DBAHO

Tonight just showed how lucky this franchise was when we got Jonathan Toews with the #3 pick a few years ago. This guy just comes up huge in the big games, and that's exactly what you want from your captain, to lead by example.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 8, 2010 -> 02:53 PM) goran dragic I remember how much of a whipping boy he was when he first came over to Phoenix, and credit to him, he's really developed, and PHX actually have a viable PG when Nash eventually retires.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ May 7, 2010 -> 03:23 PM) Looks like he's a "false start machine" looks like we'll have Flozell 2.0 Yep. We managed with Flozell though, right now Barron would be the swing tackle, and he'd finally have a decent offensive line coach to learn under.

Alex Barron for Bobby Carpenter. Think it's a very good deal for us, Barron still has a lot of talent, he just needs to be coached and motivated correctly, and we've got Sean Lee who'll take over for Carpenter which will be an upgrade. Free / Barron / Colombo is a pretty good OT depth.

Good fightback in the 2nd half, Atlanta were obviously going to come out and play much better after that game 1 debacle, but we did what we needed to do.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 6, 2010 -> 05:07 AM) For Konerko to qualify as a Type A free agent this year, he'd have to have, by far, the best year of his career, so sticking around that 1.100 OPS he's currently sporting would be a good thing. Adam LaRoche (.842 OPS in his 2 season before free agency) and Nick Johnson (put up an .887 OPS in last 2+ seasons prior to this free agency which actually dates back to 2006) qualified as Type B free agents this past offseason though, so I imagine if Konerko can atleast put up an .850ish OPS this year, he should qualify, not that the Sox should offer him arbitration in the first place. Johnson signed a 1 year deal with the Yanks didn't he? He'd be the one guy I'd really target to replace Konerko if we decide to move on from next season.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 6, 2010 -> 01:40 AM) Post All-Star Break .179/.293/.297 does not equal pretty damn good numbers True, but he still hit 27 HR's and his plate discipline was the best it's been for a couple of seasons at least. Overall, he still had a pretty good season for his age (although his defense declined which wasn't a suprise).

Small sample size, but Teahen currently has a UZR of -5.9. He had a -6.9 at 3B for the Royals last season. For comparisons sake, Beckham had a UZR of 0.4. So obviously, Teahen's not giving us what Gordon gave us at 3B last season, so he needs to pick it up, and hopefully being stuck in the 1 position, he will improve at the season goes on.

I'm hoping that Paulie looks at what happened to Dye, who still put up pretty damn good numbers last season and hasn't found a job yet because his demands are too high. Unless a team like I dunno Washington comes out and offers him a multiyear deal, I think he should take it year to year from here on out, because he can still definitely make some pretty decent money, especially when he's hitting like he is ATM.

Gees Smith made a big enough list there didn't he. Oh and Kyle, if the Bulls get Calipari, I'll start considering them a candidate for Lebron; I think McHale would be the best option for the Bulls all things being considered. Has the most upside and he still may be enough of a big name to help bring in a FA.

The Jazz just aren't a good matchup with the Lakers. Deron's actually the type of PG Fisher can defend because of his build, while as you've said 99 the Jazz big men especially without Okur just don't stand a chance against Gasol and Bynum.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ May 5, 2010 -> 05:01 AM) Why hasn't Tom Thibodeau ever gotten a head coaching job? It seems like he is always on the radar for a bunch of teams. Is it because he is waiting for the right job to come along and is just being picky? Given his success in Boston this seems like the likely reason. The knock on him IIRC is he's a bit arrogant about his defense being with the Celtics and all, that's probably rubbed off on him. I think he's definitely worthy of a head coaching opportunity though.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 5, 2010 -> 02:50 AM) If he was realistic he would stop listing the Clippers. Lebron isnt going to share the stage with Kobe, much less have to deal with the worst owner in the history of the NBA They've basically said with Lebron and the Clippers, if he wants to go there he can pick his coach and GM, and they've got a pretty good core to build around as it is, add Lebron to Davis, Gordon, Kaman and Griffin plus a decent F through the draft, that's a pretty good team right there. Plus it's a bigger market, and Lebron's bigger than Kobe right now. Obviously the owner situation is a turnoff, but there's still quite a bit of upside with the Clippers. I don't list Chicago because the Bulls seem to be going after Wade and Bosh first and foremost instead.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 5, 2010 -> 01:38 AM) So here's my question of the day. If the Celtics take down the Cavs in this series, does Lebron leave? It'll certainly make things a lot more interesting. I'd still say no, but the Knicks and Clippers would be loving this. And Cleveland doesn't have any room on the cap, and they've got a pretty aging list of veterans. I think the Knicks chances with Lebron pretty much all depend on whether they can get Wade to join him, otherwise I don't think they'll get him.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 5, 2010 -> 01:37 AM) So to get a player, we'd hire probably one of the worse player coaches of all time. A guy who is a complete train wreck of a coach and is known to not talk to his players for weeks to months at a time if he's upset with them. No thanks. I'd rather go Brian Shaw if we can't get a big name coach. And Scott is not a big name coach. That's the issue, guys like Casey, McHale etc. are much better coaching options than Scott, but if they hire one of the formers, is someone like Bosh going to join the Bulls instead of say Rick Adelman in Houston, or to join Wade in Miami? I absolutely agree that Scott would be a horrible choice, but he still does has some "credit" in terms of head coaching appeal I guess. Because that's basically the scenario the Bulls have put themselves in by firing VDN. It's either boom or bust here.

