SB Nation User Blog: snley

Boozer to the Bulls for a can of tuna?

snley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:35:30 -0000

Boozer to the Bulls for a can of tuna?

From SLC Dunk, h/t Skeets at Ball Don't Lie

Bears Have Been Worst Offense in NFL Through the OOs

snley — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:03:36 -0000

Bears Have Been Worst Offense in NFL Through the OOs

By Advanced NFL Statistic's Win Probability Added (WPA) metric, the Bears have been the worst offensive NFL team throughout the course of the decade. Not a single year of even being average.

30+ Point Losses Have Happened to Better Teams Than These Bears

snley — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:57:05 -0000

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 1994 season as co-favorites to win the Super Bowl. They had made the NFC Championship Game each of the previous 2 seasons only to lose to the Dallas Cowboys both times. Despite the high expectations for the team, their head coach and quarterback entered the season with a great deal of doubt from the fan base.

Coach George Seifert was the surprise replacement for Bill Walsh after his retirement following the 1988 season. He had been the defensive coordinator under Walsh for 5 years and chosen over the slew of eventual head coaches on the offensive side of the staff. Entering his first season as coach in 1989, most pundits and followers of the NFL believed that the veteran 49ers would struggle without the genius Walsh. Instead, the veterans on the team rallied together to lead the team to a 14-2 record and another Super Bowl victory. They would go 14-2 again in 1990 only to come up short in the NFC Championship game. In case you're not paying attention, that means Seifert entered the 1994 season having gone 1-3 in NFC Championship games with 3 of those games being at home. 49er fans believed that 1989 had been won by the veterans on the team and Seifert was not much of a coach.

Quarterback Steve Young entered the season under even greater fire. Here was an eventual Hall of Fame quarterback who had won the MVP in 1992. Most every other team in the NFL would love to have him at the most important position in the game. Instead, the fans in San Francisco wanted to ride him out on a rail. In the second game of the 1994 season, the 49ers went to Kansas City to face Joe Montana and the Chiefs. There is footage of numerous 49er fans rooting against their team during that game because they liked Montana that much more than Young. While Seifert at least had the success of the 1989 season to fall back on, everyone was convinced Young never would win a big game. To be fair to Young, he had lost in consecutive years to one of the greatest collections of talent in NFL history.

The 49ers lost that previously mentioned game in Kansas City. They entered a Week 5 home date against the Philadelphia Eagles with a 3-1 record. This was a mediocre Eagles team that had gone 8-8 during the 1993 season and would finish 1994 at 7-9. Most of the key players from their Buddy Ryan led defenses of the late 80s were gone. This was a game that a team as good as the 49ers should walk away with a victory. Instead, disaster struck. The Eagles won by a final score of 40-8. Seifert pulled Young from the game, ostensibly to protect Young from possible injury in such a lopsided game. The big story from this game was Young having to be restrained while screaming at Seifert on the sidelines.

The 49ers would rally to win their next game. They would keep on winning up to the final week of the regular season. In their only loss after that humiliation at the hands of the Eagles, they lost by 7 despite resting their starters for a large portion of the game. They would roll through the playoffs and on through one of the most lopsided victories in Super Bowl history. Asked today, some players from that team have said that that loss was a rallying point for the team. A 32 point loss at home brought them together.

Why did I write about the 1994 49ers on a Chicago Bears blog? Obviously, it was because that 40-8 loss really sticks out on their season. This team rallied after that loss to dominate the rest of the NFL. No, I don't think the Bears are going to rally from their likewise embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals to dominate or even win the Super Bowl. I still believe this team can at least make the playoffs. After a loss as lopsided as Sunday's, it can be easy to believe the Bears won't win a single game for the remainder of the season. There is still plenty of talent on this team and even in the coaching staff. Good teams can, have, and will lose games by 30 plus points. Sometimes, good things can come from a loss like that.

Rose returns to Bulls practice

snley — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:49:59 -0000

Rose returns to Bulls practice

Woo hoo, the team can get a full week of practice in to get used to watching Derrick trying to beat his man in Vinny's isotastic offense!

Rookie Taj Gibson will start at power forward Monday night against Orlando.

snley — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:23:17 -0000

Rookie Taj Gibson will start at power forward Monday night against Orlando.

