Balta1701

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:57 PM) and one thing, if you say noah is not a good finisher, then what about chandler? we all saw what he can do in chicago. the guy has whopper jr. hands! he can't even grip the ball properly with one hand. Not sure how this makes your case, and you'll note I didn't say that CP3 had a low post scoring threat (the best scoring threats he's had around him are David West and occasionally healthy Stojakovic. Chandler showed a noticeable increase in his fg %age 2 of his 3 years in NOK with Paul, but his points/minute never really changed; he was a somewhat more efficient scorer in NOK, but he's basically a 10-12 points in 36 minutes guy his entire career.

Bell, CA.

WaPo And hearsay from the blog involved in the matter:

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:25 PM) IF 2005 was a fluke, then how do we explain 2006? Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, and Paul Konerko. I don't think 2005 was a fluke...but that was an easy answer.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) I am willing to make a bet with you that if we have boozer and carmelo on the team, rose would not even put up numbers like he did last season. Hopefully he wouldn't...especially on scoring...because he wouldn't have to.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:31 PM) I will have to disagree here. From all the bulls games i watched over the past two years (believe me, I watch plenty) and the FIBA games i watched this past month, Rose is clearly not a great playmaker. He is decent but not great. Most of his assists come from dishing to open shooters who would hit the shot or simple passes in transition that lead to easy layups. Rarely do you see him driving into the lane and passing off to someone else for the score, nor do you see him make those tough passes through tight spaces that lead to easy score. he just doesn't court vision of CP3, dwill, nash, kidd, rondo and even westbrook. If you watch guys like Rondo, CP3 and nash run the point and compare it to Rose, it's a whole new world. I do think that Rose is a top 3 or 4 pg right now because he has the unique combination of scoring, athleticism and decent playmaking ability. But come on, you have to accept the fact that he is only a decent play maker RIGHT NOW, not a great one. 2 points. First of all...when they had been in the league for 2 years...I think you could have made exactly this same argument about each and every one of the guys you cite. Secondly...Rondo and Nash both have had vastly better low-post scoring options and all 3 have had much better outside scoring options than what DR1 has had to contend with, particularly last year after Gordon departed. Basically, the question is...if he breaks down into the lane and the defense collapses on him, who does he send the ball of to? Noah isn't very good on the receive and finish, and there really was no one on the Bulls last year who was a legit 3 point threat.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) the link you posted isn't working. i would be interested in seeing what they are basing their source analysis on. The swear filter here has replaced 2 characters with "*". Look at the link and try to figure out which 2 characters you need to type in manually to get it to work.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:08 PM) For me it's two things: KW and Ozzie can NOT co-exist anymore. The infighting is not good for the stability of this organization. The crap with Ozzie's kids is over the top ridiculous. Same 2 things I'm hitting on.

I think there's a very nice point illustrated by this article on the departure of Larry Summers from his role. Did you catch it? Republicans and some Democrats have been critical of Summers...because of policies that ran up the deficit. The only possible criticism of him...from the right. The idea that Democrats might be unhappy with him because he pushed back against the concept of a stimulus package large enough to fill the output gap...never crosses the mind of the writer or the reader.

Kevin Towers to take over the D-Backs.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 09:49 AM) It's pretty obvious Ozzie has lost this team. I thought that a team giving up was supposed to be one of those things you'd prevent by having a crafty veteran like Kotsay in the dugout.

