Chisoxfn

Time to delete a few of Balta's posts

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) One, you should rework your definition of rotten. From 2005 to 2014 the Sox bullpen ranked 2, 10, 12, 8, 8, 5, 9, 8, 11, and 14 in ERA in the AL. Typically middle of the pack, and that in a stat that puts a team playing in US Cellular Field at a disadvantage. Two, it's beside the point anyway, because from 2005-2007, the three years prior to their turnaround, the Rays bullpen ranked 13th, 12th, and 14th in the AL. The year before that they were 3rd. The year before that they were 8th. The year before that they were 13th. Bullpens are volatile. I know you aren't a stats guy but hear me out on this, it doesn't use any sabermetrics, just a little statistical jargon. From 1998 to 2012 I looked at each AL team's bullpen ERA. I picked those years because the Brewers switched in '98 and the AL had 14 teams the whole time, so it made things easier on me. I compared each bullpen's ERA to its ERA in the previous year and got the R-squared value, which basically tells us how predictable something is. If every team's bullpen finished with the same ERA every year (Yankees 4.25, A's 3.33, Sox 4.00, etc.), that number would be 1.0. Instead, it was .136. That means you can predict about 14% of a bullpen's performance by looking at the previous year; the rest is due to other factors. It means it is extremely difficult to predict how a team's bullpen will do based just on the previous season. I did the same test for starting ERA and got .319. With runs scored, it's .312. There are always teams that surprise in any avenue, like the Sox offense going from dead last to middling from 2013 to 2014, or the starters' ERA going from first to middling from 2005 to 2006. But with bullpens it really happens constantly. Bullpen turnover is also generally very high.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 12:09 PM) So what have we learned? A team with one good starting pitcher (Sale listening?) can win the World Series. But they did have a good bullpen, very good DEFENSE and some grinders who are willing to hit to the opposite field. How the hell are the Giants champions? What have we learned from KC? A team with great team speed, amazing defense, fantastic bullpen and average starting pitching can win the AL. As far as starters they had two good starters (Shields, Ventura), two hacks who are smart and know how to win games in the Central (Guthrie, Vargas) and one decent starter (Duffy). The bullpen is so good it's scary. The manager didn't exactly use the team speed in the WS as much as the playoffs. There were a lot of World Series oddities. How bout this one? Can you believe the two stiffs who started Game 7 of a WS? Guthrie vs. Hudson?? Seriously, that's like starting some of the No. 5 guys the Sox have been trotting out there, like Carroll. Baseball is one, crazy sport. Just a reminder, Tim Hudson, while old, has won 214 games in his career with an ERA of 3.45. He posted a 3.57 ERA this year.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 09:59 AM) Examples? Alex Smith?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 09:32 AM) i still couldnt believe how early Thibs had Niko, McDermott and Snell out there at the same time. It is a misconception that Thibbs doesn't like rookies. He's gotten a ton out of young players. The big thing with Thibbs is he doesn't want rookies who don't understand defensive rotations and are black holes for our defense. That is his biggest thing. If you can play defense and allow our defense to work, you will get minutes and opportunities to further grow. Butler, Taj, Asik, etc, have all made significant impacts with the Bulls and it was driven by the fact that they were able to hang defensively. Taj was a flat stud. Great post moves, great boards, sick defense. Loved it. But I also love Taj.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 09:44 AM) It isn't that they looked bad, it is that on opening night they didn't even make an effort to run the offense for a single half of basketball and a new head coach. That is bad. But not uncommon, especially for an offense as difficult as the triangle. Phil and his disciples have talked about multiple times how difficult it is to get everyone to play. It is also much harder to stick with anything when you are getting throttled. It should also be noted that no one other then Phil has ever been able to have any sort of success out of the triangle. Also of note, the Knicks blowout happened when there was no Amare or Anthony on the court (when we created the initially seperation which obviously continued) and thus the Knicks had zero post options to run the triangle through, which is a larger part of their problem currently (but that is known as Phil and Fisher's job is going to be develop the few young guys they have plus Melo, continue to work the cap down and create flexibility and start with the next steps in the upcoming years by acquiring more talent). Not saying it will work out but I'd be a lot more worried if I were a Knicks fan and this was 20 or 25 games into the season and you were abandoning the triangle vs. the first game of the season.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 09:26 AM) That's actually something that shouldn't scare you. Reason being, it shows that we are not only a 2 man team. Yes, when they face the Cleveland's of the world, everyone will be needed. When they face teams like the Knicks, they should be able to mash them and the bench should be able to play big minutes in the 2nd half. One thing the 2010 team couldn't do is hold onto big leads in the 4th without the stars staying in. Agreed. That was the thing I most enjoyed, we have a lot more options of guys who can put the ball in the bucket and we still have what should be an excellent defense. The biggest thing for Thibbs is going to be managing the playing time and 4th quarter minutes of our big three in the paint. Dunleavy missed more open threes then I have pretty much ever seen him miss too. Brooks off the bench was very nice. That 2nd unit should be very good with continued practice. I think Taj even talked about how it routinely beat the 1st team unit in practice.