Cuban's out saying that the Mavs actually want another star to add to their team, and they could actually get one, if they did a sign and trade deal with Dampier's expiring contract which is not guaranteed at $13M, so who whoever acquires that can just waive him and it won't count against the cap, quite the handy trade chip. I can't see Dirk leaving Dallas just yet. FWIW, I know people on here don't like him at all, but if the Bulls want to sign a major FA, I think they only coach that they can "realistically" hire to do that would be Byron Scott, because he's really the only "name" coach out there that would probably take the job who is on the Bulls' shortlist.

Bubba ended up blaming Baltimore Sun Wrestling Columnist Kevin Eck for bringing it up one of his posts too IIRC. Pretty funny stuff.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 4, 2010 -> 03:45 PM) I haven't played poker at all this year. I need to play again sometime soon. I just generally hate getting back into it against players who play like all the time, because I feel like such a f***ing donkey at the table. wite = King of the Pre Flop Raise.

From an international's P.O.V, I think he's done a good job at rebuilding America's credibility in the international landscape (and obviously his popularity was a main reason for that). Ultimately, I think his time in office was be judged on how effective the Health Care Bill ends up being, so we'll have to wait and see on that. Focusing more on Afghanistan and less on Iraq was obviously a no brainer. Things seem to be picking up economically now as well which is a good sign.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ May 4, 2010 -> 10:20 PM) http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=378042&src=150 I pray to god Maurice Cheeks is not a serious candidate for the Bulls job. He's never got past the first round of the playoffs in nine years of head coaching. Out of that list, I would want JVG first, then Kevin McHale. Frank is not the type to draw a prime free agents and Cheeks is just awful. Man, that list is pretty depressing after JVG who I would have to imagine would just prefer to stick to broadcasting where he is awesome. And the whole VDN situation is tough for me, I am really ambivalent. On one hand, Vinny was not a great coach. He couldn't draw up plays, didn't seem to have the respect of the players despite many supporting him recently and just made curious decisions about a lot of other things. On the other hand, he was a first-time coach as a head coach in the NBA, he really gave Rose a lot of control in Year Two and under his direction Rose/Noah became All Star-type players. I don't believe any other coach would have had more success than Vinny did given the circumstances with the Bulls. I guess the biggest issue he has was that he wasn't going to be able to land a big-time free agent. The only job I could see JVG having any sort of interest in would be the Nets job, and that's only if their new owner offers him about $10M a season to leave the broadcast booth. McHale is a really interesting option, as Felix brought up some good points. He was a horrible GM, but he had the Wolves playing hard last season, and I think he deserves another opportunity with some real talent. I'm suprised the Bulls aren't going after Avery Johnson though, really suprised. Also I read that Houston will be going all out to sign Chris Bosh. And that would be a good situation for him, alongside Brooks, Yao and Kevin Martin, that's a pretty nice young core, and it's his home state to boot.

Can't see the Bulls hiring Collins simply because JR will never want to fire him. If they don't get Avery Johnson (and I think he'll end up in New Orleans instead), it's pretty much a bust scenario for the Bulls.

