UMFan83

Not right now but were in a horrid slump. We certainly have the talent to be a top 3 team. Damn I was almost happy when Bulls won 5 in a row and Hawks started trip 5-2. Since then a combined 0-6. The story of Chicago sports

I am out of town but decided to turn on espn when they started the 4th quarter up 6. Of course they get outscored 27-11 in the quarter I watch. This is 4 fourth quarters in a row when the bulls come out completely flat. That speaks to coaching to me. Rose rests to start the 4th and when they get him back in it's too late because the wheels have already fallen off and the team collapses. I've never seen a team go through epic collapse after epic collapse like this team does. In 75% of their games they go through a 6-10 minute period where they take horrible off the mark shots, careless turnovers, and strangest of all tons of missed FTs to go along with it. This leads to some hilariously anemic scoring outputs.

The NFL Network Super Bowl telecasts are in their entirety. I'm recording it tonight so I can suffer through it again tomorrow night. Yeah I don't know why I put myself through that. It's probably because I watched the game at a bar and never going to hear commentary and get the full "Bears in the Super Bowl" experience that I get when I watch other SB's at home or at a friends house. It was cool to watch and realize that the Bears were actually in this huge event that half the world watches and is a huge spectacle. In any event, the first quarter was fun to watch...the rest not so much. I've noticed the Colts do that in alot of their games. If you look at it, that Super Bowl was much like many others for the Colts. The opposing team comes out looking good, then they look at what that team is doing, make some adjustments, and eventually just take over. Sunday might very well end up being the same thing. Yeah that makes sense and now that you mention it, I've seen that too from them. Although the only bad things the Colts really did in the game was allow a kickoff return TD to one of the best KR ever at his peak, throw an interception, and allow a long run from Thomas Jones. Other than that, they really clamped down. Granted, the Bears did enough to stay in the game until the end by using their own 'bend but don't break' style, but it was clearly the Colts night. One thing that bugs me is that the Bears gave up on the run too easily. IIRC, the Colts had an embarrassingly bad run D during the regular season, and although they had improved in the playoffs, it was still a weakness. Thomas Jones had 15 carries for 112 yards in the game (7.5 YPC). The Bears were down just one score until midway through the 4th quarter, and that was on a Grossman pick 6. They had ample opportunity to run, and should have especially considering the conditions. 17 rushes to 28 for the game. Oh well.

I think we should vote Mark Prior into the HOF too. His rate stats are good enough.

They might as well sign him as long as they have the spare money. The certainly didn't get any return on their investment (players traded to Bal). And a one year deal is great. Seattle certainly looks good this year, but in the back of my mind I can't help getting that "everyone picking them to win and flopping" feeling. It's probably because Milton Badley is on their team.

The NFL Network Super Bowl telecasts are in their entirety. I'm recording it tonight so I can suffer through it again tomorrow night. Yeah I don't know why I put myself through that. It's probably because I watched the game at a bar and never going to hear commentary and get the full "Bears in the Super Bowl" experience that I get when I watch other SB's at home or at a friends house. It was cool to watch and realize that the Bears were actually in this huge event that half the world watches and is a huge spectacle. In any event, the first quarter was fun to watch...the rest not so much.

Hawks: +50 Devils: +21 Pens: +19 Devils are pre-Kovalchuk and the Pens are starting to become notorious for coming on strong at the end of the season and certainly have the credentials to say they are elite. Not saying the goal differentials aren't telling, just giving plausible excuses why those teams are at an equal level despite a huge gap in goal differential.

It was a stupid comment about how Noah was recovering from an injury 2 offseasons ago and showed up to camp out of shape despite the injury healing midway through the offseason and didn't get in shape until like mid-December. He could only play 20 minutes a night. He's a much different and more mature player now so I don't even know why I made that remark.

Looks like the Devils just got him. Great move for them. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4888109&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines Maybe, maybe not. But with the rumors of him leaving the NHL for the KHL in the offseason (I doubt it, but who knows) to give up two of your best prospects plus two high draft picks for an obviously rental, is an awfully high price to pay. Not to mention this still only makes the Devils the third best team in the East behind Pittsburgh and Washington. Good move for the Devils, but an awfully expensive move. I don't know, maybe their 3rd maybe there are not, but the gap between those 3 teams has tightened. I could see any of those 3 winning the East. It's crazy between the Sharks, Blackhawks, Devils, Capitals, Penguins, Canucks, there are a lot of really good teams in the NHL this year. I don't think there is anything close to a clear favorite.

The way I understand the condition that Noah has, 12 days is pretty much as good as resting him 0 days It's one of those things where he needs 6 weeks off for everything to heal or else it will reoccur fairly quickly. That was also what happened when Nocioni had it a couple of years ago. Remember when he missed like 2-3 weeks, came back to play 2-3 games and then got shut down for the season? This is going to be a season long thing for Noah, IMO. The crappy thing is, he's gonna play through it then take 2 months off in the summer and probably come back out of shape like he did 2 years ago. OK probably not because he's matured since then but whatever.

