Ask Sam | Sam Smith opens his mailbag | 11.26.10

Your latest column argues for the Bulls going after Melo, but contains the most compelling argument for why they should not: Melo is a “cheetah”, but in his eighth year in the league, he hasn’t demonstrated that he has that burning desire to win, “a work ethic that refuses to be outdone,” as Swen Nater said about Kevin Love, and he hasn’t shown that he is more about the team than about his own scoring stats. I haven’t actually checked, but I can’t think of any team that has won a championship where the best players don’t all have that drive, that work ethic, and a team-first attitude. (One might contend that Kareem didn’t have the fire in his belly, but he was unstoppable on offense, and he certainly was a team player.) I would then conclude that a team whose best players don’t all have these attributes will not win a championship, and it would follow from that that bringing Melo to the Bulls would all but guarantee that the Bulls would not win.If Melo came to the Bulls, he would be their second best player, perhaps their third, depending on how one values Noah’s all-around contributions to winning, but he would undoubtedly consider himself the number one option, and would demand the ball on most possessions. During the regular season, that might work, but come the playoffs, his poor shot selection, his unwillingness to pass, and his mediocre defense and rebounding would make him a liability. And for all that, the Bulls would have a weaker bench (with Gibson, Asik and Deng gone, who is going to get rebounds when Noah and Boozer are not on the floor?) and would be stuck with a millstone, a fake superstar (like Dominique Wilkins) who lacks what it takes to win championships.
Ron Bauer

OK... here's the hard part. No trades. Run with this team. Give them a chance. Omer can play, James Johnson will grow and Boozer might turn out okay. I remember the good ole days when they were 12 deep and the draft picks could not even make the team much less play. This new coach might surprise us too. I love his passion. And that Rose kid might play defense this year.
John Bridges

What your offering to give up to carmelo is insane...I was expecting to hear you throw in shareef abdul raheemm, who was in every one of your trade scenarios for about 15 years running...lets get boozer healthy and maybe a shooting guard and keep the core intact..i would offer deng , draft pick and omar...taj must stay...
Steve McSweeney

I was just wondering why there is not talk about the four free agents signed this offseason not including Boozer, Korver, Brewer, Bogans and Watson. Yeah you have to wait until December 15th but that's only three weeks away. Only two years guaranteed for each which would satisfy Denver's desire not to take on too much long term money. My question is who would Denver value the most of those four [be]cause it looks like you could make it work salary cap wise without giving up Deng or Asik.
Don Gehrich

I'd hold off, with the current situation flourishing, I'd wait and see how it plays out with Boozer. Boozer could be the missing piece, and they may be looking good for the Finals without any deal. Like you've said before, if you can get to the final four or, better yet, the Finals, you're only a sprained ankle away from winning. I buy that. If it turns out that Boozer doesn't fit so well, or isn't as good as we'd like, and they seem more than a sprained ankle away, then you take a chance. It's no sure thing: you're giving up your froncourt depth, 30 quality minutes a game, and Boozer and maybe even Noah are injury-prone. Deng, with a good 3 ball, is playing very well, how much better is Anthony, I believe Anthony is a bit overrated. He can score of course, but what about the rest of his game and his effect on teammates? Does he rebound, defend, pass and have intangbiles? Is he closer to Lebron/Kobe or Alex English/Iverson (an overrated player)? Anthony gets his, for sure, but I don't see that Anthony has been a player who buoys his teammates, on or off the court, the way a real superstar does.
Sheldon Hirsch

There's no denying that Carmelo is a sublime talent, but it's also clear that he's a bit of knucklehead as well. Do you see in him the ability and the willingness to share the starring role with Rose, Noah and Boozer in order to compete for a championship? I haven't seen anything so far that would give me that impression.
Steve Cohl

This is flat out unfair! Derrick would have 15 assists right now (watching the Lakers) to go with his points if we had players who could shoot. We are a poor shooting team, Its terrible. Its like giving a porsche to someone and telling them that they can not drive over 50 mph. Its terrible. Derrick has not even scratched the surface. We need scorers. We need Melo. Melo would thrive with Derrick!
Dan Abdo

