SpongeWorthy

Well I don't want to nitpick a fluff piece interview but Bruce was already damn good when Martz got there and Holt is a hall of famer. I did forget Az Hakim though...they did some nifty things with him in that offense. I wonder what he thinks of Forte.

Cutler did amazingly well? Come on man. You're letting the last two weeks of solid play cloud your judgment. He consistently made horrible decisions for most of the season. Rodgers is a guy who did amazingly well with porous protection. He was sacked 50 times! Cutler is a guy who had his flaws exposed because of porous protection. And it's not like Cutler didn't make his fair share of crappy decisions in Denver. He was still the league leader in red zone INTs when he had an amazing offensive line and good weapons. It was one of the concerns coming into this season. I'll grant most everything you said about the players around him...there's still a lot there. It was a free for all: red zone picks, final drive picks, several picks by defensive linemen. I'm not saying I wouldn't have done the trade...I'm just submitting I'm not entirely sold on him being an elite QB. There's a lot to fix.

Varejao and probably Williams are more valuable than Rose would be on a team with LeBron. I think Varejao's very good and pretty underrated but the Bulls have Noah. And he's already getting more love than Varejao. They're very similar with the weird name, hair, and style of play. Mo Williams isn't in the same universe as Derrick Rose. He's nice but he's just another guy ultimately. What you have to worry about is New Jersey being in a position to draft John Wall and possibly deal Devin Harris.

Cutler just made way too many utterly baffling decisions that wouldn't be out of place in a YouTube video entitled: Rex Grossman NFL Mixtape for me to be completely sold on him moving forward. Independent of the atrocious receiver and line play, there's still a lot there to be worried about.

When the Knicks were last good they played a horrificly boring brand of thug ball that nearly destroyed the league and necessitated major rule changes. Lebron would be the biggest star in New York since Mantle.

People on RealGM are talking about Kirk + filler (maybe TT or Salmons in there) for Ray Allen and his huge, expiring deal. Apparently the Celtics want to move Allen. That would be a coup. We'd remain competitive this year with Allen replacing Kirk and we'd get way under the cap as well.

If you want to look at a QB who can throw the ball through a brick wall and outrun DBs then look at Michael Vick. Interestingly, I'd say Vick and Pennington have had similarly productive careers. Anyway, I wasn't trying to insinuate that you could get by with a Penningtonesque noodle arm but it doesn't need to be a Laser. Rocket arm. Drew Brees for example is short as [expletive] for a QB, isn't going to wow anyone with his arm strength, and isn't particularly mobile. But he's absurdly accurate and is a great decision maker.

Accuracy and decision making are so much more important as to almost render arm strength and mobility moot. If you're accurate and quick/smart you can still be elite with below average mobility and an average arm. Although Rodgers does have a gun himself and moves really well. I don't see that hyper accuracy and quick thinking coming out of Cutler. He'll improve but I don't think to the degree necessary to be an undisputed top 5 guy in the league. There's just too many boneheaded decisions.

It would be a minor miracle if Cutler were as good as Rivers and Rodgers within the next couple years. You can put their two year stretch against basically any QB that has ever played.

There's a good chance Cutler isn't going to be the kind of guy you really ride to championship contention without good talent around him. Manning and Brees have good years left and Cutler is clearly below Rivers and Rodgers. After that you've got a good group in Romo, 'Berger, Schaub, etc. where I think Cutler could slot in if he develops. From that perspective, the rest of the team needs a major infusion of talent. The last draft where he got basically nothing and the lack of picks coming up doesn't augur well.

wtf, apparently Jonathan Bender is playing for the Knicks these days. First time in the NBA since 05-06.

Yeah but NY is NY. There are numerous non basketball variables that would draw LeBron there over Chicago. Winning trumps over any and all "non basketball variables" that NY can provide. Lebron wants to win, first and foremost, and NY has shown no improvement and if they can't showed the improvement or show Lebron that they can win then NY becomes no better destination the Memphis. And quite frankly NY has become an overrated destination for stars. NY might be able to land a Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire, but right now I really doubt they can land Lebron James. Lebron wants to win and he wants to play with players who can help him win, and NY cannot offer either. First, New York has shown improvement since they bottomed out at the end of the Isiah Thomas era. They've got a good coach and a proven front office man (although they whiffed in the last draft) and most importantly there's no more Thomas poisoning the well. And I'm not sure on their cap situation but I think they've got some big deals coming off the books in a couple years. Secondly, anywhere Lebron is going to be a winner--even New Jersey. You put him on the Knicks and they're a 50+ win team easily and a move or two away from being a title contender. I agree he'd be closer to winning a championship in Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, or even the Rockets or Clippers but there's no real reason he can't win wherever. Any team he goes to is 90% of the way there to being a contender. Now I do think New Jersey might be so awful that they're out of the running but I wouldn't say that for the Knicks. And I certainly wouldn't say that the Knicks are SO BAD that it totally cancels out how attractive playing there might be to him. It's a ridiculous thing to say but if winning were so important he'd just sign for the MLE with the Lakers or something. Clearly there are other factors at play.

I hate that we're probably being robbed of the unprecedented 1 vs. 16 first round upset.

Am I crazy for preferring DinoBosh over Wade? I love Wade and I usually would throw concepts like roster fit out the door when getting a player of his caliber...but I don't think he works as well next to Rose as Bosh does. They're just too similar. It seems like when you get a too many similar guys you end up like the Warriors--all tweener forwards and combo guards.If you moved Deng for a big and got a cheap sharpshooter I'd totally be on board with it. Plus he's younger and doesn't have a history of injuries like Wade...bigs tend to be more effective for longer. Obviously, I would prefer Wade than the 2010 equivalent of Eddie Robinson or Ron Mercer.

I think the NBA ASG and the weekend in general is the best. Pro bowl is by far the worst. The most fun I've had watching something related to the Pro Bowl was when Vinateri and I think Rackers played HORSE through field goals.

Vitale made way too big a deal of not fouling, IMO. It was a perfectly reasonable option to try and defend for the entire shot clock.

Dagger by Collins with a gimp back.

The top 4 in the East is weird. Cleveland clearly looks like the best team right now but I don't think anyone is sold on them coming out of the East. Orlando is a nightmare for Cleveland, Boston could probably beat Orlando and Cleveland yet Atlanta handles them but can't beat the Magic.

Man, at least get a shot off. Collins for some dumb reason starts dribbling to break down his defender in his own backcourt.

I don't believe that.

^That is soft as hell. Gotta rack up a lot of Ws in that stretch to compete for a 5th seed.

Don't know, but Sam Smith Tweeted that this 5-2 trip is the best Bulls road trip since 1996-97, when that team went 5-1 on a West Coast trip. That's incredible. And now the Bulls have a nice homestand coming up. This is a real opportunity for the Bulls to make a move. It would be pretty apropos for the team to crap the bed when they should be making a move up the standings too.

I know. That was ridiculous. He got pushed in the back by Collison and hacked by Peja.

Ugly win but I'll take it. Five in a row on the road!

That'll do, Brad.