If anyone cares, NFL Network is rebroadcasting the Bears/Colts Super Bowl in its entirety (I think). It like started 40 minutes ago.

Looks like the Devils just got him. Great move for them. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4888109&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines

Devils got kovalchuk http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4888109&campaign=rss&source=NHLHeadlines

Eh, not sure I buy that. Yes the Bulls have been cheap, but for years they have said that they are willing to go well into the luxury tax to pay for a contending team. Of course they aren't going to go into lux tax to sign like Ben Gordon to an extension and have tons of 41-46 win seasons and 1st round playoff exits. It doesn't make sense. It's a fiscal policy designed not to burden the team with a bunch of bad contracts that don't get them anywhere. Now the lockout thing does add a wrinkle to things. There's been talk about making a hard cap with no more "bird rights" and stuff like that to have teams way over the cap. In addition they are saying it's possible that they will make all contracts only guaranteed for 2 years. Now the players will have to pass this....most of them live paycheck to paycheck sadly, and cannot deal with more than a month or two of a lockout. From what I've heard, current contracts will be grandfathered in, and teams will be allowed to keep their current players over the cap until that player retires or leaves the team. So the Bulls would be able to live with the team as contstructed, but who knows for how long. Regardless, I trust that GarPax and Reinsdorf have all this in mind when making their decisions. Do you think the Bulls are going to go out and sign 2 big FAs and then not be able to afford Derrick Rose, the hometown boy and the Bulls ultimate marketing dream? A team with Rose, a max FA (assuming they aren't throwing max dollars at like Kevin Martin or something, and another near max guy can probably compete with a reasonable supporting cast.

Just following up on your comment about there being rumors about this: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/basketball/bulls/2028927,CST-SPT-bullnt04.article

with 9 of those on the road obvously they haven't been playing as well over that stretch, but this was the toughest part of the schedule, and an 8 game road trip always takes a toll. Didn't seem to bother the Sharks when they went 8-2-1 during a stretch where they played 9 of 11 on the road. Or the Capitals when they went 8-3-0 with the same 9/11 stretch. You're right that was a tough stretch, but you and I both know they are capable of much more than 6-5-1 over a tough stretch. I'm sure all the top teams in the league have a stretch where they just aren't playing up to their capabilities. It just always worries you more when you have a younger team like the Hawks. I'm sure they are fine, and the Olympic break is probably a godsend for them, even if a third of the team is playing in it. BTW, regarding the Sharks, their remaining schedule consists of 16 road games and just 10 home games. If the Hawks pick up their pace, they should be able to pace them up easily.

6-5-1 in our last 12 games (since the Minnesota collapse). Only 1 of those wins was by more than 2 goals. During the stretch the Blackhawks have been outscored 36-39. They've dropped from 1st in goal differential by ~15 goals to 3rd, although that has been as much of an effect of other teams playing well as it is the Blackhawks struggling. The silver lining is of course that every team goes through tough stretches like this. San Jose earlier this year had a stretch when they went 6-4-5 over a 15 game period. The other silver lining is that of course 6-5-1 isn't all that bad, it's just mediocre. It's frustrating to watch when you know they are capable of so much better play. On a side note, what the fudge is going on with Keith? Also, Huet's stats in his last 7 games: W-L: 3-4-0 GAA: 3.50 SAV %: .859 Blah.

That's part of it. Outside of the obvious good ones (Phil, Popovich, Brown, etc.) NBA coaches are recycled so often that I'm skeptical of how much they really matter. The roster just doesn't mesh around Rose's talents very well and that's on Pax. But if he can move Hinrich/Salmons for cap relief without totally putting the season in the tank (Ray Allen plz) it will hopefully be worth it. Yeah we have several areas where we lack ability. Outside shooting is one huge one. We can sometimes get on a roll with our outside shooting and when we do things go well. But we don't have a single player that get hot more often then not. Imagine how much space Rose would have in the lane to drive if we had a respectable outside shooter on our team instead of Luol Deng, Miller, Hinrich, Salmons, etc. Strangely enough Ben Gordon would be perfect for this team, except I'm not regretting letting him go.

I'm just pissed off about the last 2 Bulls games and then turning on the game and seeing them give up 3 straight goals in 10 minutes. None of my posts have any logic and I'm looking to start a fight with my illogical posting.

how was that huet's fault? Because it went through his legs, stfu it was deflected. watch more hockey. I've watched hockey for 26 yearsf. saving 6 out of 9 shots sucks. Why don't you give up on the game and then chew someone else out for giving up on the game again?

how was that huet's fault? Because it went through his legs, stfu

yeah it's not like they just came off a 5-3 road trip A fairly ugly 5-3. Don't both arguing back because I don't feel like arguing about it. Blah blah blah on road....Sharks...Wings...blah

LOL Huet!

Sweet...Bulls lost now the Hawks are losing. This team is struuuuuugling.

Winning percentage of the Bulls last 5 wins: .563 Winning percentage of the Bulls last 4 losses: .373