chw42

Bulls and Warriors are rumored to have talked about Deng for Ellis. Yuck, please no.

I've read a couple of Duke Nukem reviews. All indications towards being bad and outdated. I'm not surprised.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 12:12 PM) The more people b**** about the quote feature, the less likely I am going to use it. Even more interesting, there are plenty of people on this board who also dont use the feature, and I cant recall 1 time ever asking that they use it. I really cant understand why its such a big deal on this board, as using the quote feature takes unnecessary time and is annoying when you have to quote multiple people in the same post. That being said, Ive never had anyone complain about it on any other board, I myself have never complained about it, so if people have a problem with my posting style, the answer is simple, skip my posts. Now onto the ridiculous arguments that are being raised. Rock, Its unreasonable expectations and quite frankly what people are wanting Lebron to do would actually hurt the Heat (imo). I give credit to Lebron for trying to be more of a team player, instead of a ME player. Yes he wont put up the numbers that MJ did, but the Bulls are not the Heat and vice versa. The statistical comparisons are nonsense because Lebron is not being asked to be MJ, hes being asked to be Magic. So if you want to hate on Lebron, hate on him compared to Magic, because that is the role he should be playing. Magic consistently put up more points, rebounds and assists than Lebron, and there is a reason for that, its because he didnt have to compete with Wade for being the playmaker. The only reason Lebron should be compared to Jordan is that they at one time had the same number, since Lebron went to the Heat he has not had the MJ role. Sqwert, No I dont understand how people can misconstrue such simple arguments. I never said I dont understand why people hate Lebron (in fact you can go back in this very thread where Ive been extremely critical of Lebron). I said that the hate on Lebron for last nights game, is irrational, and it simply is. The Heat scored 105 points, well above their average. The Heat shot 52%, they shot 25+ fts, they out rebounded Dallas. The only stats Miami was worse than Dallas were turnovers (Lebron and Wade had 4 a piece) and fg%. Lebron is not the reason Miami lost last night. And anyone who is blaming Lebron for last night, is simply kicking him while hes down, because last night Lebron was not the problem. Steve, No one has yet to even respond to my argument, that Dallas won because of Dallas, not because of Lebron. Simply put, the haters want to blame Lebron for a game that was lost. Some times you lose because the other side wins. This all started with a post where I said: Im not sure how that statement isnt true? The people in this very thread are saying that they are critical of Lebron because he called himself the king or acted like a douchebag, all things that have nothing to do with the actual game that was played tonight. The argument that hes a bad person, therefore he had a bad game, doenst really fly with me. I guess I care about the game that was played, not all of the sideshow antics. Some people hate MJ because he in their mind was an arrogant prick. Should that take away from his actual game play? No. Willie, I cant explain why Lebron didnt get more foul calls. I thought Lebron deserved about 5-6 more fts, and Wade deserved about 4-5 less. But that was how the game was called, free throws are a pretty bad indicator of anything because you can get gift fts or you can be screwed. You mention scoring role, but Lebron contributed to 37 points. 37/103 is a better than Dirk who contributed to 35 points for 35/112. The fact is, Lebron contributed more to the Heat offense than Dirk did for the Dallas offense (actually Lebron contributes more to offense last night than any player outside of Wade), yet Dirk did great and Lebron did bad. People are just biased against Lebron, and while I may hate what Lebron did, Im not going to completely ignore all of the statistical evidence to hate on the guy. I am going to be happy if Dallas beats the Heat, I dont care how it happens. Greg is infamous for not using the quote feature.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 11:37 AM) Cuban Monsters putting up .870 OPS's in AAA don't often put up .950 OPS's in the Majors. Just sayin', I'd still love to see him up here, and if he did put up a .950 I'd have to call a doctor because my erection would last more than four hours. He'd then ask what I took, and I'd say, "I took Cuban Tank". He'd probably hang up. FWIW, Viciedo's Minor League Equivalency for his numbers this season would translate to a .265/.307/.431 line at the Major League level. However, Viciedo's shown he can hit at the ML level at a much better rate. So it's only fair to think that Viciedo could very well put up a .850 OPS with the big club given his improved patience at the plate.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 09:51 AM) Call me when the Twins are above .500... The Sox may still stink against them but they won't win the central this year. They dug too big of a hole. We're still not even .500.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 10:04 AM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/break...93495.htmlstory Im not sure why in the world Wade would think doing things like that is a good idea, but sometimes you just dont want to mess with karma. And the reason Lebron isnt posting more is because if he goes below the ft line he draws an immediate double team, so last night he was trying to spread the floor and facilitate offense. If you want to complain about any aspect of his game, it would have been 3 point shooting and that he maybe should have passed more. Even if Lebron only scored 17, he had 10 assists, which means that he contributed to at minimum 37 points for the Heat. And no one is even mentioning that Lebron is basically playing 45+ minutes every single night. They deserve to have very bad things happen to them.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 10, 2011 -> 09:18 AM) Twins have quietly taken 7 of 8. Just in time for our visit.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 02:47 PM) It took Grantland less than 36 hours to run a paean to Wrigley Field. The facebook reaction of one of my friends: Your friend is totally right.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 10:51 PM) Wow, Lebron had a triple-double? ESPN nailed it by calling it the "quietest triple-double in a big game you've ever seen" Sounds about right.

It sure was refreshing seeing Dunn and Rios do SOMETHING tonight.

One more win and the Mavs are going to be my second favorite NBA team. I'm sure a lot of others will think the same.

Dunn and Rios both look a lot better. This is good.

Rios is getting base hits, something at least.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 08:58 PM) I know its cheap, but id run Wade through a million screens and make him pay for staying on the court. That's not cheap, that's strategic.

