RynoRules

I love this so much. Thanks, Kyle. 1st Period observations: - Craw looks good - Bickell continues his inexplicable playoff MVP caliber play - Kane and Hoss are making the Blues crazy - Sharp looks like he's pressing (no pun intended) - Anytime Saad wants to start looking like a pro would be fine - Stop the stupid penalties, please

If we are 4-4 after the first 8 weeks we should be happy. That's a nasty run.

Hinrich is awful. Nevermind the FT attempt, he clanged a ton of jumpers and layups in the second half. I love Thibs, but for the love of god, let Snell play 10-15 minutes. He can't be worse than an exhausted Hinrich. And playing Booz only 21 minutes is dumb, especially considering the fact that he is still a very good rebounder on a percentage basis.

All NFL players are strong for their size. Strength at this scale can't be properly determined by looking at photos. To have clear cut definition and a 'six pack' requires primarily above all a proper diet regimen which most players coming out of college fail to learn about and have. Every individual and body shape is different, but to see Shea still not have that in place after being a first round pick and having played already is confusing to me. Did you see my post where I attached pics of HOF and borderline HOF-players who don't have six packs? There is zero correlation between being a productive (never mind elite) NFL player and having a body shape that is pleasing to our society's completely unrealistic sense of what people should look like. Zero.

Willis is an absolute freak of nature. Urlacher looks fit as hell there. His core and upper body look very strong (even though has no six-pack). Calves look a bit underdeveloped, but that's just his body type. To me, he always looked like a distance runner from the waist-down.

I'm not sure having a "six pack" means a lot. I've read several accounts from actors (Jackman, Evans, Aniston, to name few) who - in order to appear completely ripped during shirtless / mid-drift scenes - will virtually starve themselves of food and water for 24-48 hours prior. This gives them the appearance of having insanely ripped physiques, when in reality they don't look that way. I get that professional athletes are paid to take care of their bodies and work out constantly, but I don't think that having a six-pack is necessarily indicative of being in shape. There are plenty of athletes out there with different body types who show great endurance and ability despite not being "chiseled". Football examples off the top of my head include Terrell Suggs (SB v 49'ers), Lance Briggs (in fairness, white is never slimming), Reggie White (even in his prime), and Peyton Manning (dude has NEVER looked in great shape). From a non-professional athlete perspective, I am 37.5 years old, have between 10-12% body fat (it varies) and do not have a "six pack". I work my core pretty hard at least three days a week to support my running (15-20 miles a week), plus lift weights. Some folks are lucky enough to have what is considered by the tabloids to be a "great body", others are not. Part of the reason I don't look as good as some with my shirt off may be dietary (3 liters of water per day, vegan diet, and several alcoholic bevies per week), part may be genetics. Regardless, I bet I have better overall "fitness" than many who are smaller and have "tighter skin" than me. Point is - I couldn't care less about what Shea's body looks like so long as he is fit, has endurance to play at speed for 9-10 straight plays, uses proper technique in coverage, tackling and filling gaps, and understands/executes his role in the defensive scheme. The rest is largely bull**** (i.e., Alonzo Spellman or Tony Mandrich).

I wouldn't hold it against Thibs if they lose this series. Its miraculous that they made the playoffs at all. Seriously, if I told you back in September that they'd play 72 games without Rose and another 59 without Deng, would you have imagined anything better than 35-38 wins?

This Bulls team is really amazing. They have no one who can get his own shot, except maybe Augustine and Boozer when he feels like it, yet they just keep on trucking. Ball movement is outstanding. No one in the league does that better.

You aren't supposed to put it that way. Use the code words. Canadian So Un-Theriot

Yeah, he's on the high-end of the veteran back-up tier. You can still use the "veteran exception" though, amIright? Do you mean mid level exception? I believe they could use that, not a CBA guru, but I think they'd have somewhere around $6 mil to sign Hill to the full MLE if they want. If you meant veteran minimum, you won't get him, he's signing for a lot more than that. No, you're right - I meant the MLE.

Yeah, he's on the high-end of the veteran back-up tier. You can still use the "veteran exception" though, amIright?

Haven't verified the numbers, but they seem accurate. If so, this is a good breakdown of the numbers. I think it shows we pretty much have to either do a sign and trade with Boozer and assets going to NY or trade Taj. If we trade Taj, what could we get back? When can we start talking with Melo? Draft is end of June and FA begins in July, right? I wish they did the draft after FA. If Melo would agree to take the $18M starting salary, we could then trade the picks for future picks, or use 1 or both on a Euro stash. If you trade Taj you absolutely need to draft a big man and hope that he is efficient enough in his rookie year to take defensive and rebounding pressure off Noah. Lets assume we trade Taj, amnesty Boozer, and get Melo. We are looking at a roster with two sure-fire elites (Noah and Melo), a formerly elite player with two bad knees whose level of production is unpredictable (Rose), plus Butler, Snell, MDJ, the two draft picks (lets go with Hairston and Payne for the sake of argument) and a bunch of second to third-tier veterans (Augustin probably isn't coming back under this scenario because he's played very well): Rose Butler Melo Veteran PF (Jordan Hill? Josh McRoberts? Trevor Booker? Dante Cunningham? Elton Brand?!!!!) Noah Payne Hairston Snell MDJ Vet PG (Shaun Livingston? Ramon Sessions? Steve Blake? Luke Ridnour?) Vet C (Okafor? Birdman (this would be awesome on several levels (imagine Noah and Anderson on the court together), but I can't see conservative Pax doing it)? Jason Smith?) Assuming Miami returns their Big 3 and Indiana stays more or less the same (Stephenson is probably gone), is this team good enough to win a 7 game series against them?

