SB Nation User Blog: Bullsfanla

Fire Vinny .... Replace with Paxson (Frustration rant)

Bullsfanla — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:44:26 -0000

Time to put Vinny out of his misery and put Paxs on the hot seat he deserves

Last night I tried to think back on the last time I was ashamed to be a Bulls fan, the last time I wouldn't rock any of my Chicago gear in public. The answer ..... never, not even during the Kornel David, Rusty Larue days. These past couple of weeks have been downright embarrassing. Blow out after blow out and the apparent lack of effort by this team and the coaching staff. GarPaxdorf can kiss a 2010 plan good bye, no one will come here now. They say the grass is greener on the other side and if I was a 2010 free agent looking into our yard, all I'm seeing is dirt and dead grass.

So who's fault is this and where do we begin the pointing of fingers? Should we first start with good ole Jerry but we've know for years that we doesn't care about our ball club. So that leaves us with the guy we once hailed as a hero and wanted to believe would turn our franchise around. Year after year he has talked about his plan and the process we have in place. Year after year we've watched him make the wrong move or no move at all. Year after year we've said hey there is always next year, hey we're only one low post score away from contending. This is his mess and he should be forced to come down from the owners box and coach this crap team. Let me say that Rose and Noah are the only two players Ibelieve in the long run fit our plans. Everyone else is expendable, Paxson has managed to put together the worst roster in the NBA. Don't think so look at the line ups it speaks for itself.

We die hard fans deserve to see Paxson on the front lines coaching, answering the post game question on why his team can't win games, why his process blew up and didn't work. I want to see him suffer just like we do game after game. I want him to finally man up and say "I messed up" and the shrinking away in shame after this season.

Honestly I think this team might win 20 games max and probably end up with a top 3 pick if the bouncing balls are kind to us. Salmons will not opt out because now one is going to pay him more then what he's getting next year based on how he is playing now. I would say that this off season would be a ray of sunlight but if Paxs is still in control it's going to be more of the same. Or should I say more of the shame!!!!

Bulls Fan time for reality check

Bullsfanla — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:27:14 -0000

Just my take on the recent posts and rants

I'm been laying really low this year, almost as low as our field goal percentage from behind the 3 point line. I'm noticed a lot of Rose hate and sudden lack of hope on this board. So I think it's time for a reality check fellow Bull Fans.

1st - Derrick Rose has let us down, he will never be superstar or even good enough to lead our team.

Reality Check

Rose is in his second year!!!! He took the NBA buy storm last year and surprised everyone including us. He spent half the summer practicing with the USA Team and the other have working out here in LA while dealing with two different scandals. Try dealing with that at 20 and see how focused you are on the job at hand. Excuses aside please name one player not named Michael Jeffrey Jordan that became leaps and bounds better in just one offseason. Don't worry I'll wait.

The funny thing about the NBA is that adjustments are made from time to time. So if you’re a rookie point guard with a suspect jumper but killed the league by beating everyone to the hoop, better believe next year your opponents are going to make you shot jump shots. Also once you hoist that rookie of the year plaque and get some face time in the media, teams are going to start game planning to stop you. Yes Rose’s numbers are down so far this year but the next 68 games will tell us what type of player he really is. It’s way to early to jump off the bandwagon but if you want to the Brandon Jennings train should be here in 15 minutes.

2nd - We are going to unload Kirk and Tyrus this year for cap relief or a player that ca help us now

Reality Check

Kirk is going to be a lifer, get used to his hustle and his mid level game that got him with a fat contract. No one is going to take Kirk's fat contract, we over value him. He's a notch above Steve Blake and that's not saying much folks. Maybe we can move him to a team that needs PG help but I expect to get back junk in return because he's just not that great. Can anyone say Kirk for Brain Cardinal and filler before the trading deadline!!!! Yes!!!

Tyrus will walk and probably blossom to a decent player elsewhere, I'm guessing the Spurs just a hunch I have. We will probably try and trade him and because he don't give this guy the minutes he deserves I would imagine that NBA exec think they can low ball us on a offer. I mean TAJ the rookie, the guy who couldn't dominate the Pac 10 took his starting spot .... wow. So what does that say to the league, we don't value this guy but we won't a promising young player in return or an establish contributor instead. He'll be this season BG and some of you will post his stats and you tube links next year on this very board.

