mudderfudder77

But in case Kirk is not 100% by Sunday, I think Joe get's the call on Rose on D.

Given the Bulls lack of offensive presence at the 2 spot, we can afford to have whoever else is in the backcourt on their SG. Hopefully Jamal can at least contest a 3 on D.... that's all they can do at the 2 spot.

I don't think thats a good idea unless you plan on trapping Rose every possession. Joe can't stay in front of Rose.

On the flip side - we don't have anyone that can really D-up Joe. Bogans and Brewer are net negatives because of how limited they are offensively, and Korver tries hard but sucks.

What do you really expect from a fan site? Do you think the posts on this site are much different?

We're fans because we are fanatics, and alot of times rational thought doesn't exist when we post.

Hate Orlando fans, hate Chicago fans, hate everyone - just so long as you admit that NY/BOS/MIA have the douchiest fans on the planet.

I agree with your first sentence Soth, but the thing about Chicago is that they really aren't a good offensive team. It was a dangerous thing against Orlando because they have so many shooters and such a dominant presence in the middle. Chicago has Rose and that's about it. Boozer and Deng are ok, but if we can at least play solid D, we'll be able to grind out a victory. If we play smart on both ends, I really don't see much of a series.

FWIW - The Bulls finished 11th in Offensive rating (Atlanta was 20th) and the Bulls were tied for first in Defensive rating (Atlanta was 13th). While i certianly don't think the Bulls offense is great - its not bad.

I don't think either team can say this is going to be an easy series, and I'm really confused as to how you can believe that Atlanta is going to run away with it.

Pretty simple. Stay on the shooters like we did in the Magic series. If Kirk can't go, stick Teague on D Rose. HE WILL GET HIS POINTS. There isn't much we can do about that, but I would rather him go off for 30 a game and keep the shooters at bay, then have him go off for 30 a game and have the shooters lighting us up. In all honestly, we should win this series. The Bulls aren't that good imo. In Larry Drew we trust..

Derrick Rose isn't Dwight Howard, and the Bulls don't score their points the same way the Magic do. If you single cover Rose all game, he'll eat you up alive and the Bulls will win going away. The Bulls thrive off of Rose driving the lane, because even when he misses Boozer (ugh) and Noah are terrific offensive rebounders. They score off of misses and they are both very good at kicking it out to three point shooters off of a rebound.

The Bulls win games by defending, rebounding, and Derrick Rose turning into a Unicorn in the last five minutes. The best, and easiest way to beat the Bulls is to get the ball out of Roses hand. Indiana was terrific at it, but unfortunately they couldn't rebound the ball & they didn't have a closer. Atlanta when they want to has both.

Its going to be fun. Josh Smith is going to eat Boozer alive, and unless Hinrich can get healthy Rose is going to carve up the Atl guards.

Good luck, but not too much.

The key is limiting Rose's impact!

I don't fear their inside game, nor their shooters (with the exception of Ashton, Rose is streaky and Deng has only mid-range game)... so we need to stop the penetration and box-out (no second chance opportunities).

P.S. Defense, focus, strong will! Let's get it on!

Deng shot 35% on 4.1 3pt attempts a game. Thats not great, but he's a pretty good three point shooter when he has time to gather himself at the line.

Al Horford once again disappears in the second half. Hinrich has brought the losing lifestyle that he had in Washington to the Hawks. I wish we could get our refund back from that trade. Floor general my a$$, he dribbles the ball in the corner and turnover city happens. Larry Drew still doesn't get the point when it comes to playing your bench (Powell/Armstrong). What a lateral move from Rick Sund. How can a draft be weak when your bench is trash..?

Huh? Hinrich spent half a season in Washington, but before that he was a part of 5 playoff teams in his 7 years in Chicago. He was a part of the basketball renaissance in Chicago that brought that Bulls team back from the abyss and made them relevant again.

I don't believe that at all. Its an after the fact type of move to say you wouldn't have offered a Max deal. In fact, leading up to the deal with the Hawks the Bulls and Knicks were long considered suitors for Joe...at the Max. You could probably even say the same for the Heat.

