nitetrain8601

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 06:49 PM) Lottery pick yes, he clearly has talent, and I'm not terribly impressed with this draft so I could even buy top-5. Answer to all of the Bulls problems, no. Not sure where the passing thing comes from though, I've watched a handful of USC games and seen one pass I'd consider impressive. I also haven't seen anything that shows that he's as explosive as Iguodala, though he's definitely above average. Mayo is more like Kobe. And just to let you know, Andre wasn't as good as OJ was in college. As someone who followed OJ through AAU ball, he will be special at the next level. I will bet you $100 he shoots at least 40% his first year and closer to 40% from the 3 point line.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 02:04 PM) I disagree. Why would working on your weaknesses be a waste of time. Josh needs to learn to field his position better and cut down on his K's. What I would like to see in a perfect Sox world is for him to learn another position and Joe C be signed to an extension. Bingo, his power is nice and all, but this team needs more defense, especially with our 3-4-5 pitchers out there. Heck, Buehrle relies on good defense as well. I think people are underrating how important defense is to have out there which is how we ended up with the 2000-2004 teams.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 24, 2008 -> 10:49 AM) Riiiight, two off-guards that shoot a lot, don't create for others, and turn it over at a high rate are totally not comparable. I guess the guys that write the profiles at NBAdraft.net agree with that comparison for no particular reason. About the only real difference is that Gordon shoots more 3's because he is a bit more effective at it, and I guess Mayo does a lot less of the ball (though that's probably more of an experience thing). If anything Gordon was more productive in college at distributing the ball, and he actually played off the ball a lot with Taliek Brown playing the point. You're ripping on Hinrich for holding the ball too long, but what exactly does Mayo do that's so different? Does he not dominate the ball and then try to do something at the end of every shot clock? At least when Kirk does it someone might hit an open jumper, Mayo the best you can hope for is a contested shot the majority of the time. That's not exactly a new thing at USC either, he's been doing that basically his whole career. And yes, USC is better than K-State, that team is totally sub-par outside of Beasley and Walker (who's pretty streaky, and was only considered an elite prospect before the ACL injury). USC has another potential 1st rounder with Jefferson, a solid college big man with Gibson, and two other reasonably capable guards with Hackett and Lewis. Despite that it all basically comes down to whether Mayo converts at a decent rate or not. They were actually a better team last year with Young, Pruitt (2.41 AST/TO ratio in the same system by the way), and Stewart in the backcourt and without Jefferson, which is pretty weird given all the hype with Mayo. I'm still trying to get how you can logically say that a guy with a negative assist/TO ratio in college in any way creates more shots for teammates effectively than a guy that consistently averages over 6 assists in the pros at a ratio well over 2:1. Maybe somewhere down the road he can get better with improved decision making, but he's nowhere close to that now and is always going to create for himself first. Hinrich isn't a great PG by any stretch of the imagination, but at least he actually tries to pass the ball more than 10% of the time. You have the same problem with Hughes and Gordon, they're both always going to look for their shot first, which hurts the offensive flow even worse than Hinrich's over-dribbling. Mayo is going to be an above average scorer, but without drastic improvements to his decision making and passing abilities he's going to end up being a guy that puts up great stats but hurts your team in the long run like Stephon Marbury or Jamal Crawford. Realistically there isn't that much difference between him and Larry Hughes, which isn't exactly a good thing given his shooting percentages and the records of the various teams on his resume and the fact that Cleveland essentially gave him away. Again, Mayo shoots alot because he is asked to by Floyd. I don't know why you ignore this. Floyd told him that's what he wants from him. Mayo could easily play facilatator. Only time when he starts going 1-on-5 is when he's hot, then, yes he will start chucking shots, but the greats do as well. Gordon is also asked to score by the Bulls because that's his best assett. What do you want a SG to do? His main job is to score and play defense. That's why Hughes shoots alot too. That's their job. Mayo plays really good defense and I've seen him smother opposing defenders. He just has trouble guarding super quick guys, but even at that, when him and Derrick Rose played each other in AAU ball, there were times when Rose simply could not get past him and vice versa. USC has better individual talent than Kansas State, but they're not a great team. Their system is terrible and they have too many individuals such as Davon. Plus, the spacing again makes it terrible for players such as Mayo who use their quick first step to set up alot of their offense. It's a reason why Derrick Rose hasn't looked like a superstar. Both players will be much better in the NBA. As far as Hinrich, he's a mediocre PG. A great 5th starter and by that, you have to surround him with a ton of talent or with a bonafide superstar. His jumpshot has never been anything to write home about, and it took him a long time to be able to make a post entry pass which I'm still not so sure he could do with consistency. He's a natural SG as well. That's where he played in college and high school. His defense is what put him above the rest of this team, and he's no longer great at that. He also gets cheap fouls after he feels there was a blown call and he loves to complain to the refs. Cleveland gave Larry Hughes away because he was a terrible fit. He isn't a half-court player and he needs the ball in his hands to create. Mike Brown basically runs the "Give LeBron the ball and get out of the way offense" which made the rest of the team stagnant. Hughes loves to run, Cleveland never did. The injuries as well were just the writing on the wall. OJ Mayo today is alot better than Hughes or any other guard on the Bulls team and it's not even close.