3rd - We are in great shape for 2010

Reality Check

Some of you might remember the last time we we're players in free agency. Grant Hill's mom lobbying for us, we wined and dined Tim Duncan and Tracey Mcgardy threw out the first pitch at a white socks game. What did we end up with???? Ron " Have Mercy on us" Mercer was our prize that summer and even thought Forman and Pax are at the helm now, Jerry is still the king of the castle and I have no faith in him. I think 2010 is going to a disaster for us and no GarPaxdorf can't save us. The only hope we have is hitting the Lotto again and trading that pick for a superstar. Lebron is either staying put or going to Jersey, Jay Z and the new Russian owner will make that happen. Wade is going to stay in Miami they have the best chance of signing another top tier or second tier free agent. Bosh is either going to take the Toronto pay day or he's going to sign where Lebron or Wade does. Kobe??? As much as he would love to pay in Daddy's house we should and needs to stay in LA LA land. Joe Johnson is not leaving Atlanta they are about to be a force in the East for a very long time and I have a feeling that a veteran coach will be replacing Woodson soon.

So we'll probably end up with Boozer and Mcgrady, can someone say first round playoffs exit for years to come until of course the free agent class of 2015.

4th - We we're suppose to compete this year

Reality Check

Really why would we think that? Fischer Price my first coaching gig Del negro at the helm, second year gaurd adjusting to the NBA game, the all mediocre but over paid small forward and first guard off the bench. The substitute team mates Salmons and Miller plus the rookies no one else was going to draft. Thank god for Noah right? We're rebuilding once again for which seems like the 1000,000 times since we beat Miami in the playoffs. This year is going to be a train wreck so either buckle up and pray or again the Brandon Jennings train should be here in 5 minutes.

Why Mullens makes Sense.

Bullsfanla — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:57:37 -0000

The worst kept secrets are usually the truth. I scratched by bald head a few times when I heard the news that we had offered BJ Mullens a guarantee with our 16 pick. What about Hansbourgh? What about Blair? Weren't these guys better fits for us and fit that Paxson pedigree?

Mullens is a true center standing over 7 feet tall and tipping the scales at 258. He is said to be an elite athlete for a big man with a strong NBA body. He’s an explosive leaper with big hands and long arms. He runs the floor well and isn’t afraid to finish at the basket with either hand. He has a post game and a jump shot range of up to 15 feet. The knock on the kid is he is said to be very raw and has a limited basketball IQ. He lacks aggression and takes plays off. He needs to improve on his focus, defensive discipline and better rebounding.

What I take from the scouting report is a talented kid that just doesn’t get how good he can be and what it takes to reach his maximum potential. So why would we take that leap of faith at number 16? I think the positive out weights they negative, He definitely fits our need of a big man that can score and give us a presents offensively inside. He won’t need to play big minutes for us next season, splitting time with Noah and Miller. I also think that Noah and Miller can be a positive influence on him, challenging him in practice every day, helping him learn. I think by playing limited minutes the first year, he can contribute some points off the bench while we bring him along at a pace of maybe 10 to 15 minutes a game.

Hopefully by the trade deadline he is good enough to replace Miller, making Miller a valuable trade piece. If not we hope that by playoff time he’s ready to take Brad’s minutes and we don’t have to resign Miller next off season.

I think Hansbourgh will be gone by 16 and Blair’s knees plus my doubts on what shape he can keep himself in make Mullens a very safe pick.

Your thoughts

Gar Forman addressed possibly the biggest story of the Bulls' offseason--the future of unrestricted...

Bullsfanla — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:32:20 -0000

Gar Forman addressed possibly the biggest story of the Bulls' offseason--the future of unrestricted free agent guard Ben Gordon.
"We like Ben," Forman said. "He's our kind of guy. He's got great makeup and character, a great work ethic. Our goal is to re-sign Ben Gordon. In the conversations we've had, I think Ben wants to stay here in Chicago."

Trading Up to 5?

Bullsfanla — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:48:14 -0000

This comes from today's Hollinger's Per Diem post on ESPN.

5. Washington Wizards

Remember a couple of years ago when Washington had the fifth pick and traded it to Dallas for Antawn Jamison? Me too. And with 14 players already under contract for next season I have a feeling they might do it again, packaging it with an unwanted contract in order to make a run with their current roster while still getting under the luxury tax.

For instance, the Wizards could trade down with Memphis (No. 27), Oklahoma City (No. 25) or Sacramento (No. 23), throw in $3 million (the maximum allowed) and dump Etan Thomas' $7.3 million on their lap, simultaneously getting Washington back to the tax line while still adding another young player. Alternatively, the Wizards could ask for a role-playing wing with a modest contract, or just structure it as a straight salary dump for a future conditional pick.

