Chisoxfn

Its officially Belgium on Tuesday, right?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 02:04 PM) Alright, who has some bold predictions for this years class? Here are a few I have: 1) Wiggins will be a bust. Not an out-of-the-league-in-three-years kinda bust, but not an all-star quality player either. I watched a fair amount of Kansas games and except for the clearly apparent athletic ability, he never really blew me away with his basketball skills. I also have no faith in any of the top three teams to develop him. 2) Randle ends up being one of the top 2-3 NBA players out of this draft. Not sure he'll be a perennial all-star, but up to that level and a steady contributor. 3) McDermott becomes a quality NBA player. Not all-star level, but not a bench warmer either. Definitely not Adam Morrison/Jimmer 2.0 So you want the Bulls to tank but then talk about how Wiggins would be a bust, etc. Not sure I'm really following this.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:53 PM) He had 8 games where he scored double digits in his final 28 games. He was dreadful. Athleticism is through the roof, but again, how many uber athletes did the Spurs have? Defensively he's going to be elite. You talk about scoring but Thibbs will find a way to use him and be more patient with his development due to his defensive prowess. Offensively his game is a work in process, with a lot of upside. Spurs did have some pretty darn good athletes. Park / Leonard are both great athletes and Duncan is no slouch (just the best 4 to ever play the game).

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:55 PM) Pretty much. But what if he pulls the deal off and then LeBron decides he's better off elsewhere? Plus, if you're LeBron, do you seriously think Melo's a better option than Harden? Harden's younger and he's a better long-range shooter. Plus he's a natural 2, unlike Carmelo, who's a 3. Ok...let me explain things a little clearer. First, no trade for Melo can be made right now...None. 2nd, the only way they are making that trade is if Lebron and Melo have both told the Rockets they want to go there and verbally agreed. That is it. The Rockets are just making sure they have scenarios lined up if those options do come to fruition. It is smart.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) So how stupid would Morey be to trade Harden for Melo straight up? I don't even think Melo's that much better than Harden, if at all. Read the other posts; They are only making that trade if Lebron and Melo are a package deal coming to Houston. They won't make it before then (unless of course that is something Melo wants).

Jordan Bernfield ‏@JordanBernfield 2h .@RicBucher said on our show the report that D Rose wouldn't want to play with Melo or wants Love more "couldn't be further from the truth."

I still can't believe the Rockets did so well on Asik. Makes you cringe that we didn't sign him and end up doing the same this thing year. In hindsight, we would have gotten a few extra years out of Asik and then what looks to be a pretty darn good lotto pick this year (since reports are anything from 4-19 would go to Houston). I am pretty worried about Morey. He is a mover and a shaker. Houston is a total dump of a city but they have a lot to offer personnel wise (+ lack of state income tax). Worries me, although would Melo really want to go from NY to Houston. Chicago is a smaller version of NY. He'd still have access to tons of fun places, eateries, etc, and a first class city. Houston really doesn't offer that, imo.

@HowardBeck Rival exec tells me Rockets already have a Jeremy Lin deal lined up and ready to execute if they need the cap room to sign Melo or LBJ.

Ric Bucher has reported that the Rose camp has reached out to Melo to let him know they want him in Chicago!

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) He continued to get better and better? Didn't he score like 6 points total in his last 5 games? He wouldn't get off Thibs bench for 3 years. I'm saying as a talent. I'm talking season as a whole and he was playing really good for UCLA down the stretch in PAC 10 play. Wasn't focused as much on scoring as just overall game. He's raw with serious upside. He'd be the type of guy you stash and develop through practice but his defensive upside is the reason you can probably eventually get Thibbs to buy into him. More then anything right now we need shooting and Lavine doesn't address that right now so for the Bulls they probably don't take him, but I think he has as much, if not more, pure upside then anyone else at those spots in the draft. Note: Like anyone as raw as he was, you were going to have your bad games too, which he had plenty of offensively during the season.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:30 PM) Also, just an aside, but I can't believe the Lavine love. That kid is so raw, he reminds me of Tyrus Thomas hype except the NBA has gotten smarter. Lavine at 16 or 19 would be a huge coup. Guy at a minimum will be an elite defender at his position and has a lot of ultimate upside. We aren't talking about a top 5 pick here. And having watched UCLA, he continued to get better and better. Lots of upside for a guy slated to go somewhere in the teens.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 12:30 PM) Look at the Lakers. That's what we'd be. A team with an expensive oft-injured "star", an aging and broken Gasol (Noah if we had tanked), and a whole lotta garbage around em. But hey! The #7 pick! So excited are they they are trying to turn that into Klay Thompson. Exactly. Like we'd want to even be close to that situation.

