RynoRules

Skiles did, eventually, overcome his own biases and realize he had to play Gordon 35 minutes a night. I think the biggest similarity between Thibs and Skiles is the "half-life" issue. These kinds of relentless rah-rah guys tend to see teams spike for a short period, then the team gets sick of it and tunes them out. And I don't know how anyone could dispute that Thibs relentless workloads for "his" guys have killed the Bulls at playoff time. I'm also pretty dubious of the argument that Thibs is flexible. He sat a healthy McDermott for weeks while the Bulls played basically 4-on-5 at the offensive end (3 when Noah is on the floor). He continues to pair Noah and Gasol when they're clearly the most mismatched of the Bulls four bigs. And Mirotic is basically out of the rotation now, so unless one of the bigs goes down again I think you'll next see him when the new coach takes over. I said he's more flexible than Skiles. I stand by that statement.

He's only 21. If he can become Billy Butler sometime before his 24th birthday we should be able to get Beane to take him.

That's why they respond. It's like throwing a bum a quarter. Just a regular bum. Not Da Bum. He doesn't need your quarters with all that sweet oil patch money. Here, I'll save people some trouble googling. This is the one I use on dating sites: (spoilered for size and general unaestheticness) There's something in your teeth there, dude.

That's a good analogy, for sure. Why give Thibs a guy like Hinrich that will play into his most meathead tendencies? And why invest heavily in guys like Mirotic (who can definitely play big-time) and McDermott (jury is still way, way out) who play a style of basketball Thibs will never embrace? I'm convinced this marriage is irreconcilable, and Thibs is gone after this year unless by some miracle the Bulls make the finals (and even then it's no slam-dunk). Irrespective of Thibs relative merits as a coach, with a relationship with the F.O. this dysfunctional he's doomed. Blame GarPax for their issues with roster construction, definitely, but Thibs brings a lot of this on himself. He runs his players into the ground and he's agonizingly slow to make adjustments either in-game or out. I think he has a lot of Scott Skiles in him. Its easy to make the Skiles comparison, but its not accurate. Skiles would prefer to be skinned alive before giving significant minutes to the likes of Nate Robinson, DJ Augustin, Aaron Brooks, or Mirotic. The irony, of course, is that Skiles as a player (both at Mich St and Orlando) was creative, flashy, and brutally inefficient. He had a career TOV% of 20.0% (thats 20 TO's for every 100 possessions), a negative defensive rating each year of his career and only 8 career defensive win shares. In other words, he was and is a hypocrite when viewed through the prism of his playing career. Thibs has been far more flexible than Skiles would ever be. Its not his fault that Rose blew out both knees and didn't play for two years. That said, his reliance on Hinrich is a major head scratcher. Makes me wonder if its a passive-aggressive way of sending a message to GarPax.

If you do a bit of research you will discover why Pax loves Hinrich. Hinrich reminds him of himself: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/paxsojo01.html#advanced::none

Rumors have it that Taj is garnering a lot of interest from teams out west, including the Blazers and Suns.

Badly needed those two wins. They should have the opportunity to move up a spot over the next 30. Not likely to catch Nashville baring a collapse.

Btw the 6-7-8 guys on the Spurs last year (no order) were Ginobili, Bellineli, and Diaw By this logic I'd be a valuable piece on this year's Bulls team if I knocked down the screener on the pick n' roll. Hinrich (7.1 PER) is getting 7 minutes more per game than Brooks (16.0 PER). In other news, Rose's PER (15.8) is trending downward over the last couple of weeks, while Noah's (15.1) has been going up. Also, free Doug McDermott. I like Thibs overall as mentioned above and don't think he is solely to blame him for the team's inconsistency this season. I do, however, strongly dislike his meatball side, which compels him to play one of the NBA's worst players nearly 30 MPG while burying a guy who can hit open shots in his sleep.

That's sort of encouraging. I think what really has me excited about bringing him in is the notion that other dominos will have to fall on the roster. Should be fun.

Dean (for what his rep is and was) and MJ are the reasons I became a UNC hoops fan as a kid. Sort of knew this was coming after reading an article last year about his deteriorating health, but it still saddens me.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdpfi8eQuQ1qezd8u.gif

http://24.media.tumblr.com/3df73ac1dfa7a2d4c3ea53d290c900f7/tumblr_n15fronFr81qkyzquo1_500.gif

Thibs will take the fall at the end of the season. Not certain he deserves it inasmuch as this team is deeply flawed on the perimeter, but he will be fired.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view4/3378605/scarface-the-world-is-yours-o.gif

If someone falls it will be Winston for obvious reasons, but you're right, he won't get past the Jets. New GM there can afford to roll the dice a bit on his character issues. That said, growing pains in NY would be very much unlike anywhere else he might play. If he goes to Tennessee he'll get maybe half the media coverage / pressure that he'd receive if he were in NY, Chicago, New England, etc.

He's on crack, but imagine what he'll be tweeting if Mariota somehow falls to 7...

Don't we share a D-League team with someone?

LOL This board has been fun lately.

No wonder I didn't notice that he is back. Might as well send him to the D League so he can get some minutes.

Almost every team in the league lacks quality depth at the wing, which is why its the most valued position in the game today. The Bulls could unquestionably use another SG/SF swingman (Dunleavy is ok, but he's not good), but where are you going to find one? EDIT: Maybe McDermott figures things out when he gets back?

Wow

I am bit surprised that Pax took the bait and had such a defensive and emotional response. Yes, JVG hates the Bulls dating back to his Knicks assistant years in the 90's. So don't get so fired up - its not a surprise that he would say something like this.

As a UNC fan I am really impressed with what they have done so far this season. They have had several significant injuries and played a brutal schedule (4th in the country; 22nd toughest non-conference, good for 3rd toughest amongst major conference teams (Kansas and VCU are nos. 1 and 2; Duke is in the 150's)). Pomeroy has them as the 10th best team in the country.

Gar and Pax need to take away that toy. It reminds me of Dusty with Neifi and Macias. Speaking of which: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/236400/Paxson-Refutes-Van-Gundys-Comments-On-Bulls-Leaking-Stories-To-Undermine-Thibodeau

Let's forget Rose for a second and discuss the fact that Kirk Hinrich is probably the worst player receiving significant minutes in the game today. Hinrich is currently 4th on the team in total minutes and averages 27.3 per game. His PER is a ghastly and embarrassing 7.6 (you read that correctly), he shoots 38% from the field with a TS% of .484, and has a VORP of -0.1 (placing him in the company of Moore, Mohammed, and Bairstow). Thibs will tell you that's its Hinrich's defense that compels him to play Kirk more minutes than Brooks. That's interesting, because he and Brooks have the same amount of Defensive Win Shares (0.7 - both crappy). Brooks is by nearly every offensive measure superior (16.7 PER plus points, shooting, assists and advanced metrics re the same; Brooks turns the ball over slightly more) to Hinrich.