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QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 10:21 AM) The man has a point, he just said it in a weird way. Rose doesn't really need to "learn from Russell Westbrook", rather, he just needs to pick up the intensity on the defensive side of the game. The issue is, Rose expels so much energy on the offensive side of the floor, I really have a hard time getting on him for not being a shut-down defender. He has the skills to improve, and I'm sure once Boozer takes some of the focus off of Rose on the offensive end, he can better play defense. I'm sure that has been part of Thibs' game plan from the beginning to weather the storm. what's wrong with saying "learn"? two years back, even kobe learned a move or two from wade and CP3... just saying.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 09:56 AM) How to steal? That's about it. Rose and Westbrook have very similar games, but Rose takes smarter shots, will shoot a higher percentage, and has a more dependable 3 point shot. Rose is a better player than Westbrook, and you couldn't convince me to trade him for any player in the league right now. The Bulls are lucky, as are we as fans. besides steals, westbrook and rondo are among the best defenders in the league at the PG position, Rose has been mediocre so far. westbrook is also the better rebounder, better at getting to the line and hitting the free throws, and if you watch the game, westbrook plays with a nonstop motor and hustles after the lose ball or rebound every time, Derrick doesn't do that, consistently. Rose is probably better at taking over the game, and has a better jump shot. but westbrook has much higher TS% at 56.2% compared to Rose's 53.9% that's because rose is averaging just 3 points higher than westbrook despite taking 5 more shots a game. Rose is the best point guard in the east, at least for now.. but the cream of the crop is in the west.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 09:34 AM) I'd take either one of them to be honest. It will be interesting to see how Rose adjusts with Boozer beside him since that will be his first real go-to teammate. Westbrook does have the pleasure of playing beside probably the best player in the game though I dont know how much that really affects his game since we havent seen him without Durant. he actually won 2 games without both Durant and Green, and one was a road victory in Boston in which he dropped 31 on the celtics D. but yes, it's only a small sample size. but keep in mind that westbrook is doing all of this without having a consistent jump shot. though his jump shot and overall shooting (mainly free throws) has been much improved this year. and take a look at his track record since he enter the league, he has went from an athlete and combo guard to a true point guard and budding superstar, and he has shown great improvement every year. we keep saying how scary Rose can be once he adds a 3 point shot to his repertoire, but if you look at westbrook, he is already a great playmaker, great defender, great rebounder, and makes a living at the free throw line. if he can hit the jump shot consistently like Rose, it's actually more scary of how good he can be. and you would think jump shot is the easiest part of the game to improve on.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 06:28 AM) Rose can learn a thing or two from Russell Westbrook rose is the best pg in the league, he is the best in every aspect of the game, there is just no room for improvement.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 30, 2010 -> 12:24 AM) What exactly is Rose going to learn from Westbrook though? Russell has been fantastic this season but Derrick has been just a tad better. a few months ago i mentioned that Rose and Westbrook have the same physical attributes and abilities, but yet westbrook is far more aggressive in terms of playing lock down defense, getting into the passing lane for the steal, being a great rebounder for his position, and when you actually watch the game, you will see westbrook is always hustling for the lose ball. Rose has the ability to do all those stuff, but he just doesn't do it often enough. That's why I mentioned Rose should learn from westbrook in this department, but most people on this board didn't seem to agree. Rose is a great player right now, but if he can use athleticism to get more rebounds, steals, get to the line more often, and play lock down defense, he will very soon be the best pg in the league. Derrick is having an unbelievable season so far, and being a bulls fan, i want to say he is playing better than westbrook right now, but objectively, i think the opposite is true, for two reasons. Rose has improved a lot of defense, but on some nights, he still look like his old self and doesn't seem to engage in that side of the ball. Westbrook is still better on that side of the ball. Also, Westbrook is scoring 23-24 points a night, despite playing along side the best scorer in the league, because he is efficient with his opportunities and get to the line more often and hits the free throws. Rose on the other hand is a volume scorer and shot taker, and when boozer comes back, his shot attempts will almost certainly reduce, and so will his PPG. both will average around 23-8 per game, but westbrook has the complete game besides scoring and passing.

russell westbrook is playing out of his mind right now, almost makes it seem like it's his team instead of durant's. if it werent for CP3 and DWill, the debate would be who is the best PG in the league between Rose and Westbrook, maybe Rondo. So who was laughing at me when I say Rose can learn a thing or two from Westbrook back in the summer?

derrick rose with the steal off a biedrins post up and finishes with the break away layup, I really like the aggression he is showing this season.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 30, 2010 -> 09:19 PM) JJ has earned the SG spot. he played mostly SF/PF last season was walking around at 250lbs, which was way too big and slow for the SG spot. but i did hear that he lost a lot of weight this off season, anyone know anything about it? he does look a bit slimmer this season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 12, 2010 -> 04:44 PM) Rondo. rose in his second year got more votes than rondo did, and if we are talking about pure popularity, rose wins hands down. and i also do think that rose will separate from rondo and officially becomes the best pg in the east this season.

