My thoughts about Smith/Gordon and Bulls in general

[cool007]

Okay, I know we always have something going on and we lose. Call it bad luck, mental lapse or whatever - a loss is a loss.

the season is getting out of our hands and I don't know how we can salvage it? Maybe by trade (minor/Major)??? Players simply playing better? better defense? More young players than vets? or combination of all of these?

Anyways, I would love it if Bulls can make some kind of trade that involves (Nocioni/Duhon/Hinrich/Wallace/etc) or move 1 of Deng/Gordon plus pieces for a star player? Something has to happen coz as of it is like what we have, we aren't going anywhere - whether be now or for future.

Regarding Joe Smith: Just imagine if Bulls were still playing like we did last year (50 win team) and then you add Joe Smith (who has been probably our best consistent player so far) - we would be talking about winning the central right now and possibly going deep in the playoffs instead of moaning about playoff chances and all. It seems like Joe Smith signing is just getting wasted coz he would be a big time help for a championship type team than our team coz our team is not going anywhere and on top of that our young guys not getting lot of burn either to develop them.

Regarding Gordon: I don't know if it is just me but I am really concerned. I know Gordon has been playing well off the bench but 1 thing that bothers me is that why is he missing some shots at the end and coming up short??? It's because to play those lot of minutes after coming off the bench, he has to play all those minutes straight without getting any rest. He comes in at 6minute mark in the 1st and 3rd and then doesn't sit the rest of the way and it probably takes lot out of Gordon. He is still young and doesn't know how to pace himself (even MJ had to do that) This is something that concerns me.

Regarding Ben Wallace: I am not saying he sucks but he is very close. I know he has been playing better lately but getting 10 rebounds in about 35 to 40 minutes (for a primary rebounder) is not that big of a deal. His defense is okay but if you look at the players he is guarding, have had big numbers on him (Bogut/Howard/Curry (twice)/to name a few) and he hurts us so much on the offensive end that I don't know if there is ANY WORSE offensive big man in the league that gets 35+ minutes a game. We use him as a pick and roll??? WTF How many have said that is a bad bad thing (Stacey/Collins/VanLier/Gill/99% of the RealGM posters/on the radio interviews) Not to mention, whenever we pass the ball to wallace, and he is THAT close to the basket but rarely ever finishes and mostly passes back outside to start with zero. If Noah or Tyrus or even Gray were playing, that would have been atleast 2 points if not and 1.

3-on-5 every night: I know we are not really trailing in the 1st qtr but we always start out games with 3 on 5 in the 1st and 3 rd qtr and sometimes in the end of games as well. Last couple of games Deng has been out and we are usually 2.5 or 2 out of 5 on the offensive side (Smith and Gordon) are the only consistent scoring we have. Hinrich/Nocioni are up and down.

Defense collapse: I am going to put it in plain and simple. You give up 100 = YOU LOSE. What happened to our defense???? We hardly used to ever give up 100 but now, it's a everyday thing for us. Every team is scoring 100 on us and we have hard time stopping them. It' like other teams do whatever the hell they want out there. I don't know if you say it or not but I am going to say it DUHON AND HINRICH'S DEFENSE SUCKS THIS YEAR. It starts from outside and both of those are probably worse than Gordon this year. Every guard penetrates at will and scores on them at will (see Andre miller/Parker/Mo Williams/Nelson/Arroyo/Crawford/just to name a few). WTF happened???
Also, I pull my hair everytime I see Bulls following the ball and collapse when anyone - I MEAN ANYONE who has the ball even if that player wouldn't beat you much and we leave their shooters WIDE OPEN. Pretty much every game this happens and pretty much every team has been shooting lot of threes and making them coz they are WIIIIIIIDDDEEE Open. It's been all year long and getting worse.

I am losing all the hope this year. I don't even think we can make playoffs this year even with the East this pathetic. The only way we even make it is if we make some bold move by the trade deadline but I am not holding my breath on that either.

A lot of things are wrong with Bulls and we better correct them 1 by 1. or if we are not making the playoffs, I say let the young players play - atleast we find out what we have in them and plan for the future based on that.

That is all I have to say.

[sco]

I feel exactly the same way. The only thing that gives me minor comfort with the current approach is the dream that we are showcasing our guys (particulary Noc and Wallace) for trades.

While it may be a little painful for the next 2 months to pump-up stats/minutes on guys like Wallace, it would be well worth it if we can get more than a bag of magic beans for him.

The other impression I was left with last night is that the guy to showcase and trade is Tyrus. I am firmly of the opinion now that tweeners are nothing more than bench fodder in this league and Tyrus my a physical freak, but he lacks the skill to be a good SF and the height (forget about strength) to be a legit PF.

[DASMACKDOWN]

You know I feel the same way you doo cool007.

I always thought to myself so why are we struggling so much. We have exactly the same players and improved some. So why the major drop off?

I know this may not be a popular answer, but its not Ben Wallace that is the root cause of the drop off, its Kirk Hinrich.

