Bulls start fast vs. Timberwolves, but fall back into flaws

We need a center who can somewhat hold his own down low and we will be right back in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. This year I see Gordon playing a lot more relentless, a lot more aggressive, putting up about 22 ppg. A backcourt of Rose and Gordon, though small, would be as potent as any in the league with Roses' ability to create and Gordon's shooting touch. Starting Deng at the three and Gooden at the four gives you night in and night out consistency at the foward positions. This is where a big who can play would come in and work wonders for this team. Pax has gotta get it done. Bring Curry back, get him in shape, and let him get our points down low. I never agreed with parting ways with a 6'11 300lb guy who can score around the basket, but the past is the past, and in the present, Curry doesn't fit into the Knicks system and a swap for Hinrich would give both teams the pieces they're lacking. Curry, Gooden(or Thomas if consistent on both ends),Deng,Gordon and Rose gives us a starting lineup with enough firepower to fair well against the bigs in the East(Boston, Detroit, etc.), and a second string that could run with most teams 1st.

Erik wrote:

Did you Rose bashers even watch him play the last three games? The guy is explosive, but he needs time to learn. He's 19 for Pete's sake!

Probably not. He is just convenient for the uninformed to heap blame on 3 preseason games in.

The Bulls are a melting pot of talent. The problem is not one of them other than Rose is a star caliber player. Larry Hughes can sit on the bench all season for all I care. We need Ben G back in the lineup and Hinrich needs to come off the bench. I'm not counting Vinny out yet, but Paxson is walking a thin line here in Chicago.

Has anyone noticed that Michael Beasley is already the second leading scorer on the Heat only behind Wade. In only 25 minutes a games, he's averaging 16.3pts and 8.00 rbs a game and a 48% FG%!! Just wanted to throw that our there!!

airness23 wrote:

We need a center who can somewhat hold his own down low and we will be right back in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. This year I see Gordon playing a lot more relentless, a lot more aggressive, putting up about 22 ppg. A backcourt of Rose and Gordon, though small, would be as potent as any in the league with Roses' ability to create and Gordon's shooting touch. Starting Deng at the three and Gooden at the four gives you night in and night out consistency at the foward positions. This is where a big who can play would come in and work wonders for this team. Pax has gotta get it done. Bring Curry back, get him in shape, and let him get our points down low. I never agreed with parting ways with a 6'11 300lb guy who can score around the basket, but the past is the past, and in the present, Curry doesn't fit into the Knicks system and a swap for Hinrich would give both teams the pieces they're lacking. Curry, Gooden(or Thomas if consistent on both ends),Deng,Gordon and Rose gives us a starting lineup with enough firepower to fair well against the bigs in the East(Boston, Detroit, etc.), and a second string that could run with most teams 1st.

Don't bring back Curry. Been there, done that. He is fat and lazy. He doesn't want to be in shape, he is worthless. The man can't rebound worth a crap. He is softer than my towels coming out of the laundry. He doesn't work at the defensive end, he would rather stuff his face w? deep dish pizza. We just need to play the young guys and develop them and hope that they turn into what we need for the future. Let's face it, this team might not win 15 games this year. Let's build for the future through the draft (noty w/ Paxson) and clear cap space for 2010. Hopefully we will have a new GM that will actually sign a superstar and not a freakin' Ben Wallace.

DCL wrote:

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Probably not. He is just convenient for the uninformed to heap blame on 3 preseason games in.

Funny thing, Michael Beasley doesn't seem to be having any growing pains. PG taking time to learn--or not--the Bulls needed somebody to help them now--not wait around and pray!!

CO Bulls Fan wrote:

Starting lineup for the future: Rose, Thabo, Deng, Thomas, Noah...Noc being the 6th man. I don't know why coaches won't play this lineup. Rose and thabo is the only viable backcourt option if this team wants to be a real nba contender. Nocioni hasn't been very good since his knee injuries, but I'd still give him equal time as deng, cause deng is soft and plays like a girl.

Boy you got some NBA knowledge. I agree. Thabo is a top Magic Johnson type point gaurd but he can play the shooting gaurd if Rose plays point. Gordon 6th man. If Hinrich would only drive more to go to the foul line and perfect a 15 to 3 point shot line and play a little D he could justify being the 4th gaurd off the bench. He is not a starter. On a good team Goodwin would come off the bench, but with the bulls he starts. Noah seems to be a immature Pot head. Chemistry is terrible. And don't think these guys don't know what kind of coach they have. A guy who was not that good as a North Carolina Player, who never coached, man they ain['t playing for him. I mean they half played for Skiles and Skiles was a "gamer".

It appears that Chicago owners don't seem 2 care very much about playing at the highest levels. Look at the GM's and coaching staff of the Bulls and the Bears. They cannot be serious about winning a title.

You're right about this:

Wrong pick wrote:

the Bulls needed somebody to help them now--not wait around and pray!!

As for this:

Wrong pick wrote:

Funny thing, Michael Beasley doesn't seem to be having any growing pains.