[From the FanShots. Not officially unleashing the Org.-wants-Tyrus-to-fail-so-they-don't-have-to-pay-him tirade until the start of the regular season. For now, we'll just assume Vinny is being strange. -ed.]

I know it's just a preseason game, but it's the penultimate one and there's no apparent reason to not start Tyrus. So, why the hell isn't Tyrus starting Vinny? Give the man his starts and his minutes.

"He told me the offense wasn't simple enough for him. He wants a Pop Warner offense. He limited me...

snley — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:24:31 -0000

"He told me the offense wasn't simple enough for him. He wants a Pop Warner offense. He limited me in formations and limited me in plays. He's been on my back all offseason.''

-- Fired Buffalo offensive coordinator Turk Schonert, on the constraints he felt were put on him by coach Dick Jauron, in an interview with Buffalo TV station WIVB.

This quote makes it much more clear why Juaron stuck by Shoop for so long and then could fire Schonert a week before the season started

There's no question Pritchard also is trying to figure out a way to get maximum cap room this...

snley — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:00:18 -0000

There's no question Pritchard also is trying to figure out a way to get maximum cap room this summer to use for a free agent or in a trade...but sources say Portland's real target is Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich.
Enter the Blazers, who will have the cap space to absorb Hinrich's deal and put the Bulls back under the tax threshold.
Hinrich would give the Blazers a seasoned point guard, but one without the sizzle or upside of Rubio.

-Chad Ford

Boozer Rental

snley — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:45:18 -0000

I cannot believe I am proposing this. I think the Bulls should take a one year flyer on Carlos Boozer. This is assuming that Boozer does not opt out on his final year and that the Jazz would rather find a way to keep Millsap over Boozer. I do not see this move as a long term solution for the Bulls. Rather, I’d expect it to be a one year band aid that potentially puts the team in a better position to acquire a better talent during next season or next summer.

Bulls offer

John Salmons

Jerome James

#16 Pick

Jazz offer

Carlos Boozer

Ronnie Brewer

Why Jazz do it:

On paper, this trade looks terribly lopsided, I admit. As stated above, this proposal is based on the two assumptions that Boozer does not opt out and that the Jazz (who, unlike the Bulls, actually cannot afford to pay the luxury tax) would rather keep Millsap for the long term. In that situation, the Jazz need to find ways to limit what they are paying, making James’s assumed insurance covered contract key. To boot, they get a SG with the size that Jerry Sloan prefers and the perimeter shooting the team desperately needs. Plus, they get a chance to find a solid young big (Hansborough and Blair both seem Sloan’s type) to replace Boozer in the front court rotation with the 16th pick. In a contract dumping situation, this is a very good deal. Asking them to include Ronnie Brewer is probably going too far, but by brining in Salmons, they should offset that loss. Again, this is from the perspective that it is a salary dump for Utah and they should expect to take back less talent than they bring in.

Why Bulls do it:

Boozer, playing for a new contract and hopefully healthy, should help offset the loss of Gordon’s offense. Further, he provides a nice option on the pick and roll for Rose to work with. The value in Boozer, though, also comes in having an expiring deal that is actually attached to a useful player. This could make him more attractive in a deadline deal or, just let him expire and make the other necessary moves to open cap space for next summer. Brewer would at least give the Bulls a starting SG who can play defense and is decent on the offensive end. He is a terrible shooter, so he is not an ideal fit next to Rose and Deng. Plus, he is going to be an RFA next summer which could affect a 2010 plan. Still, he is another attractive asset that could be dealt if need be during the course of the season. Talk about assets, Gar would have Boozer, Miller, Tyrus, Brewer, and TiT available for trading. Anyways, here is the propose rotation following the trade:

Rose, Hinrich

Brewer, Hinrich

Deng, #26 or TiT

Boozer, Tyrus

Noah, Miller

I don't what's scarier, the fact that the Bulls were nearly eliminated because their coaches suck...

snley — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:15:56 -0000

I don't what's scarier, the fact that the Bulls were nearly eliminated because their coaches suck at math, or that it doesn't even crack the top 10 in the list of strategic blunders by Vinny Del Negro in this series.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiemInsider-090501

Bulls phenom Derrick Rose talks video games, custom systems and crossing up Andre Miller.

snley — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:55:54 -0000

Bulls phenom Derrick Rose talks video games, custom systems and crossing up Andre Miller.

Not much new other than that Rose uses the Lakers when playing NBA 2K9