Chisoxfn

The Top 25: 10-6 By FutureSox.com Staff April 10, 2005 We are continuing our countdown of the White Sox top 25 prospects. Spring Training has finished and the major league season has begun. The start of the mnior league season lies two days ahead, so keep an eye on the guys on the list as well as some of the sleepers FutureSox.com will discuss later on in the year...MORE

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 10, 2005 -> 08:13 AM) Disprove that statement. Pudge? I love pyrz. I've been a big fan of his since he was with the Twins. You knew he was a huge part of that club and he does all the little things. The day the Sox finally picked him up was one of the best days for this organization (as of late) and he's gonna be a big reason this club does some big things this year. If the Sox lock up Pyrz in the offseason, I'm getting a pyrz jersey.

Like I've been posting since day one of all these changes, the Sox still have a 200 HR club. They haven't lost all this power, they've lost some, but they are still one of the better long ball offenses in all of baseball and they will once again rank amongst the top in runs scored. BOOK IT.

QUOTE(TLAK @ Apr 10, 2005 -> 06:18 AM) Dye is 4 for 27 (.148) vs Radke, Timo is now 4 for 13 (.308). So last night's move made a lot of sense. Podsednik is 1 for 6 (.167) vs Santana. Ozuna has never faced him. This one looks like more like protecting Pods from a killer lefty while getting Ozuna some ABs. If Santana gets out of the game look for Pods to come in moving Ozu to 3B. Actually I'm in shock, it looks like a good call by Ozzie (both instances). Of course you could argue that going against Santana is when you want your speed at its best (ie Pods). Still I have no fault in playing Pablo, imo, especially cause it means you stack the lineup with righties against Johan.

Wilson Alvarez

Like I said, BoSox won't even make the playoffs this year.

I know Liotta had like 7K's.

QUOTE(knightni @ Apr 10, 2005 -> 12:31 AM) Just for my curiosity. Please find me a pic of Shaq being dunked on. You have 5 minutes. Didn't Randy Brown dunk on Shaq during the latter years of the dynasty. It was in that game where Kukoc led this huge comeback in the regular season against the Lakers.

QUOTE(knightni @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 11:54 PM) Gordon deserves to start next year. Duhon will start because Skiles will try and keep this season's "magic" together early next year. Absolutely no way will Hinrich be on the bench, especially to Gordon. He's a superior player to Gordon. Gordon has scoring...thats all.

Happy #22 Zoomer

Ya, I heard he was flat filthy tonight. 10 K's, just made one mistake (a HR). Really an awesome outing and then Baj picked up the win.

IF the Bulls found another presence that could score in the low post. Say getting a Donyell Marshall who can shoot the outside shot and do some low post work or a shareef. They could play them at the 3 part of the time and give enough of a presence to prevent the double teamings. Plus Luol and Nocioni are both slashers and then they have enough to worry about. Plus with two guys that can crash the boards like Dalembert and Chandler, I don't think you could see too many double teams on the outside simply because they would be leaving the Bulls players open for so many offensive boards and tip backs. And I must admit on the defensive side, those two would just shut down the opponents drive. Then you have Noc, Deng, Hinrich and Duhon shutting down the permiter game. These guys may be young, but they are already some of the better perimeter defenders and I often here Hinrich's name amongst the very best (from other coaches in their quotes) and then of course Gordon whose a flat shooter. I also see reason in sticking with Curry. He's a monster of an offesnive player. Simply put the guy has all kind of touch around the hoop, good quickness, good athlete. I do think he's a better at boxing out that some people give him credit for. He's not great, but he also is lazy when it comes to going after the basketball. He tends to wait for it to come to him. And defensively he's made strides this year. He's not dominate, but he's made strides. I also see reason to worry about having two inept offensive players in the low post on offense. I mean it really can go both ways, imo and Eddy at 22 has lots of growth to make.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 04:51 PM) I would put Kidd, Payton, Snow, and Andre Miller ahead of him right now, I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. Wade has the potential to be dominant on both sides of the ball if he can get a solid 3rd scoring option on his team and not have to put forth so much energy on offense every position when Shaq is out or on the bench. Hell I think this year, Duhon is a better defensive player than Jason Kidd. Payton is nowhere near what he once was. This is a new era and two of the Bulls guards are damn near the top. Snow is good, not as great as he once was with Philly. AI is a good defender when needed, probably an underrated defender if you ask me. Problem is so much of his energy goes into offense. To be honest I would say Hinrich, Duhon rank easily in the top 10 and I could even see both being in the top 5 or 7 if were talking this year.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:58 PM) He is numero uno in the league if we're talking court vision. Three of the four categories you mentioned (shooting, assists, FTs) apply primarily to the backcourt. You can say that he's the best backcourt player in the league right now all things considered, and I might buy it. Take away 90% of my brain power (of the 10% that I'm using) and I'm still taking KG and Duncan 365 days a year, 24/7 without even giving it a second thought. I'd probably take KG over him, Duncan probably too (although I take KG over Duncan). I would take Shaq if were talking one season, not many seasons. But I think arguments can be made for Lebron being overall the best. He's no doubt the best guard in the leauge. Hell, it seems that he already has Kidd's court vision and he's a hell of a lot better of a scorer than Kidd.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:51 PM) Since the 98-99 season, Jason Kidd has been All-NBA First Team Defense four times, and All-NBA Second Team twice. Him and glove are really the two that you ahve to look at over the past dozen years or so. Hinrich has a plus side with superior work ethic and basketball know-how, but the physical skills are lacking. Plus, he's not a PG, although he can defend them on the defensive end. I think Kidd is good when he's a SG defensively but I really think a lot of his defense is hype. He just lacks the lateral movement, imo, when it comes to the quicker PG's. Luckily though you can make a lot of that up with good position, effort, and reading the defender and keeping your eyes square on the middle of the chest. That and just getting your hands up and trying to just disrupt the shots.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:44 PM) I nominate this for the worst thread ever. Hype? Are you kidding me? Anyone who knows anything about the NBA knows that there are maybe four players in the league who are better than him and it can be successfully argued that he is the best player in the league. There is no one who could've lived up to the expectations that were set on this guy. He has in fact lived up to them as best as possible and has taken a team that lost its best inside player from last year to a possible playoff spot. Give me a break on the not living up to the hype. If he was on the Bulls you'd be slurping him up. I'd be calling him a deity of some sort if he was on the Bulls

