What do you think of the Bulls signing?

[Heats_Finest]

So it's official that the Bulls signed RIP Hamilton, and while I know he plugs up a hole for their offense. I'm actually happy that they've signed him. One of their biggest strengths against us is they have really strong wing defenders in Bogans/Brewer/Deng. But the signing of Hamilton means that Wade and Lebron will see much less of Bogans or Brewer on defense. While you may say that it'll make Wade a lot more tired, that's where our continuity comes into play with Battier. He can use all his energy on defense negating Hamiltons offense.

I'm actually pretty happy about it, Brewer and Bogans seem to have so much hustle and great defense, but now with Hamilton I think Wade and Lebron will score a tonne of buckets on the Bulls. + Rose doesn't like to pass the ball that often, so Hamiltons biggest strength, running off screens sort of is negated.

Do you guys think that this signing hurts us or helps us against Bulls?

[Miamis3rdRing]

I do think Rip makes them a better team. They desperately need offense, and he's a good fit next to Rose because he doesn't really need the ball in his hands. Whether or not Rose will hit him with the pass every time is to be determined. Billups did a good job back in the day and he's not really a pass-first PG either.

Outside of Rose who do they have that can score? Boozer? Yeah right! That guy is awful. Can't wait for Bosh to completely outplay him once again. (Had to get in my Boozer jab in here somewhere)

Like you said though, Rip can't do as good of a job on Wade as Bogans/Brewer did. The less of them, the better for us.

It'll be a pain in the a** for Wade to chase Rip around, but that's why we have Battier. Miller and Jones if healthy can also be used in limited minutes though defense isn't really their specialty.

Overall, I still like us in a series against them.

Short version - I agree with basically everything you wrote.

[RealOffenSE]

So it's official that the Bulls signed RIP Hamilton, and while I know he plugs up a hole for their offense. I'm actually happy that they've signed him. One of their biggest strengths against us is they have really strong wing defenders in Bogans/Brewer/Deng. But the signing of Hamilton means that Wade and Lebron will see much less of Bogans or Brewer on defense. While you may say that it'll make Wade a lot more tired, that's where our continuity comes into play with Battier. He can use all his energy on defense negating Hamiltons offense.

I'm actually pretty happy about it, Brewer and Bogans seem to have so much hustle and great defense, but now with Hamilton I think Wade and Lebron will score a tonne of buckets on the Bulls. + Rose doesn't like to pass the ball that often, so Hamiltons biggest strength, running off screens sort of is negated.

Do you guys think that this signing hurts us or helps us against Bulls?

I dont know how you managed to twist the positives about RIP to the bulls into negatives. RIP is a lengthy defender, and I dont think hes a corpse yet. Based on the horrible defense I saw Bogans play on Wade in the playoffs, literally turning and giving wade a lane to the basket, I would argue RIP is an upgrade defensively for the starting lineup. We still have Brewer, and he is essentially in the same role, so I dont know how you would see less of him??? You said Rose doesnt like to pass much, so that negates RIP's offense. Rose was top ten in assists last year and he "did not pass much" because he does not have more players like RIP who create off the ball. I can only imagine adding a player like RIP means Rose would pass more. Plan to see Rose get more help this year, and yes, even from Boozer. Boozer can only play better compared to his horrible performance in the playoffs. The same for NOAH. I cant wait for the playoffs

[BFRESH44]

[ninjabelly]

obviously it hurts us, but im not scared, they need a good second scorer next to wade; i dont think rip can be that, plus i think wade can shut him down.

[MaliBrah]

obviously it hurts us, but im not scared, they need a good second scorer next to wade; i dont think rip can be that, plus i think wade can shut him down.

ahaha i think you meant next to rose. But yeah im not that scared of them. They seem to be certain n their board that their going to beat the heat come playoff time

[Heats_Finest]

I dont know how you managed to twist the positives about RIP to the bulls into negatives. RIP is a lengthy defender, and I dont think hes a corpse yet. Based on the horrible defense I saw Bogans play on Wade in the playoffs, literally turning and giving wade a lane to the basket, I would argue RIP is an upgrade defensively for the starting lineup. We still have Brewer, and he is essentially in the same role, so I dont know how you would see less of him??? You said Rose doesnt like to pass much, so that negates RIP's offense. Rose was top ten in assists last year and he "did not pass much" because he does not have more players like RIP who create off the ball. I can only imagine adding a player like RIP means Rose would pass more. Plan to see Rose get more help this year, and yes, even from Boozer. Boozer can only play better compared to his horrible performance in the playoffs. The same for NOAH. I cant wait for the playoffs

On the point of Rose and passing, it's expected that a guy with the 2nd highest usage ratio (Who's a PG), would be in the top 10 in assists. You'd kind of expect that, but among his assist ratio, a true stat when comparing assists for point guards. He ranks 51 among all point guards, Mario Chalmers, Stuckey etc have higher assist ratios....

