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i know its a long shot, but say we do. say we make it the to the 4th seed in this weak conference and make a run.
do you think pax will fall in love w/ his players all over again and keep the core together? making minor moves in the offseason again? im worried this might happen w/ paxson at the helm.

Yeah, if we get that far this year, we're so Faaahhhkkkked for next year. We need a real coach who can blend this talent we have, as well one more addition. But then again, will we have another slow start next year? Anyhow, I don't see us getting past the 2nd round at best. We need a real playmaker on our team. Not necessarily a "franchise" per say, but someone capable of drawing the contact when driving and/or able to dish it off cleanly for a good open shot. We've got good shooters and steady PG play as of late, we just need that one guy who can command the defense to collapse and screw up their assignments, so the other 4 guys can light it up.

I'm afraid by getting to the ECF, Pax may try the conservative route again. I'd prefer us to get to round 2 and go out in 6 or 7.

If?

I don't get it. So if the Bulls make the ECF, with a team filled with young players, you would still want major trades?

I don't think that has any chance of occurring, but if it did, everyone and their brother will write the first 33 games off as a massive, possibly coaching induced, aberration.

When you get to conference finals, you have a pretty good team, even if its a weak conference. The most likely result of any major trade is to make you worse.

NLK wrote:Yeah, if we get that far this year, we're so Faaahhhkkkked for next year. But then again, will we have another slow start next year? Anyhow, I don't see us getting past the 2nd round at best. We need a real playmakers on our team. We've got good shooters and steady PG play as of late, we just need that one guy who can command the defense to collapse and screw up their assignments, so the other 4 guys can light it up.

i know, but it wouldnt be impossible to make it the ecf. pax might see this as progress and keep the team together. is pax this naive? i dont think i would be able to handle another year of mediocrity. pax HAS to know that if the bulls made it to the ecf, its because the east is so bad THIS year. i emphasize THIS year cause the eastern teams WILL get better, while we are stuck in neutral.

#1TKfan wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

i know, but it wouldnt be impossible to make it the ecf. pax might see this as progress and keep the team together. is pax this naive? i dont think i would be able to handle another year of mediocrity. pax HAS to know that if the bulls made it to the ecf, its because the east is so bad THIS year. i emphasize THIS year cause the eastern teams WILL get better, while we are stuck in neutral.

Well, I would disagree on your definition of mediocrity. Right now, Detroit and Boston can hang with anyone in the NBA. In order to get to the ECF, Chicago would have to beat one of them in a 7 game series.

It would seem as if you would only be happy with a top 3 team in the NBA. If that's the case, regardless of what Chicago does, the odds are against you being happy.

I think if we make the ECF I'd still wish that some trades would be made, because it's clear now that this team is still missing something...at least at this point of the season.

DuckIII wrote:If?

A 2 letter word for futility.

coldfish wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Well, I would disagree on your definition of mediocrity. Right now, Detroit and Boston can hang with anyone in the NBA. In order to get to the ECF, Chicago would have to beat one of them in a 7 game series.

It would seem as if you would only be happy with a top 3 team in the NBA. If that's the case, regardless of what Chicago does, the odds are against you being happy.

i have to admit, i believed that this team WAS top 3 before the season started. been a long time since i felt that way about the bulls. a decade now.
ill tell you this, if pax keeps them team as is, ill have to wait until pax get fired to have hope again.

Since I haven't watched them do it, and see how they played as a team, and individually, it's not really possible to answer this question.

Who did well? Who did poorly? Did Kirk continue to struggle? Did extended minutes catch up to Smith and Wallace? Was Gordon a clutch performer? I just don't see how it's possible to make a blind comment.


P.S. Edit - Let's we pretend we lose in the ECF to Detroit or Boston.

Do we talk about how we don't have a tall guard or a low post game?

Or we do we talk about how, you know, the other team had a lot better players than we currently have. Replacing Ben or Kirk with a tall SG who isn't a better player, doesn't improve the team in my opinion. Low post player Zach Randolph has not been shown to help teams.