Now yeah I may get flamed for this but BRING IT ON!!! Naw just playing but I am serious.

Its been Kirks drop off this year that has hurt us the most. When you look at it statwise, Deng is basically right back to the pace and level as last season. Gordon moving back to the bench and at the level he is now, would be ahead of last years pace of 21.4ppg. So those guys are basically back on track. Noce is Noce the same guy as last year and in reality Joe Smith is twice the player PJ Brown was.

So why are we struggling. We cant stop anybody and we cant score easily. Thats actually all falls on Kirk.

If Chris Paul is struggling, you better believe the Hornets are. If Nash isnt having a good game, you better believe PHX struggles. Kirk is the heart and soul because he is the engine that keeps it rolling. But in his case its on the offensive AND defensive end.

Kirk is having his worst year statistically in his career. And now he cant even bring the defense that made Kirk that special player. We now are getting lit up by the opposing guards. Thats a big change compared to the past. I look at Kirk as a big piece of our armor. Kirks part has been broken so that has compromised the whole thing.

Thats why I never did understand the consistant doubling the low post guys when we havent even stopped the guards. Its a reason why we are like last in 3pt% against I believe an insane 38%. We havent slowed them down or closed out fast enough.

I just wish Boylan would play like Detroit, never double, make Ben Wallace earn his 60 million. But with guys like Tyrus or Noah sitting back there with Wallace, we should be able to cope with playing straight up.

[cool007]

You know I feel the same way you doo cool007.

I always thought to myself so why are we struggling so much. We have exactly the same players and improved some. So why the major drop off?

I know this may not be a popular answer, but its not Ben Wallace that is the root cause of the drop off, its Kirk Hinrich.

Now yeah I may get flamed for this but BRING IT ON!!! Naw just playing but I am serious.

Its been Kirks drop off this year that has hurt us the most. When you look at it statwise, Deng is basically right back to the pace and level as last season. Gordon moving back to the bench and at the level he is now, would be ahead of last years pace of 21.4ppg. So those guys are basically back on track. Noce is Noce the same guy as last year and in reality Joe Smith is twice the player PJ Brown was.

So why are we struggling. We cant stop anybody and we cant score easily. Thats actually all falls on Kirk.

If Chris Paul is struggling, you better believe the Hornets are. If Nash isnt having a good game, you better believe PHX struggles. Kirk is the heart and soul because he is the engine that keeps it rolling. But in his case its on the offensive AND defensive end.

Kirk is having his worst year statistically in his career. And now he cant even bring the defense that made Kirk that special player. We now are getting lit up by the opposing guards. Thats a big change compared to the past. I look at Kirk as a big piece of our armor. Kirks part has been broken so that has compromised the whole thing.

Thats why I never did understand the consistant doubling the low post guys when we havent even stopped the guards. Its a reason why we are like last in 3pt% against I believe an insane 38%. We havent slowed them down or closed out fast enough.

I just wish Boylan would play like Detroit, never double, make Ben Wallace earn his 60 million. But with guys like Tyrus or Noah sitting back there with Wallace, we should be able to cope with playing straight up.

I agree. I think this team would be awesome if we had a LEGIT PG who can really drive to the basket more and who can actually create for others. Hinrich's best asset was his defense IMO, and right now, he is not even defending like he used to up until last year. Every guard has been doing everything at will whether drive to the bucket or score over him. Duhon is even worse.

I also agree on why do we have to double every player and go help every player??? Why not let BW play 1-on-1 and stay home. It's like we let the inside players do whatever and on top we give open 3's and open shots to all back court players as well.

Just pick your poison man, it's either 1 guy beats us or 4 guys??? I would let that 1 guy beat us and not let everyone else go off. It's not a rocket science but I guess our players never watched that movie.

[kyrv]

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I also agree on why do we have to double every player and go help every player??? Why not let BW play 1-on-1 and stay home. It's like we let the inside players do whatever and on top we give open 3's and open shots to all back court players as well.

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I posted last year and earlier this year, that to me our defense is designed to give wide open three's. Last year, the answer was, 'because it works'. This was the problem in the Toronto game this year, and other games, when teams start knocking down their three pointers, the Bulls don't seem to make an effort to stay at home.

Marbury wide open for a three in that situation? As Stacie King would say..."wow".

I also agree on the PG, with your current bevy of nice young bigs, a true PG, break down/driving PG, would have more success overall than the wonderful jump shots we all know and despise.

[JeffJordan]

It's hard to understand why our team is so much worse this season over last. Is it that our players have stuff going on in their personal lives or are just not getting along? Nice to see Gordon bouncing back but still... Smith is an upgrade over Brown. I guess we will see how the season progresses.

[Ben]

It's hard to understand why our team is so much worse this season over last. Is it that our players have stuff going on in their personal lives or are just not getting along? Nice to see Gordon bouncing back but still... Smith is an upgrade over Brown. I guess we will see how the season progresses.

Kirk got married. That is all.

See Chandler, T.