I heard speculation today that the Bulls would be great with Rip Hamilton. What are the chances of the Bulls obtaining him? Would that be a good move? At first I thought, why would Detroit want to help out the Bulls and vice versa.
LongGiang Le

Why doesn't Thibs considering starting James Johnson as shooting guard? It's not helping him at all by sitting him down game after game. Let him start and hope he performs well. If he doesn't, just quickly replace him with Brewer or Bogans. Don't you think it will be a very small risk and perhaps something positive will come out of it?
James Schone

Would the Bulls have any interest in Penny Hardaway for spot minutes at shooting guard?
Gene Ingles

Luol's stats are improved, but he frequently dribbles/drives into several defenders through the key. When I see this I think back to when BG used to dribble into the corner and get trapped. Has anyone told Luol he's not a good dribbler through traffic?
Jason Soon

This slow Miami Heat start reminds me a little of what the Houston Rockets went through in the late 90's when Hakeem Olajuwon, Barkley and Scottie Pippen "joined forces" to play together. Those Big 3 didn't mesh and was disassembled quicker than a Lego set after the team imploded. After watching quite a few Heat games, it looks like another implosion is in the works. Surprisingly, there isn't a normal offensive flow in their game yet. It's almost like watching a playground game where Lebron yells to Wade and says "hey cowboy, it your turn..." as he passes the ball to Wade and Dwayne dribbles around feverishly and takes a bad shot. It's become pretty evident that the Big 2 1/2 aren't the best at playing off the ball and am starting to think that one of them (Bosh) needs to be moved to fill the void inside since Bosh prefers to play on the perimeter. Do you see Bosh being moved by the start of next season and what's the likelihood that this Miami team wins less games than Lebron's 61 win Cav team from last season?
Anthony Marro

A good friend was in Dallas this past weekend for a wedding. By luck in staying at the Bulls' hotel, he met several Bulls in the lobby for pics with his sons and daughter. He was especially appreciative of the players' and coaches' willingness to so cordially engage him and his children, and mentioned Noah, Taj, and Thibodeau as being very patient and accommodative toward his children, which I think is awesome. He did however also say that the only player uninterested was Rose, who walked through with headphones on. Everything I read and see paints Rose as being (though shy) a good person. I know the demands on players are sometimes unreasonable; if it were me I'd probably stop to sign some days and walk away others, and I'd try to accommodate kids as often as I could. I imagine it was hardly a big crowd there and would it kill him to sign or pose with his teammates for a few kids? Was it just an off day-type moment for him, or do you feel compared to teammates he regularly distances himself from fans? Do any star players feel an obligation to support fans when they can the way the fans support them?
Jeff Johnson

I was wondering if it would be possible to move Deng to starting shooting guard when Boozer comes back and put Taj at small forward. It seems like a bigger lineup and with Deng shooting more 3's this year it might help open up the middle more for Rose.
Norman Sands

When Boozer comes back who do you think is going to fall out of the rotation? My guess would be Asik would probably be that guy with Taj taking over most of the bench minutes for the big men, but Thibs looks like he likes playing Asik a lot so I'm not sure about that.
Ninab Maradkel

One of the great pleasures in watching Derek Rose drive to the basket is the anticipation of seeing yet another artistic, gravity-defying, twist and turn on the way to a two-pointer (not getting the benefit of the call very often, they are rarely three-pointers; and they are rarely zero because of his incredible ability to finish). It is the same thrill I got watching MJ on his magical drives to the bucket, in particular, his ability to improvise while in mid-air. I have been a fan for more than 50 years, and in all those years, I cannot recall anyone that is the class of MJ or D-Rose (OK, I would also have to include Dr. J). I was wondering if you would agree, though, that MJ and Rose stand apart. Who would you include in your top 5? (Incidentally, I think that Rose does not get as many calls as he should because the referees are as awe-struck by his moves as are we fans--and so miss the call.)
Bill Larsen

