Re: 2009-10 Chicago Bulls Thread

[SpongeWorthy]

Another [expletive] blowout. If the Warriors didn't miss a zillion open jumpers last night that would've been a loss too.

[Sammy Sofa]

Another [expletive] blowout. If the Warriors didn't miss a zillion open jumpers last night that would've been a loss too.

 

It's the Celtics. I don't care if the Bulls weren't having a such a shitty run of blowouts and they had Phil Jackson back as the coach: this team would get killed by the Celtics.

[SpongeWorthy]

Only abject failure of teams get blown out by EVERY good team on its schedule. I expected better although I probably shouldn't at this point. This team is an utter embarrassment. Even horrible teams have maybe one area where they can play at an equal footing with a good opponent.

 

Horrible coaching, horrible shooting, horrible bench, horrible rebounding, horrible defense. There's nothing to hang your hat on.

[SpongeWorthy]

James Johnson is a huge bust btw. This guy doesn't have any skills.

[Magnetic Curses]

i really hope the offseason gets here soon, if we don't sign any of the big 3, at least we won't have to watch them or hear about them for a little while.

[Flames24Rulz]

I think it's probably best if all of us pretend this season never happened.

[SpongeWorthy]

I think it's probably best if all of us pretend this decade+ never happened.

 

FTFY

[Magnetic Curses]

there have been some decent moments, but the franchise needs to get back on track. the lakers seem to have no problems.

[RedFlash]

James Johnson is a huge bust btw. This guy doesn't have any skills.

 

I much rather get a bigger sample size then garbage minutes in blowouts. It's not looking good, but I am not writing him him off, yet.

[UMFan83]

I think it's probably best if all of us pretend this decade+ never happened.

 

FTFY

 

Booo. We didn't get all that far as a franchise, but there were a lot of great moments this decade. I'm not saying it was awesome or anything, but it certainly wasn't a decade to forget. Unfortunately, the end of the decade leaves a horrible taste in our mouths.

[Tyrant]

Booo. We didn't get all that far as a franchise, but there were a lot of great moments this decade. I'm not saying it was awesome or anything, but it certainly wasn't a decade to forget.

 

Two winning years. One playoff series win. An average of 33 wins per season. Three fired head coaches (with time still left for a fourth).

 

If I were listing criteria for something called "A Decade to Forget," that's pretty much what it would look like. I don't think you remember how awful the beginning of the decade was.

[RedFlash]

If for nothing else I want to simply forget the Bulls players that were on the team in the earl 2000s.

[jersey cubs fan]

Booo. We didn't get all that far as a franchise, but there were a lot of great moments this decade. I'm not saying it was awesome or anything, but it certainly wasn't a decade to forget.

 

Two winning years. One playoff series win. An average of 33 wins per season. Three fired head coaches (with time still left for a fourth).

 

If I were listing criteria for something called "A Decade to Forget," that's pretty much what it would look like. I don't think you remember how awful the beginning of the decade was.

 

Yeah, they were overshadowed by the Bears and this was another crappy decade for the Bears as well.

[Tyrant]

If for nothing else I want to simply forget the Bulls players that were on the team in the earl 2000s.

 

Not quite in the 2000s, but check out the five leading scorers for that infamous 1998-1999 squad:

 

Toni Kukoc (18.8)

Ron Harper (11.2)

Brent Barry (11.1)

Dickey Simpkins (9.1)

Mark Bryant (9.0)

 

Kornel David also got 18 minutes a game for that team. Yikes.

[UMFan83]

Booo. We didn't get all that far as a franchise, but there were a lot of great moments this decade. I'm not saying it was awesome or anything, but it certainly wasn't a decade to forget.

 

Two winning years. One playoff series win. An average of 33 wins per season. Three fired head coaches (with time still left for a fourth).

 

If I were listing criteria for something called "A Decade to Forget," that's pretty much what it would look like. I don't think you remember how awful the beginning of the decade was.

 

Oh I remember. But I have a lot to remember in your so called "Decade to Forget"

 

-Ben Gordon going on crazy scoring binges in his rookie year in 4th quarters, brining the Bulls back from several come from behind wins

-Watching a team bounce back from a 0-9 start to go 47-26 the rest of the way and lock up a 4 seed in the playoffs on nothing but hustle and team work. The team started 2 rookies, 1 2nd year player and 2 third year players who were coming out of HS, plus their 6th man was a rookie. It was an incredible feat. I'd rather see a team of superstars that is a title contender, but in the absence of that, this is as enjoyable as basketball gets.

-John Paxson making what could have been one of the better trades of the decade if the resulting picks panned out trading Curry for Sweetney, 2 expiring deals, the #2 pick of one draft and swapping for the #9 pick in another draft.

-Watching next years team look undermanned almost all season only to turn it on in March and April, finish .500 and take the soon to be champs to 6 hard fought games, which was later said by Wade to be the hardest series the Heat had in that playoffs.

