People are making way too big of a deal of the recent struggles in my opinion. I think it is pretty simple, there are games when the Bulls miss not having the best player on Earth on their team. Shocker. JLIII and Watson have had great seasons for them, they aren’t great players when they are asked to play huge minutes and carry the load, spoiler alert. The only thing I am worried about is Derrick Rose’s health and I am extremely worried about that. Every time I read a positive report, it seems to get followed up with a big step backwards. It just seems like the injury was so much worse than they are letting on. I hope he will be healthy for the playoffs.
Michael Koltun
If possible, I still think the blueprint for the Bulls this offseason is what the Spurs did last year with G. Hill. Move Taj, while he has value with a year left on his deal. With your late first round pick to move up into the mid to late teens. You projected Terrence Ross to go a little higher in your first mock draft. But unless something dramatic happens in pre-draft workouts, Ross should be there in the late teens with the other SG's Beal, J. Lamb, and Rivers all likely to go ahead of him. He looks to be an effective "3 and D" guy coming off the bench right away playing behind Rip. Great size, great athlete, and an attitude that seems to fit the Bulls. A future starter in my opinion. This would give the Bulls a couple of athletic wings in Butler/Ross to move forward with on the cheap. This also allows the Bulls to save about 9 million by declining the options on Korver and Brewer. That money can go towards the Asik extension as well as a defensive-minded backup PF to move into Taj's spot. The bench would be weaker intially, but I think this is a move with an eye on the future. What do you think?
Matt Maloney
Everything I read regarding Deron Williams’ future suggests that he’s going to sign with Dallas in the offseason. What do you think the chances are the he winds up with the Pacers instead? They’ve got lots of cap space and seem like they’re a star distributor (and maybe a year of Paul George development) away from joining the Bulls and Heat as Eastern Conference contenders. As a Bulls fan, I sure hope he favors his “home” team and opts for the waning Dirk years, followed by a rebuilding process, over a possible multi-year run as an Eastern Conference power in Indianapolis. The Eric Gordon to Indiana theory makes no sense to me unless they trade Granger for a PG like Rondo.
Kyle Smith
I find it funny how you and your peers make a living off pure speculation. Keep it up, as I find your basketball knowledge quite entertaining like Noah shooting "J's". A friend always reminds how the Bulls must be the luckiest franchise in the world by winning the rights to draft Rose back in 08. According to him (delusional to the point he thinks the NBA fixed it), it messed up the Heat's plans to have a Rose/Wade backcourt. However, I remind him that it's the Heat that's lucky to have Wade. I tell him that if it wasn't for his astonishing play in the 2003 Final Four, the Heat would have drafted Kirk Hinrich at No.5 and since the Clippers were set on Kaman, Wade would have been a Bull with the No.7 pick. Do I have any legitimacy with that logic, or I'm I just speaking baloney like all of you guys do?
David Alfaro
Anthony Davis is the next Hasheem Thabeet. I wouldn't want to be the team that gets the #1 pick this season as they will be pressured by the fans and media to take 180 pd soak and wet Thabeet clone He's not a franchise player nor will he fill any seats for a team. Bad year to have a #1 unless you are the Bobcats who already have a nice future all-star center in Biyombo.
Mike Sutera
(ESPN’s) Bill Simmons makes what seems like a solid argument that Oscar (Robertson’s) numbers need to be interpreted in context, and when they are, the luster fades a bit. The most obvious thing is that the pace of the game was twice as fast, there were 120 shots a side a game and not 75.The shooting percentages were less, so the number of rebounds was tremendously more, so Oscar's 10-12 rebounds then, were maybe like 7 or 8 now, and the whole triple double for a season thing kinda fades. Similar for assists and points when there are so many more opportunities. It's like comparing someone on Denver with people on a walk em up team. And then there's the issue of competition. Very few black players in 1962, very few guards anywhere near Oscar's size. Imagine Derek's stats with 120 shots and being guarded by Johnny Egan. It is interesting that as black and bigger players entered the league throughout the sixties, and the game slowed down, Oscar's stats declined. Of course, he got fat, too. I'm disinclined to say anything about the big O, who signed a book for me, donated a kidney, and more, but.....all things, especially statistics, in perspective. What do you think?
