iamshack

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 07:56 AM) I hate this guy with a passion. I hope we get wade just to f*** with him. Absolute garbage new-age journalist. He is a slob. Well, you've got to admit...this is like a near-impossible story to cover right now...

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 06:51 AM) IraHeatBeat Now entire Wade-Mourning press event has been canceled, so there is a chance Wade might not even leave gym from camp to see Heat caravan. 26 minutes ago via web IraHeatBeat Wade charity-related event canceled, due to awkwardness of potential free-agency questions and presence of Mourning. http://bit.ly/bhkHPD Hmm, that seems to weigh in the favor of Wade leaning towards the Bulls...

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 04:32 AM) I know I cannot be the only one who does this, but when people are anticipating important sports news do you purposely avoid anything that may give it away before you log onto Soxtalk? These last few days, I've been entering these threads blind; not knowing anything from ESPN, Real GM, the radio, basically any outlet. It's not so much this year, but I remember in the past I did it with the White Sox too. It's completely ridiculous, but it's like this exciting build up. And what's strange is, I cannot even consider myself a basketball guy. I root for the Bulls, but my devotion to them is nowhere near that of the White Sox. This entire Lebron pimping experience has drawn me in. I'm not sure if I purposefully avoid the news, but I do come here first, and I do enjoy the build-up. I value this community above all others, so naturally, this is where I come for all my sports news.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 01:40 AM) Except Hicks and Revere are more like Mitchell, being "huge upside" players with tons of athleticism. Gibson is thought by many to be a #1-2 or 2A type of starter on most MLB teams, whereas Hudson is more like a 4-5 guy or maybe a 3 at the very best. The Mariners have already had disasters with Johjima and Clement, they won't be in a hurry to botch another catching choice...heck, Miguel Olivo six years ago was yet another huge miss, as he was a key component in the Garcia deal. I was mistaken on Hicks, he is considered nationally to be the better prospect than Hudson, although not by much. As for Ramos, he is very similarly ranked to Flowers. I really think the packages are pretty similar.

Happy Birthday Blake! Enjoy your day!

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:43 PM) Agreed on the jumper (like I said, Wade wasn't a very good jump shooter when he was younger either, and it's just generally something you can improve on with work). I'm not sure Derrick Rose can become the best player in the NBA though, that's a bit of a stretch. He could move into the top 5, maybe even sneak into the top 3 in the coming years though. I don't know what you guys have been watching, but Rose has never struck me as anywhere near the caliber of scorer as Wade is. Just my personal opinion.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 12:35 AM) I don't believe for a moment Rose preferred Johnson over Lebron. Also, I'm sure the moment the report surfaced he placed a personal call with Lebron to clear any misconceptions. Doesn't it just seem like someone is doing their due diligence to push Lebron away from us? We've had the no special privileges for his people story, the Rose story, and from the Rose part we now learn of Lebron's concern with our lack of a shooter all within one day. Strange how nothing else is coming out about Miami, New York, or the Nets. Not that I believe this campaign, if it really exists, will accomplish much. It's basically the media equivalent of those goofy fans that believe putting together a song/dance routine will improve their chances. I still believe he'll go back to Cleveland. But when I read stories such as this I think to myself that some people are getting concerned. My first inclination of that was that they simply admitted for the first time in Cleveland that LeBron is carefully considering Chicago.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:29 PM) Wow, that statement really irks the hell out of me. He's 21 years old and has gotten better exponentially in every facet of his game. He was a mediocre-to-bad mid-range shooter when entering the league and in the stretch run last year, he was absolutely lethal. His jumper is MUCH improved and there has been lots of reports about him putting up tons and tons of jumpers (including 3's) all summer to try and improve even more. Writing him off this early is an absolute injustice to his work ethic. If he keeps his same attitude and demeanor, he has the potential to be the best player in the NBA. Seriously. Point taken. But the number of players that have come into the NBA with a 20 foot jumper as poor as Rose's that have turned into great jump shooters can probably be counted on two hands. I understand that the kid may be working and working and working, but what the do you think he has been doing since he was 5 years old? Working on his basketball game...and his jumper just isn't that of an elite scoring jump shooter in the NBA. Now you may be right, and maybe he will develop into a silky smooth shooter and devastating scorer from all over the floor. But I think the chances are very good that his forte in the NBA will be that a penetrate and distribute PG.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 12:28 AM) He's not trying to hit the ball 400 feet every time, at least from what i've seen. Improved bat speed = not looking foolish so often. That's the funny thing about baseball as well as golf....sometimes the easier you swing, the farther the ball goes...