the fans vote the starting guards, who would they vote for? wade and joe johnson? nah dont think JJ is as popular and fun to watch as Rose. Rose would definitely get voted in.

bogans is playing pretty well defensively. and can knockdown some open threes. i would rather start bogans at shooting guard, and play him there for 20-24 minutes a game, then bring brewer off the bench. we need someone who can knock down threes consistently in the starting lineup. and the guy Lucas can really bring some intensity defensively, too bad he is undersized. rose is drawing fouls a bit more frequently, but the passing game is still not there.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 04:05 PM) I think 3 years ago. It was a big rumor for a while (I think it came out of Alba's mouth herself). *I'll leave that for the "pun" posters* Google it. lol

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 03:36 PM) Overrated? A career slash line of .314/.385/.452/.837 for a SS over 10, 548 PAs seems pretty good to me. Defensively? Yes, he's a joke. Not much to dislike about his game besides that. And has there even been a wiff of off the field controversy with him? If there has been I don't remember. Breaking up with Mariah Carey? what are you trying to prove here? that he is not being hated by fans outside of New York? if you have to rate the best players in decade 2000, where would he rank? He is what he is, but for the player that he is, he got more credit than he deserves, the GG awards are perfect examples. he received more media attention than he deserved because he plays for the yankees. and you don't even want to mention his contract, no way does he deserves to be the second highest paid player in baseball. Sure there are fans who think he is a great player and remember him for his clutch and signature moments, but it's a fact that many fans do hate him or at least dislike him because he is overrated and way overpaid p.s. isn't he the one who gave Jessica Alba herpes?

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 02:57 PM) I don't necessarily like Jeter, but why does he deserve to he hated? he was hated by a lot fans outside of new york, for constantly being overpaid and overrated. http://baseball.dailyskew.com/2010/01/top-...ayers-2010.html i believe 7 of those players are/were on the NYY/BOS at one point. and jeter was an honorable mention a year earlier. if you have a bunch of professionals on the team who play the game the right way, and do not cause any off the field trouble, it's really hard to just start hating someone.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 5, 2010 -> 08:20 AM) I think he was saying it's time to stop respecting the Twins and start treating them like true rivals...like the Red Sox and Yankees do to each other. yankees and red sox have a bunch of players who either likes talking trash, or deserves to be hated, like A-rod, jeter, Ortiz, Varitek, and Manny and Pedro back in the days. We only have a bunch of Mr. nice guys here, the only guy you can really hate on this team is AJ