Sheldon Hirsch
There are reports that the Bulls management will wait until seasons end to discuss Thibs contract situation. What else does he (Thibs) have to do to get what he deserves; some respect and a fat matching contract to go with it? I’m sorry all he’s done is turn this program around back to dominance and respectability unlike his predecessors. If there were any more proof of his value to this team, don’t go any further than this recent stretch of success while Rose has been out. The guy can coach and his players fight hard for him. Something is telling me that he and someone from management are bumping heads about the direction of the team andor have personality clashes. Because if that’s not it then what’s the hold up?
Armando Zepeda
Any chance the Bulls are tabling Thib's new contract until after the playoffs to see if they want to go in another direction? While highly unlikely, they do need to keep their options open. If team flames out in first or second round they might look for someone else.
Alvin Coleman
For all the people up in arms because the evil brain trust of the Chicago Bulls hasn't given Coach Thibs an extension, let's review some names, shall we? Mike Brown, 2009 Coach of the Year. Fired in 2010. Byron Scott, 2008 Coach of the Year. Fired in 2009. Sam Mitchell, 2007 Coach of the Year. Fired in 2008. Avery Johnson, 2006 Coach of the Year. Fired in 2008. Hubie Brown, 2004 Coach of the Year. Left in 2004. Rick Carlisle, 2003 Coach of the Year. Fired in 2003. Now, Coach Popovich won in 2003. his job is secure. Scott Brooks looks to have broken this trend, and I think Thibs will, too, but why is it such a bad idea to pick up Thibs' option for another year, further verify he's the right guy, and then work out a long-term deal? Why does that make the Bulls a bad organization, as a major sports network seems to paint them? Scott Skiles seemed to be the guy to coach this team, and then his tough approach started to wear on players and he was gone. Is it out of the realm of possibility Thibs could do the same thing? Why is investing $15 million in a four-year extension a better move now when recent history says he is more likely to be fired than see the end of it?
Chris Feldman
How awesome was that press conference after (the Oklahoma City) game. I have to admit I'm a total sucker for the "angry coach" presser. But it seems Thibs is a master of calling out his team, without actually calling out individual players. His answers were so simple yet so revealing: "we win games by doing 3 things 1) Defending 2) Rebounding 3) and keeping Turnovers low" (No way we get that out of Vinny). Gotta love a guy who believes he can win games without a starting pg. With all due respect, part of the reason we turn it over so much is that we don't have D-Rose or a NBA caliber starting PG. I thought we played our butts off against OKC, but they just have more talent and we don't have a PG. Anyway, I hope Jerry Riensdorf isn't cheap and pays the man whats coming to him anyway. Of course that price could go up significantly if the Bulls win the championship (or simply make another deep playoff run) b/c there just aren't enough capable coaches in the league. As Gus Johnson would say "Give that man a contract!!!!".
Al Mirza
Every year during March Madness I have the same NBA vs. NCAA argument. I'm one of only two people in my job prefers the NBA, everybody else loves the NCAA. They typically defend college b-ball with points like "more defense," "more teamwork"... these are arguments that I find to be obviously silly and I think I can argue well against them. There was one argument someone made that stopped me in my tracks and it's one on which I'd love to hear your take. One guy said he hated the NBA because it's the only sport where the coverage reads like a gossip column: Gasol feel unwanted, Dwight's working on his brand, Melo is unhappy, Kobe and coach aren't getting along, Odom's sad, etc etc. He hates that so much of the narrative is about the feelings of the actors, and not the game itself. I quickly checked ESPN NFL, MLB, college, golf, and NBA... and indeed, the NBA stories stood out for having a much more frequent focus on feelings vs the game action. My question is: why is that? Has it always been like this? I think he's right that this is a very annoying aspect of the NBA.