The reports coming out of Chicago about the Bulls not going beyond 4 years and $60 million stem from 1)its after the events happened not before and 2)looking at the kind of deal Pierce got and claiming thats the kind of deal they would offer.

Check the Bulls board on RealGM - we have two guys on that board who have decent inside information - and both were reporting that the Bulls had JJ as their #1 target (other than Wade/Bosh/Lebron) and were looking at a 4yr 60 million dollar deal. Now its entirely possible the Bulls would have upped it to the max once numbers started flying - but going into FA thats what they were proposing/thinking.

That is my view.

On JJ/CHI, if they were only willing to go 4 years/$60M then they were never a player to begin with. That is like saying you'd like to sign Lebron but you are not willing to pay the max. If you won't give JJ more than that or give Lebron every penny you can, you aren't in the game.

Maybe - but no one expected him to get the max - and the only other team really talking about JJ were the Knicks - and even the Knicks were only talking about him at a reduced rate.

Serious question......why on earth have so many Rival fans/media/some hawks fans become so worried how JJ plays 5 seasons from now???? I mean really? For all we no barring injury, JJ should still be a very good player at that age. He won't forget how to handle the ball, shoot, pass, etc. Whose to say he doesn't get traded before then? I just don't get why some are so worried about 4 or 5 seasons from now.

Because the shelf life of a 2 guard goes to pot at about 32. I don't have the stats - but someone listed out the stats on some of the NBA's best guards and what they were doing at 34 - it wasn't pretty. With cap space and contract details as important to fans as they are now - alot of fans are much more critical of what players are going to be making when they are losing their production. There have only been 13 total seasons in the history of the NBA where a guard over 32 has avgd 20 points in a season - and 4 of those belong to Jordan.

Its why Luol Deng - a decent player - is absolutely vilified. No way he will be close to worth the 16million he will make in the last year of his deal.

We know JJ is overpayed. In our situation we know it had to be done. I do find it funny how you got Knicks and Bulls fans in particular celebrating the non-signing of JJ as a historic moment in their franchise by saying their dodge the big one. The funny part is both teams were willing to offer JJ the 5 year Max which was $100M over 5 years. So we gave him an extra year. That 6th year will be a very valuable expiring contract.

One thing that bugs me is they dog our franchise by usually saying "He doesn't care about winning and only about the money" speeches. Which is why he went back to the Hawks. Somehow we have been a losing franchise recently? I have never seen a 53 win get more disrespected then the Hawks have been this offseason. We are an after thought once again.

Bulls are no close to the championship then we are even with the Boozer addition. Knicks are still a work in progress. Had either team sign him they would be doing cartwheel bragging about signing JJ. In the end they basically offer the same contract we did.

Reliable sources from inside the Bulls say that they were going to offer 4yrs and 60 million. Most Bulls fans on the board I frequent were very clear before FA started that they did not want to commit money to Joe Johnson - so it isn't like this is sour grapes.

Personally - I would have been fine with paying Joe Johnson 5/100 if we also got Boozer. JJ would have fit perfectly with that team.

I also find it funny that after 10 years of other teams fans telling Bulls fans that 'you need a post presence' - so the Bulls go out and get one of the best - and fans are now saying the move does little to help them.

As far as expiring contracts go - the 2010 FA frenzy has completely over stated the value of expirings.

I would have loved him in Chicago - but what with the hit out on him and all - that wasn't happening.

Does it really matter anyway after the events of the last few days?

It all feels somewhat pointless anyway.

I refuse to believe those jag-offs are unbeatable. Bosh is tissue paper soft and a quitter. Get a front line that will man handle him, and they can be beaten. I still put the Lakers as a better team.

I'm hearing it from Bulls fans as well - but we need to stop acting like the EC is already won by the Heat. They're one wade fall away.

FWIW - His rookie of the year form was terrible. Check out the advanced stats - he was awful.

Hey - congrats to you guys on getting JJ locked up. I was really hoping for a Joe Johnson & Carlos Boozer free agency signing in Chicago - but you guys got Johnson locked up before we could even talk to him. (Appreciate you keeping him away from the Knicks as well.)