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2008 -> 08:35 PM) I don't want OJ Mayo anywhere near this team, right now he's basically Ben Gordon with a weaker jumpshot and isn't quite as awful defensively. He goes 1 on 5 with regularity and very rarely creates anything for his teammates. A 44 FG% and a 3.3/3.5 Ast/TO ratio bodes very poorly for the NBA. He'll score points, but that's about all he'll do, and rather inefficiently at that. That makes it hard to win, as shown by USC's 20-10 record and 1st round loss to an inferior team. He's an especially suspect fit if Hughes and/or Gordon is still here next year, since all of them are shoot-first players and none of them can distribute the ball and create for others with any kind of efficency. Even with Hinrich's drop-off in play he has an Ast/TO ratio well north of 2, which is more than you can say for any of them (yeah, I know, Hughes is at about 2.1/1 with the Bulls. That's a pretty small sample size.). I'm not saying Hinrich is the long time answer at PG since he appears to have forgetten how to hit 3's and defend, but it's clearly not any of those guys. Ben Gordon and OJ Mayo are in no way comparable. They play completely and I mean completely different games. And you cannot compare college stats to NBA stats. There's way less spacing in college and Tim Floyd's offensive system has really crippled Mayo's game. Everyone on USC tries to go 1 on 5 and that's why they never played like a team. And Kansas State isn't really inferior. They have Michael Beasley who many considered the best player in his high school class along with Bill Walker who many considered better than OJ Mayo. Let's get this straight, Mayo was never asked to create at USC. He was asked to purely score by Tim Floyd and he embraced that role. Floyd has said so before and continues to praise OJ on his work ethic and leadership. I'd take any of the other guys you mentioned over Hinrich as a starting PG. Hinrich can't shoot and he's terrible at creating for others. His best asset which was defense, has been lost. He brings nothing to the table unless you call dribbling out 15 seconds of the clock, driving, and then kicking it out to the opposing team good.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2008 -> 05:21 PM) I think I agree with you on a decent amount of stuff based on your post, but I'm still just not sold on OJ Mayo. Or for that matter, on Eric Gordon. I just don't think either of them have really showed me that plugging them in to our lineup is going to be a quick fix. But, I think the back court is the place that the overhaul should happen. Between Gooden, Tyrus, and Noah, with Gray as a 4th option, I think we actually have a solid frontcourt that if we ever develop it or ever, you know, stop playing 4 guards and Gooden for 10 minute periods down the stretch as leads bleed away (Seriously, how many leads does this small lineup need to lose for the Bulls before Boylan realizes..."hmmm, rebounding down the stretch might be useful"). If you pencil down Goodon, TT, and Noah for 30 minutes a game between those 3 positions, I think the Bulls set up a solid front court rotation next year. I'm less sold on the back court though. Ben Gordon is looking to me like a time bomb. He didn't get his contract this year and it showed. He clearly was missing a lot this season. Instead of taking a step forwards, he took a step backwards. He doesn't look to make anything happen for anyone but himself, he's not a ball handler, he's not getting better at his weaknesses, he wants a lot more money than what he's worth to this team, and he's convinced he's an all star starter if he ever gets the minutes, which he doesn't earn. He's a hard worker by all accounts, but I'm just not sure he's a smart worker. I'm sorta happy with Thabo and Hughes...Hughes would be hard to move now, but he has a contract that expires in the Wade/Lebron/Melo year, which makes him very valuable as a trading chip in a year or two, he's actually able to slash in to the lane and break down a defense or draw a foul, which is what Gordon seemingly refuses to ever try, despite the fact that he should be great at it as fast as he is. He's guaranteed to make some mistakes. But I can live with some of those. And Thabo's development this year, although it's been stunted since he got hurt/since his minutes vanished when he came back, but a 15 point 8 rebound guard who can play real good defense could be darn useful. I think that the PG position is where we have to try to upgrade, is the message overall. I like our rotations in the front court, at SG if we can trim away some of the excess people, but with the way Hinrich has performed this year I just can't see him carrying this team. I'm not sold on Gordon either. I always thought if you drafted him, you're drafting Ben Gordon part 2, except I still think Ben is more explosive as a scorer and Eric really did look awful down the stretch. Pretty much a non-factor as well in his tournament game.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 23, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) 30 points vs Marquette in a 1 point win and was 10-11 from the free throw line. I'd find a way to trade up. Marquette doesn't have any worthwhile big men.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 23, 2008 -> 04:03 PM) Count Hibbard of Georgetown off my list. In a tough fought game and against a 10 seed, he scored a whopping 6 points and had 1 rebound. I've counted him off the list since last year. All you have to do is play uptempo and he is negated right away. I think Aaron Gray is a lesser stiff than this guy.