-Being called the team of the future by most people in the media during this time period

-Seeing "BULLS SIGN BEN WALLACE" on the front page of ESPN.com and the thrill of realizing we stole a "superstar' player from our arch rivals. Obviously it was a stupid move and it turned out horribly, but fans were absolutely thrilled when it happened, experts were calling us a EC contender, and the future never seemed brighter.

-Destroying the Heat by 30+ points in their opener minutes after receiving their title rings and really igniting a pretty good rivalry in the middle of this decade

-Winning 49 games the next season after a slow start, coming 1 win from the 2 seed in the east, sweeping the defending champs in the playoffs, and bouncing back from falling down 3-0 to our old rivals the Pistons to almost forcing a 7th game.

-Winning the draft lottery in 2008 despite a 1.7% chance and taking a hometown guy and potential superstar that was going to turn around our franchise for good

-Playing "the most exciting playoff series of all time" as many called it at the time (don't really agree but it was amazing). If someone would have told me this was a decade to forget to me while sitting in the 300 level moments after winning game 6 of that series, I would have punched them in the face.

 

Of course most of these memories seem less awesome when seeing what happens afterwards. I agree that when judging the team strictly by ultimate success, it was a rather disappointing decade. But when looking at individual moments, and remembering how I felt "in the moment", there were so many memorable events this decade as a Bulls fan, I enjoyed it. The return the relevance, being the little engine that could, slowly earning respect amongst the league and the media, having the entire basketball watching public slobbering over a playoff series involving my team, all those were great memories for me.

 

So yes, disappointing decade, but one to forget? Nah.

[SpongeWorthy]

The Ben Wallace signing was stupid the moment it happened. I don't think it was unanimously loved.

 

It was basically a move that reinforced what the Bulls were already very good at and made their weaknesses more glaring. Horrible signing at the time. There are some good things in that list. Mostly crappy. I did like those Skiles teams at the time because it really was pure hustle and scrap but you knew they weren't legit contenders.

 

And this years team has basically sapped me of all optimism generated by the Boston series.

 

Your list also excluded the 2000 free agent class when the Bulls were way under the cap and targeting Duncan, McGrady, and Hill and we ended up with Ron Mercer.

[SpongeWorthy]

And let's not forget the top 5-10 draft busts in Fizer, Crawford, Williams (remember this guy?), Curry, and Chandler.

[illiniguy]

Organizations win championships, not players. Good call Jerrys, Good call.

[Flames24Rulz]

The 04-05 season was great and it erased a lot of the bad memories from the seasons prior to that one.

 

There were definitely a lot of good moments in the middle part to the later part of the decade, but we won a grand total of one playoff series during this decade. That's an unsuccessful ten years, especially after winning six championships the decade prior. Of course no one expected us to do that again but when you only win one series in ten years, that's pretty bad.

 

People can say what they want about the BG thing and I realize I've beaten it to death, but that situation was handled poorly. Offering Deng more money a couple of offseasons ago was absurd when Gordon was the better player between the two. Shelling out money to guys like Nocioni and Hinrich was unnecessary and unwarranted too. It was just foolish to expect the guys on our team during the 06-07 run to get better and become superstars. This decade would have been multitudes different if Paxson actually owned up to a move and traded for a superstar like Garnett a couple of years ago.

[Tyrant]

Booo. We didn't get all that far as a franchise, but there were a lot of great moments this decade. I'm not saying it was awesome or anything, but it certainly wasn't a decade to forget.

 

Two winning years. One playoff series win. An average of 33 wins per season. Three fired head coaches (with time still left for a fourth).

 

If I were listing criteria for something called "A Decade to Forget," that's pretty much what it would look like. I don't think you remember how awful the beginning of the decade was.

 

Oh I remember. But I have a lot to remember in your so called "Decade to Forget"

 

-Ben Gordon going on crazy scoring binges in his rookie year in 4th quarters, brining the Bulls back from several come from behind wins

-Watching a team bounce back from a 0-9 start to go 47-26 the rest of the way and lock up a 4 seed in the playoffs on nothing but hustle and team work. The team started 2 rookies, 1 2nd year player and 2 third year players who were coming out of HS, plus their 6th man was a rookie. It was an incredible feat. I'd rather see a team of superstars that is a title contender, but in the absence of that, this is as enjoyable as basketball gets.

-John Paxson making what could have been one of the better trades of the decade if the resulting picks panned out trading Curry for Sweetney, 2 expiring deals, the #2 pick of one draft and swapping for the #9 pick in another draft.

-Watching next years team look undermanned almost all season only to turn it on in March and April, finish .500 and take the soon to be champs to 6 hard fought games, which was later said by Wade to be the hardest series the Heat had in that playoffs.

-Being called the team of the future by most people in the media during this time period

-Seeing "BULLS SIGN BEN WALLACE" on the front page of ESPN.com and the thrill of realizing we stole a "superstar' player from our arch rivals. Obviously it was a stupid move and it turned out horribly, but fans were absolutely thrilled when it happened, experts were calling us a EC contender, and the future never seemed brighter.