Ventura seems to be great at managing the people aspects of the game. I don't care who you are, with this bullpen, you aren't winning. I think you look at how he handles the clubhouse and develops players and then evaluate things at the end of the season. If you think he needs some help on the X's and O's, then you hire a better bench coach. I certainly don't see any reason why he should be fired this year.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 11:10 AM) My comment was actually directly based on the betting pov. I think Portugal was maybe a few percentage points more likely to get out of the group but it really wasn't that much. I think that skews Ghana downward, as US / Portugal have a much stronger following internationally (and more international respect) but agree. The reason this group was one of the toughest was the depth and strength of all three of this teams. These teams could have made it out of almost any other bracket, but aren't moving forward. There were some brackets where the 3rd and 4th teams were both hot garbage, imo. CONCA has done very well, which is something we should all be proud of as it adds more respect / credibility to our region / contingent. Now lets move forward!!

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 11:05 AM) I dunno that that's true. I guess you could say Gibson might not be as valuable as he is today because he had a great season, but I think he still had a lot of value. If anything Butler has dropped in value. Management tried to tank. They got rid of the best player after Rose. They signed guys off the scrap heap. I dunno that you get in the top 3 (although there's always the chance), but anywhere in the top 10 would have been great. If we were coming off a 35 win season, with a #10 pick, we would be worse off. I'd rather the shot at Melo then the 10th pick. Screw that. Nothing franchise changing about a 10th pick (at least not in the near term). Could it hit, sure, but we have 16 and 19 in a deep and young draft. Give me a Euro player + Levine or another youngster with some upside (or grab a shooter) and I'm content.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 11:02 AM) Not sure it had much to do with reputation so much as at least you get SOMETHING for the guy. You know the guy is leaving regardless of what you do, so why not get at least some pennies back. I don't think any organization wants to have a wrap of not helping another team, when they make a realistic offer, out of pure principle. For example, say the Heat made a fair offer to Cleveland for a S&T and that was what everyone wanted and they still said no..no...no, then it is something that is a strike for other players. It would be like this people talking about the Heat tricking Wade to opt-out (saying they'll give him 4yrs 60 million) and once he does, they go another path and don't bring him back. Good luck signing people when you have a history of that. The Bulls are still scarred from some of the stuff Krause does. It really matter, these guys are a fraternity and you better take care of your players or when they want to make a change (especially when it is in FA), ultimately end up respecting their wishes.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 11:05 AM) I think a lot of people in this thread had the US moving on originally. So for them, it's not a huge surprise I guess. I was not expecting us to win a game, honestly. I had two draws and a loss and that was my optimistic outlook. And umm...Michael Bradley...that was a really bad game from him. The field conditions were bad, but everyone had to deal with it and not everyone was having the ball pop up on them like Bradley. A lot of people that were homers. You have to look at the international view point, imo, or the betting view points, which tend to be much better indicators.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:59 AM) Meh, I'd say like a 4 or 5. Us and Portugal were very close for most likely to grab that 2nd spot out of this group. People are really underselling Ghana. Ghana played very well against Germany, outplayed us (albeit we suffered some tough injuries) and really were just a disaster this past game due to off the field issues. That is what made the bracket so tough, you had a total juggernaut in Germany and 3 other teams that were fully capable of advancing, so no real cookie. I think outside the world, some would have said the US was the worst team in the bracket, my personal belief has long been that all 3 teams were in a similar spot but when you consider we played without Altidore, our leading scorer over the past year +, this is a very good result and something most people wouldn't have expected. I think our % of advancing was down in the low 30%'s if I recall and I'd put this at a 7 or so. First time in US history to advance out of group play 2 straight cups. Now lets beat Belgium!

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) Why exactly is Melo a major upgrade over Harden? To me that's basically creating the same team. Except somehow worse at defense without Asik. It is because they think Melo means they get Lebron. If they didn't get Lebron and moved Harden for Melo, it is a worse move long term because long term, I'd rather have Harden then Melo. I do think Melo has the better defensive upside, dare you call it, and will play defense more often on the Bulls, given our coach and leadership (plus I just think Melo is going to be a bit more mature). He also is going to get a lot of opportunities on offense so he shouldn't have to worry much about that.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:54 AM) Probably will face Belgium which will be a very tough match up as well, should be good. I believe that we will win!

Working out great. About 20 seconds till Portugal - Ghana ends.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) Poor non-call followed by a poor call. Wow. Yeah, that was a bad call. Thank god for my huge Galaxy S4 screen for the streaming action.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 26, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) That's true, except if neither team can do it without S&T, Knicks can just refuse to do business with Chicago Sure, they can, but do you want that reputation as a team? The answer is typically no. Even Cleveland eventually agreed to a S&T for LBJ.

We are in a great position, real risk is Ghana overplays everything and Portugal ends up getting a ton of easy goals to neutralize our significant tie-break advantage we have against them, imo.

Right now would be a good time for a counter for Portugal to take the lead.