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One thing I'll say, is that just seems to be a really strange core for the lakers. It might take a bit for that group to mesh. I can't decide if you'd see Howard flourish offensively with Nash or go Garnett and relish the opportunity to just focus on defense and defer offensively. But jesus, Howard and Gasol? who can compete with the two best 7 footers in the league...AND the best pure PG offensively... And Kobe. edit: apparently howard is only 6'11.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jul 18, 2012 -> 07:26 AM) 25 pts and 7 rebs for Butler in the first summer league game. Can't wait to see what he can do with some playing time in the regular season. but an abysmal game for Teague. sigh.

QUOTE (My_Sox_Summer @ Jul 17, 2012 -> 10:13 PM) Thanks Scotty! It is really just me trying to see if it can be done. From what I have experienced so far, it is very possible. Swing- you bring up an interesting point. As a child I went to very few games and man, it was a shocker if I got something from that game, food included. Maybe a 25¢ hot dog or brat at a minor league game in Clinton, IA. But that wasn't the reason for me going. When I lived out west (Huntington Beach, CA) I only went to the Sox series in Anaheim, so I would spend more. Mostly on beer, rarely on food. I got a bunch of free tickets to those games too, so I thought it was an even trade. I don't judge the people spending massive amounts, but the baseball experience doesn't need to include a $15 nacho helmet washed down with an $8 beer. The Sox are a great value for the quality they put on the field. Even after 23 games I still get goosebumps when they start playing AC/DC. Go Sox! That nacho helmet is the best bargain in the stadium.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 09:49 PM) I assume he meant that Greinke is a small market pitcher due to this anxierty disorder. He can't mentally handle pitching in a big market with the added pressure. (Not that anyone goes to Sox games anyway) Seems perfect for white sox.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jul 16, 2012 -> 09:47 PM) I'm assuming he means there's a small market for him due to the cost? Otherwise...well, otherwise it makes no sense. seriously, not sure what that means.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 11:28 PM) I just can not believe this argument. At least Zoom understands so I have that going for me. For comparison here is Joel Anthony's contract; http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/2...anthony-072310/ 5 years 18mil. If the Bulls could sign Asik for that, Id do it every day of the week. The current offer the bulls have to match is: 3 years 25 mil I just assume that the people in this thread know sports and know that Asik is going to cost more than 2x the amount of Anthony. So you cant say "Oh well hed improve the Heat at the expense of Anthony" because the salaries dont match. You are full of s***, just admit it. In basketball, talent evaluations are made all the time without the basis of money. Your first analysis was totally based off of talent solely focused on free throw shooting, and now you are claiming it's only due to money. You are mitt romney.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:09 PM) And none of those guys are the elite defensive center/rebounder that Asik is. If Asik was on the Heat, wow, they'd dominate. He's a solid starter on the right team. Again, he didn't say if Asik was on the heat at 8mill per, he said if Asik was on the heat. But you said what would hurt was not that he'd be making a lot, but that he'd be fouled 96x a game, taking away shots from LBJ, Wade, and Bosh.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:14 PM) Asik will never start on a NBA Championship team, I would bet a lot of money on that. The Heat would be hurt by Asik, you would be able to put him on the foul line every possession, which will score a lot less points than LBJ/Wade/Bosh. Watch what the Spurs did to a few teams, they would just foul them without the ball to make the 50% shooter go to the stripe every possession until I believe 2 minutes are remaining. Nothin about money.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 10:07 PM) No that was just 1 part of the reasoning. I never said it was the only reason. The other reason is that on offense you can play off asik, meaning that its effectively 4-5. You cant do that with Griffin. YOU CAN FOUL HIM WITHOUT THE BALL DIDN"T YOU SEE POPOVICHS

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 10:02 PM) No the comment was about whether Asik on the Heat would make them better. Blake Griffin is a million times better on offense than Asik, I dont even know what you are talking about. Is Asik better than Joel Anthony? yes Is Asik better than Dexter Pittman? Yes Therefore he makes them better. He's better than them even though Dexter Pittman has a scorching 68% FT percentage that would buffer them against Popovich's foolproof strategy!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:57 PM) Sad that you are now trying to change the goal posts because you didnt even know the rules. Yeah, sorry, I assumed you meant teams would be employing a shaq strategy to Asik on offense, not the incredibly isolated, and situationally used tactic by a single coach in the NBA. And Blake's FT% is atrocious, so by your standards, he is the worst player in the NBA because of Greg Popovich. I know I wouldn't want him on my team, because a team might send him to the line 96 times and risk fouling them all out and playing wiht 0 players.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 09:55 PM) You do know Popovich (whom I consider one of the 2 best coaches) employed this strategy last season pretty successfully. It may be ludicrous, but when arguably the best coach in the NBA is doing in the playoffs, you have to at least recognize at as a strategy. You don't form a team based off of what 1 coach might do to you, especially one team you might not even play. And in your case, you might as well not have a center. This is like seeing bill veeck employing a midget to pinch hit, seeing him walk, and thinking "I should employ a team of midgets! They'd never lose!"

