DBAHO

Jennings and Josh Smith had 6 points combined. Joe Dumars is a goner surely this off-season......

Philly making it interesting against Detroit so far. Up by 12 midway thru the 2nd....

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 27, 2014 -> 01:09 PM) You could call Lebron for an offensive foul every single possession. Just watched the replay, I thought JVG made a real good point about the officiating and how it's changed basically for the Big Guys who go straight up. 3-4 seasons ago, it was always a foul against the defender (Dwight Howard was constantly in foul trouble when the Magic played the Cavs back in the 09-10 ECF for this very reason). Now, you can get away with that on the defensive end, and it makes a real big difference, especially when you have a great Rim Protector like Hibbert.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 27, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) Depending on what you want to spend, Napa Rose in one of the Disney Hotels is supposed to be excellent (pricey). Lots of solid options near staples center, including a bunch of stuff near the Nokia Center (across the street from Staples). The rest of the vicinity around Staples is a dump (downtown LA is a craphole). I remember staying 3 days in Downtown LA a few years back, and that will certainly be the last time I'll be doing that again. I'll actually be back there in the Easter W/E for a Wedding, but trying to find a decent Hotel in the West Hollywood / Brentwood / Bev. Hills area around there is a fair bit of a challenge I'm finding....

QUOTE (Pods70Rowand33 @ Mar 27, 2014 -> 11:00 AM) Hey. I'll be spending most of my time in Melbourne, not sure exactly when I'll be there but it will be during the winter months there. I'm hoping to go to an Australian rules football game, but not sure what else. Thanks! Yep that's where I'm based. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when it comes to Winter down here, average temp is usually around 15 degrees or so, which I think is in the 50's or 60's in Faronheit, so not too bad. Depends really what you want to do. Melbourne's a bit of a "sports town" so you'll definitely want to check out an Aussie Rules or even a Rugby Game. Otherwise we've got a pretty cool Pub / Bar Culture as well.

I think if you take a 19 year old raw prospect over a 23 year old polished senior, you better at least have some pretty decent Development Coaches. But then again, Basketball is so much about system and finding the right pieces for the right situation. DJ Augustin's an example I would probably use for this season. I look at Orlando for instance and how they are treating their young guys. Some have fit such as Vucevic because they were given an opportunity, others are still finding their way (like Harris and Harkless), whilst an Andrew Nicholson who argubly was one of the more polished players who got drafted, can't get playing time anymore because he's a horrible defender.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 12:19 PM) Vegas is seriously the best place on earth I'll be there in 2 weeks for a Bucks Party / Stag Do. I know it's going to be messy, real messy.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 02:21 AM) Yeah, I don't really know about Exum. He looks great in the few Youtube clips I've watched, but that can be misleading. I definitely think he benefits from people seeing him less so they don't see his warts (if I remember right his shot stinks and he plays out of control a lot). I think he'd make more sense for Orlando since they already have a somewhat similar guy to Parker in Harris and really need another ball-handler. Parker does look like sort of a tweener, but I'd put him closer to Melo than the Williams/Bennett/Beasley flops. He's a better shooter than the first two with better scoring moves. I think he has similar talent to Beasley but isn't as big a slacker/headcase/pick your derrogatory term. I've got no doubt that Parker is definitely the better prospect right now. However the flaws that you've said with Exum are fixable. He reminds me so much of Shaun Livingston pre knee injury, and even now, Livingston is an All Defensive Candidate. Having someone with his size and talent who can handle the PG position, could be a real game changer for a team 3-4 years down the line IMO. I worry about Parker in terms of how you build a team around him, and how to compensate for his defensive shortfalls. I think obviously watching Melo in Denver and New York has shown how important it is to have the right supporting cast around him, and people are probably going to ask the same question about Jabari a decade from now.

Dante Exum's the real wild-card in that class right now. Wiggins + Parker obviously didn't do much to improve their stock during March Madness. For me, if I'm Orlando, and I had a choice b/w Parker and Exum, I'd actually go with Exum. Parker reminds me too much of a Melo / Derrick Williams 3/4 Tweener, who's not athletic enough at the 3 spot. Exum could cause real match-up problems at the 1 with his size. I think the Lakers would love to pair Exum with Kobe as well potentially......

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 11:46 PM) I think DBAHO lives there Yes indeedy. Happy to recommend a few places depending on where he's travelling.

Anyone have any Scottsdale Hotel Recommendations? Looking for something nice, but won't break the bank either.

Has anyone here done Charleston before? I'll be in the USA next month for 2 weeks for a friend's wedding, and me and a couple of mates are going to visit South Carolina whilst we're there. Hotels seem fairly pricey there though, especially in downtown, min $200 a night on the usual Priceline / Expedia etc.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 08:58 AM) Eric Bledsoe torn meniscus which will require surgery. Which point guard will be next?! Find out next week on Sh*tty NBA Season! That'll probably cost him a max contract as well in the off-season now. Gerald Green has somehow done really well whenever Bledsoe's been injured though, but a lot of that is simply due to the job Jeff Hornacek is doing as coach.

I'd say Bynum either ends up with Brooklyn or even the Clippers before the Heat, Miami really has no incentive in bringing him in to ruin their chemistry IMO.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:10 PM) As Row pointed out, they offered him an extension just last week. They wanted to keep him, but Luol thought he was worth Josh Smith money, actually more. That sealed his fate. Like I said, that was not too long ago Bulls were in on keeping him. Two weeks later, things changed. Still better than any rumor/prediction you've ever said on this site. To be fair, if Josh Smith can get 4/54 and ends up shooting 40% from the field 15 times a game (not to mention 27% from 3PT), I'd wanna get paid too if I was Luol Deng. I'd say he probably ends up with at least $12M per season on a 3 or 4 year deal at the very minimum. I think Phoenix will also go after Deng in the off-season also. They're missing a 3, and he'd be a perfect fit alongside Bledsoe and Dragic.

