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I have seen sportswriters and media pretty much write them (bulls) off. Recently 1 sportswriter has them at #13 in the East and no-one here even mentions them when they talk about playoffs.

Let me briefly explain what happened last year with the Bulls - why they were supposed to be one of the contenders in the East but instead were one of the worse teams in the East/league.

First of all, people think it was Kobe thing or a contract thing - well it could be but IMO, it was more of a contract thing with our 2 best players in Deng and Gordon - they played more selfishly and cautiously then they did before - BG a year before that went to the free throw line so many times as well as scored a lot inside or atleast was going there but last year was not the case, mainly coz he didn't want to get hurt and rightfully so. Deng was injured but it wasn't a major injury but he still forced himself to play and wasn't too effective. Hinrich got married and played his WORST season and was pretty awful and most of the bulls fans are so soured on him that they all are pretty much ready to ship him off.

PG position was our WORST last year and that is one of the main reason Pax drafted Rose. We really lacked Leadership on the court and somebody who can penetrate at will and create for others and get us some easy shots (which we REALLY lacked). All that is solved with Rose.

ALso, coaching was really really atrocious and as bad as noone can even imagine. Players (wallace/hughes etc) getting entitlement minutes over more impact type players (Tyrus/Thabo/Noah) which really killed chemistry as well as problems with Coaches (you may have heard some last year in the news and media).

Anyways, this is why Paxson got rid of those coaches and brought in who will work with youngsters and let them play through mistakes and develop them. This is why Vinny Del Negro is here. No more wallace getting minutes even when he playing by far the worst ball of his career, etc.

Regaridng next season, Bulls just upgraded our worst position by drafting a #1 pick Rose, we won't have Ben Wallace and replaced by Drew Gooden and much more confident Tyrus Thomas, Thabo and Noah. Rejuvinated and Healthy Deng.

Our lineup/roster most likely will be.

Rose/Hinrich
Hinrich/Thabo/Hughes
Deng/Nocioni
Gooden/Tyrus
Noah/Gray

Just because they had 1 down year, doesn't mena they will again. I think even if they don't play upto their abilities, they should be able to make the playoffs, should still be better than Hawks/Pacers/Bucks and even Heat.

1. rose will be a great player but wont be great from day one
2. you're relying on thabo and hughes to shore up the 2 guard position
3. relative inexperience from the c and hell even pf positions

i see another lotto selection for the bulls until they're relevant again...

I see(no order) Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Philly, Orlando, Washington and Toronto being locks for the playoffs IMO..the 8th spot is completely wide open, and anybody in the East could sneak in..Atlanta is still similar to last year..Charlotte has LB as coach now..Chicago will be without Gordon, but they added Rose to a roster that made the playoffs 2 years ago..Indiana has a fairly decent team..Miami is my favorite for the 8th and they'll be nice if healthy..Milwaukee has a nice roster..NJ has a lot of potential players surrounding Carter..

First off, I think they screwed up the draft this year by not taking Beasley. Noah/Thomas are not that good. I don't see Noah being anything more then a hustler type player. Thomas has all the athleticism in the world but just continues to let fans down. They have no post threat.

Rose is not going to come in from day 1 and give the type of impact that most Bulls fans expect. A few weeks after the draft I looked at a few threads on the Bulls board and i feel they're setting there expectations too high for a 19 year old rookie PG. It generally takes a PG a few years in the NBA to get used to the speed and NBA game. My expectations for the Bulls this year aren't too high. Saying that, they have a nice young core to build around (Rose, Deng) and given another top 10 pick to get a legitimate low post threat, could become a very strong team in the future.

I see them missing the playoffs this year. Maybe being the 10th team in the East.

Where do Bulls fans think their team ranks offensively?

When I look at the Bulls roster I see one of the worst shooting backcourts in the league (even before BG thing) and I see one of the worst front court scoring rotations. That's why I don't see them as a playoff team this year.

A few reasons why I think the Bulls will probably have a season like last season:

1. The East is a lot better this year than it has been in past years. In fact it was a lot better last season also. Maybe 2, 3, or 4 years ago the East was bad enough that you could get into the playoffs with players like Deng, Gordon, and Hinrich leading your team, but its not like that anymore.