A lot of possibilities are on the board here, too many to enumerate. Suffice to say that I'd be stunned if Washington actually uses the pick. The salary commitment is too high once tax concerns are taken into account, and the expected immediate return too low. For a team hoping to bounce back quickly behind a healthy Gilbert Arenas, they're much better off using the pick as a trade asset.

John Hollinger writes for ESPN Insider. To e-mail him, click here.

So let's say that the WIZ are all about moving this pick to dump salary so they can make a run with their current roster. We would be perfect partners for this deal. We can offer multiple draft picks our 16 and 26 plus the wing man Hollinger mentions in John Salmons. Now I know you guys are thinking why would we move up to the 5 spot in this years draft.

Let's say Forman picks up the phone and calls The Raps? He let's them know he's going to get the number 5 pick and would be willing to trade that pick plus Jerome James, Tim Thomas and Tyrus Thomas for Bosh. If the Wiz are willing to give up the five for Salmons and let's say the 26 (we take back Ethon Thomas), we swing the Bosh trade and resign BG. Yes we would be over the tax but I think it would be worth it and Reinsdorf would sign off on it. This would be the team next year, I know the bench is kinda soft fur the starting five would be deadly.

Starting Five

PG D Rose

SG Ben Gordon

SF Loul Deng

PF Chris Bosh

C Joakim Noah

Bench

Kirk Hinrick - if not traded

Eton Thomas

Brad Miller

Terrance Williams at 16 in the draft

Linton Johnson

Anthony Roberson

The Official Playoff Chase Thread

Bullsfanla — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:26:36 -0000

Playoffs we're talking about Playoffs? Yes we are Bull's Fans with 20 games to go we are tied for the 8th seed in the East. Who can belive that with everything this team's been through this year, Vinny's coaching, "Big Money" Ben Gordon farewell Chicago Tour, Larry Hughes, Loul "Baby Soft" Deng, Paxon quiting then not, The Aaron Gray experiment and finally D Rose's 4th quarter benchings we would even be within a nose's whiff of the playoffs.

So the quest continues on Friday night against Scott Skiles and his Bucks, who we are 2 and 1 against. I know it might be too early to use this phrase but this is a must win game for us. We need the breathing room and more importantly the tie breaker with the Bucks going down the stretch. We have some tough games coming up Boston, LA, two more with the Heat but the good thing is we have 12 more home games left. So maybe the home cooking will help us we try and lock up a playoff berth. We'll be facing 9 teams with winning records and 11 teams below .500 so if we show up every night I like our chances.

The Bucks

Have 18 games left, 11 of them at home and 7 on the road. Tough games against Boston, 3 with Orlando, Portland and the Lakers still remain. They'll be facing 10 teams with a winning record and 7 teams below .500, it looks like they have a tougher road ahead. Hope that helps us.

The Bobcats

These guys are the Dark horse in the East with 21 games remaining for them to play. 9 of those are at home and 11 are on the road but they will 11 teams under .500 and most likely looking to tank it so they can win the Lottery. It could come down to an April 11th show down in Chi Town to see who gets the 8th seed.

The Nets

It's going to be hard for The Nets to sneak into the playoffs with 12 of their remaining 21 games on the road and against teams like The Cavs,Celtics, Nuggets, Portland and Orlando. They also face some stiff comp at home like The Lakers, Cavs, 76er's and Orlando.

The Pacers

Have 18 games left 11 of those at home, the split their schedule playing 9 teams with winning records and 9 below .500. WE can help ourselves with wins on March 28 and the 31st. With a not so tough schedule the Pacers have a shot at the 8th.

The Knicks

Have 22 games left, 9 of those at home and 13 on the road. Ten of those games are against teams with winning records while the other 12 are against teams under .500. We can help ourselves with a win on April 7th but from the look of the schedule 3 games left against Orlando, not to mention a 4 game road trip and later a three game road trip I just don't see them being a factor.

Your thoughts?

David Thorpe is a hater!!!!

Bullsfanla — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:40:49 -0000

Like me you probably wait for the rookie's ranking every week on ESPN to see where Derrick ranks in the weeks leading up to his certain Rookie of the year award. With his recent eratic play and getting benched in the 4th I would agree maybe the race is closer but he's still the clear cut winner in my eyes. So I posed a question to David thrope and this was his response.

Dyami, Los Angeles: After watching D Rose lead my Bulls to a 4th quarter come back and a win,what is Del Negro thinking when he benches him in the 4th. Do you think that will also hurt him in the R.O.Y voting?