This is why I want the youngsters to play, let's see if they are better players. If not, we look elsewhere.

IF the bulls were to get to the ecf, this board will overload from the amount of debate (from inside this forum and outside) over the who, what, when, where and why regarding this season.......

which bulls team did we witness? that'd be a great starting point?

the pro-paxson group vs. the anti-pax group

the gordon supporters vs. the hinrich haters......

ben wallace.......

the youngsters input and influence.....

can't say i'm expecting it, BUT

it'd make for a lot of interesting debate......

go bulls

you are talking about this ECF, correct?
http://www.ecf.com/

otherwise i guess if Garnett, Pierce, Allen all go down with injuries. Wallace, Hamilton and Billups all get injured or traded and the same for LeBron and D Howard and Kidd/Carter- they could eeek in there with this roster.

teams will then covet Aaron Gray this off season but Paxson would continue to protect the core.

next season after an 0-11 start Bulls fans agonize over the failed Gray/Khrypa for Tim Duncan trade SA put on the table.

(seriously, i really don't see them making the playoffs with this current roster)

If we make the ECF with the current rotation (Duhon, Wallace, Smith and Nocioni getting big minutes), then... ummm... well we don't have to worry about that cause it's not going to happen.

If we make it to the ECF with the young guys (Thomas/Noah/Sefolosha/Gray) playing 20-30 minutes a game, then what excuses would you have to break up the team in a significant fashion? The only roster moves you'd then want to make is find any way possible to dump the vets you wouldn't need any more.

if the bulls make it to the ECF this year as is...

I will be very sad b/c that means the allstar game was fire bombed by the former Soviet Union (and we've been worrying about al qaeda) and we would be one of the few teams that would be left untouched by the tragedy. The humanity of it.

Joking, basically what I'm saying is: no chance. The bulls ceiling is making the playoffs, maybe sneaking into the second round (depending on seeding in the horrible eastern conference).

Gregnice33 wrote:if the bulls make it to the ECF this year as is...

I will be very sad b/c that means the allstar game was fire bombed by the former Soviet Union (and we've been worrying about al qaeda) and we would be one of the few teams that would be left untouched by the tragedy. The humanity of it.

Haha!

Cliff Levingston wrote:If we make the ECF with the current rotation (Duhon, Wallace, Smith and Nocioni getting big minutes), then... ummm... well we don't have to worry about that cause it's not going to happen.

If we make it to the ECF with the young guys (Thomas/Noah/Sefolosha/Gray) playing 20-30 minutes a game, then what excuses would you have to break up the team in a significant fashion? The only roster moves you'd then want to make is find any way possible to dump the vets you wouldn't need any more.

make it to the ECF w/ the youngins getting big min?! thats a whole different story. this would give me hope for this team. but can they do it?
well, im going to steal your words. FOCK NO!

#1TKfan wrote: been a long time since i felt that way about the bulls. a decade now.

Seriously, can you believe it's been that long? It doesnt seem like it!

the gordon supporters vs. the hinrich haters......

Arent they the same people?


If the Bulls somehow make the ECF this season Ben Wallace will have his MVP award waiting for him, Pax will have EOY, Boylan will get coach of the year after taking over a losing team...and Gordon/Deng will end up demanding max as free agents.

I'd be absolutely stunned if the Bulls made it to the ECF without the team making some sort of move to change the roster. I wouldn't be stunned if the team makes the playoffs because the bottom half of the Eastern Conference is just so bad. And I wouldn't even be shocked if the team got out of the 1st round, since the core players have enough playoff experience now that they should understand what is needed to win a postseason series. Anything past that, however, would be a miracle of something more than minor proportions.

There's probably no chance we make it to the ECF, with either the veterans playing 30 MPG or The Rookies playing 30 MPG. Bulls can't progress any type of consistency with either group, except Joe Smith.

Moves gotta be made, but even if we do, I don't think Paxson with all the heat he's been getting will "fall in love" with his players this time. So something's bound to go down before deadline and in the offseason. It just better be the right moves or Paxson needs to step the hell down.