Dick Allen

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 08:58 PM) You need a future hall of famer to get out of the first round? He made the ECF 1 time. Not the Finals, the ECF. Youre comparing to teams that won the NBA Finals, hes never even made it to the game. Are you sayimg the reason the Bulls haven't made the finals the past 5 years is Thibs? It took Michael Jordan 7 years to reach the finals. They should have dumped him after 5 years. I am sure the package would have been amazing.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 03:15 PM) I'm with you, all I'm saying is Thibs could stand to learn a little as well. He's the old man stuck in his old ways. To me, that's been a detriment on occasion to the team. Would it have changed anything given Rose's health? No, they weren't winning titles anyway. But that doesn't mean going forward it shouldn't be a concern of the front office. The Bulls are always going to be fighting their coaches. It's in their DNA. They ran Phil Jackson out of town, and they will do the same thing to the guy who takes over for Thibs. Maybe Gar or Pax should coach the team. Show everyone how it's done.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 02:29 PM) 2010-2011 they achieved their ceiling and lost to a better team. Based on roster alone they should have beaten the 76ers in 2011-2012 for sure. But obviously there's a huge emotional component to losing Rose in the first game. In 2012-2013, beating the Nets was probably a slight over achievement. But nothing earth shattering. Neither team was very good 2013-2014 they totally ran out of gas and lost to a better, younger, more energetic and athletic Wizards. 2011-2012 they also lost Noah.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 01:50 PM) They don't. That's such a myth. Occasionally beating good teams in the regular season is great, but it doesn't mean much. What was the record against the Heat? Like 6-2 in the regular season? How'd that work in the playoffs? The Bulls have (and have had) good, deep teams in a conference with about 4 solid teams. Thibs does a great job maximizing what he has, no denying that. They still haven't won anything though. One ECF appearance and one first round win isn't Hall of Fame worthy. edit: for clarity, i'll say again that Thibs is a top 5 coach and the Bulls would be stupid to get rid of him. But that doesn't mean Thibs can't be criticized and shouldn't change with the league. So you are saying there are coaches out there that would have had a championship with the Bulls at least once the last 5 years? When is the last time the Bulls have been healthy on opening night?

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 01:41 PM) Hurt himself doing a bunt drill. Ouch. That is really too bad. I listened to Hahn the other day, and the only thing that really worries him is health.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 01:34 PM) well it is written by this guy: It's more than just minutes with Thibs tho. He works his players too hard. How many coaches do you see players complaining about hard practices? Also this from earlier in the season: K.C. Johnson tweeted: #Bulls did have Sunday off. But players talked about first 2-day break since Dec. 21 as chance to recover. Instead, Thibodeau calls practice. I don't think you can blame many of the injuries this season on minutes. There's no doubt he's a Taskmaster tho. A team that won 6 championships had the hardest practices in the league. Besides, most of the guys playing heavy minutes don't practice that much. Don't you want the guys not playing much to play a little bit during practice? I will just make the prediction that if the roster stays the same, and a new coach is brought in with minutes and practice restrictions on everyone, the Bulls will not will more games or a championship.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) I think he makes a decent point about the NBA changing and you either change with it or don't. Saying guys used to play 40 minutes a night in the 90's doesn't really apply anymore. I think the game is much more demanding now than it has ever been. There's more pressure to play every night. Little injuries becomes bigger injuries. There's obviously a philosophical divide between Thibs and GarPax and it makes sense that demands on the players physically and mentally are a big part of it. And no, I don't think you blame Thibs for Rose being a glass figurine. But I do think you can blame Thibs for guys like Deng, Butler and Noah being sidelined quite a bit with small, nagging injuries. They end up playing through those injuries which just creates bigger problems down the line. As Balta pointed out, Deng was far more fragile before Thibs. Noah missed 18 games playing fewer minutes per game the year before Thibs came on. Wasn't he the subject of the VDN/Pax fight? The Bulls are loaded with guys who cannot stay healthy. Blame genetics, blame the training staff (I really hate to do that), blame bad luck, but don't blame the coach. If these guys were playing 12 minutes a night, they still would get hurt. Jimmy Butler's injuries this season have nothing to do with exhaustion. Taj Gibson sprains his ankles all the time.The only way to keep them all healthy is never put them in the game. Gar/Pax needs to flip some roster and get guys who have a history of staying healthy. Boozer was hurt all the time before he became a Bull. Then he hardly ever got hurt except tripping on his gym bag with the Bulls.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 12:47 PM) Makes sense. The ligament is now stronger than the bone. When he puts the stress on the elbow the bone gives instead of the ligament. That is a very good replacement. I actually read that as a probable cause when he fractured it last year.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 12:41 PM) http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-hous...at-thibs-built/ Back to the DRose injury is all Thibs fault. Yeah, I'm sure DRose would be 100% healthy if he never met Thibs. Thibs has won 65% of his games usually with a depleted roster. When he is gone, probably next year, we will not see improvement. But it's the old, it hasn't worked so try something else. If it didn't work because of the coach, that would make sense. But that is not the reality.How many years did Michael Jordan play for the Bulls before it really worked? I guess he should have been traded a couple of years before he starting winning every year. At least he could have researched his Thibs is killing the players again claim. 2 guys are averaging over 31 minutes a game.