So what? Way to compare a forward playing with the likes of DWade to a PG playing with the busters that he is playing with, and a rookie head coach who already seems to want to handcuff the guy.

Support your argument that Beasley and his stats--everything else being the same re: the Bulls--would make them a better team. Either that or tell us where you got your crystal ball.

middleclass wrote:

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Boy you got some NBA knowledge. I agree. Thabo is a top Magic Johnson type point gaurd but he can play the shooting gaurd if Rose plays point. Gordon 6th man. If Hinrich would only drive more to go to the foul line and perfect a 15 to 3 point shot line and play a little D he could justify being the 4th gaurd off the bench. He is not a starter. On a good team Goodwin would come off the bench, but with the bulls he starts. Noah seems to be a immature Pot head. Chemistry is terrible. And don't think these guys don't know what kind of coach they have. A guy who was not that good as a North Carolina Player, who never coached, man they ain['t playing for him. I mean they half played for Skiles and Skiles was a "gamer".

you don't have much basketball playing experience and it shows. Thabo is definately not a pg b/c he does not handle the ball well, the only one worse than him in that area is gordon. Gordon does not play Defense, handle the ball well, or shoot consistant enough to get playing time or the 80 million dollars he wants. Thabo would be a decent 2 guard if he improved his jump shot, until then he is just a good defender and big guard. Hinrich as the 4th guard is ridiculous. He plays better D than the other 3 behind only Thabo. He had a bad year last year, but he has proved he can shoot, plus he plays both guard positions. He has to be in our 3 guard rotation just b/c he is more experienced than Rose and Thabo, and isn't as selfish inconsistant as gordon.
As far as this season, they gave up on it when they didn't draft Beasley. I like Rose a lot, I just don't feel that they needed him and what his abilities bring to the table like they needed Beasley and his low post scoring/rebounding. This team is full of jump shooters who have hands in their face for the past 2 years b/c the NBA realizes they don't have to worry about anybody scoring a measley 10 points in the post on a consistant basis. Beasley would've helped this team immediately and in the future. That's what this team needed.

I'm expecting the same turn out as last season: play well against the crappy teams and even with the good ones for 2 or 3 quarters, then completely blow it in the 4th

I am still amzed every single time I read that the Bulls are coached by Vinnie Del Negro. Only in Chicago can we have a professional sports team that has the number one pick in the draft....and then goes out and hires a coach that has not even been a head coach at the college level.

Why is it that in the second or third largest media market in the country, with rabid fans that stroingly support teams in all major sports, every single pro sports organization is dysfunctional?

Vinnie Del Negro as a head coach? Lovie Smith as a head coach with Bob Babich as a defensive coordinator and Ron Turner as an offensive coordinator? Lou "I couldn't win a post season game with Ruth and Gehrig in the lineup" Pinella as manager?

You have got to be kidding me.

If we have to watch yet another season of below average jump shooters, its going to be a loooong one. I really admired the way Minn. worked for inside shots, why can't the Bulls at least try this for a change? How many shots did Deng miss? Pls. do not give Gordon 80 mil., let him move on after this season. Play Gray MORE minutes (he had a bad game yesterday).

Rod from Tennessee wrote:

Growing pains...here we go again. Does it ever end with this franchise? The fact this team is having to start over for the umpteenth time goes to show just how terrible the Ben Wallace signing really was. The team was supposed to be so close, but instead of finding the right guy to put them over the top, Reinsdorf and Paxson took a chance on Ben Wallace, who they knew couldn't score to save his life, and two years later, it's back to square one. Is anyone besides me, getting sick and tired of this continued starting over routine?

No. It is getting old and the whole exercise seems so pointless. I am just wondering how many losses they will open the regular season with.

Also, this organization is just fundamentally flawed from the top down. They keep thinking they can win with absolutely no top tier talent. Since Jordan and Co., the only top tier talent we have had on this team was Elton Brand and we did not keep him long. I bunch of average players could possibly get you to the playoffs, but you don't get championship rings for making the playoffs.

Then they try selling us on the fact that they are going to go after top talent free agents. Why would any big time free agent want to come and play on this team? If a big time player wants to shoulder the load on a crappy team, there are plenty to pick from. Not to mention that there are many teams, even contending teams, that have way more going for them than the Bulls.

Wooly Bully wrote:

I am still amzed every single time I read that the Bulls are coached by Vinnie Del Negro. Only in Chicago can we have a professional sports team that has the number one pick in the draft....and then goes out and hires a coach that has not even been a head coach at the college level.
Why is it that in the second or third largest media market in the country, with rabid fans that stroingly support teams in all major sports, every single pro sports organization is dysfunctional?
Vinnie Del Negro as a head coach? Lovie Smith as a head coach with Bob Babich as a defensive coordinator and Ron Turner as an offensive coordinator? Lou "I couldn't win a post season game with Ruth and Gehrig in the lineup" Pinella as manager?
You have got to be kidding me.