Bears and Emery's problem has more to do with the fact that our defense and special teams are putrid and the personell moves have been bad. We missed the boat on most of our FA signings this year and even last year didn't get the impacts we expected. We also seemed to miss the boat in the evaluation of guys we brought back / opted not to replace (e.g., any of our linebackers). Those things can't be excused. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...1029-story.html Very good article with commentary from an ex front office guy and Cowher. Very good insights and a lot of the issues are focused on roster construction. They also blast our oline.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) I don't because they just aren't talented. That's like the 9th or 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. I agree with you there, but I don't think that is because the triangle doesn't work, I think that is more talent limitations. I would expect to see them contend for a playoff spot (7 or 8 seed)...that might mean they end up at the 9 or 10 and that doesn't mean they are good, I just don't think they will be as bad as they looked. JR Smith definitely needs to go. He is totally lost in the triangle. It will be interesting to see if he can learn it and play within it or not.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 08:48 AM) ? He made one mid range jumper the entire game. He hit 2 in a row or something at one point in 2nd half (or I think it was 2nd half). It looked nice. Still some rust but when he wanted to he was explosive. Conditioning still appears awful though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 08:18 AM) It is too bad because with the spacing a good triangle execution gives, that team could be a 45-50 win team. It was first game with a new offense. I think we are judging Knicks and Fisher too harshly on one game. I'm not saying they are good but I wouldn't call them great. I'd say the same thing about the Bulls. Only team I think you can truly say is hot garbage and might be the worst team of all time is the Lakers at this point.

Got 6 minutes left on my DVR but wow, what a fun game to watch. This team is athletic. I expect we'll have growing pains still but for today, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this performance. This is fun. So glad to be a Bulls fan. Haha, I love Thibbs. Getting pissed with 5 minutes to go up 33. Dougie with a nice game. Rose looked quick, shot flat but did nice job drawing fouls. Taj was a freaking beast and loved the passing from our bigs. Dunleavy with great D and Kirk got a little hot in 2nd half. Next up Cleveland!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 03:20 PM) With the cap going up, he'll get a big offer somewhere if healthy, but the Bulls will have the opportunity to match and they'll be able to go over the tax level to do so if they really had to. It's more of a gamble for Butler's side than it is for the Bulls really, with him already having dealt with a bunch of minor nagging type injuries. We saw what happened with Chandler Parsons. If we think we can get him to a fair contract, there is something to be said about it. Yes, we still have ability to match but that might mean a team comes out with a poison pill or something else that puts us in a tough spot.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 03:11 PM) People are betting the over. I think it started at 53.5 or 54.5. That's 7-8 games better than last year. Assuming Rose is staying healthy, they win 60-62 IMO. But, you just can't assume that anymore. I'm betting he gets banged up at some point, Noah stays banged up for a while. Under for me. And I don't really care so long as everyone is ready to go come playoff time. We also have a lot of new faces, plus Rose coming back. That alone means the first 20 games, we are likely to play near .500 ball (just slightly over is what I expect) which makes the 60 to 62 win range unlikely, imo (let alone the uncertainty from an injury perspective). I think we fall in somewhere around 55 to 58 wins.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102123997#. This article goes to show that often times these financial experts do not understand accounting. They make it sound like this is something specific to a sports franchise. This is the case with any transaction and it is the norm and consistent with our tax code that goodwill and intangibles would be amortized in accordance with your tax code. This isn't a new concept and it happens all the time. Basically put, when you buy a company for X and the FV of all the existing tangible assets, net of liabilities is Y, then the excess is applied to goodwill and other intangibles (trademarks, etc). Laughable that this is really a story.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 10:36 AM) Im not going to disagree with you that they have made mistakes, but this is friend of a friend of a guy information. Interesting that this just now breaks when things arent going so well for the bears, a year and a half after the Trestman hire. Doesn't necessarily make it irrelevant information and it isn't as if what we are talking about is something new. Apparently they had Lovie do the same thing in regards to the mock press conference. It truly seems that perception is far more important than winning football games. Of course the perception I've gotten from the press conferences and our play is we aren't prepared, we don't do the little things, and we certainly don't show any sense of urgency. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that there is a brass of arrogance and a belief that everything is hunky dory and we really don't have whole scale problems to solve. I'm telling you the more this goes, the more likely it will turn out that Trestman is a total and utter disaster as a head coach. When people were ready to annoit him, I wasn't and the same with Emery who I have always been skeptical of. One thing I will give Emery credit for, is more often then not, he seems to at least understand where our position of need are and at least try to address it, which is a step up from Angelo who seemed to ignore some of our major problem areas for some time. All that said, I never in a million years imaged our offense would stink like it has. I did have faith in Trestman's offensive ability and even that I'm questioning at this point. He's got a small window to adjust cause the league has most certainly adjusted to our offense. And if it is in fact Jay not running the offense right, well then, either fix it or see if Claussen can, cause either way, you aren't going to get granted with a new QB to solve your problem, not when you were on board with extending Jay.

