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Posted by Sam Smith | asksam@bulls.com | 10.30.09 | 10:45 a.m. CT
It was a great opening night win for the Bulls. It seemed like they had great chemistry on the floor. However, one thing that stood out as a great concern was John Salmon's shooting. He was only 3 of 15 shooting not to mention only 1 of 9 behind the arc. Do you think this was just opening night jitters, or a real concern for the rest of the season?
David Israel
I was watching the NBA finals of '93 between the Suns and Bulls (game 6). I realized that Bulls team had three good to great shooters Trent Tucker, B.J. and Paxson. This years Bulls team doens't have a shooter that would enter a contest. Is there anyone out there that the Bulls can acquire? I think Rose would be better with guys who can shoot.
sergio fierro
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Looking at your preview, I realized this should be a very interesting season. What's nice about it is that it's not just the teams at the top—Celtics/Magic/Cavs and Lakers/Spurs—fighting it out with all revamping their lineups despite their success—but the teams at the bottom who will provide intrigue as well. It's nice to see Phoenix going back to their running ways. Seeing them try to play traditional basketball made me sad, like seeing Nicholson after the lobotomy in "Cuckoo's Nest". It took away what made them so fun to watch. My favorite, though, is the Grizzlies. They remind me of when I was a kid and I used to play Strat-o-Matic basketball and I'd put together teams with World Free at point guard just to see if it worked in fake basketball any better than it would with the real deal. I'm guessing Thabeet and Conley will wind up with about 3 shots a game each since they'll never be able to wrestle the ball away from Mayo, Iverson, and Randolph. Even that would be 2 shots too many for Thabeet.
Craig Berry
What is your take on the Rose ankle injury? Do you think this will be a lingering problem for the whole season?
Terry Bayer
I believe you said at some point that the 1991 Bulls were the best of the six Chicago Championship teams. I would argue the 1996 team was slightly better with Harper and Kukoc. I believe the three best NBA teams ever are: (my criteria is if there was a time machine built and these teams could play against each other on the same court.)
1. 1996 Bulls
2. 1986 Celtics
3. 1987 Lakers
Andrew Grossman
What do you think about Jannero Pargo? I mean, he isn't a great player, and the last year he had problems playing in Europe, so what do you think he can do in the NBA? Overmore, I'd like to ask you about Danilo Gallinari. He's a very good player, he demonstraded it with Milano in Italy, and if he'll feel healthy this year I think he could be the best Knicks' player.
So why Chicago doesn't try a shot at him? He's a 6' 9" who can shoot the three better than most guards, he does pass the ball well, he understands the game and he's smart. Overmore, he can handle the ball, and he's good with the pull up, that's a lost art in the NBA. This guy is a superstar waiting to explode, and if we can take him now, we'll be repayed in the upcoming years.
Gianluca Cantara
No one is writing about the Deng situation. He looks slow and out of shape, he can't jump, and he's had more layups blocked than he's made. London game aside he has looked terrible throughout the preseason, and yet it seems a forgone conclusion that he's our starter at the 3. Do you see him coming off the bench some time soon? What is the status of his injury/conditioning?
Eli Leland
Now that the Bulls have finished the preseason 6-2, the best preseason record they've had since MJ left to my knowledge, have the Bulls finally rebuilt their dynasty? After nearly knocking off Boston in the playoffs and now a 6-2 preseason, are the Bulls "back in town?" Do you see them making it farther than the first round this year?
Garrett Staker
Sam: Well, that's optimistic. Let's say when someone looks like Michael Jordan they'll be close. Now the Bulls seem to be a team that could be in the running for a spot as high as fourth or fifth in the East. I picked fifth in my preseason prediction. That gives you a decent chance to advance to the second round. That would be terrific progress if they could do that. I'd forget the preseason as quickly as I could.