I'm with you all the way. Germane to the topic at hand, IMO Vinny's hiring was far more of an indication of low expectations for this coming season than picking a so-called "long-term project" or "inferior pick" or "future bust" in DRose. Note that the hiring happened before the pick (though after the lottery, with a lot of unnecessary drama about getting Skiles/Boylan's replacement in the interim). True, Vinny has hired seasoned coaches in Bickerstaff, Dell Curry et. al. to back him up. But he's still a *head* coach with no prior experience as such, nor as a coach at any level in the NBA.

This certainly isn't to say an experienced coach would automatically find a way to make this roster successful. Nor is it a given that Vinny will tank. I'm holding hope that he'll figure things out between now and April, but I still find the choice as strange as I did back in June.

Seattle Mike wrote:

If we have to watch yet another season of below average jump shooters, its going to be a loooong one. I really admired the way Minn. worked for inside shots, why can't the Bulls at least try this for a change? How many shots did Deng miss? Pls. do not give Gordon 80 mil., let him move on after this season. Play Gray MORE minutes (he had a bad game yesterday).

It's funny how Deng seems to be trying to bring 3 shooting back into his repertoire--something he was pretty unsuccessful at a couple of seasons back. Two of the three he shot last night were from the corner in front of the Bulls bench. Both times (1 make, 1 miss) he had pretty clear baseline lanes to drive in instead if he wanted.

I've liked Lu but he's been making his bashers look pretty good. I may be one if he doesn't step his game up and earn that insane money he just got.

Wrong pick wrote:

Has anyone noticed that Michael Beasley is already the second leading scorer on the Heat only behind Wade. In only 25 minutes a games, he's averaging 16.3pts and 8.00 rbs a game and a 48% FG%!! Just wanted to throw that our there!!

Yea, I totally agree. Rose supporters like to talk about him in a vacuum. But they miss the point, he is always going to be compared to Beasley.

And for how nice Rose has looked, he is not posting 16.3 pts and 8 rbs a game and a 48% FG% in only 28 min. In fact, I have my doubts that he will ever average around or more than 16.3 pts per game. So, please, Rose supporters, at least wait until you can say Rose's numbers compare favorably to Beasley's (with a straight face) before you try making others eat crow.

Oh, and you can just tell how much of a leader he is. And, how he has just transformed all of our sucky second and third rate players into first rate players. I mean after 3 games you can already see how the brilliant master plan is coming together.

DCL wrote:

You're right about this:
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As for this:
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So what? Way to compare a forward playing with the likes of DWade to a PG playing with the busters that he is playing with, and a rookie head coach who already seems to want to handcuff the guy.
Support your argument that Beasley and his stats--everything else being the same re: the Bulls--would make them a better team. Either that or tell us where you got your crystal ball.

Well, I find it very ironic that you would suggest this. What was one of the primary reasons why we JUST HAD TO DRAFT ROSE,(I mean besides the very crucially important fact that he was raised in Chicago, which obviously trumps anything else, such as talent and giving you the best chance to win)? Let me remind you that it was that he led his team to the ncaa championship. So, when Rose was on a great team in college and was surrounded by way more talent than Beasley was at K state, it reflected positively on Rose because "he led his team to the championship" despite not even being the best player on that team. Then, when Beasley is in the pros and on a better team than Rose, it reflects positive on Rose because he is playing on a crappy team. Which is it?

Why does everyone not just admit that if Rose were not from Chicago, he is not on this team. Can anyone seriously deny that? Also, is it just me, or is that the most ridiculous philosophy for building a winning team? Yea, it is a nice touching story, but still, I like to win.

Also, I point out, that Beasley's stats in college were vastly superior to Rose's and he played on a worse team. So your argument is kind of looking a little ridiculous. So, again, please tell me why we picked Rose. Oh wait, I know, he is from Chicago.

Maybe there are four guys coming out of the draft this year that are from Chicago. We could have a dynasty on our hands, boys.

Since you seem to find college relevant to the discussion at large, I have two requests of you, if you please:

1) Prove that Rose would not have succeeded in any way in last year's Kansas State team--not a GREAT team, but an 11th seed in the Tourney under Beasley (I forget their highest poll ranking, but they weren't the scrubs you're trying to portray them as). Note that I don't argue that Beasley would not have been as successful in Memphis. I also don't know if he would have "led" the Tigers to within points of a championship.

And:

2) That Rose playing in Simeon was a major determinant in picking him. If you watched the Bulls when Curry was around (not sure you did), you'd know that local boys don't always do good playing for the local team. So there was no reason to expect Rose to do the same simply because he's from here. There was basis for picking him for being a good player, however. No organization with sense would do such an emotional act with so much at stake as picking a kid simply for being local. The Bulls wouldn't do it either.

But hey, if you got some proof, I'd love to see it.

By the way, I remember you based on your location tag. I broke things down for you back in June, and am not interested in regurgitation of points from then, just for you to attempt to support the premise you bring forth here.