Flames24Rulz

So you're saying he's black, a shooting guard and has range. He can also pass better, play markedly better defense and "taller version" undersells it. He's 6 inches taller. They really aren't very similar. I've been saying for a year now. I'd love Joe Johnson. Well sure he can, I just used a couple of examples. I agree with you.

The Lakers probably just won next year's title. Cleveland might end up with Ariza and Rasheed's probably going to Boston. They've probably already won the Western Conference, but I don't think they've won the title just yet.

Aaron Heilman sucks. It's never easy.

Thanks, Fontenot. Idiot.

THERE'S YOUR ALL-STAR!

Nice pitch, Dempster.

I love Jake Fox. That was an awesome AB.

I wish I could defend Reinsdorf but I share your belief too. I echo the Johnson sentiments. He's a taller version of BG that can get to the rim easier and can get to the line more than Gordon can. He'd be a great get.

I have little to no confidence in this current regime to step in and make any trade of high significance. The Salmons and Miller deal was a nice little trade but I don't think Paxson has what it takes to ship out some of his pieces to land a big-name player. We've been talking about getting a star player ever since Paxson became the GM in 2003. It's 2009 and we still haven't made a big splash. Color me unconvinced that we can land a big-name player. I know. I'm not convinced either. Although having Rose should be a bit more of an enticement for free agents to want to come here. I'm still of the mind that "I'll believe it when I see it." Well the only guy that I think will be moved before or during the season will be Amare. I think Bosh is going to end up in NY and I think Wade will more than likely re-sign with the Heat. So that leaves Paxson with the option of trading some of his glorified pieces for Amare or more than likely, we'll have to settle for a couple of free agents from the next crop of players. At least that's how I view it. Thankfully the second and third tier of players in next year's class is world's better than that free agent class in 1999.

I have little to no confidence in this current regime to step in and make any trade of high significance. The Salmons and Miller deal was a nice little trade but I don't think Paxson has what it takes to ship out some of his pieces to land a big-name player. We've been talking about getting a star player ever since Paxson became the GM in 2003. It's 2009 and we still haven't made a big splash. Color me unconvinced that we can land a big-name player.

The only reason many Bulls fans thought that way about Deng was because management basically forced that belief upon the fans.

Deng got his deal after the 08 season. The 18/8 season was when we made it to the conference semis in 2007.

While that's true, they still low-balled him compared to the offer that Deng received. When he did want to accept the deal they offered him last summer, they pulled it and he could only accept the qualifying offer. He has a terrible agent, make no mistake about it. It was evident from day one that this team viewed Deng as the better player even though Gordon was obviously the better player on the court. He was under appreciated by management and by a segment of fans. I know I shouldn't be as upset as I am but 20 point per game scorers don't just grow on trees. Salmons had a career year last year. Who's to say that he doesn't regress back to his typical production? I think the combination of Rose-Gordon-Salmons worked extremely well together. Now it seems like we're counting on Deng to be healthy and good, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. This offense will be very painful to watch if something does happen to Salmons because having Kirk Hinrich at the 2 is absolutely brutal. Again, I know I'm overexaggerating BG's loss. But I do think people should be upset about losing for him because he does make our team better. Period.

The Hawks had a hell of a day today. In my mind, they have to be the favorites to win the West next year. I'm going to miss Marty a lot, but Hossa's an unreal talent. I was shocked to hear that we signed him this afternoon. Kopecky and Madden are solid players as well. Next year is going to be another fun year. I think the Hawks have a plan of attack for next year's RFA's, so I'm really not too worried about that. Of course dumping Campbell would be nice, but I don't really see how they're going to be able to do that.

