SB Nation User Blog: bullhockey

List of 10 Biggest Draft Busts Missing a Bunch of Bulls Players

bullhockey — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:10:15 -0000

How is it that Ball Don't Lie puts up a list of the 10 biggest draft busts of all time and only one Bull gets mentioned by name?

Of course, the Bull happens to be Marcus Fizer, whose "bust" value started really high and just kept getting higher. Here's a guy who came to the Bulls at #4, at the same position as their rookie-of-the-year #1 overall in an ill-fated plan to trade him, before the other team (allegedly the Pacers--in a deal for J. O'Neal) backed out. Although a big man, he didn't rebound. Although a scorer, he didn't seem to shoot that well, and he played on the all-bust teams of the Tim Floyd era.

But what about Curry, Crawford, Chandler and Trent Hassel? What about Dalibor Bagarich and Dragan Tarlac? For goodness sake, what about Brad Sellers? Even our low draft picks seemed to be high profile, and bad. AJ Guyton? Khalid El-Amin and Jake Voskuhl, anyone? Jay Williams almost wasn't a bust, but he kind of rode his motorcycle into bust status as well. Artest wasn't quite a bust, but he was so batsh*t crazy that the Bulls had to dump him.

Hopes were so unrealistically high for us as Bulls fans that it wasn't clear whether we were getting the sales job before these guys were drafted or after they were on the team. But hopes aren't unrealistically high anymore. I think we are right to demand that our drafts show some results. Here we are, 10 plus years post-Jordan, on our second rookie-of-the-year and our, what, 6th or 8th rebuilding plan? All of those high draft picks and not one Amare Stoudamire or Gilbert Arenas or Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili, not one diamond in the rough who was better than our hopes.

Poll

Other than Fizer, which Bulls would you put on the top ten draft busts of all time?

Eddy Curry

92 votes

Tyson Chandler

7 votes

Jamal Crawford

7 votes

Jay Williams

65 votes

Other - please don't hesitate

21 votes

192 votes | Poll has closed

Allegations May Tarnish Derrick Rose's Academic Achievements

bullhockey — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:03:07 -0000

Allegations May Tarnish Derrick Rose's Academic Achievements

Reinsdorf's Seven Categories of People

bullhockey — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:18:00 -0000

T-Boogie recently put up a post breaking down the current roster with various awards. This led me to ask, what awards matter the most? Then, moving beyond the concept of awards, I realized that really, the only thing that matters is what one person thinks--the Chairman. I've ranked pretty much every significant Bull according to the following categories of Chairman Reinsdorf's Opinion (feel free to add or edit):

Category I: Most likely to be adopted as son:

1. John Paxson

2. Kirk Hinrich

3. Pete Myers

4. Doug Collins

5. Steve Schanwald

6. Gar Forman

Category II: Always welcome as a houseguest at the Reinsdorf estate:

1. Luol Deng

2. Derrick Rose

3. Brad Miller

4. Andres Nocioni

5. Jerry Krause

6. Toni Kukoc

Category III: "What's your name again? Yeah, can you get me a glass of water from the kitchen?"

1. Ben Gordon

2. Tim Thomas

3. Tyrus Thomas

4. Joakim Noah

5. John Salmons

6. Kendall Gill

Category IV: "What, you're still here? What can I do for you (to make you go away)?"

1. Norm Van Lier

2. Scott Skiles

3. Horace Grant

4. Phil Jackson

5. PJ Brown

6. BJ Armstrong

7. Elton Brand

8. Tyson Chandler

9. Eddie Curry

10. Adrian Griffin

Category V: "Security... ? Someone call security!"

1. Larry Hughes

2. Lonny Baxter

3. Ron Artest

4. Dennis Rodman

5. Ben Wallace

Category VI: "Sorry, son, but I don't know you. You know what, ...can someone get me security?"

1. Ron Mercer

2. Viktor Khryapa

3. Marcus Fizer

4. Eddy Robinson

Category VII: "The public loves you, and therefore I am obligated to publicly show my lukewarm appreciation for you, as well."

1. Greatest of all time

2. Scottie Pippen

3. Jerry Sloan

4. Bill Cartwright

5. Chet Walker

6. Artis Gilmore

7. Steve Kerr

Email Stu Jackson / NBA about Rondo here:

bullhockey — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:10:41 -0000

Email Stu Jackson / NBA about Rondo here:

Here's mine:
Dear Stu Jackson and the NBA:

When players throughout the league start defending layups by taking a fist to the shooter's head, you will be to blame.

Your explanation regarding why the Rondo call stands as called is utterly dissatisfactory.

Your reasoning was that there was no windup and no follow-through. But the only reason there was no follow-through was that Brad Miller's face absorbed all of the impact of the strike.

And on the contrary, there was a windup--sufficient windup to make contact hard enough to draw blood and make Miller woozy.

Bottom line, it simply wasn't a play on the ball--it was vicious blow to the player's head.

Your erroneous ruling creates a horrible precedent, because it creates a bright-line rule as to how far players can go in terms of fouling a shooter, with no fear of punishment whatsoever, not even a flagrant 1.

Congratulations. You've given the green light to every defensive player to defend layups with closed-fist punches to the shooter's head, from behind the shooter.

Noc: 19 and 9 with 3 blocks, 7/11 in 32 min.

bullhockey — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:30:51 -0000

Noc: 19 and 9 with 3 blocks, 7/11 in 32 min.