Alejandro Yegros
Do you believe Miami’s home record is significant because it indicates that come playoff time, they can't lose at home? I believe that will be huge problem for the Bulls because I think miami is more capable of taking one in Chicago than we are there, effectively taking away our supposed home court advantage. If Miami can't lose at home, don't they have more of a "home court advantage" because they are so good at home and still the more capable team of winning on the road?
Kieran Rose
Please thank the Bulls for getting blown out so early. I had a lot of yard work to get done. Do you feel that the Bulls missed Derrick’s defense more than his offense? They had nobody who could slow down Westbrook shooting or penetration which caused the rest of the defense to scramble to cover. Westbrook did to the Bulls, what Derek usually does to other teams. I would like to see them in the finals. It would be a great series.
Jim Harlan
What are the odds of trading for Steve Nash given the article I recently read saying that he wants to sign a 3 year deal? Imagine a backcourt of Nash at 1 and Derrick at 2. My word that would be incredible to watch. Derrick playing at 2 would free him up a lot, particularly as Nash would demand a lot more defensive attention than Rip/Brewer/Kyle currently do. Not sure what the trade package would look like but I imagine CJ, Brewer, Omer or Taj and some draft picks. I know you don’t like the thought of moving Derrick to the 2 position but would you make this move given the opportunity?
Mark Magris
I don't think Reggie Miller is a Hall of Famer, at least based on his NBA play. The Naismith Hall of Fame includes college and other contributions to the game, so maybe that justifies Miller, but I remember a mediocre defender who couldn't get his own shot off and had underwhelming number of All-Star and All NBA spots. Yes, he was a great shooter but overall just a very good player, not one of the best of all time. When a player makes only 5 All-Star teams and not one as a starter, he is barely among the best of his time. I think a few big games against the Knicks is making people forget his deficiencies. Or am I biased because he was such a whiny jerk on the court?
Joe Schwarz
We have the CoY, the MVP, 5 future/former all-stars in our starting 5, and the Bench Mob. Do we really need anyone else? No. Do we need to tweak our gameplay? Yes. Don't you think we may have been playing a little bit too slow? I've always thought that if we play another fairly paced team, it's a guaranteed win. If we play fast paced teams, I'd worry. In the past week alone, we got blown out by Denver and Oklahoma, both top 3 statistically in pace. Against Atlanta and Detroit, both fairly slow in terms of pace, we blew them out. A high-pace is possible for the Bulls through Rose and/or Hamilton, but both are injured. Right now, it's only possible when John Lucas gets on a roll, who brought the Bulls up from being down 31 to 14. I am not saying that we should dump our offense that got us to clinch a playoff spot first, but..Don't you think it's time Thibodeau, the great underrated offensive coach that he is, preach pace and develop some fast-paced, minimal passing offense to match up those by teams such as New York (a potential 1st round matchup), Miami (ECF), and Oklahoma (Finals)?
Ray Palangan
I must point out that although the Knicks are an up and down team that’s dealing with its fair share of injuries, the Bulls surely should not want to face them in the first round. Even if Amare Stoudamire is less than 100 percent come playoff time, the Knicks are a dangerous opponent for the Bulls when you consider their lack of firepower on offense and the improved Knicks defense. Not saying I’d wager my hard earned money on the Knicks in this series, but the Bulls shouldn’t sleep on my squad.
Justin Grant
Do you think the Bulls should consider resting Luol Deng a few games before the playoffs start?
Reggie Ware
With the Bulls projected to be well into the luxury tax next season (barring major roster changes), what are the rules regarding trades and/or sign and trade agreements for tax-paying teams? Or. Is there a good online resource you can recommend to find this information?
Kurt Aim
The truth will hurt, but Russell Westbrook is flat out better than Rose. He is way more under control this year. Less turnovers and is a flat out better jump shooter than Derrick. He is much faster in transition and his defense has gotten ferocious. He jumps passes, he steals and plays with more passion. I actually think the thunder will beat the heat in the finals and I am happy about that!! Kudos to thunder management. They have done a fantastic job.
Dan Abdo