If there is a lockout next year, is there anything preventing the Players' Association from forming their own league? If they really tried, they could arrange to rent out stadiums on their own, although they will probably not be the ones they already play in e.g. Allstate Arena. The players will make tremendously less money than currently, and even less than they would (for now) under the owners' current proposal. It all hinges on people like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, and Rashard Lewis- the ones that have already made a mega fortune- filling in the roles of owners and forking over some of the travel and lodging costs at least until substantial profits are made from the endeavor. It could eventually lead to the owners compromising more than they are willing to do so as of right now, and probably rather quickly. I think the contracts handed out this summer completely destroy the owners' stance on the issue. Hello Darko Milicic, Amir Johnson, et al. They should get end-of-the-bench types like Jeremy Lin to spearhead this initiative effective immediately while the current season is going on. Of course if it succeeds and they keep the new format, it will probably end up like George Orwell's Animal Farm.
Brian Becker

What about Terrence Williams for a shooting guard spot?
Dino Mahic

I saw Scal playing some minutes against Phoenix and wondered where is Kurt Thomas? Any particular reason why he hasn't played at all?
Otávio Castro Neves

Is it just me, or are people somewhat delusional when they deride Korver's defense? I saw the game last night, but on a Phoenix channel I found online. One of their announcers said, "Kyle Korver is one of the worst defenders in the NBA". This was after he got scored on, but he was actually playing great defense on the play. Grant Hill, if I'm not mistaken, just made a really good shot. We hear it here in Chicago too though. I haven't seen him play much before this year, and maybe he used to be bad defensively. People judge too much on the past or what they hear others say and not enough on what is going on right now. He seems, at least from watching on TV, to be one of the better Bulls wing defenders. Oh well, I guess it just makes me look that much smarter when I point it out to them and tell them to watch for themselves next time.
Brian Becker

Would the Bulls have any interest in signing Jerry Stackhouse to fill the gapping hole at shouting guard?
Jim Harlan

Realistically speaking, how long can Thibs continue at his current pace before the players start to tune him out? I really like the guy, but I've never seen anyone overcoach as much as he does, not even SVG. Every single play, you can hear him yelling out to players when to make cuts, set picks, and even when to shoot. And let's not even get into the defensive possessions. Luckily, the Bulls have a great bunch who are willing to learn, but a great bunch only listened to Scott Skiles for a couple of years. It seems to me that Thibs is even worse, and will wear himself out if the players don't stop responding first. I really hope he backs off a bit, because I think he has the knowledge to be a Gregg Popovich type of guy who stays with one team basically until he chooses to leave. Unfortunately, he's far too tightly wound, and there's no doubt in my mind our players will start responding within a couple of seasons if he does not change his style.
Wally Petrovic

I wonder if Wade’s career is starting to dwindle down. He has been banged up a lot over the years.
Mike Sutera

What does "BA" mean in the box score?
Jerzy Filipek

Exactly what was Joe Dumars thinking when he traded their MVP in Billups along with another important piece in McDyess for troubled Iverson whose career was on a steep downhill? They were the best team then but have quickly become the joke of the NBA. As I watch them play and look at the game stats, I can't understand why anyone would sabotage a team like that. Wasn't he once regarded as the top GM?
Jay Choi

I was away for work last week up the east coast of Australia and I came across your book “The Jordan Rules” so I picked it up. One particular paragraph from the book that got my attention. “Do you understand, he explained that these are people who will never forget, the people who lose their father or a brother or a relative? They or their children or even their children’s children. Do you want to see, your son killed someday in an airplane explosion because we’ve made Iraq a terrorist nation from what we’ve done? Consider the terrorism that could be done in this nation. A guy with a bomb can just drive into the Lincoln Tunnel or walk into the Sears Tower and kill thousands. Is this what you want to see and have it affect your children or their children?” I’m sure you got a lot of these emails after September 11, and I just wonder what Phil Jackson was thinking at the time – and Jordan, Pippen, Grant and the likes for that matter? War always has consequences hey? Out of curiosity – what was your feelings at the time (1991 Iraq invasion)? Maybe instead of the “Zen Master” he should be called “Nostradamus.”
Andrew Robson

Do you see a pattern of major sports all locking out during 2012 season? Could this be from all the Dec. 21, 2012 hype?
Frank King