DA BULLS!

Did any of you see the Bulls game tonight?  Big W!  Especially considering their pending departure on their stupid annual circus road trip following two more home games that they seemingly must win (Golden State and Washington are next up).

Anyway, the Bulls and Nuggets went back and forth throughout the game and the Bulls iced it with Deng going 1-for-2 (missed 3 of his 4 FTs down the stretch!) with one second left.  He hit the second of two and Coach Karl called a timeout, brought the ball to the timeline and called a play to throw in an in-bounds pass for a wide open layup at the buzzer to close the game out 94-92.  Guess what the spread was…3 of course!  The Bulls were up 4 (i.e. covering) and then gave up a non-contested layup to win by 2 (i.e. NOT covering).  Interesting…not at all surprising (I actually thought immediately about the spread as soon as that layup happened).

If you watched the game, what do you think of the supposedly proposed Noah for Anthony deal now?  Anthony scored 32, but Noah was a total beast going for 13 points, 19 boards and 4 HUGE blocks.  Gibson had 16, 6 and 5 blocks!  I think the Nuggets’ price is going to come down as the season goes on…they saw what the Raptors and Cavs got for prized free agents (i.e. absolutely NADA) and their new management can’t end up with nothing…AND Carmelo MUST sign his extension BEFORE July 1st which is when the current CBA expires and the expected contract limits will be about ½ what they are today…i.e. Melo will be getting about half that $65 million the Nuggets are offering so he’ll be expanding his team demands beyond NY.  If the Bulls can turn Luol into an expiring deal (needed to equalize the dollars), I think they can get the deal done with Taj, JJ, Omer, and a couple first rounders including the one from Charlotte which should be a pretty decent pick…that’s a HELL of a lot more than Cleveland and Toronto got for LeBron and Bosh.  Obviously, I’m trying to throw logic into an NBA situation which NEVER seems to actually happen, but we’re due to sneak in something like this (remember how the Lakers stole Gasol, why can’t we do the same with Carmelo). 

   1. Rose

   2. Brewer (he’s been getting better and better which I think means healthier and healthier)

   3. Carmelo

   4. Boozer

   5. Noah

   6. Bogans

   7. Korver

   8. Watson (NOT a big fan…reminds me of Pargo)

   9. Scalabrine (he’s growing on me)

  10. There will be some extra guys coming back with Carmelo, plus they could get John Lucas III and Kyle Weaver to fill out the rest of the roster, but WHO CARES with those starters and top 2 coming off the bench?

With tonight's win, the Bulls moved into a tie atop the Central division with the LeBron-spurned Cleveland Cavs. Scott Skiles' division favorite by many Milwaukee Bucks are off to a slow start at 2-5. This is nothing new to Skiles who once led the Bulls to a 47-35 record and 2nd place in the Central after an 0-9 start in 2004-05 so don't count them out as the Bulls top competition this year within the Central.

South Beach Update

By the way, for you guys scoring at home, the 1995-96 Bulls didn’t lose their 2nd game until game 12 to go 10-2; the Heat lost their 2nd in game 6 to go 4-2.  They are now in 3rd place in their division at 5-2.  To beat that Bulls record and go 73-9 which some predicted, they just need to go 68-7 which is a .907 winning percentage. They have played two teams so far with dynamic point guards - Rondo's Celtics and Paul's Hornets...guess what - lost BOTH. Gee, do you know any other teams around here with dynamic point guards? January 15th at the UC baby!

LeBron leads the NBA in turnovers with 33 and Wade isn’t too far behind him with 25.  Bosh is averaging 14 ppg and 5 rpg…not exactly All-Star numbers and identical to Michael Beasley’s numbers…Taj Gibson is averaging 15 ppg and 6 rpg for the Bulls.  How much longer will Bosh be smiling as he completely disappears into the background?  Big 3?!?  HA!  It will be tough to make the All-Star Game with those lousy numbers.

Bandwagon Jumpers

So what about all these bandwagon jumpers for the Hawks and the Bulls? Obviously both teams have increased in popularity over the last 12 months. The Bulls were supposed to compete for the Eastern Conference championship last season but had a supremely disappointing season leading to the firing of the coach that helped bring them back into relevance with three straight playoff appearances. Some serious luck came their way when they surprisingly won the coveted NBA Draft Lottery and made the RIGHT choice bringing Derrick Rose into the mix. Derrick helped lead the Bulls to an 8-game turnaround getting them back in the playoffs as the #7 seed.

The Bulls' epic playoff series with the defending champ Boston Celtics will go down in history as the best first-round (if not THE best) playoff series ever. All the experts say that just having that playoff experience will help the young Bulls develop as a perennial contender for years to come. They were a couple of shots or a couple of referee calls away from upsetting the #2 Celtics and moving on to face the very beatable Orlando Magic. But the extra media attention and being in the limelight for an extra month brought along what most call bandwagon jumpers. "True" or "die hard" fans tend to despise these people as they only come along when the team has success, but aren't there when the team really needs them to get over the hump. To me, the more people at the games means more noise at the UC which only helps out the home team and that's what I want. Eventually (I hope) the Bulls will start to get some actual calls especially at home...that's what all the experts are saying about Derrick Rose. Can you imagine what this kid would have done with 5-6 more FTs per game? I'm looking forward to that time.