Just happy to see this.

Still a great trade for the Bulls, of course....

Bulls are in the Playoffs, Say Most Recent Hollinger's Playoff Odds

bullhockey — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:11:31 -0000

Bulls are in the Playoffs, Say Most Recent Hollinger's Playoff Odds

Today must be the day we thank our lucky stars that all of those problematic personalities from '07-'08 are gone--Wallace, Hughes, and Skiles. And that other guy, Skiles' assistant. I've already posted another fanshot about Wallace and mentioning Hughes. And now this.

Hollinger's odds have the Bulls making it and the Bucks not making it, and it doesn't seem close (67.6% to 46.9%). The thought of this team making the playoffs and Skiles and that one assistant guy missing out makes me happy.

Ben Wallace #1 on 'Most Overpaid' List

bullhockey — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:01:31 -0000

Ben Wallace #1 on 'Most Overpaid' List

Yes, this was an easy one. But it still feels good to know he's not bogging down our salary cap or team... WOOHOOOO!!!

Still, the list is not complete--no Larry Hughes for example.

Did Obama Awe Lead to Loss at Washington?

bullhockey — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:16:36 -0000

Did Obama Awe Lead to Loss at Washington?

Just thought I'd put that out there.

Rose said all of the right things about being in awe of Obama, but he may have still been in a daze at game time. That, plus Vinny only played him 30 minutes.

Hey, check out the picture with the Prez--did anyone notice that Obama's taller than Ben? What the...

Lack of Skilled Bigs Means No Phoenix-Like Results - Derrick Rose Eight Games In

bullhockey — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:19:17 -0000

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-36-44/Derrick-Rose-Eight-Games-In.html

Chicago is struggling offensively under head coach Vinny Del Negro. The Bulls are 3-5 and they rank 17th in offensive efficiency. Del Negro is employing a D'Antoni-style offense in Chicago, albeit without the full range of personnel Phoenix had at its disposal during its salad days.

The recent Frontcourt Fiasco is the kind of game that puts an exclamation point on the thought that a lot of us are having, namely, that the lack of ability of Bulls' bigs has gone from the weakness we are hoping the Bulls will overcome together, to the insurmountable obstacle.

I believe that the writer of this article is being kind when he describes the Bulls as bing "without the full range of personnel Phoenix had". The elephant in the room just can't be ignored anymore--I'm now hearing guys on the radio talk about whether Pax gets fired.

One of the Chicago radio personalities was saying that if either Vinnie del Negro or Tyrus Thomas does not work out for the Bulls, Pax is gone. It was probably Buffone, which means I know the statement will be taken with a grain of salt, but still.

Now, with Rose injured that calls into question the fact that the Bulls seem to be burdening him with so much scoring instead of drawing and dishing. Because he has no faith in the bigs' ability to capitalize off of his penetration, he has to force the issue by actually finishing on those drives to the hoop that comparable PG's would have a big to finish the play--Chris Paul or a Deron Williams would drop a pass off to West or Boozer for a swish. And because of this lack of scoring, the Bulls are having him log some pretty heavy minutes, as well.

I wonder if the answer is employing Gooden and Deng in pick-and-pops, as both have a mid-range jumper. I just don't see the Bulls going to this that often, though. Other than that, it's a matter of waiting 'til the cows come home for Tyrus and Noah to learn basic pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop basketball.

Sometimes it takes an article like this to remind us what the Bulls' offense is supposed to look like. When you remember the D'Antoni-style offense of the last few years in Phoenix, you realize how far off we are.

Pax, are you watching this? Younger Gasol: 27 and 16

bullhockey — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:25:39 -0000

I have no doubt that being an NBA general manager is a very tough job. Pax at least cleaned up the mess that Jerry Krause left behind, getting us into the playoffs and into the second round.

But one of the recurring criticisms is that he has never been able to secure a low post scorer. In 2006 he drafted Tyrus Thomas and in 2007 he drafted Joakim Noah. They've shown us glimpses, but seldom have they put together a number of impressive games as starters, and they have certainly never put up the kinds of big numbers that Marc Gasol put up yesterday.

27 points and 16 rebounds! He also tallied 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 blocks. Forget about the first couple of games in their rookie seasons--can you imagine Tyrus or Joakim ever doing this in the league??

In Paxson's defense, Marc was drafted well into the 2nd round of the draft, #48 in 2007 (the Bulls picked Aaron Gray with #49, and Gray is a horribly, horribly slow oaf of an NBA big man). So Pax certainly was not alone in thinking that Marc was not a top-shelf talent. But the reality of the situation is that Pax is being paid to spot talent where other GM's don't. Krause's big claim to fame was the swindling of Pippen from the Sonics, who failed to see what kind of special player he could be. RC Buford has time and time again selected future stars from the draft that other GM's passed on. Dumars has built a perennial contender by taking the castoffs of other teams.

So Pax shouldn't be judged according to what other GM's also failed to see. He should be judged on his ability to assemble a competitive team, which includes filling certain needs.

Pax has now had over 5 and a half years to find one decent low post presence. And it looks like the best he can do is Aaron Gray. Oh and by the way, your team is in disarray, your big stud small forward is playing like he's never been on a basketball court before, and if not for the sheer dumb luck of #1 overall, this team would still be looking for its first win.

Paxson: WTF?