I don't think it's true, but the more jokes I can pile on LeBron, the better.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 02:18 PM) In Chicago? Enough, that is for sure. I was talking about the Urbana/Champaign area. Only Burrito King is open late around the area.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 02:01 PM) FWIW, the party line right now is still that the Bulls FO doesn't expect to make any big changes this offseason and will hold onto its draft picks because of CBA uncertainty. Like usual. I really hate how conservative the Bulls FO is sometimes.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 01:17 PM) That's an argument waiting to happen. But it's false. Mexican food trumps all for late night. How many Mexican places are open at 2 in the morning? I'd take Chipotle or Qdoba over JJ everyday, but they're not options most of the time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 01:22 PM) Yes, I actually do want 2006 Kobe. The real issue is...how the Hell do you beat the Heat unless you can find that? That's the real problem. A guy who could make us better in the regular season might well make us worse against the Heat. That was the catch-22 that was built when the Heat put themselves together. They've got 3 of the best offense/defense players in the league surrounded by guys who can sub in and out for offense and defense. If they add some size this offseason...how do you beat it if you can't match it? We tried to outdefend Dwyane Wade and still lost. Do we think that we can actually outscore Dwyane Wade? The Mavericks don't have that and they're in decent shape to beat the Heat.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 01:05 PM) He's done a phenomenal job of not over-reacting like a bunch of nut jobs here and staying calm and as a result the players responded. Ozzie has a tremendous ability to try and put his players in the best chance to succeed. That might not be in-game managing but it is an art that he has managed exceptionally, well, imo. And I know someone will now make a bunch of posts about how Kotsay being DH was a position he couldn't excel at, but by and large, Ozzie has done that and you'll hear a lot of his current and former players allude to that. Ozzie understands how up and down the game of baseball is and he isn't going to overreact to things too often. I have problems with some of his ridiculous comments and some of the things he does, but by and large, he's a good manager. The question to me is at some point, players tune guys out or maybe just need to hear another voice, and when that type comes, it comes. It will happen to pretty much every mgr and coach. Like bunting with guys who can't bunt? Ozzie's good at managing a clubhouse, but he really doesn't give his players the best chance to succeed with some of his on-field decisions.

Damn, I wish I was still in Urbana. A lot less people there right now for summer school and two Jimmy Johns close by. JJ's the best super late night food.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 12:25 PM) Korver is supposed to be that kind of instant offense. He shot 42% from 3 this year, Martin shot 38%. Martin had a TSP of 0.6, Korver 0.57 (although Korver in 2009 was 0.62). The difference between the two is shot volume. Plus, Martin gets to the line like crazy. Korver gets there sparingly.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 12:27 PM) I generally am pretty forgiving with players, but something is really wrong with Pierre's defense. Hes getting bad reads on a lot of hits, and many times going towards the wall he just jumps in the air, not even making a play on the ball. That has nothing to do with speed, so its strange. This too. His range isn't that bad, he's just not finishing the plays or getting good reads on them. It's more or less a confidence thing, but his inability swipe bases also tells me it could be a physical issue.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 12:22 PM) If I was going to bet on any of the 3 players to bounce back, it be rios. He's so talented and still physically there. The problem is, he's in such a funk and mechanically I think he needs to make an adjustment to that swing. Dunn is out of shape and has a slow bat thus far and Pierre is pretty much him (just slower). That said, I still think Dunn could turn things around to (or I sure as heck hope he can). My hatred of him probably makes me more biased though. I'm just trying to point out to you guys that talking in these crazy absolutely is detrimental to the overall quality of the board. I get that Pierre isn't ideal, I really do. But I have to respond when I see some of the stuff getting thrown around in here. If a good chunk of Soxtalk ran everything, every player would get cut within a week of making the roster since as soon as something bad happens, they are immediately the worst of all time at this or that, etc. It just isn't true. Baseball is a long season and you fail a lot more than you suceed and intangibles and other factors not measured directly by some of the new power stat (like OBP/OPS/WAR/etc) do exist. And sometimes you just have to ride out guys slumps because they have proven they are capable major leaguers (no, they aren't all all stars and we'd love to have better guys at different spots) but you just have to be patient and hope it is just a slump. Think about how Boston has ridden out some of Big Papi's slumps. Just my 2 cents. Players like Dunn and Ortiz are more likely overcome these slumps. They have old people skills (walks and power) and these are skills that are easy to sustain with age. So their talent doesn't regress as heavily with time and eventually, their luck will turn around and they'll start hitting, get their confidence back and that'll be that. I don't even know what to do with Rios. He's so mechanically and mentally screwed that they should just erase all of his stats on the scoreboard and make sure he doesn't think too much about it. This is when Walker's supposed to help his hitters or maybe Rios just isn't listening. But you'd think with his desperation at the level it is, he would have gone to Walker for help already.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 12:13 PM) What about when you have Dunn hitting like garbage or Rios being worthless. Pierre has at least hit and done a decent job of that over the past month and defensively outside of maybe yesterday's play (which wasn't near the gaffe that some of you make it out to be, imo), he's been improved. He was really bad that first month of the seaosn, but since than he's been better. Still, his lack of efficient base-stealing is costly and it is why I would prefer a better alternative and I honestly think I would have Lillibridge leading off for this club right now. However, that is a big risk. Maybe we put too much pressure on Lilli and he regresses and we lose out on what could be a guy turning into a solid everyday player (who is playing some insanely awesome defense). Dunn and Rios are still in their prime, Pierre's been thought of as a regressing player for a while now. There's still a good chance Rios and Dunn bounce back, especially Dunn. But there's the age/physical hurdle for Pierre to overcome.