SB Nation User Blog: chicago-homesick-blues

The Chicago Bulls: Fiscal NBA Champions

chicago-homesick-blues — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:59:34 -0000

As fans, we want the Bulls to win games, win games, and win games. Winning games is how we-fans measure success. But what about the team owners? How do they measure success? With professional sports being a business, I expect the team owners to measure success partially on net profit (aka operating income). So, which team is the NBA Fiscal Champion? The Chicago Bulls.

For fiscal 2008, The Chicago Bulls Organization earned $55.4 million net profit. This year, the Lakers won the championship, the Cleveland Caveliers won the most games, the NY Knicks and Dallas Mavericks spent the most money. The Chicago Bulls was the most successful NBA business organization.

Below, is a ranking of the teams by net revenue. As fans, we should be proud. Be proud!

Is winning everything? Is winning the only thing?
What about making a profit by staying under the luxury tax, with possible plans of spending the stashed dough on something/someone worthwhile in 1 or 2 years?

Trading for Boozer or Shaq, or signing BG or Iverson would not make the Chicago Bulls title contenders. Signing Wade and Bosh in 1 or 2 years would.

So, hey, this Bulls' ownership may have a real long term plan. They sure do have the stash for it.

Let's keep Larry Hughes

chicago-homesick-blues — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:57:11 -0000

LET'S KEEP LARRY HUGHES. LET'S KEEP GOODEN. LET'S KEEP TYRUS. ROSE NEEDS MORE TIME ANYWAY. There will be better deals in 2010!

It is clear the Bulls organization is trying to get rid of Larry Hughes before this season's trade deadline. We all on Blogabull want Larry traded away, but what we get in return is an important factor on the success of his departure. If the Bulls don't get a clear cut, kick ass player in return, I say the Bulls should keep Larry until next year. At next year's trade deadline, Larry Hughes' contract will be madly attractive to other teams because of salary relief.

2 years ago most Bulls fans wanted Ben Wallace gone. He was so expensive, and he wouldn't/couldn't score (and barely dunk). His performance on the court was difficult to keep statistics on, and the statistics that he did have were his worst in recent years. So, the Bulls organization was hasty and trigger happy- they traded Big Ben away for Hughes. Acquiring Hughes was a dead mistake; Hughes poor scoring has not outweighed the loss of Wallace's defense.

The Bulls cannot be hasty again with the Hughes situation. They CANNOT acquire a flaky player's contract in order to punt away Hughes.

Essentially, the Bulls season is squashed. With or without Hughes the Bulls will have very limited success. The Bulls won't be GREAT until Rose is GREAT, and Rose needs more time to be GREAT. 1 more season.

If the Bulls cannot get a shining GREAT contract for Hughes, the Bulls should keep him. Next year, Rose will be older, Tyrus will be better, and we can use the Hughes coin to get something the team needs. Or we can let Hughes' contract expire, just as necessary!

LET'S KEEP LARRY HUGHES. LET'S KEEP GOODEN. LET'S KEEP TYRUS. ROSE NEEDS MORE TIME ANYWAY. There will be better deals in 2010!

TUESDAY'S WORST Andres Nocioni, Bulls: Even though the Bulls beat the Kings, Nocioni gets this...

chicago-homesick-blues — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:37:09 -0000

TUESDAY'S WORST
Andres Nocioni, Bulls: Even though the Bulls beat the Kings, Nocioni gets this spot because he squeezed off 11 shots in just 12 minutes of action and missed 10 of them on the way to a three-point performance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime

Gainsville speculation about Noah.

chicago-homesick-blues — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:52:35 -0000

Gainsville speculation about Noah.

I enjoyed the read, and decided to share.

I'm not in the mood to type anything further, and I guess I dont have to bc its a fanshot.

Circus Poll.

chicago-homesick-blues — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:58:57 -0000

In addition to the Precircus post- here is a poll. I'm interested in seeing everyone's opinion.

Overall, the past 6 Circus trips have been very difficult for the Bulls. Reasons being: the Bulls do not play well on the road, and the West is very strong. Just for a frame of reference, here is a record history of the Bulls' west coast Circus trip:

2003: 0-6
2004: 0-5
2005: 1-6
2006: 3-3
2007: 1-6
2008: 1-5

Poll

How will the Bulls finish this year's West Coast Circus trip? (# of wins - # of losses)

0-7

2 votes

1-6

21 votes

2-5

78 votes

3-4

60 votes

4-3

18 votes

5-2

3 votes

6-1

0 votes

7-0

7 votes

189 votes | Poll has closed

McDyess an unrestricted free agent.

chicago-homesick-blues — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:09:47 -0000

Nuggets will buy out McDyess' contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. Realgm reports that 19 teams have already contacted McDyess about a contract. Anyone can assume that among these teams are the Pistons, Celtics, Cavs, and Bulls.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/55305/20081108/nuggets_to_buyout_mcdyess_contract/

McDyess' contract for 2009 was over $7mil., so expectations are he will sign for around $5-$8mil. McDyess is good enough to be a starting power forward, good for 20-30 mins a game. His mid range shot is consistent, and his strength inside (off, def) is powerful. Antonio McDyess is a very good, reliable power forward who plays like a power forward should.

So who will sign McDyess? Many teams in the east need McDyess' talents. Boston has make its interest public. The media has stated it is expected Detroit to take him back in 30 days. Cleveland would love to put McDyess in front of Big Ben Wallace. The Bulls could use McDyess' consistency in the power forward position.