Welcome to Soxtalk first and foremost. With that said, I think Josh should get that one guy who tutored Crede on how to play 3B in the minors. That one hot prospect who couldn't hit but was one of the slickest fielders that never played the game.

I'm not worried about Danks, I'm worried about this offense still not clicking. I can't think of one game this spring where we dominated. Great pitching is useless if you can't score some runs.

He might be a first rounder. That would be great if we were drafting last year, but we need the BPA at our position. That will not be Kyle Long. Look at the last few posts in the Draft/Scouting Thread I made. Those are guys I think the Sox would be better suited to go after.

Anderson Varejao would be a correct assessment. As for the draft, I'm not sold on Brook Lopez. I think he will be a decent 6th man or a really good 4th starter on a team, but nothing to write home about. DeAndre Jordan is too raw which is evidenced by the fact that he doesn't even start in college. Hibbert isn't 100% focused and does not play at his highest level most of the time (think Frank Williams). The Bulls need a playmaker in this draft, whether it be a big or a guard, that's what they lack the most. Hinrich isn't that great of a PG. He could play there, yea but he really can't create for others and his shot is not good enough to be a consistent SG or scoring PG at least. Hinrich is the same player he was when he came in as a rookie, just making more money. Gordon might be able to play PG if they let him learn the position. He's creative and has shown flashes of brilliance on passes, but then sometimes he does dumb stuff. That's the problem with the Bulls in terms of developing players though. They want you to concentrate on doing what you're good at and don't want you to even think or attempt what you're bad at which is why none of our players have developed really. Tyrus lost a year of experience because of the way he's been jacked around. Deng is nothing more than a 3rd scorer on a championship contending team. He doesn't have the desire to take over games or even want the ball in his hands when the game is in the balance. In fact, in 4th quarters, he usually goes quiet. He kind of reminds me of Lamar Odom. He has a ton of talent, but they just coast along and let the game come to them, they're not aggressive at all and they settle alot for what the defense gives them. I don't ever see him averaging more than 17ppg. Guy I want most on this team is OJ Mayo.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 22, 2008 -> 10:55 PM) People were holding onto the belief that he would eventually come to the South Side. Our only shot was this winter and it didn't happen. 8 years is a long time. Detroit might look like the Rangers trying to recover from the A-Rod deal in a few years. I doubt it. Their owner is rich and is more than willing to spend. I remember reading a couple of years ago that he believes there is no reason they can't become the Yankees and after winning a bunch of Stanley Cups (this was during the strike), he wanted to bring back baseball in Detroit permanently and would do it by any means necessary. This won't handicap Detroit at all.

I rather have the 100mph fastball Bobby Jenks

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 15, 2008 -> 12:27 PM) Jerrance didn't recruit Richmond, Weber is the reason they got Simpson, Price was the lead recruiter on Paul and Griffey, for Head Jerrance certainly helped but Lu and the Head family love Weber, Legion certainly was thanks to Jerrance, and DJ committed much earlier than he would have thanks to Jerrance. Bertrand would have been Illini no matter what once he got offered. Keller was a Jerrance guy as well. The fact people are giving all the credit to Howard is absolutely absurd. Jerrance didn't recruit Richmond, you're right, but he sure as hell is the reason why he's sticking with the Illini. It was in some article awhile back. Simpson is nothing special. He will be no better than Shaun Pruitt. They will definitely not be as good next year without Brian Randle who isn't even that great. Yes I do realize they have Jamar coming back next year, but he is not as good as Randle. McCamey really hasn't shown much and I do expect him to get a bit better, but it will be very very hard for them to do good next year, especially considering the rest of the conference will be a lot stronger. This year was a down year for the Big Ten.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Mar 15, 2008 -> 03:36 AM) Deron Williams had himself a game. He'd be the 1 player I'd love to pair with Dwight Howard for the next 10 years. Chris Paul had 26 and 17 last night again I believe.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 12, 2008 -> 05:42 PM) Weber is on fire right now. Jerrance Howard is. I don't think he'll go with the Illini because he's going to witness how horrible they are next year, and yes, they will be brutal next year.

Yeah, for Sweeney, I wouldn't care if he hits for power as long as he gets on base and fixes that looping hole.

OF - Isaac Galloway http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...6&draftId=6

OF/P - Aaron Hicks http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...6&draftId=6 http://soxprospects.wikispaces.com/Aaron+Hicks

C - Kyle Skipworth http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...3&draftId=6 http://soxprospects.wikispaces.com/Kyle+Skipworth

1B - Yonder Alonso http://soxprospects.wikispaces.com/Yonder+Alonso http://prospectsplus.baseballamerica.com/content/264821.html http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...7&draftId=6

2B/SS - Jemile Weeks http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...3&draftId=3 http://soxprospects.wikispaces.com/Jemile+Weeks

SS - Brandon Crawford http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewAmateurPlayer...9&draftId=6 http://soxprospects.wikispaces.com/Brandon+Crawford Sounds more like a Brian Roberts type player to me.

Anyone have any ideas on what the Sox desperately need the most so I could post more scouting reports for potential players?

I was always a fan of Brian Anderson and Ryan Sweeney. Check the record!