After his TJ he now has had 2 elbow fractures. Makes you wonder if he is done.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 11:33 AM) If I were to tell you to get one thing from Bosch, it would be the diswasher. Cleans like a million bucks and is so damn quiet. On a sidenote, my dad just got a Viking set (stove, oven and microwave...I think it was about 4K after contractors discounts, etc) and hates them (in fact he's in process of returning them). Says they are the biggest pieces of junk he's ever owned (he was upgrading from 15 year old JennAir or GE appliances). Like I said, I got lucky, mine was about $1K for all 3 after my discount, haha. I have a Bosch dishwasher and you are right, it cleans well and is as quiet as can be. My problem is the repair guy has to come out every few months. Seriously, we called service 5 times the first 2 years we had it.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 10:48 AM) You have to remember those good Bears team Cutler has "lead" had an elite defense. They won only 8 games 2 years ago with an elite offense but a s***ty defense, and that offense is long exposed and is now gone. With the aging players on defense and the money that we have tied up on offense, and it's hard to build up a defense that is good enough to bring us to the playoffs knowing that Cutler's mistakes will always cost us games. If we moved Cutler, it would give us more flexibility to rebuild the defense. Pair even an average or below average QB with a great defense is a recipe for playoffs, we've proven that with Rex and Jay. If we could have moved Cutler, sign a couple of impact player at the LB and secondary positions, I am happy even if we roll with free agents like Colt McCoy, Jake Locker, draft a QB in the mid rounds, and let them battle it out for for the starting job. That's just my personal preference. As I stated, no QB in the NFL could have guided the 2014 Bears to the playoffs. Cutler can't be as bad as he's now made out to be. Finding an equal replacement is not an easy task. Usually if your guy sucks, finding someone his equal is pretty easy. I haven't seen any experts ever answer this but I wonder what Cutler could command on the open market if he was a free agent.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 09:15 AM) Seriously, that is so misleading. We were 2nd in points because of the system, not Cutler. What were our offensive ranks in other years with Cutler? How did McCown fare vs Cutler that year? The system aimed to simply the sets and the throws for Jay, and by the second season, the entire NFL had us figured out. How many times did we score over 30 last season? 0.. That system is gone, Marshall is gone, the system was exposed. Don't hold your breath to wait for Cutler to "lead" us to 2nd place scoring in NFL again. Should have a decent system in place in 2015. The fact is, if the system is nice, the Bears offense can be pretty good with Cutler at QB even making his typical mistakes. The kissing up to Cutler is over. I can't stand the guy, but I'm am positive the Bears can win games with him at QB. They have before. He is paid way too much without a doubt, but the "he can't win a Super Bowl" crap is crap. No QB could have brought the 2014 Bears to the playoffs. It was only a few years ago Cutler got hurt and people were upset he wouldn't return into the game. Now he sucks, he always has sucked, he always will suck. He isn't the elite guy most thought the Bears acquired when they traded for him, but he is middle of the pack. Ideally you would like your QB to be a leader, which he is not. That does hurt him, but he is still the best QB the Bears have ever had. I guess that is sad.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 09:08 AM) I split a full season ticket package just once. I can attest that the feeling depicted in the scene from "Fever Pitch" when that booklet gets delivered was awesome. I can't imagine that diminishes too much over the years, no matter how many times it happens to you. I feel sorry that people will be deprived of that. That's true. When that thing came every year, it was a very happy day.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 09:13 AM) That isn't necessarily the case. For whatever reason I can't find IP leaders from the NCAA site for last year, but that could just as easily mean that his coach uses him for a lot of innings in the starts that he gets. It is also different because they pitch once a week, not every 5 days. I would think 150-170 innings are about as many as the White Sox would want Rodon to throw in 2015. They have to get the extra year service time, it makes zero sense not to get that. It isn't like Boras will remember you did him a solid and cut you a break later. After that though, if he shows he is one of your top 5 starters, you have to put him in the rotation if you are trying to win, and figure out the innings then. Maybe move him to the bullpen when he is closing on his limit. But not having one of your top 5 starters starting games when you are trying to win makes no sense. Who knows, maybe he gets lit up in Charlotte and they play the same game next year.