I'd be happy with that result (I really like Hairston - reminds me of JR Smith or Jamal Crawford in terms of scoring ability), though I'd probably sub Payne for Warren. Really need someone to take a few quality minutes off of Noah's legs. I can't handle another year of an old, out-of-shape big man (Nazi) playing any sort of quality minutes.

I'm still perplexed that Robinson (considered by most analysts to be a Walter Jones clone) fell so far. If that really happens next month the Bears should trade up to get him. Jay won't get his uni dirty all year. (I'm kidding - sort of...)

Yes. Most of what I've read ranks him as one of three can't-miss prospects in the draft, the others being Watkins and Clowney.

Am I correct that Greg Robinson is still out there? If so, wow.

Does Haith only care about cash? Or has college hoops evolved to the point that mid-major jobs are equally attractive so long as they pay?

We don't need impact LB's as much as we need impact players at DB and DL.

The only issue I see is the Bears would have to cut somebody to add somebody, unless they want to keep 7 LBs. And they're probably already keeping 5 DTs, probably 5 safeties, and 6 CBs. But right now, the Bears have Briggs (missed 1/2 of last year), Williams (missed 1/2 of every year this decade), Bostic and Greene (terrible last year), McClellin (never played LB in the NFL), and Jordan Senn, who probably can't play any of the LB positions well, but was signed as a FA to be a special teams stalwart and leader. That's still a terrible group of players. I agree its not a good group, but the whole thing needs to be fixed. To me the order of importance is: DL, Secondary, LB. Yes, and in that mock, those 2 positions are addressed first. Right, but you can a run a decent 4-3 or hybrid defense with ok LB's. No defense plays well without an effective d-line and we are thin in the secondary. The potential starters are going to be found in the first three rounds. Therefore, we should pick DL's or DB's in those three rounds. We also need a backup RB (4th or 5th) and a backup QB (4th or 5th). An athletic and potential future starter at LB can easily be found in the 6th, and we have two picks there.

The only issue I see is the Bears would have to cut somebody to add somebody, unless they want to keep 7 LBs. And they're probably already keeping 5 DTs, probably 5 safeties, and 6 CBs. But right now, the Bears have Briggs (missed 1/2 of last year), Williams (missed 1/2 of every year this decade), Bostic and Greene (terrible last year), McClellin (never played LB in the NFL), and Jordan Senn, who probably can't play any of the LB positions well, but was signed as a FA to be a special teams stalwart and leader. That's still a terrible group of players. I agree its not a good group, but the whole thing needs to be fixed. To me the order of importance is: DL, Secondary, LB.

Latest NFLDratTek prediction for Bears: Aaron Donald (DT - Pitt) Jimmie Ward (SS - NIU) Yawin Smallwood (OLB - UConn) Zach Mettenberger (QB - LSU) Walt Aikens (CB - Liberty) Christian Bryant (FS - Ohio St) Shaquil Barrett (OLB - CO St) Not my favorite iteration. I'm definitely warming to Donald and really like the idea of Ward in the 2nd (ran two straight 4.47 40's), but I wouldn't run to LB in the 3rd given our needs on the D-Line and at CB and RB, plus the fact that Shea is moving back there and we have Bostic and Greene. I like Mettenberger in the 4th, but I'd prefer Murray from Georgia.

Renteria said after game that Castillo bunted on his own; was told to swing away.

Pretty sure not all of those guys were 300+ out of college, though. Linval Joseph was listed at 322 at ECU He's probably right about guys like Atkins and the Williams boys, but I think the rest were there.

Interesting point re Sammy. Probably too simple, but interesting. If Lake can't hit a curve, then lay off it all together and make the pitcher throw it for strikes.

Yeah the stout run defenders don't do much for me. That's because it's not 1998 anymore. "Hello - we all weigh over 300 lbs. " - Geno Atkins / Haloti Ngata / Vincent Wilfork / Jay Ratliff / Randy Starks / Linval Joseph / Michael Brockers / Kevin Williams / Marcel Dareus / Ndamukong Suh / Nick Fairley / Kyle Williams EDIT: My point is that if you are drafting a 1st or 2nd Rnd DT he should be able to stop the run and collapse the pocket. Having smaller DT's that get pushed backwards was a big part of our problem last season.