2. Ben Wallace influenced their success a lot more than people thought. In 2007, Wallace had very good season for the Bulls in which he averaged 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Plus he shot 45%. He provided an inside presence that the Bulls needed. Because of that, the Bulls had their best season ever since 1998. The very next season, Ben Wallace dropped off big time. His field goal percentage dropped 8%. He wasn't the defensive presence anymore. In fact, he started to look like a liability for the team. Because of that, the Bulls as a team dropped off too. Everyone on the team had reduced stats because they had to play harder on the defensive end. Ben Wallace wasn't covering for them anymore. The loss of PJ Brown probably hurt the defense of the team too.

3. The Bulls are relying too heavily on the improvement of their young guys. Thabo Sefolosha can't replace Ben Gordon. Derrick Rose isn't good enough to run a playoff team in his rookie season. A big man rotation of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah is not good enough to anchor a playoff team. It seems as though the Bulls are relying on all of their players to move on to the next level of their development. They are expecting Noah and Thomas to go from good bench players to starter type players. They are expecting Drew Gooden to go from a role player to something more than that. They are expecting Thabo Sefolosha to become a player who would be a good rotation player on a good team. And they are expecting all of these players to be consistent.

Take it from me, don't base your predictions of success for your team off of the improvement of even one young player. Last year, most Heat fans expected the team to be a contender because Dorell Wright was finally being given the starting small forward job. Based off of previous seasons, we expected him to take his game to the next level and become a good starter and role player for our team. It didn't work out that way. Wright wasn't consistent enough, so we had to rely a lot more heavily on players like Ricky Davis and Penny Hardaway.

Bulls fans seem to think that everyone of the young players on the team will take their game to the next level and base their predictions of playoffs off of that. It doesn't work that way. There's a good chance that some of the young players might not be that much better than they were last year (maybe even worse).

That's exactly what Bulls fans were doing last year. They expected Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng to raise their game. That is why the consensus among Bulls fans was 60 wins and a Finals appearance for their team. What happened? Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng were all worse than the seasons before.

I expect the Bulls to be a perennial playoff team, but only after Rose becomes good enough to lead a team to the playoffs. That's why I think the Bulls won't make the playoffs next season.

Do I think they'll make it? --- No
Will I be suprised if they do? ---- nope

Don't think so, unless they can gather that effort/intensity they played with during the 06/07 season.

But, I think they failed in the draft at not taking Michael Beasley. -- They needed someone who could score on a nightly basis, at will, plus a post-presence, not necessarily another PG.

But, only time will tell. --- And, Miami's happy you didn't take B-Easy!

Rose should be great eventually, but will not help very much in his first year - his game is very raw. Basically you are looking at the same team as last year, maybe even without Gordon, who could very well sign a 1 year deal in Europe.

Furthermore, the east is way stronger than last season. The following 7 teams are locks for the playoffs:
- Boston
- Detroit
- Orlando
- Cleveland
- Washington
- Toronto
- Philly

That remaining spot will be up for grabs between:
- Indiana
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Charlotte
- Milwaukee

The Pacers, Heat and Hawks should all be better than the Bulls, and the Bucks and Cats are roughly on the same level. I'd be shocked if the Bulls make the playoffs. They have a lot of talent, but are a horribly put together team - no post presence, and if Gordon goes, basically no shooters either. I have them somewhere between 11th and 13th in the east - the only teams they'll definitely be better than are New Jersey and New York.

Bulls would look in a lot better shape if they kept Aldridge. Aldridge would look much better on the Bulls over Thomas.

LOL @ expecting to make the playoffs when Luol Deng is your #1 option.

Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Philly, Orlando, Washington, Toronto, Atlanta, and Milwaukee have unquestionably better teams. Thats already 9 teams, with Miami and Charlotte probably being better than you as well. And even if you don't think 2 or 3 of those teams are better than them, Chicago is still not in the top 8.

If Bulls fans really think they are going to make the playoffs this year they are clearly delusional.

shaqfan1 wrote:A few reasons why I think the Bulls will probably have a season like last season:

...

This is a very fair take. Thumbs up.

If the Bulls somehow do retain Gordon though, and he and Deng return to their form of 2007 (not far fetched at all), the Bulls really won't need much more than just any kind of impact from D Rose to be a 'good' team again. By good, I mean they may or may not make the playoffs, but they will be right there battling for a spot.

Skiles had the team very good defensively even before Ben Wallace was signed. Of course the team had Chandler, but I do feel Noah and Thomas are ready to step up at least to some degree on defense, and that is not too big of a stretch, unlike people expecting either one of those guys to become some kind of offensive force. Not likely.