This really shouldn't be aggravating me all that much, but it is. Terribly. Last year I was really frustrated with how the Packers management handled the Favre fiasco but over time, that passed. Besides that, this is the most frustrated I think I've been with one of my favorite team's management; including the Cubs, of course. To let Ben Gordon walk away while getting nothing in return flat out makes me sick. Yes I understand his shortcomings and yes I realize that he can be a pain to watch at times. But there's absolutely no denying that he makes the Bulls a better team and that he is one of the best pure scorers in the league. Not only did we let him leave with getting nothing in return, but we let him go to the [expletive] Pistons, no less. Throughout his tenure here, BG has been nothing but the consummate professional. He never once bitched about playing time when he could have throughout the Skiles years and he didn't complain about getting a big payday at all last year. He went out on the court everyday and did his job and that was it. Sure he didn't give you any big flare on or off the court (besides the nut-grabbing after Game 4), but who cares? I really think he was one of the more underappreciated players that I can ever remember. That's what I think of BG. Now onto the managment. It's asinine how this organization can shell out $70 million for Luol [expletive] Deng (and look up the thread last year, I said it was horrible at the time) but they can't pay Ben Gordon when Gordon has been the better player throughout their careers here. I understand it's a tough economy and I understand that we're playing it real close to the cap. But a couple of things stand out here. One, we have more than a few tradeable assets on this team that we could have shipped off if we re-signed Gordon (namely, Kirk Hinrich). Also would it be such a hindrance for Reinsdorf to pay the luxury tax for one year? The Bulls always make the biggest profit out of any team in the league. With so many expiring contracts coming off the books in 2010, Reinsdorf would only have to pay the tax for one year. Apparently he's too busy trying to get the Coyotes and he could not care less about the Bulls anyway, it seems like. Forman's a figurehead, so I'm not really going to say anything about him. It's evident that Pax is still and will continue to run the team. The guy just can't handle pressure situations and one like this is why he backed out of the "GM'ing" duties. He doesn't want to face the media on instances like these. Well Mr. Paxson, congratulations. You had several chances to include Gordon in trades to land big-name players and yet you passed. Now you let a guy that averages over 20 points a game to just walk away to Detroit. Thanks for hitting the shot in 93, but you're a [expletive] terrible GM that needs to get the hell out of Chicago. The way this Gordon fiasco was handled was embarrassing to everyone involved. You low-balled the [expletive] out of him and then when Gordon actually was going to accept the 6-year deal last year, you pull the offer off the table. It's evident that Pax never cared for Gordon, probably because he was never a great defender. Who knows, maybe Pax didn't like BG's "attitude issues." In spite of all of that, I'm pretty sure his 2010 plan is going to come tumbling and crashing down when we land some second or third tier free agent in next year's class. I have absolutely no confidence in these jackasses to land a star. In the Paxson administration, we've been waiting for a star for years and that still hasn't happened. He's enamored with his draft picks and that's never going to change. I'm just getting a lot of flashbacks to the 99 offseason when we couldn't land McGrady, Duncan, or Hill and had to settle for Ron Mercer. Thankfully the next wave of free agents are a lot better than Ron Mercer, but I am not going to get my hopes up for Bosh, Amare, or DWade. Make no mistake, I don't think BG is a superstar. I think he's a very good player that has a place on a good team. If you surround him with the right pieces like Rose and a great big, I think he can be part of a championship team. It's been real Ben. I hope you tear it up in Detroit and prove these assholes wrong.

He looked great in BP on Saturday. Hopefully there were no setbacks tonight.

Lincecum's going for the Giants tonight, so hopefully we can get some help from them.

I like good Rich Harden.

Holy crap Theriot. Nice swing.

Ah, wouldn't be a Bob Brenly moment without taking a swipe at the opposing team's fans. He's becoming more bitter than Stone.

This camera angle is a joke.

Part of the perks of being an intern at Fox came in handy today as I sat in the press box and made my way to the field in the 8th inning and saw the rest of the game from the camera well behind 1st base. Then I was able to go into the Cubs clubhouse afterwords, which unfortunately was after a loss. I'll save everyone boring stories by saying it was an awesome experience and getting paid to do something like that would be surreal. Then I heard the DeRosa news and that was a complete buzzkill. Ugh.

You're talking about this guy ????? 04/06 - 06/26 IP H R ER BB K HR PC ST ST% P/IP GB FB GB% IR IRS IRS% BB/9 K/9 HR/9 WHIP ERA Marmol 34.3 19 16 15 38 39 1 699 389 0.56 20.4 29 34 0.46 16 4 0.25 9.96 10.22 0.26 1.66 3.93 For a guy that's given up 16 hits and 38 walks in 34 1/3 innings, he has done a pretty remarkable job of only allowing 15 earned runs. He's throwing himself into a jam in almost every single outing, yet he has worked himself out of those jams more times than not.

Exactly. This guy should be playing everyday, even when Aramis is back.

And Buchler is reporting that the Suns/Warriors deal is dead. Well if he's saying that, then it's probably signed, sealed, and delivered.