UMFan83

Season over. No way the Vikings lose in the dome to a disinterested Packers team.

1st and goal from the 1. They end up with 3 points. How did this garbage team win 12 games?

3 teams we want to lose winning by combined 40-17 score with the team we need to lose the most (IMO) up 10

I think that leaves Duke, Michigan Arizona and Cincinnati as the only major conference unbeatens left.

Very sad. RIP

Actually I laughed out loud at 'meatball tornado'

who the [expletive] cares

The obvious answer seems to be because that contract won't be as much as Mirotic can make in Europe, and so he will choose to stay there instead. Also, I believe the Bulls can only pay up to $1 million for a buyout. So the rest has to come out of his pockets. Maybe the new CBA changed that. There has to be some other way without pissing off FIBA that the Bulls can have that buyout taken care of. I read RealGM discussing this quite a bit last year but I honestly don't remember what the conclusion was. The one thing in the Bulls favor is, as those tweets pointed out, Real Madrid is stacked relative to their competitition. Mirotic isn't their star, and I don't think they project him to be, even though he's clearly talented. As far as Mirotic's thoughts, I've only seen a few non-quotes from him about his desire to play in the NBA/for the Bulls. It could go either way, some european players show preference for staying on their home continent, while others have a desire to be successful in the most popular league in the world. It took forever to get Rudy Fernandez to come over, and it seemed like from the start he wanted to go back (of course he was kind of bounced around and never given meaningful minutes). Others use the european leagues to develop and come straight to the NBA when given the chance. We'll see how it plays out, but I think that at some point Mirotic will be over, hopefully sooner than it took Sabonis to come over.

Is this twitter confirmed or real life confirmed?

Figures

I don't understand why the money would prevent him from joining the Bulls. If the Bulls 'pay' the buyout (in paraenthsis because I thought I read somewhere that the Bulls couldnt directly buy him out...maybe I'm way off), and then give him the standard rookie deal for his draft slot (which, again I may be way off, is the most he can sign per the previous CBA he was drafted under), and the Bulls are still likely underpaying for his services if he's as good as they say he is. The Bulls may be cheap, but they arent idiots, if they can get an average starter's production for a rookie contract + $3 million, they would do it without hesitating. What am I missing here?

Come on. You should know that there is no point for anyone affiliated with the Bulls to give any realistic news on his progress/projected return date.

I could be wrong, but I think there were like 3-4 scenarios that would have gotten us in with a win, and 1 of them did happen, which had to do with finishing ahead of the 9-6-1 Eagles. We could have won the division if Minnesota had lost to the #1 seed Giants, but the Vikings won on a game ending FG down 1. What a weird day of ups and downs that was. The difference between this year and 2008 was I actually liked that 2008 team a lot and thought they could have won a playoff game or two. This year I want them to make the playoffs out of pride as a Bears fan, but the desire isn't nearly as strong, and the hope of doing anything in the playoffs is nil.

PS KC Johnson is saying that the Bulls could cut Nate Robinson soon, before his contract is guaranteed. I guess it would be harder to dump him and Rip to get under the tax this year instead of just Rip.

They just don't care about the regular season. Last season the Celtics were under .500 at the halfway point of the season. This year, they're at .500 less than 30% in. This is like the 4th consecutive year Sponge has failed at this. I think the Celtics will do this every year until one year they won't bounce back. Still think this year's Celtics is more talented than last years

With the 2nd or 3rd worst offense in Super Bowl history, right? Edit: nevermind, that could be true but the place I saw that the other day was here: http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/content/worst-super-bowl-winning-offenses/5721/ and it was just a simple "PPG" comparison.

Could a team made up of Bears players on IR beat the active Bears? And I don't mean without their current injuries.

So this means that no matter what happens, the Bears will be playing for something in Week 17 correct?