The Hawks saw an absolutely INCREDIBLE transformation this year. It "helped" that they haven't been relevant since 2002's playoff appearance. They made HUGE strides last year thanks to their two AMAZING rookies (Kane and Towes), but floundered a bit down the stretch and missed the "cut" for the playoffs. They did NOT falter this season though, did they? The transformation started when Dale Tallon moved from the radio booth to the front office as GM in 2005. He then picked up Towes (#3 overall) and Kane (#1 overall) in the first round in 2006 and 2007 and the Hawks were on their way. With the death of their long-time and ultra-cheap, stubborn, and arrogant owner "Dollar" Bill Wirtz and the ownership change to son Rocky Wirtz along with the hiring of ex-Cubs President John McDonough, the franchise transmformation was complete. But wait, who doesn't love Savoir Faire? When the Hawks decided to fire him only 4 games into the season this year, I was scratching my head. Well, what do I know? Joel Quenneville was the final piece so he actually completed the transformation.

Getting the home games back on TV helped build a more consistent following. This was THE BIG decision behind getting this team the support they needed to get them over the hump. You can literally watch every single Hawks game on TV and nearly all in HD (that helps too - NHL in HD is the BEST). How did this not make sense to Dollar Bill?

The home attendance and revenue numbers for this season have been ASTRONOMICAL. What a perfect storm to redevelop a fan base. With that totally nuts Game 6 at the UC, the Hawks exceeded 1 million fans and that does NOT count the Winter Classic at the Frozen Confines. The Hawks set an NHL club record by attracting an average of 21,783 to their 40 home dates at United Center (not including the 40,818 who filled Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic) this season. Chicago is averaging 22,578 fans per game through their first five home contests of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs. How can that be with all the fans they should have lost with everyone staying home to watch the home games? Ya...nice logic there Dollar Bill.

So where did all these people come from? This goes back to my original point. Are all these people coming out of the woodwork only here because the team has been so successful? Or were they always there keeping an eye on the team to see when the franchise cared as much as they did? Speaking for myself, I'm going with the latter. I've always followed the Hawks but not as closely as I have these last two years. It REALLY helps me since I don't have season tickets and only get to a couple games a year to have the games on TV. Having THE BEST announcers on the planet doing the games, REALLY helps too. Eddie O and Pat Foley are simply amazing. Eddie O's analysis of Kane's 3rd and pretty much game and series clinching goal on Mon night was so insightful. Amazing! And that's why people like to watch. I can't find any current revenue numbers for this season, but last year's merchandise revenues were up 175% so this year should be right in that same area. Season ticket sales increased 300% from last year to this year too.

So I say WELCOME BACK fans...WELCOME BACK!

Da Bulls!

OK so what do you do with the Bulls this offseason? While the #7 seeded Bulls Here's a team that played in the best playoff series in the history of the NBA (at least in the first round, but close if not the best). While the #7 seeded Bulls battled the #2 Celtics all the way to the end in their 7-game series, let's try to keep this in perspective...the Celtics weren't exactly at full strength while missing KG and Leon Powe. But the Bulls weren't at full strength either with Luol remaining out with the most debilitating stress fracture ever. He didn't play after 15 minutes in a game on 2/28 at home in a pretty big W against the Houston Rockets. Counting that W, the Bulls finished the season 15-7 without Luol going from 8 games under .500 and nowhere near the playoffs to ending up #7 and finishing at .500 (41-41). Hmmm...

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one untouchaBULL on this roster. Derrick Rose has a chance to be very special. Is he the next MJ? NO!!! There is no next MJ, so let's stop even trying to find one. But D-Rose is going to be VERY, VERY good. The two most exciting aspects of this kid (and let's not forget he's 20!) is his head (not much ego with this kid) and his eagerness to learn. My biggest hope is that he goes back to watch tape of the Celtics series and watch all the little things Rondo did (well, all the LEGAL stuff anyway) - rebounding, defense, better ball handling, and limited turnovers. Rose can certainly be much better than Rondo as he is bigger, stronger, younger and quicker.

What about Coach Vinny Del Negro? In my opinion, the worst part about turning the season around to make the playoffs and then going 7 with the Celtics is that the Bulls management will be all but obligated to keep Vinny for next year. We can only hope they don't extend him over the summer. Do you really want such a totally inexperienced coach developing your franchise player? Not me! But we're stuck with him for another season at least.

