SpongeWorthy

After they just traded for that OT from Buffalo? Well I figured they wanted to move in front of Detroit. I don't get why the Eagles moved up then. I didn't think the Browns or Lions would take Maclin. Interesting pick for them though.

Eagles trade up to the Browns pick. Oher I think...

Vincent Jackson is rather studlike. Yeah he's up and coming. But you look at the numbers Rivers put up last year and you'd think a WR corps of Jackson, Floyd, Chambers, etc. is pretty ordinary. I'm hoping Cutler will have a similar effect on the Bears.

Chargers need a defender or lineman. Offense isn't a problem...even though they have pretty non descript WRs.

Good pick for the Saints.

They were basically picking up guys off the street by the end of last year. All their backs kept getting hurt. On the other hand, their running attack was pretty effective (because CUTLER YEAH) but their defense was historically bad.

Wow, that's a mini-stunner. Knowshown to Denver.

Looks like Maybin to the Bills.

Crabtree's watch looks like a blinged out mini flask.

Raji for the Packers right? They don't need Crabtree at all so I'm hoping they take him.

Well there you go. That's a big reach but I love DHB.

I still believe Al Davis can screw this up somehow. To quote Kevin Garnett, "anything is possible" when it comes to Al Davis. DHB would be the most mind-blowing first round pick ever. I really can't believe they would pass on Maclin/Crabtree. How would it be mind blowing when he's almost a guaranteed first rounder? This isn't Sebastian Janikowski we're talking about.

Noah was the only one who showed up at all last night. He wasn't great but compared to the rest of the team he was Bill Russell out there.

The Bulls have fixed the defensive rebounding at the expense of every other part of the game. That's not what I had in mind.

I was going to say that if Boston were any good they'd be up 20+ with the way the Bulls were playing. They actually woke up and decided to put the hammer down.

Wow, Gordon gave a disgraceful effort on that loose ball and getting back to the shooter. He's actually dragging ass in a playoff game. Unreal. Absolutely pitiful performance from just about everyone tonight.

The UC crowd is pathetic.

Well this is basically pure agony.

I think the idea that you can just sag off Rondo and make him shoot jumpers is being taken to a ridiculous extreme by the Bulls. At least get a hand up, Christ.

Salmons has no interest in passing. He better keep knocking down shots because it's clear he cannot stay with Pierce on defense tonight. Kirk is going to have to play a lot I think.

Please, please rebound tonight. And please don't over extend Miller, Vinny. He's useful but not for a 25 minute stretch while Tyrus rots on the bench. Although it's on Tyrus to block the F out tonight.

2004-2005: .683 DRB% (defensive rebound percentage) 29th in the league. 2005-2006: .721 DRB% 19th in the league 2006-2007: .719 DRB% 20th in the league 2007-2008: .709 DRB% 29th in the league Those are the Suns defensive rebounding percentages in their recent peak years. They were never outside of the top 4 in pace factor in those years. The Bulls, by comparison, had a .709% DRB% this year, for 28th in the league. They were only 9th in pace factor though so they weren't nearly as up tempo as the Phoenix teams. What's interesting is that during the best years under Skiles the Bulls would be in the top 10 in both DRB% and pace. So they really did get by on defense and hustle and not so much on talent back then. Could be that we were trying to implement a system (hence the fact that we were never really rebounding that well) but just weren't that good at it earlier in the season and improved in terms of pace later in the season, but I'm not really sure what pace factor is based on. Yes, the pace definitely picked up post All-Star and post Salmons/Miller trade. They averaged more field goal attempts and more points but also gave up more field goal attempts, more points, more offensive rebounds etc. It was definitely a move in the right direction as they points they scored went up by over 5 and they only gave up a little over a point a game more to the opponent.

2004-2005: .683 DRB% (defensive rebound percentage) 29th in the league. 2005-2006: .721 DRB% 19th in the league 2006-2007: .719 DRB% 20th in the league 2007-2008: .709 DRB% 29th in the league Those are the Suns defensive rebounding percentages in their recent peak years. They were never outside of the top 4 in pace factor in those years. The Bulls, by comparison, had a .709% DRB% this year, for 28th in the league. They were only 9th in pace factor though so they weren't nearly as up tempo as the Phoenix teams. What's interesting is that during the best years under Skiles the Bulls would be in the top 10 in both DRB% and pace. So they really did get by on defense and hustle and not so much on talent back then.

I wasn't able to watch the game. Was Milton getting booed last night?

That Simmons article is a good read but I'm getting a "let's hype up this series that has been awesome so far only to see it fizzle into a mediocre one" vibe from it.