2015-2016 Chicago Bulls season

[Guest]

these guys are probably fouling out on purpose since they can't get out of the game

[SpongeWorthy]

[expletive] you hoi

[Guest]

jimmy should've gotten the 4 point play there

[Derwood]

55 minutes for Butler. 52 for Rose. lol

[SpongeWorthy]

Now we lose to the knicks tomorrow with a zombie team :(

[Guest]

that was just bizarre. what the [expletive]?

[ChiCubsFan]

I feel like if you just bring in noah, mcd, and Mirotic to run hard up and down the court you win but it's like there's some gentleman's agreement not to sub

 

This. I don't get why NBA teams just decide to play the starters all of OT and not substitute. It's not just the Bulls. It's pretty much everyone. Maybe for 1 OT sure, but 2, 3, and 4 OTs?

[Wilson A2000]

"I believe in the guys in this locker room, yeah," Butler said. "But I also believe that we probably have to be coached a lot harder at times. I'm sorry, I know Fred's a laid-back guy, and I really respect him for that, but when guys aren't doing what they're supposed to do, you got to get on guys, myself included. You got to do what you're supposed to do when you're out there playing basketball."

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14403996/jimmy-butler-says-chicago-bulls-coached-lot-harder-fred-hoiberg

[UMFan83]

IMO a misguided attempt to motivate his team.

[Derwood]

IMO a misguided attempt to motivate his team.

 

I think they miss Thibs and Butler is the guy to say it out loud

[Sammy Sofa]

IMO a misguided attempt to motivate his team.

 

I think they miss Thibs and Butler is the guy to say it out loud

 

Nah. They went from the guy they were sick of to someone completely different and Jimmy want someone in between.

[muntjack]

I think the comments are directed at his teammates. He's frustrated that some guys are playing half-assed and getting away with it. Hoiberg is probably scared to reprimand Pau when he doesn't defend the pick and roll properly or Rose when he walks the ball up the floor after being asked to play with pace because he's a first year coach and they are established stars. I think Butler's been trying to be a vocal leader but some of the vets aren't really responding. At some point, laid back or not, a coach has to hold guys accountable.

[Banedon]

Noah was in a lot of pain last night. It was tough to watch him after his injury, running around the court and then down the tunnel.

[Banedon]

Noah was in a lot of pain last night. It was tough to watch him after his injury, running around the court and then down the tunnel.

[Ryne Ween]

I really hope they can somehow pull together and make this season interesting. Because after this year it's all going to completely unravel.

 

Is that Jimmy for Cousins and Gay thing possible? Or is it possible to fire a coach 25 games into a 5 year deal?

 

This is sad but who is unrestricted FA in two years? Is that when we can make a play for Jabari Parker?

[UMFan83]

I really hope they can somehow pull together and make this season interesting. Because after this year it's all going to completely unravel.

 

Is that Jimmy for Cousins and Gay thing possible? Or is it possible to fire a coach 25 games into a 5 year deal?

 

This is sad but who is unrestricted FA in two years? Is that when we can make a play for Jabari Parker?

 

I don't think this a one or two FA fix (unless its a guy like LeBron or Durant), but I could just being overly dramatic. I count 4 players on the roster who are long term fits for the team, Butler, McDermott, Niko (for now), and Portis. Other than those 4, what assets do we even have that will bring us something back that we can use in the future? I guess we could package up something like Gasol + Dunleavy to a contender for an unprotected 1st rounder a couple years from now and hope that team sucks.

 

Again, maybe I'm being overly dramatic, I havent thought about the future of the Bulls in depth. It just sucks that recently we had a ton of pretty good assets like Niko's rights, the Bobcats pick, low paid Jimmy Butler, the Sacramento protected 1st, plus had a few guys we could get really good returns from in a trade like Rose, Noah and to a lesser extent Taj. Now Niko is disappointing (but still time to improve), the Bobcats pick turned into 1/2 of McDermott, the Sacramento protected 1st is probably going to end up being a 2nd round pick, Rose and his contract are an albatross, Noah has some value as an expiring but is simply not the same player he was 2 years ago, and Taj is 30, oft injured, and no longer a guy that other teams might consider a starter. We do have all of our 1st round picks which is good, but I am not sure if the team is going to try to be the NBA version of the White Sox (same aging owner) where they try to keep patching it up and remain a middle of the road playoff team that's a non-contender or if they would consider starting over.

 

I think the off the court stuff is going to be more interesting than the on the court action for the next couple of years at least. Hope I'm wrong.

[Sammy Sofa]

The only thing more annoying than a broken team is a loudly self-pitying broken team:

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25423435/joakim-noah-remembers-his-bulls-teams-of-old-and-these-arent-it

 

"I mean, what is the identity of this team?" Noah asks, a few days before going down with a shoulder injury. "It's hard to say. Our identity has always been: You come to Chicago, you're in for a war. It's not like that right now. I don't care what the numbers say. Just watch the games. There are 25,000 people in the building, and it's dead quiet. It has never been like that. It's tough to see the building that way. And it's on us. You bring the fire, and they will love you here. But if you're coasting, playing this low-energy game -- I'm not sure we can win like that."

[ChiCubsFan]

NBA is all about getting a few stars and then patching in the guys around it. We have Jimmy. "Just" need 1-2 more. We will have a ton of money with the cap exploding and Noah and then Rose coming off the books. I just don't have much confidence in the FO's ability to get that star to come here. I'd really like to take a shot on Cousins, but I don't think we have enough to make a trade.

[UMFan83]

NBA is all about getting a few stars and then patching in the guys around it. We have Jimmy. "Just" need 1-2 more. We will have a ton of money with the cap exploding and Noah and then Rose coming off the books. I just don't have much confidence in the FO's ability to get that star to come here. I'd really like to take a shot on Cousins, but I don't think we have enough to make a trade.

 

The problem with the cap exploding is that many teams will have a ton of money and the Bulls have always lost out in those scenarios. Also I'm not sure exactly how this works but I believe that with the cap exploding the cost of a max contract explodes as well. We might have enough for a max guy but possibly not much else. And yes the 3 star method has been a successful model in the past but one of those stars has to be a top 10 guy. Curry, LeBron, Dirk, Kobe, Garnett, Wade. The exception was SA (Leonard wasn't at top 10 level at this point and might be now) but they have the best coach in the league. The Bulls don't have that and it will be difficult for them to find that guy in the draft or FA.

[Wilson A2000]

Rondo and Cousins for Rose and Noah/Taj/Gasol?

[Guest]

can we immediately turn around and release rondo and maybe fire him out of a cannon too?

[Wilson A2000]

Rose is nearly the worst player in the league: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/12/23/the-bernstein-brief-derrick-rose-by-the-numbers-is-a-nightmare/?cid=facebook_670_The_Score

[Sammy Sofa]

Bernstein is a hack; SpongeWorthy had that figured out almost a month ago.

[Ryne Ween]

Rondo and Cousins for Rose and Noah/Taj/Gasol?

 

Cousins would have to murder one of George Karl's kids for this to happen.

[UMFan83]

Bernstein is a hack; SpongeWorthy had that figured out almost a month ago.

 

Doing a Google search for "Bernstein Derrick Rose" is fun. That dude hates on Rose so much you'd think his daughter was the defendent in Rose's civil suit.