What's the story behind the feud that Norm Van Lier had with the Bulls Organization? I understand that it may not be something appropriate for public knowledge, but it's one of those things that's difficult to accept. I always looked forward to watching NVL's Bulls analysis, and like Red Kerr and many other Bulls faithful, he never publicly had anything bad to say about the team and always was very constructive with his analysis. It was difficult to watch all the public honoring of Johnny Red without much tribute to Van Lier and it's very disheartening. I was exited to see him inquire about the coaching vacancy because he always seemed genuinely concerned for the success of the team; although in hindsight, perhaps his passion may have been too much to be head coach. Like many others, I was shocked to learn that Mr. Van Lier had been mentally tormented by his relationship with the organization. All the while, no details as to why there were bad feelings were made public.
Jr Deleon
I was just thinking about 2010. A lot of the experts, yourself included, are predicting we probably aren't getting Bosh, Wade or Stoudemire when/if they become free agents for 2010. What now do you think the Bulls will do with the cap space? Do they trade their expiring contracts for a player now or target a second tier free agent like Joe Johnson come 2010 free agency? If they trade for a player in-season, who do you think they trade for?
Marlon Umali
Did I read somewhere that the Bulls players named Noah's free throw "The Tornado" because of the sideways action on the ball? My wife and I always slap high fives for Tornado Time! Can you say something about the Bull's killer schedule? Even if they had had a full strength training camp, they could play well and still easily be 5 -18 or so after playing the Lakers on December 15. But then the schedule changes sharply! Yes, I know it's impossible to predict the mid-range powers in advance, but I don't see the Bulls breaking .500 until March 1 or so, 30 - 30. And after that it looks like a 42-win season or so, and a probable playoff spot, but it's going to be soul-crushing early on... Maybe you can remind us of the good times ahead, back-to-backs against the Knicks, etc...
Peter Toluzzi
I heard the Jazz will have an unprotected pick from the Knicks in the 2010 NBA Draft? Is it true? If yes, where does the pick come from?
Mat Ramseyer
The Grizzlies recently had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar meet with the Grizzlies centers which include potential heavy guys Hasheem Thabeet, Marc Gasol, & Hamed Haddadi. Kareem is a legend, but given his notorious attitude & his reputation for a lack of defensive effort as a player, is he the guy the Grizz want to teach "The Presence" Hasheem Thabeet? If the Grizz are willing to invest money to teach the young centers, are there some better guys out there? Wouldn't Dikembe Mutumbo, Hakeem Olajuwon, or Alonzo Mourning be better consultants to tutor the Grizz centers? Can you think of a better guy than a Frosty Kareem to help these centers? Won't Grizzlies fans be livid when The Presence is missing sky hooks?
Latilleon
I'm very pessimistic about the Bulls chances of landing a top free agent next summer. Lebron and Wade will, in my view, re-sign. I'm not banking on Chris Bosh coming to us although he might be a good fit and I'm not crazy on Amare Stoudemire either. He's had some injuries in the last few years, has a bad attitude, doesn't play much defense and who knows how much of his success his based off of Phoenix's system and Steve Nash feeding him. With that, what are your thoughts on the Bulls pursuing Nick Young? They could probably get him cheap, especially if he can't find minutes in the Wizards crowded frontcourt this year, and he might have some potential as a scorer off the bench for them.
Jordon Peterson
What's your take on Hinrich this year. Is he gonna be here all year or can is a trade of Hinrich more likely. If a trade does happen involving Hinrich, what would be the situation? Is it because the Bulls are having a losing season, or is it because the Bulls are one piece away, or is it simply a salary dump is available. I suppose I should ask the same for Luol Deng although it is pretty premature at the time. However, if Luol isn't producing by February or meshing with the Bulls do you see him being traded (to pull one out of your playbook, a trade for Ferald Wallace works finanicially and makes sense for both teams, especially if the Bulls are looking to let tyrus go at the end of the season).