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:42 PM) I agree about SFs and big SGs, but he's at a disadvantage against the prototypical 6'5 and 6'6 SGs in this league on defense. And if we're talking about small SGs, OMG, forget about it. Like Rowand said, he's a Magic Johnson figure through and through. Now, you just gotta get him Worthy, Jabbar, Cooper, Green, Scott, etc. Because the fun-and-gun could only work with a s***load of all-star caliber players. I much prefer a superb defensive squad like the 88-91 Pistons, 90s Bulls, 91-94 Knicks, modern day Spurs, Pistons, and pre-brawl Pacers, etc. I could tell from your posts that you feel the same way. Hell ya, no doubt about it. Defense is what wins championships. All the Bulls teams had fantastic defenses, same can be said for the Pacers and most of the championship squads. I think the late 00's Lakers were the first team to really do it without that great of defense. Well specifically point defense because every series it was the opponent pg torching the slower Derrick Fisher. But they also had Rick Fox and Robert Horry that were just superior defensive role players and really did fantastic things. The more I watch this Bulls team and Tyson develop the more I appreciate defense because the Bulls are not an offensively talented team, yet they are 3rd in the Eastern Conference in wins. That says it all right there, imo. Defense is what basketball is all about. The games where its just teams going back and forth getting wide open looks can be fun to watch (if your team is just slamming the other team) but its not basketball. Nothing is better than watching a great defensive matchup. A Tayshaun Prince on Kobe and just shutting him down or the way I've seen Kirk ocassionally play against AI (last year there was this one game where Kirk was just in his face every shot...Allen still got his points but he shot god awful, unfortunately he hit like a buzzer beater with Kirk all over him). Hell great defense makes the offense better becasue to be a good defender you gonna have to earn you basket. It seems like the NBA is getting back to this route too. Just look at Denver's improvement under George Karl...its the defense.

Durbin is supposed to be a pretty good prospect. Although personally I think he's way over-rated. He isn't near as overpowering as some make you think he is. This is just the gist I get and I don't have enough knowledge of him to make a more accurate assesment, so just take this for what its worth. Big thing I don't like about him is for a strikeout pitcher he gives up a decent amount of hits. Its not alarming and his career minor league whip is pretty darn good, but its definately been on the downhill as of late. That and I didn't like what I saw with him when he was with the Twinkies last year. All that said I'd take him over any pitching prospect in AA or AAA not named Brandon McCarthy (and we know I also am pretty high on Tracey). He's light years better than Diaz.

If O'Neal is banged up I'll take the Pacers soley because Arenas always gives the Bulls fits. to the playoffs

Like I said, his start was never pushed back to tonight, he was always scheduled to pitch today, cause they want him on the same schedule as the 5th starter.

Lol Gene. On a sidenote, Razor is quite the guy. Definately keeps his players loose.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:33 PM) Anything but another "bullpen day"... I'd put money that it would either be Garland (Sox would just have him on a short leash) or you'd see Freddy on 3 days. Hermy wouldn't be able to go and a bullpen day won't only lose you the Sunday game, it would also cost you potentially the next couple games (even if they do have a day off right after) simply because you've worn out the pen.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:32 PM) He's an average defender at best and a liability in the playoffs IMO. Steals is one of the things I look at if we're talking about defense from a PG, but it's really just the tip of the iceberg. First off, is a guy consistent? Can he string together good defensive games? Can he stay on the ball and prevent his man from penetrating? What's his stamina like? How is he at anticipating a pass or sniffing out what the offense wants to do in a particular situation? Does he attempt too many steals in PG vs PG isolation? Can he sniff out screens? Can he defend the pick and roll? Can he defend on the fast break? Can he prevent his man from posting him up and getting an easy shot? Competitive fire? Etc, etc. I look at all of these things and then some, and Dwyane Wade, well, he ain't no Jason Kidd. Kidd is no Kirk Hinrich either. Defensively I take Captain Kirk over most every point guard, imo.

I agree that they are the same player. Like I say, if they sign Dalembert I wouldn't have a problem because I like his potential, but they better add someone like Donyell as well so they can have a scorer for a big man too. I think there a lot of things the Bulls can do, none of them involve getting rid of Eddy though. As long as they don't have any concerns with his heart over the offseason, he's going to get a good size contract. I've seen too many quotes lately talking about how important he is to the club. Him and Chandler are like the perfect compliment, especially as Chandler continues to grow into a total machine defensively.

Ya, the last thing you all want is JB there, LOL