My guess is Deng ends up playing along-side Kobe from next season onwards, he's the perfect sort of defensive glue guy they'd need next to him, and Mitch Kupchak would recognise that. Think it was just a move that the Bulls had to make. If they end up with one of Wiggins, Randle or Parker as a replacement, you'd be pretty happy with that.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 03:22 AM) Ick. Beckham's better than Ackley, Viciedo is better than Smoak. Montero is better than Flowers and probably has the highest ceiling of them all, but I don't want any of those guys. I know the numbers don't really support it, but I reckon Ackley's the perfect example of a guy who needs a change of scenery. If you put him in a hitters park, I'd like to see what he could do for a season or 2. An .809 Post ASB OPS shows what he's capable of, he just hasn't been able to put it together on a consistent basis. He may never do that though.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 08:32 PM) Arenas says a comeback is in order and that the Bulls need him. Agent Zero to the rescue! 30 Foot 3-Pointers. Can't go wrong with that.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 06:05 PM) What nobody seems eager to acknowledge that trying to tank may run Thibs out of town. This dude does not want to coach a developmental squad Right now with the way the Bulls are headed, it really reminds me of Orlando from 2 years ago, that team wanted to contend, and it ended up with Otis Smith getting fired (Gar Forman is the new Otis Smith BTW), and SVG not sticking around because he didn't want to be in a rebuilding effort. If you look at where the Magic are now from a talent + cap situation, that should give Bulls fans hope if they want to go down the rebuilding effort. I don't think Thibs would go to the Knicks, that team's a laughing stock at it is under Dolan (he blocks a Lowry trade because he doesn't want to get schooled by Ujiri again). The Nets I'd say would be a better possibility if they decided to can Kidd, because of the KG/Pierce factor, otherwise maybe New Orleans would be the only offer potential available spot ATM where I could see him having some interest (who wouldn't want to coach Anthony Davis). In terms of where the Bullls should go from here, they should really be doing everything they can to get a top 6 pick. Ending up with one of Parker, Randle, Wiggins, Exum, Smart or Embiid gives you a player you can potentially build your franchise around. And I wouldn't hesitate at drafting either Exum or Smart at say 5 or 6 if I was the Bulls, either of those players should be able to play the 2 Guard Spot with their size.

He's definitely a 2 Guard going forward. He won't be as a good as Wade was offensively in his prime, but defensively he's a better player already IMO. A better offensive version of a Tony Allen is probably a decent comparison.

Irving's been able to get away with too many bad habits for so long in Cleveland, because they desperately don't want to lose him as they did with LeBron a few years ago. He only played 20MINS tonight though, so the next 24 hours may be interesting to see if there's any developments there. On top of Zoom's point about Affalo, last season the Magic tried to run their offense through him as a playmaker and that's not his game, bringin in Oladipo has massively helped his game. I'd say OKC will attempt a trade for him at the deadline, but it's more likely Orlando packages up Affalo + the Denver pick in this season's draft to try and grab another top 10 selection I'd say.

Oladipo and MCW almost both had Triple Doubles tonight. That's gonna be a fun matchup for the next decade.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Dec 1, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) The protection decreases every year, it doesn't necessarily get better. Charlotte could be 10th this year, then 6th or whatever next year, then they could be good and really F the Bulls. I think I would settle for the 11th pick this year, given the depth of the upcoming class, and be done with it. I seriously doubt if it gets to 2016, it's top 10 pick, especially given how god awful the East is. Yep to me, if Charlotte get a top 10 pick in this year's draft, I don't think the Bulls are going to end up with a top 10 pick in 2016. They've actually got a competent coach in Steve Clifford who is a defense first guy who worked under SVG for a lot of years. They'd be hoping Charlotte can win about 35 games, and get one of those 11-12-13 picks IMO. So if the Bulls could end up with picks say 6 and 11, which is entirely possible, that's a pretty good result I'd say, and it also opens up a lot of trade possibilities also.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 27, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) If they let Deng walk and used the amnesty on Boozer, they'd have around $10 mil to work with. However, around half of that would go to Mirotic if he joins the NBA. You're not getting much for $5 million. If Mirotic doesn't sign, they might be able to bargain shop (guys like Millsap and Martin signed for under $10 mil last year). It'd be even harder because many of the top guys (the Heat trio, Melo, Dirk, Gay, Gasol, Randolph) could make $20 mil plus instead of the "new" max around $15 mil. The only way they can get significantly over $10 mil is if they traded Rose, Noah or Gibson for an expiring deal. Let me throw out Jameer Nelson's name as a discussion point. Hennigan basically wants a future 1st round pick for him. He's got $8M on his contract for next season but only $2M of that would be guaranteed. I think that's the sort of contract Chicago would have to look at if they were to trade for expiring assets, so to speak. There's no chance anyone's going to give up a Lottery Pick in this season's draft also. I think unfortunately for the Bulls, Gibson's contract is the one that's going to come back to hurt them in terms of real cap flexibility.

FYI, this is a pretty interesting read about the Cavs' "Players - Only" Meeting, with a few interesting nuggets about Irving and Waiters. Right now I'd say it's likely Irving's bolting for greener pastures once he hits Free Agency. http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-cavali...oughts-1.445539