signed that contract. He's the same player he was his rookie year. Yet, people here wanted Deng resigned and Gordon not. Gordon, on the flipside, has become better each year and has improved on different aspects of his game. He's also been a gym rat since he's been here and does what he needs to do. Never did he ever complain about coming off the bench, but yet people think he hates it.

 

 

With a guy like Deng, even after bringing in a superstar, it's going to be hard to be championship level since we would have no consistent outside threat. Heck, there's not many threats in the league like Ben.

 

Well congrats on living in some fantasy world where you think this team will do anything other than .500 and bounced in the playoffs every year. If you're content with that, then there's no point in arguing. BG is not and never will be a "superstar" in this league and I don't want to watch a .500 team every year because we paid $100+ million for 2 average players.

 

And got better every year? Really? So after '06 when the entire city was "OMG!@!@@!!! Deng + Gordon!!" and they declined $120 million in contracts and then both sucked the next year, that was an improvement? But by all means, lets stick with this core of players. BG, Deng, Kirk....I smell a dynasty.

 

Also, the fact that you seem to want BG more than Rose nullifies all of your arguments, just for future reference.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Jenksy Cat

[FedEx227]

It's not going to happen, let it go guys.

 

The salary structure of the NBA will basically not allow us to resign Ben Gordon, there is absolutely no way to do it without paying a luxury tax. I highly doubt we want to pay a luxury tax for a team that is still not quite "championship" material.

[Balta1701]

The salary structure of the NBA will basically not allow us to resign Ben Gordon, there is absolutely no way to do it without paying a luxury tax. I highly doubt we want to pay a luxury tax for a team that is still not quite "championship" material.

Getting past the C's makes a solid argument that this team is closer to championship material than we thought.

[nitetrain8601]

Well congrats on living in some fantasy world where you think this team will do anything other than .500 and bounced in the playoffs every year. If you're content with that, then there's no point in arguing. BG is not and never will be a "superstar" in this league and I don't want to watch a .500 team every year because we paid $100+ million for 2 average players.

 

And got better every year? Really? So after '06 when the entire city was "OMG!@!@@!!! Deng + Gordon!!" and they declined $120 million in contracts and then both sucked the next year, that was an improvement? But by all means, lets stick with this core of players. BG, Deng, Kirk....I smell a dynasty.

 

Also, the fact that you seem to want BG more than Rose nullifies all of your arguments, just for future reference.

 

Lol, wow. Now I can tell you're not paying attention at all. Where did I state, let's keep Deng and Gordon on this team? In fact, I've been arguing to get Deng off the team, with Gordon or no Gordon.

 

When did I ever say Gordon was a superstar? He's a borderline all-star at his peak, but that's about it. I never ever said superstar. I never said stick with the core, never did I say "OMG Deng and Gordon", nor did they decline $120 million in contracts at any point, and Gordon, still had a decent year last year if you checked the stats. I never stated I wanted to keep that trio together either. The most I've ever said was keep Hinrich as a combo guard off the bench and Gordon as the starting SG unless you can find a superstar. And the only thing I ever said was Gordon is better than Rose now, which is understandable as one is a veteran and the other a 20 year old rookie. I'm one of many people, including the media, who have made that argument.

Edited April 27, 2009 by nitetrain8601

[SoxFan1]

Don't take it farther than it has to go nite...

[nitetrain8601]

Don't take it farther than it has to go nite...

 

You're probably right. I edited it out.

[FedEx227]

Getting past the C's makes a solid argument that this team is closer to championship material than we thought.

 

True, but as long as LeBron James is still in the Eastern Conference we aren't at that level.

 

I'm not really stating an opinion either way on the Gordon thing because it's irrelevant. The way the NBA salary cap is structured there is little or no way a Gordon deal gets done. Jerry does not want to pay a hefty luxury tax, we don't know for a fact but we can probably guess. If Mark Cuban tries to toe around paying a luxury tax, I have a hard time believing Jerry is ready to take that leap.

[Ron]

Getting past the C's makes a solid argument that this team is closer to championship material than we thought.

 

It's the matchup. No different than when we swept Miami when they were the defending champs. Just like in that series, we're younger & more athletic than their aging stars and we're exploiting that advantage.

Edited April 28, 2009 by Ron

[Jordan4life_2007]

It's the matchup. No different than when we swept Miami when they were the defending champs. Just like in that series, we're younger & more athletic than their aging stars and we're exploiting that advantage.

 

And let's just pretend that Kevin Garnett guy being out is no real factor.

[CanOfCorn]

And let's just pretend that Kevin Garnett guy being out is no real factor.

 

 

Shhhhh...you're making too much sense.