Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 12:26 AM) Scott Schoeneweis Andrew Sisco Javier Lopez Jason Grilli Bobby Seay Octavio Dotel--Pirates Boone Logan Aaron Poreda Scott Eyre Bobby Howry David Riske Luis Vizcaino Neal Cotts Damaso Marte Didn't he say "good" bullpen guys?

Mark should be a source of inspiration for soft-tossing lefties everywhere.

I'm surprised it took this long (9 days?) for fathom to start his yearly Cubs slurping.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 11:49 PM) I said Most Improved Player (MIP), not Most Valuable Player (MVP), or in the running. Though from what I'm hearing, most people (or "experts") have Aaron Brooks or George Hill winning it, though I would personally give it to either Andrew Bogut (the injury might have cost him too), or Marc Gasol who is having an under the radar year. Speaking of MVP, though it's LeBron's to lose, I still don't know why Howard or Durant don't get more love/consideration for it. MIP is what I was talking about. Lebron should be the unanimous MVP. But Durant is the heavy favorite to get MIP (not that the MIP is some great award). Scoring champion at 21? It's a lock.

Damn, I just found out Kentucky landed Brandon Knight AND Michael Gilchirst. Knight was a given. But Gilchirst?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 10:38 PM) Damn shame Noah got that injury not to mention had little minutes and was dicked around on the bench when he came back. Probably cost him the Most Improved Player award. Kevin Durant has had the award locked up for the last, I don't know, 5 months?

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 10:09 PM) Is it not true? Noah was the leading rebounder in the NBA when he got hurt and was like 3rd in the league in double-doubles. And Rose clearly stepped it up in November when his ankle was finally healthy. Either way, my point stays the same. I highly doubt people were expecting Noah to get injured when they made their predictions. You could be right. Although I don't know if I'd add 9 wins to their total if they were healthy all year. I mean, they lost to the Nets twice. No excuse for that.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 10:04 PM) Fans from every team don't have Derrick Rose and a ton of cap space this summer. I was talking about your injury excuse.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 09:56 PM) If Noah and Gibson don't get plantar fascitis and Rose was healthy to start the season, this would be a 50 win team and everyone who posted in this thread would look dumb. This team is very promising for the future. Now give Cleveland a series and go sign Chris Bosh please. Fans from every team can point to multiple injuries and say the same thing.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 09:24 PM) Rose > Mo Williams I would actually take Noah/Miller over Shaq/Varajeo right now. QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 09:44 PM) Rose >>>>>>>> Mo Williams. Noah/Miller > Shaq/Varejao as you said. Hinrich > West in my opinion at least. I'll take Jamison and LeBron over Taj & Deng, but I think Jamison is slowing down a bit, since his scoring has dropped and his rebounding went down (not a lot). A healthy Bulls can at least make it interesting. Verejao >> Miller What Verejao does for Cleveland defensively easily trumps anything Brad Miller does. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Shaq go off in the playoffs. They could've won 60+ games without him. But they brought him there for the playoffs. And you know he'd LOVE to get a shot at Kobe and the Lakers in the finals.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 12:54 AM) Man, you probably have to go back to the mid 80's to recall the top teams being so devastatingly deep/talented in comparison to the rest of the league. The Lakers, Spurs, Celtics, Cavs and Magic are all, at least on paper, COMPLETELY STACKED! The Lakers, as much as it pains me to say, have to be considered the favorite. They have the fewest questions marks and added an all-star in Ron Artest (although I think they would be every bit as good had they resigned Ariza instead). The Spurs are a big wildcard. IF (big f***ing IF) Manu and Duncan are healthy all year, they're every bit as good as the Lakers, IMO. When Richard Jefferson is your 4th best player, you're the s***. And I love the McDyess/Blair additions. That pretty much takes care of the west. Ain't nobody else close. For the east? The Celtics, like the Spurs, are the wildcard. IF healthy, they're the class of the conference. They've got the best starting 5 in the game and a much better bench to compliment it than they had last year. I keep flip-flopping between the Cavs and Magic. The Cavs obviously have the best player on earth in Lebron. And if Shaq is the Shaq from last season, he makes them better. But it's hard to go against Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and a healthy Jameer Nelson. Their overall depth is insane. They legitimately go 12 deep. If the Celtics are healthy, they're my pick in the east. If not, I'm goin' with the Magic. Spurs over Celtics in the finals. But the safest pick is obviously the Lakers. As for the Bulls? 41-41. I think Dick Allen said it best. This is a team stuck in pure mediocrity for the moment. A playoff team for sure. But that's it. However, I will enjoy, hopefully, watching the evolution of Derrick Rose.

So when's the Grant Park rally?