No, it's a horrible unbalanced team, and they do nothing to solve the problems, i guess the GM of the Bulls is not a very smart.
The Wizards are also unbalanced squad but atleast they have 2 or 3 all-stars and that makes them a lock for the playoffs.

Celtics, Raptors, Sixers, Pistons, Cavaliers, Wizards, Magic and Hawks are better.

A few reasons why I think the Bulls will probably have a season like last season:

1. The East is a lot better this year than it has been in past years. In fact it was a lot better last season also. Maybe 2, 3, or 4 years ago the East was bad enough that you could get into the playoffs with players like Deng, Gordon, and Hinrich leading your team, but its not like that anymore.

Well, Deng, Gordon, and Hinrich weren't just leading the team into the playoffs, they were leading them to one of the best records in the East. They all had down years, and I don't think anyone expects them all to be as bad as they were last year. I would expect Deng to at least return to his 07 level.

2. Ben Wallace influenced their success a lot more than people thought. In 2007, Wallace had very good season for the Bulls in which he averaged 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Plus he shot 45%. He provided an inside presence that the Bulls needed. Because of that, the Bulls had their best season ever since 1998. The very next season, Ben Wallace dropped off big time. His field goal percentage dropped 8%. He wasn't the defensive presence anymore. In fact, he started to look like a liability for the team. Because of that, the Bulls as a team dropped off too. Everyone on the team had reduced stats because they had to play harder on the defensive end. Ben Wallace wasn't covering for them anymore. The loss of PJ Brown probably hurt the defense of the team too.

It's worth noting that the Bulls went from being a consistently great defensive team to being a very average one last year. I don't necessarily agree that it has to do with Ben Wallace, as much as it has to do with the players not playing focused. Hinrich is a great example -- he did not play with the same level of focus as in previous years. He would not hit the same open looks that he used to.

Wallace had a PER of 14.6 in 07, and 11.8 in 08, so yeah he did drop a bit, but it wasn't like he was an all-world player in 07 anyway.

3. The Bulls are relying too heavily on the improvement of their young guys. Thabo Sefolosha can't replace Ben Gordon. Derrick Rose isn't good enough to run a playoff team in his rookie season. A big man rotation of Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah is not good enough to anchor a playoff team. It seems as though the Bulls are relying on all of their players to move on to the next level of their development. They are expecting Noah and Thomas to go from good bench players to starter type players. They are expecting Drew Gooden to go from a role player to something more than that. They are expecting Thabo Sefolosha to become a player who would be a good rotation player on a good team. And they are expecting all of these players to be consistent.

I agree with a lot of this. We can't realistically expect all those guys to become much better. The one thing I will say is that very few people are predicting Derrick Rose to be great this early. But I do think he has the poise and maturity level to be able to handle that kind of pressure early on. The question on him is more about adjusting his game to the league, and growing into his body and everything. I actually think the transition will be easier than it would in the past, given that the rules are geared to help quick, penetrating guards. I wouldn't be surprised if, by the year's end, he starts to consistently take over games. I agree that we can't count on that, but he's our #1 pick, so we do have to have high expectations for him.

With regards to Thabo, Tyrus, and Noah, I agree, though I will say that all three of them had been really underused, so we all just want to see what they will be like if they finally get consistent playing time. This time last year, we were all really down on Thabo, but then he finished the year really strong once he got some playing time.

Gooden, I disagree with. No one is looking to him to be anything more than a one year rental of a decent big man.

The cornerstones of the team are Rose and Deng, now, along with Gordon if he is re-signed. I expect them to be the ones carrying the Bulls, not Tyrus or Noah. I do expect that Tyrus, Noah, and Gooden will play better off of Rose -- but, then again, I expect everyone to play better off of Rose, because I just think that's the type of player he will be.

Lots of young players, with not many who are dominating. Over the course of a season you just have to assume mistakes,turnovers,inexpierence will add up and no one on the roster should be effecient enough as a #1 option to place them where you'd say okay yeah playoffs.

Pretty much the diffrence between CHI and MIA is CHI has better roleplaers around Deng/Rose. And MIA has worse roleplayers around Wade. Who would you expect the bets to be placed on?

Anywhere from 8th down is completely reasonable pick for CHI. No one knowes for sure how they are going to do and how consistently they will preform. But safer bet is to pick the team that has a superstar ready for the big show.

cool007 wrote:I have seen sportswriters and media pretty much write them (bulls) off. Recently 1 sportswriter has them at #13 in the East and no-one here even mentions them when they talk about playoffs.