Riamo Equah
This is a criticism I've had of the Cavs for a long time, and it popped up during the game tonight. Why, when you have a speedy top backcourt of Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, and Delonte West, do you run half-court sets with your best player at the point forward? What good is it if Lebron brings the ball up slowly (or someone else brings it up slowly and passes to him, Bambi-eyes pleading, 'work your magic, LBJ')? What about a fast-paced, open-court offense? Lebron can make it up and down the court in about three steps. I don't see him going to NY next season at all, but I see him begging for a system like D'Antoni's. Or at least something that lets them play like most of the team's under 30. Halfcourt sets are for teams like the Celtics, with good defense and older players. Not if you have three fast ballhandlers on the floor at all times. So glad the NBA's starting back up. Baseball is so boring and football only happens once a week.
Chris Corlew
I was listening to Reggie Miller talk about how you had to hold down the superstars to 7-8 free throws max per game and how you'd be "in trouble" if you let the likes of Kobe, Paul Pierce, LeBron, Wade, etc. get more than that. That got me thinking about our very own budding superstar. Derrick Rose. Can we expect to see Rose at the free throw line a little more often this season? I looked up some stats from Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade from their rookie seasons and they shot WAY, WAY more FTs than our Rookie of the Year. Wade averaged 5.1 FTs per game as a rookie and Carmelo averaged a staggering 6.4 FTs per game. Rose averaged a mere 3.1. Wade was more like Rose in my opinion doing a lot of driving to the basket to draw contact so those are the numbers I was expecting for Rose last year. What I don't get is Carmelo's FTs. He's more of a jump shooter on the perimeter so how does he get so many calls? Carmelo was 5th in the NBA in FTAs as a rookie so why no love for Rose?
Marc A. Brauer
I am a bit puzzled why the Bulls didn't do any major additions in the offseason? I look around at all these other teams that were already good last year, and now they are even better... like the Lakers and Celtics... why didn't the Bulls pull some strings to get some major big name talent to support Deng and Rose? I mean they lost Gordon in the off season, who else is going to score for them? I really fear this is going to be another long season for the Bulls.
Adam Bain
I really get a sense that the Bulls are poised to take a forward step as a team, as their main ball handler and decision maker will be Rose instead of Gordon. It seems that the team had a bit of the Iverson syndrome when Ben was here. Ben dominated the ball and the rest of the players on the court pretty much knew he was going to jack the ball up regardless of who was open on a given play, so maybe they weren't locked in on the offensive side. Some of this probably carried over on the defensive side as well for a player like Thomas who is either emotionally involved in the game, or busy making scowling faces and feeling hurt. The rest of the players on the team seem to take their roles in stride now with Kirk and Miller coming off the bench, and Luol seeing how important Rose is to his productivity, or lack of, in the preseason. Do you think the Bulls could realistically grab the 4 seed and get to the 2nd round of the playoffs? What they were missing in the Skiles playoff era, it seems to me, was athleticism to match up with the best teams and to overpower the weaker teams. It seemed like with every win they had to grind it out. Now they have the quick athletes in Rose, Thomas, and Noah to some degree, along with some savvy veterans in Miller and Salmons, to go with their intelligent, "skilled" players such as Hinrich and Deng. Is this a perfect mix or a beautiful disaster in the waiting?
Nick stinger
Do you do Cavs trades too? Here's an idea: Big Z and Delonte West to the Bucks for Michael Redd and maybe Francisco Elson. It'd save the Bucks about $12 to $13 million next year and gives the Cavs a reliable outside shooter who played well with Mo Williams in Milwaukee a couple of years ago. Redd is an Ohio guy and would welcome the trade. Z might retire on the spot but Milwaukee would be OK with that I think.
Matt Ahrens
Put this in your mailbag... Dejuan Blair will be rookie of the year! You and all the other doubters around the NBA wrote this guy off. The Bulls were crazy to not draft this guy and now look what has happened. The guy is an absolute stud! Sure it's early days but the guy has been a monster on the boards in the pre season and now in his first season game. He can score inside so easily (something the Bulls haven't really had since Elton Brand). Now we have to pray on Thomas to develop (which I doubt will ever happen) and if that fails our two new rookies will never be what Blair is doing ALREADY. If Pop doesn't cut the guy's minutes back then watch this guy push for a starting spot within 6 weeks on that already awesome lineup. Remember this post R.O.Y.!
Andrew Brown