QUOTE (PMD @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:21 PM) Game recap - Sox vs. Angels July 5, 2010 Okay, I am pretty sure I am now my niece's hero. Or heroine. Or however you want to say it. She was decked out in kind of generic Sox gear-- no player names or anything, which was fine. As per my usual, I was wearing my AJP jersey and black pants. Luckily we were not out in the sun or I would have roasted. And can I say that I have never seen the G lot so friggin packed??? It took forever to get in-- and tailgaters were everywhere. I loved it!! My niece stopped at one of the souvenir trailers in the parking lot and wanted a hat (even though I already got one for her-- apparently she wanted to pick one out on her own). The twenty bucks her grandma and grandpa gave her for the game disappeared instantly. I took her to one of the jersey shops inside the park, and I asked her what she wanted. She took a look around, and picked out an Alexei Ramirez t-shirt. I was sort of wondering why... and then she explained she likes his number because she is 10 years old. And because one of the guys on her Area 51 video game is named Ramirez. I think I need to try playing video games one of these days. I wanted a Danks t-shirt (having met him and knowing that he is an awesome human being, I'm a huge fan). So two t-shirts plus some little "kooky pens" and you can rack up 70 bucks on my Visa card... and the game hasn't even started yet. Luckily Auntie has budgeted for this excursion. We got inside the ballpark and I have to say right up front that I love-- absolutely LOVE-- Sox Park. The sights, the smells, the air itself is intoxicating. My niece is a shy kid, not really much for letting her hair down, and since this was her first game, she really didn't know much about what goes on in a baseball game outside of the game itself. She kind of sat there, took it all in, and tried to pretend I wasn't embarrassing her when I started headbanging to the AC/DC. I will say that she was THRILLED that her man Alexei knocked one right out of the park in the first inning. She is now his good luck charm and should be given scout seats to every home game. I, of course, will happily chaperone her. She also pretended not to notice that I could not help but start dancing whenever Lillibridge's at bat music came up. I couldn't help myself. Sorry. We discovered that she needs to learn the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "Na Na Hey Hey," and "Let's Go White Sox." Being the awesome aunt that I am, I will work on this with her. She did, however, concentrate on the game, and I was proud of her for looking like a miniature die-hard, baseball-savvy Sox fan. The reality was that I probably embarrassed the hell out of her, but I can live with that. My man AJ couldn't catch a break tonight, and for that I am sad. But the Sox kicked some LA Angels of Anaheim booty, and I don't think I will have much of a voice tomorrow. We stayed for the fireworks-- I always do-- and by the time we got back to the car, she looked at me and gave a little smile and said "That was AWESOME." I lost track of how much money fled my purse tonight, but it was totally worth it. The Sox won, I lost my voice, my niece had a ball, and it was one helluva night. And THAT'S a White Sox Winner!!! YESSSSS!!!! PMD Congrats on a great time, PMD. This is something Brooks would love to hear...

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 12:15 AM) I love the callers on the postgame saying how we don't need a new bat, as Viciedo/Lillibomb will be able to fill the holes we have. Sadly, no one told them that was wishful thinking. Someone also suggested Teahen should be the DH. Hey, the bright spot is that at least there are some guys that are stepping it up a bit lately. I must admit, to me, Lilli liooks like a completely different hitter up there than what I saw since we acquired him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:12 PM) I'm a huge Gardner fan...too bad we didn't trade for him when there were rumors last offseason. But we have Brent Lillibridge...

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:10 PM) It's a pretty common belief the Yankees won't be outbid for Lee and Crawford this offseason. I think Brett Gardner may change their minds about Crawford.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 6, 2010 -> 12:04 AM) Yeah, I really do. I also think they'll be involved. He's older than the others but that's why he'll get less years: both Johan and CC (elite lefties) got $23M a year. Yeah, I suppose you're right, with Vazquez coming off the books after this year, they very well might be in on the bidding. I can only imagine have $44M a year tied up in two pitchers for 5-6 years...