Typical Lovie speak. Yesterday wasn't a must win for the season, but it was a must win to control their playoff destiny. Now they have to hope the Vikings and either the Giants or Redskins lose again, along with winning the last 2 games. I still think the Bears will win the next 2 games and finish 10-6. If anyone cares about the playoffs anymore, here are the schedules for the other 3 teams: Vikings: @ Houston vs. GB Redskins: @ Philly vs. Dallas Giants: @ Baltimore vs. Philly To me, the most important game outside the Bears games is the Giants and Ravens this week. The Ravens are on a free fall, after a season of putting up close, sometimes discouraging victories. Ravens have clinched a spot and the Giants are on the brink of falling out of the playoff race. Knowing the talent the Giants have shown at times this year, and the way they had to crawl into the playoffs both of their Super Bowl years, I can't see the Giants losing this, but the Ravens have a crapload to prove too so we'll see. So if the Giants win this, the Bears are looking at either the Eagles beating one of the 2 teams somehow or the Cowboys winning in Washington, and I don't think Dallas is good at all despite their record (sorry vance). If the Vikings win in Houston against a team that still has a lot to play for, and then beat GB who may be playing for a bye, then whatever it wasn't to be, but I'm not worried about that at the moment. According to playoff odds, these are the WC chances for the aforementioned teams: Bears: 30.0% Giants: 26.7% Vikings: 22.5% Redskins: 20.0% Cowboys: 2.2% Somehow the Bears are the most likely team to get that 6th playoff spot...how about that

I was thinking about this earlier. Was Korver better for the Bulls when Rose was on the floor and Bellineli better for a Rose-less offense? Honestly, I just started watching the Bulls this year about a week ago and love what Bellineli has been doing, but I still don't trust him as an option to space the floor to the amount that Korver did. With Rose and his ability to create, and especially create with space, I thought having Korver out there was really good for spacing out the floor, and I am not sure Bellineli has that same respect. I will admit that I have not watched enough of Bellineli this year and could completely be off on the following paragraph, so I'll happily accept criticism if I'm off base. I kind of regret shunning the Bulls to start the season because from watching the last week they appear to be an interesting bunch that plays the same kind of Thibs-ball the previous 2 teams had, and they all generally seem to like each other. Of course I'm sure it looks better because they are winning at the moment, and I expect bumps during this stretch and until Rose gets back, but there's definitely entertainment value with this team sans-Rose.

That was so badass. That gif didn't even capture Devin Hester not actually shying from contact and making the final block. I was at the same so I didnt get the reaction on NSBB, but I'm assuming most felt really good at that point. Then the Packers scored TDs on 3 out of 4 possessions, as the Bears ran, I believe 5 offensive plays in between (3 and out, INT on first down, then that one dumbfounding 10 yard pass to end the half). Definitely where the game was lost, along with not getting 7's after the Jeffery drawn DEFENSIVE (sorry had to emphasise so as to not confuse with the others against him) pass interference and the hilariously dumbfounding special teams turnover. The shitty thing is that, yes I know there was some shady officiating going on, but we had a good deal of breaks go our way and still lost by 8. 2 missed field goals, the lost confidence in the kicker that caused the packers to go for it on 4th in 2 situations where they probably get 3 points (of course you have to stop them), the pass interference for Jeffery, the special teams turnover...I havent seen a replay but the grant turnover after a long crushing run.

2003 Vikings

Well if Washington had lost today, I'd still be pretty confident of the playoffs. As it stands right now, it doesn't look very good.

Also raw I was just thinking about posting that a player that absolutely needs to step up today is Peppers. He's the only person on the Dline that I trust to be able to pressure Rodgers and the Packers line is something a great pash rusher should be able to exploit. Rodgers have had a few games this year where he has been pressured so much that he's stopped looking downfield and not been nearly as effective. I know peppers has been hurt and invisible lately, but he's gotta find a way to fight through those double teams to get some pressures on Rodgers because I don't see Wootten, Izzy, Toeina and Co. managing much even vs. single coverage. I do think the Bears will lose today but I don't think there's no chance that they can win although the only legitimate reason I can give at this point is "any given Sunday".

So I'm thinking that with Cousins starting for Washington today, if the Browns can somehow eek out a victory over the Skins, losing today won't hurt our playoff odds that much. If we can beat Arizona and Detroit, we will be in. The only teams that could tie us at 10-6 are the Vikings and Cowboys. The Cowboys don't matter because we beat them and the Vikings have Houston and GB left after this week (vs. STL a team they could easily lose to as well). I'm thinking that if the Redskins and Bears lose tidy the Bears probably still are looking at a 75% shot at getting in. At least on paper. It's hard to ignore the downward spiral of injuries and poor play that have Bears fans on the ledge but hypothetically if any coach can keep his guys playing hard and thinking positively its Lovie.