But he is redundant to Al Horford on the offensive end.

Truthfully, no matter if Brad is tough or not he isn't good enough to do anything against Howard amd he's not going to keep people out of the paint.

Absolutely correct - if that is what Atl is looking for, then they need to walk right on past Brad Miller and find someone else.

He's soft enough that he'd rather shoot jumpers than score inside like someone of his size should.

He doesn't play in the post because he doesn't have any post offense and isn't effective down there. He doesn't have nearly the footwork, or foot speed to make a move, and at this point his legs have no lift left in them. His game is and always has been as a stretch 5 who keeps his defender out of the paint.

But if you think Brad Miller is soft - then you don't know Brad Miller.

This entire off-season has been crazy. Hell - Bulls fans don't feel so terrible about Deng's contract anymore after seeing what Rudy Gay and Tyrus Thomas got.

if he's such a hot commodity how come nobody is knocking down his door to sign him?

The Bulls, Heat, Cavs and Spurs are all reported to have been in discussions with him.

That's just it... he wants to shoot jumpers.

If you are looking for something other than a stretch 5 that can play a little defense against other big slow 5's - then Brad Miller isn't for you.

Wrong !

Horford was one matching up with Oden.....not Noah.

Noah played the help defender....like Smoove does in Atlanta.

Noah wasn't nearly strong enough in college to handle Oden or players of his size. He's put on quite a bit of muscle since coming to Chicago - and is looking more and more like a legit center.

He measured 7' even at the combine. However, his standing reach is not good for a guy his height. Horford's standing reach is actually 1/2'' higher then Noah's even though Noah is almost 2 inches taller. Standing reach is more important the height.

That standing reach for Noah isn't accurate. At the time of the NBA combine and the measurements, Noah had a rotator cuff injury and wasn't able to fully extend his right arm. The measurement is based off of both hands together, and as such his standing reach measured much shorter that would be expected. This was confirmed by an insider on the Bulls board who has press credentials for the combine, and who also coincidentally is the one who uploads the measurements for draft express.

I support Casey - and I am hoping the Bulls are considering him for their opening. I think he did a good job with the roster he had, but wasn't really given a chance. He gets nothing but high praise as an assistant and seems to be respected by and have a good relationship with the players.

1) does anyone know if Crawford can play defense at the point? becuase that's where we were killed and we just got rid of acie who had that potential. hopefully he's at least better than bibby at the point

Crawford automatically became the worst defensive player on your team.

4) crawford may have not played on winning teams before but he will be perfect for us in the way that flip murray was perfect..ISO players..........which means we will be frustrated with our crappy iso offense but will have another person who can possibly be on fire when the others are not.

He also has a career fg% of .404

I think maybe people are expecting a little too much from Crawford.

Jamal is a net negative player - it took Knicks fans a couple seasons to realize it - but he makes your ballclub worse over the length of a season.

He is a terribly inefficient offensive player who is even worse defensively. I wouldn't expect much from him, and I certainly wouldn't want him playing starters minutes.

*Side Note - He currently has the NBA's longest active streak for most seasons without playing in the playoffs.

ESPN reporting

Sorry to hear that - Crawford is terrible. Guess this means Bibby is not returning? Or would they still bring him back?

This is from last week....

An NBA executive told the Boston Globe today that the Minnesota Timberwolves is working a deal with the Phoenix Suns that would send former Celtics forward Al Jefferson and their sixth pick in next week's NBA Draft for All-Star Amare Stoudemire.

It was also reported that Phoenix is the one who called and asked for Jefferson/#6, and Minny quickly shot that offer down.

Theres no evidence that Minnesota is shopping Jefferson - and why the hell would they trade him for a PF? Especially a PF that isn't as good as Jefferson, and a PG who should be in a wheelchair.

This trade doesn't make much sense. Minnesota needs a real PG and a C.

I love Hansbrough. He's going to be a solid contributor for the next decade. If Blair is gone by 16, I hope my Bulls grab Psycho T.