The Bears are only 1 season removed from being 2nd in the NFL in points scored with Cutler at QB. Cutler could never live up to his contract. His dopey looks at press conferences and during games does him no good, but this isn't like Moses Moreno is lining up behind center.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 10:52 AM) This is true. I wasn't 100% sure it was $20 but this would confirm it. You said you go to 75% of games right? Where are your seats DA and how do you find someone to go with all the time? No kids is key to being able to attend a lot of games. Not that I think I'm special. I'd probably rather have a couple of kids.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/...cago-bears-2015 I guess Bernstein's sources are wrong again.

If you want hard tickets, I think they give them to you for $20. Times change. Save some trees. Having it inyour phone is fine. I have old stubs, but really the only interesting thing I get from them are the prices printed in them. What I thought used to be expensive is nothing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 08:47 AM) In Charlotte no one is going to mind if he has to take a start off every month for fatigue or if he pitches for a month with a dead arm and loses 3 straight working through it because we really don't care if we win those games. Once the service issue is taken care of, if he gives the White Sox a better chance to win, you call him up. So he misses starts here and there. He can be skipped with off days, or put him on the DL with some phantom injury, and give him a 2 week break at some point.

Doen't the Spring Training I hope to be back by the All Star break in reality mean hopefully September?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 08:31 AM) So you're saying there could be a need of having a guy who starts the season down at Charlotte and comes up mid-season? Golly, I wonder who we might use in that role. But you are still going to have the same issue later in the season. He is going to start in Charlotte for service time, but if he could throw 150-160 innings, he is fine in the rotation. There will be at least 2 or 3 guys, even if this season is a total success not named Sale, Samardzija, Quintana, Danks, Noesi or Rodon who make starts for the White Sox in 2015. Probably even more.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 08:10 AM) I also disagree with the notion that we'll know more by the end of Spring Training. He could throw 30 straight perfect innings and I'd still say "He's going to wind up exhausted by the all star break if we try to use him on the big league team from day 1 and that will cost us dearly in the 2nd half". Why? He can then be replaced. If a guy is giving you top quality for 25 or 26 starts and he is in essence a 4 or 5 starter, you are ahead of the game. In 2014 Chris Sale made 26 starts. I am sure there are a couple of teams that probably would have fared better had he been their #4 or #5 starter. I can't get over the fact that you think teams have 5 starters the entire year. It doesn't happen. The 2005 White Sox tied a record using 6, and that is a record. Your bottom of the rotation guys missing starts is common and no big deal.

Has Rodon ever pitched in the Cape Cod league or something similar?

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 8, 2015 -> 09:40 PM) They can probably cut one without consequence. It means nothing. Not that cutler is here to stay, but Shaun hill signing is inconsequential. I think you are right, but: QB Rating Career: Hill. 85.5 Cutler 85.2 One Bear no one is talking about is Forte. I think the Bears should trade him while they can. I think his contract only has a year to go, and do you really want to pay him what he probably could get after that considering his age? A player that fits in for a longer more reasonable term or draft pick(s) seem to me a better choice considering a Super Bowl seems like a ridiculous bet next season.