I don't mean to hate on the kid because he's an exceptional talent, just for the amount of touches per game he gets his assist ratio really isn't anything special.

[PowerBull]

Like you said though, Rip can't do as good of a job on Wade as Bogans/Brewer did. The less of them, the better for us.

It'll be a pain in the a** for Wade to chase Rip around, but that's why we have Battier. Miller and Jones if healthy can also be used in limited minutes though defense isn't really their specialty.

So (more) Hamilton means less Brewer BUT (more of) Battier doesn't mean less Wade? makes sense. This works both ways. And as somebody else mentioned Rip doesn't do a bad job on Wade on defense.

[RatherUnique]

Wade completely wrecked hamilton in their last playoff matchup in '06

He's certainly an upgrade to Bogans, however

[MartyCONLONNN]

I think it's as good a signing as us signing Battier. Both are good not perfect fits that should produce well in their systems from the get-go, both are savvy veteran leaders, and both will take some pressure away from their respective team's stars.

And although Rip provides a more practical upgrade for a position of need for Chi, which will make them a better team no doubt, the notion of it putting them over the top of our team's upgrade is negated in a sense by the fact that (and sorry RealOffense, but no) RIp at this stage will not be as aggressive of a defender on the floor as Bogans was, and that's apart from the fact that Wade will be able to post Rip up with ease. The negation goes even further IMO with the fact that chasing Rip around won't be an issue for Wade, because we will almost certainly put Battier in charge of the chasing.

So although it's a solid solid move for Chicago, when it comes to a Heat matchup, our own addition is as good as an answer as you can get. IMO the key to a Bulls Heat series will be injuries... On the Bulls board I see a lot of pridefully ignorant posts from some who refuse to give us credit about how Boozer was injured and so was Noah, and Rose tweaked his ankle etc. and that's really why they lost. Right. A lot of this without any acknowledgment that Haslem was on one leg and played his first game in almost the whole season in game 2 (amazing). And that Miller was completely broken by then, also played an utterly useless Bibby out there (something like that will not fly again this year). So yeah even with them and us at full strength, we still wouldn't really know the outcome. Injuries and the way they affect chemistry especially in this jampacked season will be an even bigger factor than usual I predict. One thing is for sure these two are by a fair margin the creme of the crop in the East, and if/when we meet in the playoffs it promises to be a grueling series with us on top by a slimmer margin... i'm thinking late 90s Knicks Heat ugly, at least that's how it's shaping up in my head lol

[Miamis3rdRing]

So (more) Hamilton means less Brewer BUT (more of) Battier doesn't mean less Wade? makes sense. This works both ways. And as somebody else mentioned Rip doesn't do a bad job on Wade on defense.

Are Deng's minutes going to come down this season come playoff time? No, that wouldn't be smart.

Is Rip Hamilton going to play 19 mpg in the playoff's like Bogans did? No, that wouldn't be smart. He'll play significantly more than that.

This is what happens when you add a superior starter. The minutes of the guys on the bench suffer. Now if you want to bench Korver and just play Brewer the minutes left over by Deng and Rip be my guest. You then have no shooters.

If the Heat get Chauncey Billups what happens? Chalmers and Cole lose potential playing time.

If the Heat get Jason Richardson then he'll play behind Wade. He won't take Wade's minutes but rather his back-up's.

Why would we reduce Wade's minutes come playoff time and give them to an inferior player in Battier (Comparatively speaking)? Miller, Jones, and House will lose playing time - not Wade.

Oh and Rip can't defend Wade. This isn't 2005. Check the recent match-up's.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... 2=wadedw01

I'll steer away from this topic since nothing good ever comes from interactions between Heat and Bulls fans. See you in the 2nd round of the playoff's (1st seed Heat vs. 4th seed Bulls).

