chw42

The Sixers are shooting extremely well. That's gotta average out sometime soon right?

Thadeus Young made Boozer and Gibson look like little kids in that second quarter.

QUOTE (Felix @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 10:34 PM) There's an easy solution to this: stop reading Bleacher Report. It's easily one of the most worthless sites on the internet. It's not just that site. The Lowry stuff was from another blog. I'm also not the one checking it. People post links to the site and quote it, which interests me enough to read it since it's usually wrong.

For the sake of everyone, can these amateur writers on Bleacher Report and so many other blogs stop comparing Derrick Rose to the likes of Russell Westbrook and Kyle Lowry? PLEASE, STOP! 1) It makes you look absolutely basketball-stupid in the eyes of those who don't care for advanced stats - and that's a lot of people. 2) It doesn't make sense to compare Kyle Lowry to Derrick Rose, it just doesn't. Win Shares doesn't back your argument, PER doesn't back your argument, stop trying to find crevices in the world of flawed metrics to make a stupid point. We get it, D-Rose isn't as good as some people think he is. Big deal, that doesn't mean you can go out and make a horrible comparison. 3) If you want to use advanced stats, quit sprinkling in that Westbrook and Rose have similar ordinary numbers (like shooting percentage, assists, etc). If you want to do a real advanced analysis, do it with actual advanced metrics. Talking about how Westbrook and Rose average around the same number of points and assists like it means everything is like saying Delmon Young and Adam Dunn are similar hitters since they were 10 RBIs apart last year. Like Stacey King would say...STOP IT! It just infuriates me that some of these writers are doing terrible things with statistical analytical writing. If you want to have a case against Rose, that's fine. But don't clown on him with child's play and pretend you know something. *Rant over.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 27, 2011 -> 07:14 PM) This made me laugh: http://espn.go.com/chicago/video/clip?id=6263657 *Facepalm. Kobe is not anywhere near the conversation for MVP if you want to mention supporting casts and statistics in the same argument. Kobe doesn't even have the highest Win Shares on his team, Gasol does. Plus, win shares likes Rose more than Kobe, by about a win or two I think.

He should be hitting in the 4th spot. But I have more of an issue in where Rios is currently hitting. If you're gonna hit him in a spot other than 3rd, put Quentin 5th.

Hmm...Rose seems out of character today. He swore in an interview to KC Johnson and said "the worst thing you can do is give me confidence...if you do that I'm hard to stop" (or something to that effect). This is definitely new to me. I don't remember Rose being this, what's the word,...cocky? He did say he hasn't accomplished anything yet and that the Bulls have seen nothing but first round exits thus far...but still, out of character.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 10:06 PM) I know the RealGM Bulls board came up with it, but Stacey used Windy City Assassin like three times in those last minutes. It's like how Hawk got Cuban Tank from this board. Just an intriguing thought that we as fans can actually do that from our computers. That name is trending on Twitter. I don't know if I want D-Rose to be called Windy City Assassin. The last "Assassin" nickname given out was to Javy Vazquez (Silent Assassin by Hawk). Bad, bad memories.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 10:30 PM) Didn't Ozzie call him the Cuban Tank? Ozzie was definitely first.

2.5 up on Boston with 10 left to play. 60 wins should get the first seed. Bulls have 6 games left against below .500 teams (one of them being NY...hahaha). The only real challenges I see are the Celtics and Magic games. The Philadelphia one should be a good one as well. I think 7-3 is a pretty realistic expectation for the rest of the games. In that case, Boston has to go 10-1 and Miami can't get the first seed since the Bulls own the tie-breaker.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 09:56 PM) That was an absolute f***in clinic. I don't care that it was Milwaukee and I don't care what efficiency stats say, he's your MVP, and if you witnessed this game you'd think the same way, unf***inbelievable! He's one of the best closers in the game right now. He absolutely owned Brandon Jennings on the last 3-4 possessions of the game. Jennings isn't a good defender by any stretch, but Rose made him look silly. There was that one play earlier where Jennings literally ran the other way Rose was going on Derrick's crossover, haha.

Shoot first point guard eh? Take those 17 assists and eat your words Skip Bayless.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 02:17 PM) VPN? My friends at school here used a proxy w/ their MLB.tv account, but they said it was painfully slow through the proxy, and the quality was awful. I'll surely give it a shot for other games, but I am not going to count on it and then miss opening day. That is a lie. I've used proxies to watch Sox games online for years now. It is a pain, but once you find a decent one, it can last you for a couple of days and the speed and quality is fine (just turn the proxy off after you bypass their verification). For whatever reason, the internet at my dorm has a Gainsville, FL IP, so I get to watch all the Sox games I want without any restrictions. I will be sad when I will not be living there next year.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 07:36 PM) Yep, I'm blacked out. Hell, I have a free month on MLB.tv because I bought MLB The Show, but I still can't watch the Sox play. You gotta wonder which genius lawyer came up with the blackout restrictions. Iowa and S. Illinois get screwed.