What do you do about the guards? Gordon is an unrestricted free agent starting July 1st. Hinrich is under contract for a reasonable salary as his contract was front-loaded - $9 million next season and $8 million the season after that. Gordon proved pretty invaluable in this Celtics series - tough to argue that. Hinrich also proved pretty valuable as well. Salmons can play the 2 guard spot also and he's making under $6 million next season in the last year of his current contract.

Although Pax has been able to dump ridiculous contracts in the past, with today's economy and pending 2010 free agency, we're stuck with the ultra-soft (too bad we're not talking about toilet paper) Luol Deng at least for next year. This guy other than a short stretch after originally returning from a different injury, looked lost out there most of the time. He doesn't go to the hole at all and his stats were down in EVERY category this season. And while all of that sounds bad, the worst part is that the Bulls played their best basketball when he was wearing a suit and cheering from the sidelines. The newly acquired Salmons jumped right in to Luol's spot and played better D and was way more effective on the offensive end as well.

Pending 2010 free agency...most teams are putting themselves in position to make a run at next summer's unprecedented free agent class including LeBron, Dwyane, Bosh, Amare, Joe Johnson, and Dirk among others. Salmons is done after next season too so you can add him to the list. So if you are quick to say "sign Gordon to whatever he wants" aren't you knocking yourself out of signing these bigger stars? Do the Bulls have a legit shot at getting LeBron? Nope! He'll either stick around in Cleveland where he's a god right now or sign with Jay-Z and the Nets with an outside shot of going to the Knicks. What about the other guys - particularly Dwyane, Bosh and Amare? I think the Bulls have a shot at all three of these guys - Dwyane is, like D-Rose from Chicago, Bosh has already expressed interest in coming here to join D-Rose and Amare was nearly traded here during the season.

Can Dwyane Wade and D-Rose play together? Their games are pretty similar and both should have the ball in their hands most of the time so how compatible would they be on the same team? They don't exactly play the same position, but Dwyane has the ball in his hands more than most 2-guards. He has a much better handle than Ben Gordon and also attacks the basket better too. So if you think they can play together and think you have a good shot at getting him in here, then you can't resign BG.

What about getting Bosh or Amare NOW? Bosh is stuck in the Great White North (OK, so Toronto's weather isn't much worse than here) and the Raptors know he isn't coming back so why not work a trade before losing him for nothing to the highest bidder in 2010? Pretty much the same situation in Phoenix who missed the playoffs this year. As much as I like Brad Miller as a wiley veteran, Chris Bosh or Amare would obviously be a HUGE upgrade. Now you just have to put together a decent package to get either of them that would have to include Brad Miller.

The play of Tyrus and Joakim really allows the Bulls some flexibility. Both of these guys played really well down the stretch and Joakim took it to another level in the Boston series. The one question mark here is why Vinny limited Tyrus' playing time in the playoffs even with a short bench. That was a very perplexing sub-plot for me. Now if Joakim could start next season in better shape, he could start being effective before January. I'd like to see Joakim dunk the ball a little more rather than attempt so many tip-ins on the offensive glass and I'd like to see Tyrus play with a little more consistent passion as it can be disheartening to see the most athletic player in the league get beat down court by another PF. Tyrus also needs to drive to the hole a little more and rely less on the 15-18' jump shot.

So how about this for a 2009-10 lineup as follows?
Starters:

1. Derrick Rose (duh!)
   
2. Salmons (could be a very effective 2-guard that can score and play D)
   
3. Luol (can he come back and be the player we saw in 2006-07?)
4. Bosh/Amare (I think you go get one of these guys)
5. Noah

Bench:

1. Tyrus (3/4)
2. Gordon (can you sign him to another 1-year deal?)
3. Hinrich (not sure you can keep him if you trade for Bosh or Amare as he may be part of the deal)
4. Tim Thomas (this guy could flourish in Vinny's O-first philosophy)
5. Aaron Gray (needs to lose some weight and show a commitment to being an NBA player)

I think it's possible with today's economy and NBA teams actually borrowing money that Gordon may not be able get the big deal he really wants. The 2010 free agent class will also play a roll in whether BG gets a big deal too. Will he sign another 1-year deal with the Bulls and go after the free agent money left over in 2010? Not every team that wants one of the big players in 2010 is going to get one so they'll have money leftover if they don't which could be good for BG. The Bulls also have two first round draft picks. They aren't very high picks, but they could be packaged in a deal too.

Should be an interesting off-season...The Bulls have already had somewhat of an interesting off-season. Gar Forman (currently director of player personnel) is said to be taking over Pax's GM role while Pax gets promoted to a new position and basically be Gar's boss. Will Gar be more aggressive with trades? We have all heard the numerous deals the Bulls were supposedly close to pulling the trigger on only to have something hault the deal. While we'll never know what really happened to those deals or even if they ever existed in the first place, a lot of criticism has been placed on Pax that he overvalues this own players and limits his trade possibilities because of it. Will this change allow the Bulls to take more risks and really get another star in here to play next to D-Rose? I sure hope so!