-Destroying the Heat by 30+ points in their opener minutes after receiving their title rings and really igniting a pretty good rivalry in the middle of this decade

-Winning 49 games the next season after a slow start, coming 1 win from the 2 seed in the east, sweeping the defending champs in the playoffs, and bouncing back from falling down 3-0 to our old rivals the Pistons to almost forcing a 7th game.

-Winning the draft lottery in 2008 despite a 1.7% chance and taking a hometown guy and potential superstar that was going to turn around our franchise for good

-Playing "the most exciting playoff series of all time" as many called it at the time (don't really agree but it was amazing). If someone would have told me this was a decade to forget to me while sitting in the 300 level moments after winning game 6 of that series, I would have punched them in the face.

 

Of course most of these memories seem less awesome when seeing what happens afterwards. I agree that when judging the team strictly by ultimate success, it was a rather disappointing decade. But when looking at individual moments, and remembering how I felt "in the moment", there were so many memorable events this decade as a Bulls fan, I enjoyed it. The return the relevance, being the little engine that could, slowly earning respect amongst the league and the media, having the entire basketball watching public slobbering over a playoff series involving my team, all those were great memories for me.

 

So yes, disappointing decade, but one to forget? Nah.

 

I don't know how any Bulls fan could have enjoyed this decade. It was awful.

[UMFan83]

I guess I just have low standards for Chicago sports teams. How could you not enjoy the decade at all?? We may not have gotten anywhere but the ride was fun.

[Tyrant]

I guess I just have low standards for Chicago sports teams. How could you not enjoy the decade at all?? We may not have gotten anywhere but the ride was fun.

 

You enjoyed "the ride"?

 

If the Bulls' decade was a cross-country car ride, it would have started with you driving your 1993 Ford Taurus 70 mph into a concrete barrier just outside Philadelphia. After getting a rental car, you would have sputtered along at 24 mph across I-70 until you again crashed, this time slowly into an oak tree off the side of a residential street in Columbus, Ohio.

 

After getting another rental car, you then would drive without incident (except for that pretty decent cheeseburger you ate in Tulsa) until you reached Albuquerque, when you would hit a family of deer, killing a baby doe and leaving yourself stranded on the side of the road for 19 hours until you were forced to hitch-hike to Los Angeles with a sketchy, probably felonious trucker. After he drops you off near Skid Row, you go to bed, finally at your destination, only to wake up in the middle of the night feeling sick. You are rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with H1N1 and spend two days on a ventilator before breathing again on your own. Your ride is now complete.

 

What a trip!

[SpongeWorthy]

Is Neil Funk actually [expletive]?

 

Rose is clearly grimacing, clutching his side, and laboring up the court and Funk doesn't mention it. What the hell is this guy looking at when he's calling games?

[SpongeWorthy]

Ok Kobe's going off. And Rose is hurt.

 

I'll just root for Kobe to score 70 and end the VDN era.

[UMFan83]

I guess I just have low standards for Chicago sports teams. How could you not enjoy the decade at all?? We may not have gotten anywhere but the ride was fun.

 

You enjoyed "the ride"?

 

If the Bulls' decade was a cross-country car ride, it would have started with you driving your 1993 Ford Taurus 70 mph into a concrete barrier just outside Philadelphia. After getting a rental car, you would have sputtered along at 24 mph across I-70 until you again crashed, this time slowly into an oak tree off the side of a residential street in Columbus, Ohio.

 

After getting another rental car, you then would drive without incident (except for that pretty decent cheeseburger you ate in Tulsa) until you reached Albuquerque, when you would hit a family of deer, killing a baby doe and leaving yourself stranded on the side of the road for 19 hours until you were forced to hitch-hike to Los Angeles with a sketchy, probably felonious trucker. After he drops you off near Skid Row, you go to bed, finally at your destination, only to wake up in the middle of the night feeling sick. You are rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with H1N1 and spend two days on a ventilator before breathing again on your own. Your ride is now complete.

 

What a trip!

 

That was a pretty entertaining read, but I still don't agree with you. It's perfectly logical to base your memories of something on the end result, I just don't look at it that way.

 

A few of my favorite sports memories of the decade include the Cubs trading for Nomar (ended up not making playoffs, Nomar was mediocre at best), Barrett hitting a grand slam to beat the Cardinals on SNB (Cubs lost 97 games that year, Cardinals won WS), and the Bulls winning a 3OT Game 6 against the Celtics (Bulls lost Game 7). Just because what happened after the event sucked doesn't mean the feeling at the moment wasn't memorable.

 

Of course the whole argument is based on a disagreement of the term "decade to forget". If your saying the decade sucked because we got nowhere as a franchise, I'd agree wholeheartedly. And would I give up those memories to redo the decade over and be a title contender all the time? Of course. But it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the decade as it was happening at the times that were good and had promise.