LGILREATH5

from ChicagoTribune.com :

The Bulls now have nine players under contract and roughly $7.8 million of cap space left. They remain in discussions with Brad Miller and Kurt Thomas for big-man depth and have had talks about Rafer Alston and Jason Williams as a backup point guard.....


With that much under cap is there any one that you would like to see fill the gaps that we need? I kind of feel like we are the Heat (minus signing 3 of the easly top 5 players in the game). We have signed 3 players that you still have to game plan for and now we are filling the gaps with sub-par player to complete a 12 man roster.

The one thing that we do have over the Heat...is better talent over all. Sure they got Dwyane Wade, LeBron James , and Chris Bosh , oh yeah Mike Miller , but thats it. The Bulls have Derrick Rose , Joakim Noah , Luol Deng, Carlos Bozzer, Kyle Korver , Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson , and (some might say) James Johnson . The Bulls have a way deeper team then the Heat (and I'll say it... the Celtics too. They even match up well with the Magic .) Now I know for a fact that you cant win 3 (4) on 5, and they haven't even played together yet, so they still need time to gell .

A core of Bulls guys have played together for a least a year or more. Korver and Rose played together with the U.S. (practice team). Korver, Bozzer, Brewer, all played together with the Jazz. If there is one thing that championship teams of the past have proved it is that you keep a core of guys together to win champoinships. Yes more then one. Look at the Lakers on the verge of winning 3 in a row (again) have had the same core of guys for all of them both times.

Look for the Bulls to do well in the East this year and make a deep playoff run.

As I was watching the Bulls vs. the Heat game (March 25, 2010), watching the Bulls get killed by 29, I started to think what is the difference between this team and the teams from 1998-2004.  The only thing good about this team is the fact that it's not the 2000-01 Bulls team that went 15-67, but there isn't much difference if you really think about it. The team lacks an identity, some thing that sets them apart from every other team in the league. Even teams that loose on a constant basis have some type of identity. At this point those teams are starting to look more like winners then my lowly Bulls.

The Bulls came into the season riding the coattails of one of the best playoff series in NBA history. All the fans had high hopes, you could see the hunger in the eyes of the players, and most important the "fire Vincent "Vinny" Joseph Del Negro" talked died down. But summer came and went, the Bulls lost the best scorer, (since Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan) in Ben Gordon cause they chose to sign Luol Deng (who has yet to live up to the hype) to huge (un-movable) contract not leaving any money on the table for BG. But as Bulls fans we figured every thing would be ok. I mean John Salmons came in and played like a beast in the second half of the season, to be almost considered in the talks for most improved player, and sixth man of the year. Joakim Noah showed up big time, in that playoff series. Tyrus Thomas showed flashes of what he is capable of. Last but not least Derrick Rose, well he just played ball like we all knew he could.

Let's fast forward to off/pre-season. With two first round picks, the Bulls chose James Johnson (who I still think was the biggest draft day mistake ever) over Ty Lawson, Omri Casspi, and even his fellow draft day Bulls teammate Taj Gibson. With once again high hopes for the rookies. The Bulls marched into the pre-season with a swagger bigger then that of any one in the song Swagger Like Us. But injuries hit almost right away, first Derrick Rose goes down in pre-season ball, Brad Miller got hit by an injury as well. They endured and played through made a some what ok pre-season run.

To start the regular season the, injury to Derrick Rose still lingered. The Bulls played strong despite their leader not being 100%. Luol Deng stepped up and started to show why John Paxson signed him to a nice size payday. Tyrus Thomas tried to prove why he should be a starter. Even Kirk Hinrich played good enough to crush the talks of him being upset about being moved to the bench, to the talks of being named six man of the year. Joakim Noah was a whole new man, with more fire and… well he was just ready to play ball. There were still some bumps in the road. John Salmons was not playing up to the hype he gave us in the playoffs. Tyrus Thomas got relaxed it the starters role, did not show that same hunger, went back to his inconsistent ways. Then Kirk Hinrich gets hit with a thumb injury, Tyrus Thomas' mystery broken arm. But hears the kicker they managed and played through staying in the playoff race.