QUOTE (Felix @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 02:09 PM) Well, I mean, if it's said on BLEACHER REPORT, it must be true. The guy who wrote it isn't a bad writer, per say. Not sure I agree with everything he said, but he has some decent points. I don't know, this whole MVP stuff has me spinning in circles. Do I side with the stat guys or do I side with the "eye-test" people? Because neither is really making any strong cases to convince me (the Lowry vs. Rose comparisons are silly and the "go watch the game" idiots annoy me even more), even though I currently agree with the eye-test people that Rose is MVP. Part of that makes me feel guilty, since he really is statistically inferior to a lot of these other guys. Then there's also that part where I watch the games and he just wows me and is clearly one of the most dominant players in the NBA on one of the best teams in the NBA. I think I'm at the point where I don't care anymore.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 10:29 AM) My worries about the Phils are all about age/health. Even with that rotation, the guys regularly give a lot of innings, but all of them but Hamels are old. Lee and Oswalt both have, to me, started showing signs of wear and tear, and Halladay's just as old. You also have to consider the millage on their arms. Lee just got to 7 full years of service time this past season. Halladay has had few arm related issues and he does have pretty good mechanics. The only time he got really hurt was when he got hit by a line drive on the knee. I thought Oswalt was on the decline two years ago, but he proved me wrong last season. I think age is not a huge issue with this team right now. It could be an issue after this year, when Halladay and Oswalt close in on 35, but I think they're relatively safe this year outside of accidental or freak injuries.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 01:52 PM) His analysis makes a ton of sense though. I hope the Bulls bring him back next year, preferably as a coach, but I would be fine with a role like this year's. He works with Asik a ton and is probably is big reason why Omer has developed so quickly. He sure hasn't taught Omer how to use his hands though...lol. You're right though, his analysis was very good. I'd be surprised if he isn't in some NBA broadcasts once he retires.

I think a possible argument as to why Howard shouldn't win MVP over Rose actually comes down to how they are used during crunch time. The notion of clutch might actually be a lot more important in basketball than a slow paced sport like baseball, simply because there's that notion of the race against the clock. Basketball in the final 5 minutes is played a whole lot differently than basketball outside of those 5 minutes. Baseball still remains baseball, for the most part, even in late game situations. So in terms of clutch statistics, Rose is one of the most effective. His 69% winning% (based on ORtg and DRtg) in clutch situations is the second highest out of all the MVP candidates you can think of (Dirk has the best at 77%). Howard, James, Wade, and Kobe hover around the 55-60% range, much, much lower than their normal percentages. This is normal, as in baseball and any sport out there, performing in the clutch is different than performing in a neutral situation. What is different about Howard than all the other candidates is how much he's being used. I don't have the actual usage numbers, but per 48 minutes, he's getting up 9 shots in the last 5 minutes of a close game. The other guys? Nowitzki is getting 25, Kobe is taking 38, Rose is taking 37, LeBron is taking 29, Durant is taking 30, you get the idea... Howard is the only MVP candidate that the team is not depending on to score when it comes to late situations. Orlando has a winning percentage of .580 in close games, compared to .620 by the Bulls, .630 by OKC, and .650 by the Lakers. There's probably a reason for that. Their best player is not the one taking the big shots in the end. And I don't think I'd want Howard taking the shots at the end of the game, especially if they are free throws, which he is shooting 67% on in clutch situations, compared to the 80-90% you're seeing from the other candidates. One of the biggest things people look at in the NBA is how players perform in crunch time. Jordan is who he is partly because of how great of a closer he was. Dwight's overall numbers and efficiency numbers are better than Rose and some of the other MVP candidates. But Howard is missing a huge component that all the other candidates have and it's definitely one that matters in the eyes of just about everyone.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Mar 26, 2011 -> 12:32 PM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baske...0,3207516.story I love Scalabrine's analysis He's so versatile. The White Mamba - Part time player, part time analyst, part time myth.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 09:08 PM) If McLouth bounces back then they're gonna be sick. I still think the Phils are better, just because that pitching staff gives them a good chance to win everyday. That offense doesn't need to be anything more than average with the starters they have.

QUOTE (Real @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 09:37 PM) Deng> "They fouled harder than us, but got away with it" Fixed. Joey Crawford and the officiating was brutal.

Oh wait, it's not over quite yet. Gotta get this ball in and hit the FTs. And Rose misses the first...s***. NVM, two games up!

The Bulls are in a great position to get this first seed.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Mar 25, 2011 -> 09:03 PM) Eh, not really, Indiana should win around 35 games or so this season at least. 30-52 isn't what you would call a playoff record also. And Boston loses to the Bobcats at home. That team's starting to fall off the rails a bit. Knicks lost to the Bucks at home also. Didn't Boston do this last season too? And then come playoff time, they got it together.

Boston loses again. That team is in disarray right now.