[Chosen01]

Doesn't matter.I'm confident enough to believe the Heat will trump them again, and I'm sure a few Bulls fans feel the same way,with a healthy Miller, Haslem, the unlikelihood that Wade has another subpar series against them and the fact that they still have Boozer who is a terrible defender,I like our chance to once again beat them in 5 unless Rose really improves.

In fact you can argue that the signing of Battier was almost as big as Rip( simply because everyone besides the Big 3 are somewhat scrubs besides a healthy Haslem,Miller) who's able to contribute and play lock down defense and 3s at a 37%+ clip.

[vanhowell]

Acquiring RIP is a decent addition for them but they still can't beat us in a 7 game series

[jmbflame21]

LOL Bulls still gunna get stomped in the ECF!!!!

[Cliff Levingston]

So (more) Hamilton means less Brewer BUT (more of) Battier doesn't mean less Wade? makes sense. This works both ways. And as somebody else mentioned Rip doesn't do a bad job on Wade on defense.

Are Deng's minutes going to come down this season come playoff time? No, that wouldn't be smart.

Is Rip Hamilton going to play 19 mpg in the playoff's like Bogans did? No, that wouldn't be smart. He'll play significantly more than that.

This is what happens when you add a superior starter. The minutes of the guys on the bench suffer. Now if you want to bench Korver and just play Brewer the minutes left over by Deng and Rip be my guest. You then have no shooters.

That's probably what would end up happening. Korver really isn't a good player, he's just a good shooter, that's it. Rip can do just about everything Korver can do and much more offensively while being a superior defender.

Cliff Levingston would expect a base rotation like this in the playoffs:

1. Rose [38], Watson [10]
2. Hamilton [32], Brewer [16]
3. Deng [38], Brewer [10]
4. Boozer [32], Gibson [16]
5. Noah [32], Asik [16]

Hamilton is a big upgrade over Bogans as he adds so much more offensively, even if he isn't his old self. Bogans was completely worthless offensively outside of being able to shoot a wide open 3.

However, none of that matters if Noah and Boozer are hurt and play as poorly as they did in the series last year.

[GameTime_3]

Its a decent addition for the Bulls. If we didn't get battier, I would be a bit more worried since Wade would have to chase him around but that won't be the case down the stretch as I see Wade defending Battier chasing him around with Wade man to man on Rose. What thing I don't like about the pickup for them is Rip doesn't have a great 3 ball and relies in his mid range, something that Rose also uses. The perfect 2 next to Rose was Ben Gordan. Someone who could shoot lights out and didn't need to dribble much.

[Lauri_Legend]

However, none of that matters if Noah and Boozer are hurt and play as poorly as they did in the series last year.

Exactly. Rip or no Rip, Chicago cant get anywhere if Booz and Noah are injured.

[CablexDeadpool]

rip is a chucker now and unless he gonna go back to being ray allen with the midrange shot, then I am not worried. Lately he's been an on the dribble player.


That means the ball isn't in Rose's hands and Rose will chuck up shots. Rose was better the year before his MVP season. Now he's thinks he can shoot 3s at a 40 percent clip when he's really just a kobe like chucker.

If Rip running around like Ray Allen then yeah it's a wrap if Boozer can play defense and not look like a b****.

[orangeparka]

Like you said though, Rip can't do as good of a job on Wade as Bogans/Brewer did. The less of them, the better for us.

It'll be a pain in the a** for Wade to chase Rip around, but that's why we have Battier. Miller and Jones if healthy can also be used in limited minutes though defense isn't really their specialty.

So (more) Hamilton means less Brewer BUT (more of) Battier doesn't mean less Wade? makes sense. This works both ways. And as somebody else mentioned Rip doesn't do a bad job on Wade on defense.

Nah, not really. Battier can technically come in for PG minutes (with Wade/LeBron moving there) as well, while Hamilton will take 2/3 minutes.


On-topic, it's definitely a good move by the Bulls. There weren't many good SGs in FA, so Rip is decent. Although, he turns 34 in like a couple of months, and he's a shell of his former self. He's not that great of a floor-spacer either... but nevertheless he's an upgrade over Keith.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

Noah and Boozer did play in the playoffs. I understand saying they weren't at 100%, but as the saying goes, nobody is 100% at that time of the year. I'd wager Wade wasn't 100% in the Bulls series, no matter what he wants to say, and he's more valuable to our team than Noah or Boozer is to Chicago. And Haslem/Miller clearly weren't 100%, and they were our 4th/5th best players. We had to go pretty much the whole entire season without their help.