So what happened from the All-Star break, when the Bulls looked as if they could be a possible number 3 to 5 seed in the playoffs, to this? Well simple, the same stories, the story of the season; injuries. On the upside the Bulls had an All-Star in Derrick Rose, but that’s another story for another day. Joakim Noah's injury hit the hardest. I mean he's the emotional leader on this team and he gets shut down for 3-4 weeks, due to plantar fasciitis, the same injury effecting Taj Gibson. The trades of John Salmons, and 2011 and 2012 second-round draft picks to the Milwaukee Bucks for Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick. Tyrus Thomas traded to the Bobcats for a future first-round draft pick, Ronald (Flip) Murray and Acie Law. Then another hard foul from Dwight Howard to Rose, which he swears was an innocent foul. Come on twice in as many games I don’t think those are "too" innocent. So now rose is out 2 weeks, and the Bulls continue to slide, father and further out of playoff contention.

Time to look toward the future: The Bulls could fall so far that they could get a nice 1st round pick, and get an outstanding rookie. They could sign a wonderful free agent, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, (heck I'll settle for Tracy McGrady at this point). Joakim Noah gets healthy comes back with the same fierceness, and hunger he started this season with. Rose continues to make strides in his game, ready to carry the Bulls back to the promise land. A land that we as older fans hold on to, hoping that the new generation of Bulls fans will get to enjoy soon. Taj Gibson improves on what is a wonderful rookie season for a 1st round 26th pick. James Johnson hits the gym and the summer hard to show why the Bulls picked him over Gibson. Kirk Hinrich finds his jumper and shows why the John Paxson has kept him around for 7 going on 8 years.

Bottom line the Bulls have most of the pieces to become an elite team in this twisted league we love, called the NBA. Yet there are a few missing pieces, a few things that need to be polished. Maybe a replacement or two in the right (head coaching) places. Bring in a top or even middle free agent, and this Bulls team is ready for the next level.

 

GO BULLS!!!

I recently read this from a fellow NBA fan as he was talking about a rookie:

 I really would like the NBA to draft players that have played at least 3 years in college, maturity and fundamentals breeds success. I know that this isn't realistic but I look back on the old games I watch from the 70's, 80's, & 90's and I see a much better team game than we see nowadays. We might have the most athletically talented players ever but what has happened to the game, it looks more like streetball than the game of basketball I watched as a kid with Bird and Magic. Although the players that are now lacing it up to play are in some ways freaks I believe the old school teams would beat this generations teams handily because they were fundamentally sound.  

 It made me think. The NBA is watered down, with so many young players that look like they have the talent and skill to play at this level. At the age of 28, I have seen many changes in this league that we love. I have been saying for the longest "that the age to get into the NBA needs to be raised to keep the integrity of the game." They did that, but now it seems just as bad as it did before. So I'll say it again the age needs to be raised to about 3 years of college. Let's go back to the early days of the NBA when teams would not even look at you unless you had at least 2-3 years of college ball under your belt.

Now if you know me you know that I am bias to my favorite players and teams. But there are only a handful of guys in the NBA that are playing to win a title and not just for the money. The sad thing is they are all veterans with over 12 years of experience. Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Carlos Boozer, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant…and that’s really about it, maybe and a few others.

What I really don't like that is also bringing down this league and turning it in to a joke, is this 2010 FA draft class. While some of them say it's not about the money, but about where and who they play with, I bet some of them will not hesitate to take the max money.  So now you got teams dumping salary in hopes of landing a top free agent. What kind of stuff is that? Take the team you have and try to turn them into champions. But what do they do they sign a bunch of mediocre players to one year deals in hope of landing a top free agent.

Now for some reason I thought the NBA was about the fans. So tell me why would any true fan (the ones that sit in the nose bleeds) want to see their team go through years of nothing because, the players and teams want to spend top dollar on one guy then cant build around him.  Now you have this high price super-star and a bunch of role players that can't help him win.

So now we have an NBA that is all about money, with players jumping teams for bigger pay days and not necessarily trying to win a championship. What ever happened to the days of building a team around 1-2 key players but keeping the team intact long enough for them to gel. If you think about all of the dynasty teams, (Bulls, Lakers, Celtics, and you can even put the Spurs, Pistons and Rockets in there to prove my point), those were teams that built around 1-2 key players, and kept the team together long enough to win multiple championships.