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:01 PM) Ramos is much more liked by scouts than Hudson. Twins really have a great chip in Ramos considering they have Mauer. Yeah, but Hudson is probaby a better prospect than Hicks.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 10:59 PM) I would hate to be the team that gave Cliff Lee 5 years, ~$115M. Talk about a crippler. You think he would get something like that if the Yankees weren't involved in the bidding? My guess would be more like what Lackey got from Boston...5/80ish

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:51 PM) Danks doesn't have Boras anymore I don't think He doesn't. But Lee is going to be just as difficult, if not more difficult to sign than Danksy, and Lee is going to cost you more over the next 2.5 years than Danks would, even if you went to arb with Danks.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 10:41 PM) Ramos and Hicks are what they're offering according to what I just heard on the score So that's basically Flowers/Hudson from our perspective.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:31 PM) I seriously wouldn't doubt it if KW is targeting Cliff Lee as his number 1 target with a deal involving John Danks, Dayan Viceado, Tyler Flowers, and company. 2 reasons - 1.) you keep him away from the twins 2.) if you can sign Lee to an extention - it negates not having Danks locked up / losing Danks I sure would love me some Cliff Lee action. Then he could find some offensive help that isn't a crazy bat like Dunn or Fielder but someone that should only yeild a B or C level prospect. If I'm KW - I'm doing EVERYTHING in my power to sell the farm on Lee and get a deal consumated for an extention. Don't wake me up... It's nice dreaming question thou: if your Seattle - does a package of Danks/Dayan/Flowers/etc excite you more than what the twins could offer? I don't know about their farm system We would be overpaying in the extreme to do that. I wouldn't trade Danks straight-up for Lee.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 11:21 PM) Rose is definitely more a classic PG (Wade really isn't equipped to be playing point in the NBA even if you wanted him to for some reason), but a lot of what Rose and Wade do is very similar. Both are explosive athletes, love to go to the basket, not great long range shooters, can get open shots for teammates, have the ability to get involved rebounding moreso than guards of their size typically do, etc. Wade is definitely a better shooter and scorer though, although I think Rose is going to get more calls going to the basket as time goes on which will equal more free throws and more points. And I can definitely agree with most of that, except I give Wade a bit more credit for his jumper than you do I think. Either way, while our guards would definitely dominate the ball if we had the two of them, that seems to be the perfect offense for us. Basically, we would be recreating the Pistons of 88'-89'-90 when you throw Noah into the mix. Wade, Rose, Noah...s***, if you throw Bosh in there I think that team would win 3-4 titles if things broke the right way.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 09:57 PM) Thank you voice of reason. Again, it's not about Sale, in particular, but someone like him. Someone in his same salary slot. Whether that be him or someone else that rises to the challenge, I could give a s***.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 10:55 PM) I wouldn't go that far. Wade wasn't a very good jump shooter when he came into the league, he's really worked at it. I'm not sure Rose will get to where Wade is now (I'd say Rose wasn't as good a jump shooter coming into the league as Wade was), but I think he can get into that neighborhood with a lot of work. It's interesting, Wade and Rose have a lot of similarities as players. That's interesting...I never thought they were very similar. I am certainly no basketball scout, but I knew when I saw Wade at Marquette that he would become a very special player. I told everyone that would listen that he would probably be the player who most resembled Jordan in this era. And I still stand by that claim. Rose, on the other hand, has always struck me more as your classic PG. Isiah Thomas is who he always reminds me of...can score if he must, but the overall game is much more a blend of dishing, scoring, running the offense.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 09:47 PM) Well that's the issue. With a Rose/Wade backcourt, you have two guards on the floor basically at all times that are not good at all from 3 point range. They are very dynamic players, but you need to make some 3's in today's NBA. In such a case, you need a 3 man that can shoot from long range, but Luol Deng is not that guy and he has a contract that is hard to move. You'd either have to find a way to move Deng and replace him with a wing that can shoot 3's, or find a Euro style 4 that can play pick and pop. Yeah, but Wade can hit jumpers well-enough. Michael was never a great 3-point shooter either. But he could hit the jumpshot from 20 feet and inside when we needed it. Wade can do the same thing. Rose will never be able to do that.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 09:42 PM) I don't think Rose for Wade is worth it, personally. Although I can understand the questions that would arise about how they'd play together. Such questions could be asked about LeBron and Rose playing together too though. All three of the aformentioned are big time ball dominant players. The two of them could be our Isiah and Dumars, as far as I can imagine, except with Wade being a bit more aggressive than Dumars in taking it to the rack... Rose is never going to be a great shooter...

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 09:39 PM) Really? Pat Riley loves himself some f***ing D-Rose. Honestly, I've been thinking all along D-Rose and D-Wade would make ZERO sense on the same team. I also, however, think it'd make ZERO sense to use Rose in a S&T to get Wade unless there were two other very large guarantees. I think the two of them would make beautiful music together...