Another long Posnanski piece, this one on Thome.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 01:22 AM) I'd add maybe another pick or two to that deal if need be. I'd like to keep Joakim at all costs. The Bulls need to play brinksmanship here. It's entirely possible that by the trade deadline, a lot of their assets could be worth more. Gibson in his 2nd season, Johnson in his 2nd season, some idea of if Asik can be a legitimate NBA player, hopefully a healthy season for Noah...all of them getting to play alongside an improving DR1 and with Boozer hopefully being a force inside. Plus, a lot of the guys they signed on short deals could be moved after Dec. 15th or so as additional salary filler. About the only thing that could make it harder for the Bulls to make a deal would be something serious as microfracture surgery hitting the guy I don't want to name...but even then, his contract might be at least partially insured. If someone is going to give the Nuggets a good enough deal right now that the Nuggets would do it...then let them do so. The Bulls can put out that offer with Gibson and wait.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 07:24 PM) It's probably a bit of both, but it seems so much like it's the latter. This is an organization that had glaring holes both on offense and defense but actually had a decent duo of running backs, and then took a running back with their first round pick. They quite clearly had no good option at QB and 3 mediocre options at the very best, and didn't take a QB in the draft until the 7th round (and subsequently cut him). I don't think anyone in the organization has a clue right now. For whatever reason, they didn't want to give Shanahan GM duties when it seemed as though that was the only thing holding him back from coming to Buffalo. If they have Shanahan as the coach instead of Chan Gailey, it's entirely possible that Donovan McNabb would have been more receptive to Buffalo in that scenario, and at that point they can try to address the OLine issue with the #9 pick or trade down (and there probably would have been interest in that pick considering picks 11-13 were all traded on draft day) to try and get more help overall. A lot of that is hindsight and conjecture, but the Bills just seemingly keep making bad decision after bad decision, and it's really no wonder why they are viewed as the current laughingstock of the league. Bah...once you got to pick 10 this year...the real franchise quarterback in the draft was gone. At that point you're picking between over-drafting on Tebow, Over-drafting on Claussen, etc. I don't think any of those guys would have worked out better than Edwards in the long term. If you want to complain about them taking a RB instead of a position where there was still likely quality available...you complain about their O-Line. They've built a decently talented defense especially in the secondary, they've coached their defense well...I think Edwards is probably a better QB than what he's showed in his career there...but their O-line makes the Bears look built.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 10:06 PM) I found raising hope a little entertaining but running wilde was just flat out bad. I had high hopes for both of them too. I actually tried to watch both of them and lasted about 10 minutes on each.

I've had it with these mother****ing crocs on this mother****ing plane?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 07:07 PM) I disagree, I really enjoyed both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, I like the pace and tone of both movies. And I especially like that they took out the tongue in cheek hokiness that crept into the series at the end of the brosnan era You didn't like a guy racing across a glacier in Iceland followed by a giant space laser? Why not? Anyway, my biggest problem with QOS is that it was "bourne" type filmmaking taken to an extreme. Rather than actually having legitmate action in a lot of scenes, they rely on rapid-camera angle switches to give the illusion of rapid action. (compare the chase scene at the start of QOS with the chase scene in Tangiers in the 3rd Bourne movie in terms of how they're shot). It wound up being just distracting to me.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 12:06 AM) They make some questionable moves here and there, the contract extension to Moyer still baffles me, but their philosophy is one to model after. Their payroll is a bit bigger than ours, but they are a prime target for the Sox to emulate. Their 2010 payroll to start the year was $141 million, before adding Roy Oswalt (although the Stros are paying a large chunk of that). That's more than "a bit bigger than ours".

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 09:09 AM) So that's two outings of three making my case - he does poorly in late innings. Then one bad outing on 7/24. Also, looking at the numbers I showed earlier, it appears that in terms of long relief, he did well at first, had like 3 or 4 bad outings in a row, then was very good again. And just to say my point 1 more time...his long relief outings are good outings because he gets pulled early in his bad outings. I'll leave it there.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 08:16 PM) Is it true there's an article in which Ozzie said that having Manny hurt this team due to not being able to have a flexible lineup? He'll argue in the offseason that should look how bad September was and that's what happens when he can't put Kotsay at Dh.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 08:59 AM) Having watched a lot of games this year, I disagree. Its when he comes in, in close games, in the 6th/7th/8th, where he seems to struggle. That's my take anyway. I suppose you could go back and try to slice his numbers by what inning he started pitching, but that would take more time than I am willing to put in. Here's a few more recent examples. June 30th, Sox down 3-1 to the Royals, Pena comes on in the 7th inning, team already losing, Kendall singles, Butler singles, 3 run home run to Jose Guillen, and that's his outing. June 11th against CHC: Sox up 10-2, Pena comes in for the 8th, gets 1 out; 3 others reach. July 24, Oakland, Pena comes on in the 2nd inning to relieve Garcia, down 4-2, allows 1 inherited runner to score, then gives up 4 more runs of his own.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 08:22 AM) If Jerry Manuel were managing, this collapse would have been all his fault. Its pretty much been disgusting how the Sox have played they last 14 games. Really, that one is true. It's never heartening to see a team completely give up.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 22, 2010 -> 08:52 AM) Well, he has certainly been better in long relief than short. Maybe converting to a starter is not the worst idea ever. Just to say again...I think this is only true because his bad outings are always short ones, not because his long outings are especially good.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 06:38 PM) Like Jeff Bagwell, who Astros players LOVE I don't think Bagwell's swing was nearly as out-of-the-ordinary as I think Thomas's swing was, do you disagree? The big thing for Frank is that he got away with a lot more head and body movement than most players can ever get away with.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 06:31 PM) Hitting coach replacement = Frank Thomas? It wouldn't shock me. Bah, I always thought Frank would make a terrible hitting coach...out of a combination of everything coming so naturally to him and the fact that he had such a unique swing himself.