Let me briefly explain what happened last year with the Bulls - why they were supposed to be one of the contenders in the East but instead were one of the worse teams in the East/league.

First of all, people think it was Kobe thing or a contract thing - well it could be but IMO, it was more of a contract thing with our 2 best players in Deng and Gordon - they played more selfishly and cautiously then they did before - BG a year before that went to the free throw line so many times as well as scored a lot inside or atleast was going there but last year was not the case, mainly coz he didn't want to get hurt and rightfully so. Deng was injured but it wasn't a major injury but he still forced himself to play and wasn't too effective. Hinrich got married and played his WORST season and was pretty awful and most of the bulls fans are so soured on him that they all are pretty much ready to ship him off.

PG position was our WORST last year and that is one of the main reason Pax drafted Rose. We really lacked Leadership on the court and somebody who can penetrate at will and create for others and get us some easy shots (which we REALLY lacked). All that is solved with Rose.

ALso, coaching was really really atrocious and as bad as noone can even imagine. Players (wallace/hughes etc) getting entitlement minutes over more impact type players (Tyrus/Thabo/Noah) which really killed chemistry as well as problems with Coaches (you may have heard some last year in the news and media).

Anyways, this is why Paxson got rid of those coaches and brought in who will work with youngsters and let them play through mistakes and develop them. This is why Vinny Del Negro is here. No more wallace getting minutes even when he playing by far the worst ball of his career, etc.

Regaridng next season, Bulls just upgraded our worst position by drafting a #1 pick Rose, we won't have Ben Wallace and replaced by Drew Gooden and much more confident Tyrus Thomas, Thabo and Noah. Rejuvinated and Healthy Deng.

Our lineup/roster most likely will be.

Rose/Hinrich
Hinrich/Thabo/Hughes
Deng/Nocioni
Gooden/Tyrus
Noah/Gray

Just because they had 1 down year, doesn't mena they will again. I think even if they don't play upto their abilities, they should be able to make the playoffs, should still be better than Hawks/Pacers/Bucks and even Heat.

Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Philly, Toronto, Cleveland, Miami and Washington

that is 8 teams who are by far better than us.

They really need to make changes over there. Im not sure what exactly, but they just need to balance their talent out better.

Rose will eventually be an allstar, however i think the missed by not drafting beasley who will be the top flite scorer they are desperate for.

I dont think they will be good enough offensively. Defensively they should be solid. I like Deng and Rose alot, but they have work to do. Lots of talent jammed into wrong spaces.

Wouldnt be suprised if they made it, I expect more along the lines of a 10 seed.

Bulls are probably the sleeper team of the last 5 seasons. They could either be really good, or the same as last season.

Potentially, they have solid players, not superstars, but potential stars.

Gordon still who can produce 21+ a game if not in the upwards of what some believe could be 25-30 if he shot more (Arenas)

Deng is an all around amazing player. I think Deng can score 20+ a game.

Nocioni could be starting on half the NBA teams and potentially be scoring 18 a game. His energy is something else.

Rose may never be the scorer Beasily is, but in today's world who is better Chris Paul/Deron Williams, or another Glen Robinson possibly (30PPG Purdue Soph). Rose was the right pick, with three potential superstars in the top 3.

Hinrich is very unrated and after one season people think his career is over. The guy is one of the top defensive guards in the NBA and some of you say he can't shoot but his 43% 3PFG proves otherwise. This is one of the key factors to Chicago's success next season.

Tyrus as many say has so much potential, more than anyone in the 2006 draft. Most of his failure has been towards the coaching, but I do not expect this guy to show signs until later on in the season. I believe near the end of last season though he had 15/8 numbers when he was starting so this could be his season.

Noah is a flop, he can probably start a center, and be better than most centers, but he isn't anything special.

Sefolasha could break out as well, we don't know but he needs to improve his offense game or he will turn into another Bruce Bowen type of player.

They also have tremendous talent, very unrated, but in my opinion it comes down to the management getting them to fulfill their talents. I they do it, they could be as high as #2-#4 in the East but they could also be another 30 win team. It comes down to that.

The Bulls would have to develop great chemistry in order to be better than be jsut one of many in the running for the 8th seed. Nothing they showed last year indicates they will suddenly gel- but they should be better with a healthy Deng if they somehow come to terms with Gordon. Unfortunately for them, the EC is a much harder place to play than it was 2 years ago (or even last year.)