Whichever team signs McDyess in the east will have an immediate advantage. That is because, by signing McDyess, the other teams don't have him! In the Bulls' case, they need McDyess, but they also need to keep McDyess away from the other teams in the east.

Tyrus Thomas. Some Bulls fans will be against McDyess on the bulls, because it will pull time away from Tyrus. Unfortunately, Tyrus is not consistent- no one knows what to expect from him night to night. McDyess is a tested veteran forward , a reliable backup, important teacher, a player with substantial playoff experience, and a player who knows how to be a starter.

I don't believe the Bulls will sign McDyess. The competition to sign him will be fierce, and he may have preferences that are non-financial. Also, If the Bulls sign McDyess, Gordon may become upset ($wise), so, there may be a risk there. Bottom line, if McDyess was a power forward on the bulls, the Bulls would win more games. Can anyone disagree? Anyone rather him be on the Celtics, Cavs, or Pistons?

Poll

If the Bulls can, should they sign McDyess?

yes

86 votes

no

50 votes

136 votes | Poll has closed

Watch Last Night's game for Breakfast

chicago-homesick-blues — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:55:06 -0000

Watch Last Night's game for Breakfast

League Pass is still free (until Nov. 11) Something new I just found out: you can watch archived games at anytime.

I'm scanning through the game now (during breakfast), looking at what the Bulls did right (TT and Noah acting like big men).

Wow, when Rose went in for that 1 handed, he jumped like TT.

New Team photos from ESPN.

chicago-homesick-blues — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:39:39 -0000

New Team photos from ESPN.

Link is to a gallery of pictures taken on Monday. Gooden, Hinrich, Gordon, Noah, and old man Pax. Man, Pax is looking old. Hinrich looks older too.

The Bulls' "center" problem. (and hope?)

chicago-homesick-blues — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:12:10 -0000

The Bulls only have two true centers: Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray. Last season, these two centers collectively averaged only 10.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 31 minutes per game. To view these statistics as percentages of the whole team, these two true centers accounted for 10% of all scoring, 20% of all rebounds, and 12.5% of total minutes. Even worse: Noah and Gray only attempted 8.3 shots per game, which is only 1/11 of total shots attempted by the team (team total: 83.7/game.)

At first glance, these numbers suggest that the Chicago Bulls are starting off the up-coming season with centers that are not "carrying their own weight". The center position is a pivotally important position due to its inheritly close proximity to the basket, and it MUST equate to more than 10% of scoring, 20% of rebounds, 12.5% of total minutes, and 11% of total field goals attempted! The anchor of the Bulls' offense and defense relies on players playing well at the center position.

Last season Gooden and Smith spent time playing center. This is why the Bulls only had a true center playing 12.5% of the time! (see PS) Following this strategy in 08-09 will give more time to Thomas and Nocioni at the power forward position. Floating these players lessens the burden at Center, but Gooden is not a true center, nor is Nocioni a true power forward. Extending players as such is to move players out of their natural element and niche. This is not a solution for a winning team. (A team can only go so far playing "small".)

No matter how much love we have for Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray, they are still only 2nd year players. And we can't expect anything definitive from Asik Omer.

Noah and Gray will need to mature beyond the years and experience they have acquired in order for them to be the staple the Bulls need at center. Certainly their statistics will improve in EVERY AREA in 08-09, but by how much?

I will not end on a bad note! I'd like to provide you all with a month by month track of Joakim Noah's development from last season.

X	minutes/game	reb./game	field goal %	points/game
November	11.8	3.4	.360	3.2
December	12.5	2.8	.449	4.6
Jan	20.7	7.2	.474	6.6
Feb	21.0	5.1	.483	5.5
March	27.1	7.9	.510	9.1
April	31.4	6.8	.524	10.6

If you graph these numbers, and extend the line (with a little hope), here are the numbers Noah will start off with in 08-09 (approximately):

35	minutes/game
.535	field goal percent
8.5	rebounds/game
12	points/game

If Noah can start the season performing at this level, the Bulls offense and defense will be transformed into something new: a winning team.

(Postscript: The statistics in the first and second paragraphs have an important caveat: Ben Wallace played a large part of the season at the center position. He accounted for 4 points and 8 rebounds per game in 07-08 for the Bulls, which justly increased the points, rebounds, and minutes per game for players in the center position. I decided to exclude Ben Wallace from the statistics because he will not be in on the team in 08-09. I agree the statistics are not completely accurate, but by including this caveat, I hope my point is clear.)

(Postscript 2: Noah's best month came during April. Gooden sat out all of April. This may have inflated Noah's numbers that month.)

Kirk's "Punch" to the groin.

chicago-homesick-blues — Wed, 16 May 2007 19:03:57 -0000

It just seems so obvious. As Kirk was flopping...i mean falling back, he puts in a left jab.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsxBWdrWgNo

But maybe its not as obvious. A split second before the punch, Murray's knee appears to be heading for Kirk's chest. Murry retracts his knee, but Kirk's puts his arm out (the punch) to shield against the then-coming-knee. When its in slow-motion the punch looks well planned, but in normal speed its only a quick reaction. Murray doesn't seem to get much contact and Kirk does a bit of back pedaling to try to get a charge called. His feet were set for the charge, but I think his heels were on the underbasket circle no-charge line.

I suppose I've watched the youtube clip 97 times the past 3 days. My conclusion: Kirk could have stopped that dunk. Should have stopped that dunk. He could have grabbed Murray and Murray would have 2 free throws. Kirk flopped hoping for a charge, and he ended up looking a bit foolish.