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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

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:30 PM) Adkins would be on three days rest also... PLus he would require somebody to go on the DL.. Thats the tough part, they'd have to create a roster spot. If Buehrle goes tonight hopefully he can go deep. Then you have some relievers available for Sunday.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 12:49 PM) Dangit, I wanted to see Buehrle vs Santana. Sucks JG got sick. I was looking foward to see him pitchin tonight. I think it gives us a better chance to win the whole series though. Santana had a bad April ERA last year and with 1 game pitched, he has a bad April ERA now. As long as it's ensured that we win today, I'm fine. I just wish we could showcase Buehrle as the best lefthander in the AL Central and probably the 2nd best in the league. Ehhh...I'll take Johan but Buehrle is definately damn near as good as it gets. He's so vastly underrated by people outside of Soxfandom. Tonights matchup is going to be quite good as well. Radke has always done well against the Sox, mainly doing everything necessary to get the wins. Its gonna be a doozie. Tomorrow it may just be Freddy, unless they feel JG is ready. Or they could push Bmac's start till Sunday. I don't know if they'd just call him up for one outing, but hey, you want to win, and one game may matter (even if it is in April). Problem is there really isn't a way to create the roster spot.

Just to rain on everyones parade. I love the way the staff has been pitching thus far as well, but I'm gonna remain cautions until this becomes a trend and not just a first week thing. Hell, remember last year. First two months or so this staff was one of the very best in baseball. Then Scho gets hurt, and the rotation pretty much fell completely apart.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 01:24 PM) Even Skiles said last night after the win that it's been tough not being able to go to Eddy and having him open everyone else up. He's super important. 2nd best young center behind Yao. He does play defense and he's at least boxing out for others on the team to get the rebounds. We have Tyson to be the really big defensive presence for us and Eddy is going to be our really big offensive presence. Also, EC has made some really big plays defensively, down the stretch for us this year(e.g. Curry blocking Rashard Lewis in Seattle to seal the deal). Two things: 1)Curry can't be sign and traded for a draft pick because a)earliest that you can sign a player after the season is over, is July 15th. The draft is in June. b)having an under the table deal(tell a team to draft a certain player to be traded to you later for a RFA) is illegal. 2)Shareef Abdur Rahim is a free agent. Bulls can't trade for a FA unless it's a sign and trade. Curry is going to command 9-11 million a year, if you like it or not. That means Portland would have to sign and trade SAR for that and EC>SAR. When Skiles has come around saying that the Bulls need Curry to get back out there, then you know he's needed on this team. He was going on his hottest streak too right before he has his complications. Keep Curry and let this team grow together. The Bulls will be able to sign everyone in their young core and there is no reason not to anymore. Also remember, the Bulls have been playing crap teams, and the only good team they faced was Miami and we got our asses handed back to us on a silver platter. We would've lost that with or without O. Great Post. Also in terms of Curry I've lately been in shock almost to read all the nice things Skiles has been saying about him and talking about how much they miss him. I do think next year you'll see Curry and Chandler starting along side each other with Donyell or Simmons on the roster as well. I just hope they can keep Othella around.

I do think the right sign and trade could be quite intriguing. The Bulls would need to be getting a legit, in their prime player in return though. A good defensive shooting guard or a good 3 plus they would have to be able to get a good low post scorer that could defend the bigger centers. Chandler can defend many centers, but they would need some type of wide body force for guys like Shaq. If they could get Dalembert and then add a good SG/SF and maybe a scoring big man off the bench, fantastic, but I don't find that possible. I'm talking about getting a Dalembert and Donyell somehow and whoever you get in the trade. Obviously thats pretty much impossible. However, I do think there is good odds Donyell could be a Bull.

You could make a case that Tiger Woods is quite overhyped at least for the past year or so, since until recently he'd been playing like crap. Woods lived up to his hype though when he first entered, but he was also hyped up to be the greatest of all time. We'll see if he ends up being that or not. Also, I've watched quite a few Cleveland games and I already think Lebron is a good defender as long as he's guarding SG's and SF's. If he's on a PG he doesn't have the quickness, but he can still harass them with his big body. And I don't know if I saw it here, but someone said Deng can't play that good of defense? If so I've long said anyone that feels that way is nuts. He's pretty much as close to Iggy as it gets imo. Deng and him will both be all defensive players when things are over. I give Iggy the nod defensively while Deng gets the nod offensively. You really couldn't complain about either, imo and both were great value picks.

If Pacheco can get back to pitching like he did two years ago with the Barons then the Barons rotation will be that much better. Plus Pacheco has a heck of an arm. Two years ago he had a shot to emerge as one of the Sox best pitching prospects, but he definately regressed last year, thanks in part to injuries.

Very cool read...thanks Mean Gene.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Apr 8, 2005 -> 08:25 PM) I don't really worry so much about Judy (he was lights ouit there once last year) but more on how our bats do against Radke. Still, beating a team at their home opener is harder to do than most think so we gotta feel good going into tomorrows game. Only downside is that Herm should probably (if Ozzie is gonna be careful) go unused. Let's get the bats going early so that we avoid Nasty Nathan along with Romero and co. This is the type of game where the new speed is going to have to pay off. Pods and Guchi doing the little things to get into scoring position and then Carl, Paulie, Dye getting the sac fly or whatever it takes to get the run home.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 10:14 AM) Eddy might be back by the Pacers game, no? I hope so, but right now who knows. He may not be able to play at all this year.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Apr 9, 2005 -> 10:11 AM) Only 3 of there last 7 are against playoff teams. We should be able to knock of 1 of those playoff teams. I would be damn satisfied with 5-2. I would be too, but I don't see them beating any of the 3 playoff teams without Eddy and an already banged up team. At least not Detroit.

Tru, I Don't know how you could say the Bulls don't have a guy that could avg 20 points a game in his career. Gordon averages like 15 a game in limited minutes and if he was on some crappy team getting 35 minutes a night he would be scoring 20 plus. I'm not saying he should be getting those type of minutes either, because the Bulls would be absolutely terrible if Gordon was getting those type of minutes. Gordon would be getting double doubles...20 points and 10 turnover nights while being a turnstyle defensively. And Eddy is as pure of a scorer as it gets. He still has a s***load to work on but this has been by far his best season and he's in great shape, worked hard. Skiles even seems to be liking him and he's about as explosive as it gets. He needs to improve defensively (but he's made strides in that department this year) and definately needs to at least get his rebounding to where he pulls down 7 or 8 a game. However in terms of scoring, he's more then capable of 20 points per.