If you're gonna suck, it's better to REALLY suck.

B.J. Upton having himself a day. How devastating is that Tampa offense if he finally puts it together? And David Price is good.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) I could see them just cutting bait or trading him for a bag of balls while paying 90% of his contract. They have a ton of money. Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 09:15 AM) All this excitement over the Bulls really pisses me off, to the point that I'm disgusted in Chicago Bulls fans. Why is everyone getting excited that the Bulls are fighting with a Chris Boshless Toronto Raptors team for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference? The Bulls suck, and have gone nowhere in the last 5 years. They've made every wrong decision sans Derrick Rose who was giftwrapped for them. Now, fans think it's some big deal that the Bulls are going out and beating old injured Celtics teams or Cavs teams sans Lebron to pass the Raptors who don't have Chris Bosh. I hope the Bulls get crushed tonight, per the usual, and I hope the Knicks lay down against the Raptors. While I'll never openly root for the Bulls to lose, I think you're spot on. I was watching ABC last night and the words "big" and "must-win" were used to describe the game. I was thinking in my head, "Damn, from 6 titles in the 90's to must-win games to get that precious 8th seed in a wack conference." It is kinda embarrassing. But that's what happens when your franchise is the bi-product of arguably the greatest team sports athlete of all-time. We weren't s*** before MJ. And we've been worse since MJ. But at least Rose gives us hope.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 08:29 AM) No, no, and no. You got it all wrong. When Mark Buehrle pitches a perfect game or a no hitter, it's because of how awesome he is, opposing batters didn't have a chance. When someone does it to us (or comes close), it's because our offense sucks and our manager/hitting coach need to be fired! It's called Soxtalktality -- a blend of group think from Sox talk and the mentality it creates. Best post of thread.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 03:25 AM) I'd think about it for about a second, laugh hysterically, then hope KW doesn't smoke himself retarded if he even considers giving up Huddy for Gerardo freaking Parra. (and I hate dissing guys who have my first name but that would be an embarrassing return) I tried to say this in a nicer manner. But yeah. A Hudson for Parra swap (assuming Parra would be the main piece) would obliterate the debacle that was the Nick Swisher trade (what we gave up to acquire him).

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 02:11 AM) After doing more research on Parra, I agree that Pierre + Cash + Throw In doesn't do anything. I'd think long and hard about a Hudson deal. Hudson is the best pitching 'spect (not saying much considering our recent history) that we've had in a long time. Nothing against Parra. I'd just hope KW was aiming a little higher.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 12:24 AM) We used 124 different lineups last year. The Angels used 123. The Twins used 129. The Tigers used 126. Texas used 123. The Rays used 123. I knew this was the case. I was just too lazy to look it up. QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 12:33 AM) Well to be fair, he was considered an overdraft (think Tyler Colvin of the Cubs type overdraft) in 2005. He will forever be known for some people, including myself, as "that guy who was taken before Troy Tulowitski" and I remembered I was stunned they didn't take Tulo, Mike Pelfrey (only at least had a very good 08 season/made it to the bigs) or Wade Townsend (though he has been a huge bust, as I was a fan of his) especially because both the pitchers and Tulo were more highly touted and had better college numbers comming out. One start against us won't change my mind on him unless he continues this the whole season, but the guy has always had pressure living up to being selected that high and hasn't been too bad through-out the minors. We'll see on him. Well, he had a solid rookie year last year. So it's not like he came outta nowhere. And the "stuff" was never in question. So I'm not just going by tonight's domination. I'm sure they'll be a big fat article on Fangraphs tomorrow highlighting his performance.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 09:57 PM) Romero was damn good tonight, other than Vizquel leading off, you really can't blame Ozzie. I get the feeling quite a few people around here have never heard of Romero. He wasn't taken 6th overall in the '05 draft for kicks. He's got a good FB, a plus change and a plus curve.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 11:35 PM) Not only is his defense awesome, but the dude walks and hits for average. He'd be perfect for leadoff. Would Pierre + $4M + A Throw in Prospect (Marrero? Shelby?) get it done? Maybe if Josh Byrnes is huffin' paint.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 03:55 PM) 2-4 with a walk and a SB today. For the season... .452AVG 0HR 3RBI 6SB 0CS .542OBP Evan Longoria and Joe Mauer have some serious competition for MVP.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 13, 2010 -> 10:09 PM) Who would they have played instead of Detroit had they gotten the second seed? The Raptors or the Nets. They would've clobbered either team, IMO.

Splendid all-around performance tonight. I can't help but expect a letdown tomorrow. Shades of 2007 when all we had to do was beat the Nets to lock up the #2 seed and get a free pass to the conference finals is still fresh in my mind.