What a joke this franchise is: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...028-column.html That is absurd and just ridiculous. Again, Arians had an actual clue (as did the other top candidates) of reality where the Bears clearly didn't and they ended up hiring the one coach, desperate enough for a position, and out of touch of the reality that was the friendship between Rod and Lovie. The fact that Emery and others were so surprised just tells you how out of touch they were with the reality of the situation. Again, I say, a bunch of clowns, and for those that no my posting history, I'd like to think I'm pretty even keel by and large.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 09:05 AM) It's preseason. As soon as he did it they should have taken him back in the locker room because...it's preseason. God you act like this is the first time the Bulls suddenly have no grasp on the severity of a players injury. Why don't you refresh your memory? http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/8/43116...ol-deng-doctors By the way, in regards to Butler, we are talking about an injury that was initially reported correctly and still seems pretty accurate. They are monitoring him and he's slowly getting more basketball activity in. What have they said that was wrong? They never said he'd be back immediately. They never said he'd play today and right now it seems like Butler would think he's going to miss one game.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 09:05 AM) It's preseason. As soon as he did it they should have taken him back in the locker room because...it's preseason. God you act like this is the first time the Bulls suddenly have no grasp on the severity of a players injury. Why don't you refresh your memory? http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/5/8/43116...ol-deng-doctors You know how many injuries NBA players play through. I'm not saying one thing or another but the Bulls never forced Deng onto the court nor did they mismanage Rose. If you want to blame Rose's injury on someone, blame it on the NBA and the stupidity of the strike shortened season or go as far as Van Gundy and push the league to get rid of back to backs.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) Maybe not, but this was a franchise that employed that team and didn't fire him, he left on his own. I have zero confidence they then hired a fantastic new team. Despite the fact they have 100% of their team salary tied to chronically injured players they don't seem to put a priority on it. They hired the person Rose was comfortable with.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 08:48 AM) Granted, looks like Thibs was just bad at math here, but the Bulls medical team being horrible is not isolated to this incident. Again, it is a new medical team starting this year and to be frank it didn't happen until 6 to 8 weeks ago or whenever it was. Whatever notions on past team can't necessary be applied to current team.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 07:43 AM) Organizations that big I never give money to. They always seem to be run by resume-building elite who don't give a s*** about them. Closest would probably be Salvation Army largely due to family history with them. :angry Not at you...just sore subject on that last company mentioned.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 08:37 AM) @kcjohnson Thibodeau backed off the 2-4 week projection for Butler a bit. Later said 1-3. And this is from original injury Oct. 19. Still, a blow. Thibbs probably just wants to have wiggle room in there and not want to get asked about it every day, haha.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 08:23 AM) I honestly can't believe how Reinsdorf can have one of the best trainers in baseball, and continue to have the worst medical staff in basketball. How are they so inept? How do they consistently misunderstand the severity of injuries? Technically this is a new training staff. What happened? Did he reinjure? Or was this just them re-evaluating and deciding that to get to 100% he needs 2 to 4 more weeks and they opted to do that vs. the risk of reinjury. With our depth, we should be able to overcome and I'd rather have a healthy Butler then worry about this issue continuing to recrop throughout. Still, I was hoping Buckets was going to take the next step forward this year!

Great stuff in there.