VDN update; Now out of those 6 names, I'd say McHale could actually have the most upside. But I'd doubt they'd target him. Casey's a pretty hot name ATM, seems as if the Clippers job is his if he wants it.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2010 -> 02:57 PM) but i disagree with you on the raptors. Calderon has fallen out of favor in toronto this season, much of it due to his terrible defense, and jack is not an option to start for the long term. With kirk, you get a versatile pg/sg who can check either guard position for them, i bet their goal heading toward this offseason is to look for a defensive specialist, especially at the guard position while kirk is a bit more expensive, he fits the bill perfectly for them. a backcourt trio calderon, kirk, and derozan would be more ideal than jack, calderon and derozan. i can see them trading jack away if the trade for kirk does take place. think about it, if bosh says he wants to play for chicago (could be his top preference along with miami or okc), and he wants max money, toronto has no chance to keep him and the only way is to do a sign and trade, since they don't want to lose him for nothing, and lets be honest, no free agent player would want to sign with them, and they have no cap space, so they would look to recover as many pieces and value as they could. another potential trade partner for deng and hinrich is miami, IF wade chooses to leave miami. who has no depth whatsoever at small forward and point guard, and can use players like deng and hinrich. If wade wants to leave miami, i have a hard time imagining two superstars, lets say joe johnson and amare wants to sign with them, i would say they only have chance to sign one good player like amare, boozer, or lee. doing a sign and trade of wade for kirk and deng is ideal for them, since deng is easily the second most talented SF they can get this summer besides lebron, and it doesn't hurt to have kirk if they can't get a point guard this summer. a trio of amare, deng and kirk plus another 8-10 million salary guy is a pretty good return for them this summer IF they failed to resign wade. Doesn't Jack basically give you what Kirk Hinrich gives you though (for about $4M less also)? Jack - 11.4PPG, 5 ASS's, 48% FG%, 2 TO's. Hinrich - 10.9PPG, 4.5 ASS's, 40.9% FG%, 1.5 TO's. If I'm Colangelo, if Bosh goes to Chicago and they do a sign and trade, I'd ask for Deng instead of Hinrich. Yes they already have Hedo, but they could move him back to a 6th man, or move to him to PF and Bargnani to C. Deng gets criticized on here like Juan Pierre hitting leadoff, but he's a 25 year old player who still probably hasn't hit his best, and he's a scorer. I don't think Wade is going to leave Miami this off-season, and I think Amare or Bosh ends up joining him in Miami for sure. And instead of using their cap savings in Deng or Hinrich in that scenario, Pat Riley may decide to just keep his cap space for 2011, put another season into Beasley to see if he improves and try to get another superstar to replace Wade. Adding Deng or Hinrich to that team doesn't turn them into a contender. They may as well rebuild.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2010 -> 06:34 AM) One of Bernstein's sources told him that Bosh to OKC is a very real possibility. I think he'd be nuts to go there, as Durant is such a ball hog! I was extremely underwhelmed by Durant during the LAL/OKC series. You add Bosh to that team, they become an instant title contender (I think he'd have a better chance at winning a championship with them than the Bulls FWIW). I think the guy just wants to win. If he wants to be the main man still, he'll stick with Toronto.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 2, 2010 -> 01:23 PM) i thought miller would be a free agent, but oh well. but that's just an example, i am sure portland would trade webster for a future first rounder anyways since they have a very good young small forward in Batum, with roy, rudy, and bayless at the 2 guard, webster would basically come off the bench for them, for $5 million a year. the main point is to find a taker for kirk, if we can, then the aforementioned lineup would be very realistic. If some team, let's say the toronto raptors or the dallas mavericks would do a sign and trade with kirk and JJ or kirk and deng for their superstar free agent, it would be a dream come true for the bulls. Out of those that you've mentioned, I think Fernandez is the one they'd move, because he's complaining that he should be a starter, Webster is quite happy to be a role player for them. I just don't see the Bulls being able to move Hinrich because; 1 - They'll want value for him, as they have shown that they won't deal him for expiring contracts. 2 - There are a lot better or even comparable players to Hinrich that you can just sign in FA (for the MLE for teams over the cap also). The Raptors already have Calderon and Jack at the PG spots, so can't see them having any interest in Hinrich. Dallas should give the keys to Beaubois from next season onwards.