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 4, 2010 -> 02:47 PM) Just when you thought ESPN couldn't get any more ridiculous... what if the heat struggles with chemistry and rhythm right out of the game, or if wade goes down. If they lose 10 of the first 25-30 games or so, ESPN would have to shamefully take that section down. what a shame on those bastards.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 4, 2010 -> 01:33 PM) If they can...then let them...and go make the Floyd for Fielder + a prospect offer. If some team offers more for Matt Kemp than Gavin Floyd...that team is making a mistake. what the? can someone tell me what is going on around here? since when did floyd's value skyrocketed? floyd for fielder and a prospect? if i were the sox, i wouldn't hesitate to trade floyd for fielder alone.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Oct 4, 2010 -> 12:57 AM) I think one of the lasting memories of this season for me will be Liriano taking care of Quentin and Konerko with the bases loaded to end the inning. It was his "wtf slider" that resolved his matters IIRC. that was Crain in relieve of Liriano striking out both Konerko and Manny I think. That was brutal. Really made the last White Sox fan jump off the Manny bandwagon afterwards.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Oct 4, 2010 -> 12:49 AM) I was thinking about how bad or how extreme did some of our players really get off their norms when they played the Twins this year. Obviously I cant explain why some of our players, good players, just flat out sucked against the Twins or when we really needed them to do what they do, but this is what I found. #1: Juan Pierre - He didnt really fail us against the Twins, he failed us down the stretch in General. We all know he got off to a poor start in April, but his Sept was almost just as bad. In Sept he hit .223/.279/.268 which well below his 2010 and Career Averages. Why did he go so bad in Sept after such a strong July and August? Was he tired? Was he hurt? Did he just choke when the pressure was on? #2: Bobby Jenks - In 5.2 Innings pitched this year against Minnesota he was 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA, 2.12 WHIP, and a .360 BAA. For his career against Minnesota (including this year) he has a 3.57 ERA, 1.41 ERA, and .266 BAA. Why so pathetic against the Twins? Choke under pressure? Mental? #3: Gavin Flloyd - As good as he was for us for a large part of the season he was downright awful against the Twins. In 4 starts against the Twins this year he lost all 4 games with an 8.06 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, and .370 BAA. Cant beat Twins, they we aren't catching the Twins. #4: Matt Thornton - Similar to Gavin what happened to his abilities and performance against the Twins. Most baseball people will tell you, without the ability to have shut down guys late in games you can basically forget it. Thornton appeared in 7 games against the Twins, went 0-1, and posted a 9.53 ERA, 1.76 ERA, and .261 BAA. #5: JJ Putz - Same thing here with Putz, he just flat out sucked against the Twins. For as good of a season as he had (2.83 ERA), he appeared in 5 games vs the Twins and posted a 6.75 ERA, 2.50 ERA, and .389 BAA. #6: Sergio Santos - If you havent picked up on the theme our shut down bullpen basically blew it when we needed them the most. Santos as impressive as he was in his first year as a reliever couldnt get the Twins out. He posted a 4.50 ERA, 3.75 WHIP, and a .476 BAA against the Twins. OUCH!! My point is not to b**** and moan its to point out some facts and ask the question, how or why did this happen, and can or will it happen again? Is this just a symptom of bad luck where as far as playing the Twins was concerned anything that could go wrong did go wrong? Did Juan Pierre break down in Sept due to age and games played? Is there something the sox can or should do differently, especially with our pitchers in order to avoid this type of debacle. And finally is this what sports announcers and radio host call getting in your head? Were the twins in the sox pitchers heads? Ever player on this list we are going to need in 2011 in order to make the playoffs, but we wont have a chance in hell again if our pieces fall apart when the pressure is on. actually, 3 of those guys you mentioned are bullpen buys. IIRC, all of Thorton, Putz and Santos got rocked in the Twins series back in September. The bullpen just had a terrible series vs Twins. They were pretty solid against them up to that point. You also have to keep in mind that the Sox were fading a bit prior to that series, so i think it's a matter of bad momentum or the pen simply running out of gas. If you look at it, some players just generally performs poorly vs certain teams, and some guys excels against certain teams. You can say that just about any player. So i don't see this as anything significant. In the end, I'd say that Twins just somehow finds a way to beat us.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 3, 2010 -> 12:25 AM) So do I buy NBA 2k11 based on the IGN review? They're the only one out there but "best of its generation" is pretty bold, hate to drop $60 then find out that IGN was being hyperbolic. Tough decision, leaning toward picking it up. get it at Kmart and get $20 gaming credit http://kmart.shoplocal.com/kmart/default.a...mart-101003Base

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 3, 2010 -> 06:11 PM) Kemp won a Gold Glove out there just a year ago. He'd move to RF just fine. He's got a track record of stellar defense. LA has soured on him big time and I think they'd move him for Gavin who likely would dominate in the NL going forward. Jeter won numerous GGs by playing for a big market team, and being constantly featured in highlight reel plays. Fact is he lacks great range and shouldn't even be considered for the GG. After Franklin Gutierrez failed to win it last year despite clearly being the best fielder in baseball, you really have to take the GG awards with a grain of salt, it merely an award base on reputation. Alexei is clearly the best fielding SS in the AL this season, and he isn't even a lock to win it. Track record only suggests that Kemp had been a mediocre RF in the past. He definitely has the tools to be better. but like Balta said, until he changes his approach to the game, you shouldn't expect a great season defensively at RF from this guy.

btw, can someone remove the poll at the top of this thread? it's totally irrelevant right now, and it only brings back bad memories to bulls fans.

who actually buys it, tripping over a gym bag? i smell something fishy. good thing that boozer is ambidextrous

kemp is a defensive upgrade? not by much. he actually has worst UZR in the league this season in CF, even worse than CQ (surprisingly possible). and he is only mediocre at best in previous years at RF. I really think that Kemp would at cost us both Floyd and Morel. and i am not sure what is the market for pena, sure he is a defensive upgrade, but he hit .196 this season... yuk, after hitting .247 and .227 previous years, I believe I've never saw stat line of .196-28-84 from a player over 400 ABs, ever.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 1, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) IGN has the first review of NBA 2k11: they gave it a 9.5 and called it "the best sports game of its generation". If this keeps up I'm gonna be forced to buy my first basketball game in a while. you beat me to it, i read the IGN article and was going to say the same thing. From what i saw, the Jordan challenge is gonna be amazing, especially for us Jordan fan boys. Every game in the jordan challenge is gonna be so detailed that teams are running the exact same plays as they ran in those games in the past. Hit 6 threes in the first half vs portland and MJ will give you that signature shrug. Is anyone here gonna pick up the game for Xbox 360?