Surely Blake Griffin has absolutely zero value then, can we all agree on that?

The amount of games that would be affected would be ...1? 2? That game you reference San Antonio had a lead and was stunting the clips ability to come back. But notice the heat are not in the Western Conference. What's more, the Rockets are! And have no qualms about starting (one can assume) an emerging defensive stud C. The Bulls, for instance, played Asik in Noah's place in late game situations. Pops move was great, but him doing that does not negate Asik's value one iota. Most big man are bad at the line.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 08:59 PM) You dont watch basketball then, You can foul away from the ball up until 2 minutes left. Watch the Spurs with Popovich. This is why no one should take you seriously, you dont watch NBA basketball. bahjahaha

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 08:56 PM) But the Bulls still in 2012 did the same nonsense on offense, there was basically no improvement on that end in terms of play calling and running. The chemistry offensively between boozer and noah was vastly improved this year. The playcalling for boozer was way way way better. Rose got hurt. That's what happened. Sorry! I know it sucks! but things happen in life!

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 08:14 PM) The Heat would be hurt by Asik, you would be able to put him on the foul line every possession, which will score a lot less points than LBJ/Wade/Bosh. It's things like this, why nobody would take your analysis seriously. You wouldn't be able to put asik on the line, because asik wouldn't have the ball in his hands...evvvvver

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 05:37 PM) It's actually a year upon further research on Larry Coon's awesome FAQ for the CBA: At that point, the team that takes him would be on the hook for 2 years and $20 mil. That's a horrible contract and I have a hard time believing they would get legitimate talent back for him. Good lord, please don't do this bulls. Please.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 05:11 PM) ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo What does 1st place now mean? Elias says since 2001, 54% of 1st place teams at break (alone or tied) went on to win their divisions. So it's a coin flip.

QUOTE (SexiAlexei @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 05:52 PM) I agree that they can run these sets, but I don't think that makes you a better team. To me, having a backup PG fill the SG role is not ideal, and is not going to put the bulls over the hump. Hinrich is a declining PG, who can still shoot the 3, but is not good at creating his own shot, and doesn't bring much except an additional ball handler. To be honest, if you could take away injury concerns, I'd rather have Rip playing the 2 rather than Hinrich, so I don't see this as an upgrade at the 2 at all. Teague may turn out to be an excellent player, and maybe he can become what the bulls need. He will be an undersized SG for sure. There is also a reason he was drafted so low. Him developing into the player the Bulls need is a long shot. It happens, but it's no way a guarantee. I also understand that there are not many if any playmakers available, or starting SG's. But I would not say that any of their moves this off season are any different than previous years. I don't see signing backup PG's as something to be excited about or show me they are moving in a "new" direction. I don't think it's something to be excited about, but the bulls had no room to change this year. Pretty clearly, they want to stay afloat until Derrick returns to get one last run with this group. I was happy Teague fell to us, but I'm not sure how much he can contribute his first year. I think PG is the hardest transition HS to college and he showed great improvement from the early part of the year. He can slash and get to the hoop, and we need that from our PG position because no other positions can.

QUOTE (SexiAlexei @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 04:11 PM) And they're all backup PG's. They drafted a backup PG, signed a backup PG, and are looking at bringing in a Euro backup PG. None of these moves improve the team with Derrick on the floor. Hinrich can play the 2 with Derrick on the floor, and CJ and Rose played on the same floor at times. If Teague turns out to be good they could play sets with him on the floor.

oh man he's just like derrick rose!

Meh, those Gay/Iguadala contracts are awful. The 6ers want nothing more than to be rid of it.

That's the thing. I don't think GMs trading stars really want fair value back in terms of talent. They want cap space and lottery picks. So I don't think Deng/Noah/Etc are very valuable yet in trading for a superstar. It's hard to trade players in their second contract for upgrades.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 09:44 PM) Right, and the winning the lottery for Rose and the tearing or Rose's ACL are about as equally improbable, thus a wash. I wasn't saying that Rose should be taken out of the equation, but you can't mention that the front office got unlucky and look bad because of his injury when the only reason they looked good in the first place with him was pure luck as well. No argument. I mean, yes. They aren't an elite front office. I do think they are a bit above average, though, but conservative. I think their issue is they don't look at the nba championships as their god-given right the way the LAs and Bostons do and with our history there's no reason we shouldn't. That said, I just don't think trading for howard would work out. But next off-season I want there to be fireworks. I mostly just want to tread water until I see something interesting, the most interesting thing about this offseason was PGs, so, not really helpful.