David Thorpe: (12:38 PM ET ) That comeback was mostly due to a total Artest meltdown. But no, he's still a strong ROY candidate.

Artest melt down? What at the end of the game, give the kid some credit and respect the fact he hit some big tough shots and showed a glimpse of why he is the future. I think his benching does hurt his shot at ROY and more inportantly his development as our superstar.

"We've got to realize that we've got to play hard every night," Deng said. "I think our identity is...

Bullsfanla — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:51:43 -0000

"We've got to realize that we've got to play hard every night," Deng said. "I think our identity is to play hard."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=Bulls-090130

We have an Trade Exception?

Bullsfanla — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:28:08 -0000

ASSET No. 12: Expiring trade exceptions
OWNERS: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets

A trade exception allows the acquiring team to take on a player making an equal or lesser amount of salary without the trade having to conform to the 125 percent rule. There are six trade exceptions that expire Feb. 23, the largest of which belongs to the Bulls: a $5.205 million exception from the deal that sent Joe Smith to Cleveland last year.

The Cavs have a $1.63 million exception from including Cedric Simmons in that deal, and the Thunder have a $1.89 million exception from the Delonte West end of that same trade. Two of the Rockets' six trade exceptions (Bonzi Wells, $2.284M, and Kirk Snyder, $917K) expire Feb. 23, and the Nuggets have an expiring $771,000 exception from last year's Von Wafer deal.

So how does this factor into what we're going to do before the dead line? We should be able to us the exception and not take back as much junk contract wise in return?

My rebulid Our Bulls Plan

Bullsfanla — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:31:27 -0000

I hate to do what has already been done time and time again but since I'm a newer poster to the site I think I'm entitled to my rebuildabulls post. Let me know what you think?

1st Step Fire Paxson - The time has come and he has to be held accountable for the team thats on the floor. Period
2nd Step Hire Jerry West(long shot) or Billy Knight - I know it's very unlikely that Jerry West is going to be walking thru our door anytime but at least give him a call. It's more likely that Billy Knight would take the job. For all the smacked that has been talked about him as a GM let's no forget he put together a Philly team that went to the Finals and the current core of Hawk players. He's not afraid to make a big trade (Joe Johnson trade and he seems to be a good evalulater of talent i.e. Josh Smith and Al Hortford). Yes he did pass on Chris Paul but so did others.
3rd step Fire or demote VDN - He's been the wrong guy for the job ever since he was hired. A knee jerk reaction to Mike D going to the knicks without notice a full days notice, Paxson/Reinsdorf really messed up the coaching search and Vinny was the fall guy. Sorry Vinny you gots to go.
4th Step Premote either Harris or Bickerstaff for the rest of the year - This year in my mind is a total disaster, we don't deserve to go to the playoffs and even if we did why would we wanna go just to get swept by the Cavs or Celtics. Let Bernie or Del take the reigns the rest of the year and teach our young guys.
5th step Trade Noc, Hughes for expiring contracts before trade deadline - the chuck brothers must go, Hughes complains and is selfish and Nocs is no longer in our future rebuilding plans. We need some cap room for 2010, or signing BG this offseason and maybe picking up some qaulity MLE'S this summer.
6th step Trade Hinrich and another roster player for Good/Reasonable Big Man before trade deadline - I agree with Bulls83 on this one, Kirk is probably the one core guy that's tradeable right now who can bring us back a mid level quality Big. I would of traded him last year during the draft or the offseason before he got hurt.
7th step Play the young guys (Rose,Noah,Tyrus,Thabo, Gray) -Play them as many minutes as possible. See what they look like together, I mean don't start that five but play them as much as you can. At worst you showcase them (Noah,Tryus,Thabo,Gray) and possibly build vaule for the trade market.
8th step Semi Tanking the season - and hope the ping pong gods smile on us again. This team is no where near ready to contend or even make the playoffs every year. Play the young guys, trim the fat contracts and see where we land. Plus a high lottery pick could come in handy if let's say Amare doesn't get an extension this summer.
9th step Hire Avery Johnson or Eddie Jordan before the lottery - Some of you have voiced concern of Avery being of coach. I have to say I don't think it was him that blew it, I point that blame to the players. Dallas had or still has no heart and that starts with Dirk. He got them to a level they never had been before and they punked out. In the Golden State series they again got punked right out the playoffs. If not Avery I like Eddie. He would still be a coach if Gilbert wasn't fragile, Brendan wasn't Brenda, Antawn wasn't Antawna .. you get the point. Either of the two in my opinion could get us back in the right direction.