Soul

So you are worried that he got better after his first couple years in the league? He's been a pro bowler at 26/27. If you sign him, you can be pretty certain you're going to get great performance for the next 3 years, from 28-30, and even if he starts to decline in his early 30's, you can get your money's worth, and cut him down the road if need be. No, I'm worried that he's a 7 year vet, and 5 of those years didn't have the level of dominance of the last two, and particularly last season. It's legitimate to ask whether he just improved after all that time, or whether he realized his contract was coming due. I'm not saying it's 100%, but it should certainly not escape any level of scrutiny.

Partially. But if you look at the good teams, they have several high-quality players around their top dogs. Garnett has Pierce and Allen. Kobe has Odom and Gasol. Duncan has Ginobili and Parker. The Bulls would have had Garnett and..... Garnett. Well, you do need that first superstar to attract other good FA's. Even trades in the NBA -- top players have power to fight against them. Maybe not official power, but more than any other league NBA players will refuse to play, refuse to put forth 100% effort, etc. etc. if they don't like their situation. The problem with us is we can't identify and acquire superstar #1. Hopefully Rose changes all that.

I am so completely not ready for this :(

It's the only way to win in the NBA. You need superstars. They could also trade their expiring contracts for a star as well. That said, 2009 would be pretty much the same as this season. Maybe a little better if Rose, T2, and Noah continue to improve. I have no problem waiting for 2010 if it means we get either Amare or Bosh and another good #3 option to go along with one of them and Rose. OK, I understand this. But last time we had a load of cash, every FA in the league said no to us and we wound up with nothing. So there's no guarantee. I hesitate to say any top FA is really going to want to play for Vinny. Everyone knows he's a joke so please tell me part of this plan is to get a real coach. Here's what I know. A couple days ago we were going to get Amare. Today, we wound up with nothing. An all-too-familiar position to be in with this franchise. At some point the big acquisition needs to be actually completed. Positioning is great n' all, but my confidence in this club to close the deal with a top player remains very, very low. This was the Bulls roster the last time they went shopping for FAs: Chris Antsey Ron Artest (lightly regarded rookie) Corey Benjamin Elton Brand (ROY - ok) Randy Brown Chris Carr Kornel David Hersey Hawkins Fred Hoiberg Michael Ruffin Dickey Simpkins Tell me what FA in their right mind would want to goto that team. Is Tim Duncan going to make that team anything? Now look at the players we will have under contract in 2010 Kirk Hinrich (if not traded) Luol Deng Tyrus Thomas (will be RFA but likely to be part of the team) John Salmons Derrick Rose Joakim Noah All 6 of those players are better than anyone on the 00-01 team except Brand. You have one probable superstar (Rose), a nice 3rd or 4th option (Deng), and several above average role players in place. That situation screams for a superstar low post player to jump in and start competing for the top of the Eastern Conference. And prospective FAs know that. As an added bonus, most NBA players absolutely LOVE to play with elite PGs like Derrick Rose. He makes players better and scoring statistics higher. Elton Brand was highly regarded on that team as a rook. So is Rose. Both were top picks. I don't think the situation is as different as you think it is. The Bulls are a better team right now than that team, but ultimately the only piece FA's will know is here is Rose. The rest is fluid. Look, all I'm saying is just because we free up all this cash doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work. I for one would rather we be able to close one of these pending deals we've had. I'm sick of waiting to be in the perfect position to make a huge deal. It's long past time to actually make it happen with this club.

I would never dismiss Haynesworth because he's been amazing, but I'm worried about the fact that he's been having his best years as his contract was closing out, and he's been through injuries before that sidelined him for quite awhile. It would depend on how much he can command.

It's the only way to win in the NBA. You need superstars. They could also trade their expiring contracts for a star as well. That said, 2009 would be pretty much the same as this season. Maybe a little better if Rose, T2, and Noah continue to improve. I have no problem waiting for 2010 if it means we get either Amare or Bosh and another good #3 option to go along with one of them and Rose. OK, I understand this. But last time we had a load of cash, every FA in the league said no to us and we wound up with nothing. So there's no guarantee. I hesitate to say any top FA is really going to want to play for Vinny. Everyone knows he's a joke so please tell me part of this plan is to get a real coach. Here's what I know. A couple days ago we were going to get Amare. Today, we wound up with nothing. An all-too-familiar position to be in with this franchise. At some point the big acquisition needs to be actually completed. Positioning is great n' all, but my confidence in this club to close the deal with a top player remains very, very low.

He probably means, you know, reality. Pretending they are a proven veteran away from contention would be stupid. If you are an Orioles fan that is unsettled by that statement, you are completely clueless about your team's sitiuation. You should hope they do whatever they can to harness whatever value they can out of the players they have, and think about the longterm health of the franchise. I suppose. I'm pretty clueless about the Orioles situation. I assume they have more good prospects to hang their hat on than Hill & Pie. They have a handful of promising young prospects and if they were in any other division, they'd be a chic sleeper pick to win that division. However, in the AL East, they would need all of those promising young prospects to immediately produce up to their ceilings if they want to compete. That is fairly unrealistic. They're definitely in a tough position year to year. I retract my comment. I'd hate to be an Orioles fan in that division right now, but I would probably be cutting ownership/management some slack.

My main problem with Roberts was all the time I wasted thinking about the trade that never happened. I'm glad the Peavy thing got cut a little shorter.

He probably means, you know, reality. Pretending they are a proven veteran away from contention would be stupid. If you are an Orioles fan that is unsettled by that statement, you are completely clueless about your team's sitiuation. You should hope they do whatever they can to harness whatever value they can out of the players they have, and think about the longterm health of the franchise. I suppose. I'm pretty clueless about the Orioles situation. I assume they have more good prospects to hang their hat on than Hill & Pie.

What does he mean by "what this is all about here?" If I was an Orioles fan about to slap down my hard earned money for tickets, I'd be pretty unsettled by that.

yeah, you can't segment out this crap. you did it, just move on. people start to look at you cockeyed when you try to insulate yourself from some small part of it. everyone knows he did it now. time to move on. quit holding press conferences. time to play baseball.

Depending on your reckoning of prime years, Sosa's came either after them or maybe a one-year overlap. Not remotely the same as Bagwell. Although there will never likely be any hard evidence against him, Sosa remains in limbo as the prototype of what a steroid-aided career looks like. He hit 66 @ age 29. 29 isn't a prime year? It's pre-30. Also, he hit 36 in just 144 games in '95, and then 40 in just 124 games in '96. Ages 26 and 27 are definitely prime years. He would have had over 50 HRs in '97 without the injury that ended his season early, at age 27, a prime year.

LOL, yeah. Good old Jesse.

It's the manner of his delivery, not the mere fact that he has a problem with LaRussa.

So they're going with it pretty hard. Could just wind up like the day OH reported the Roberts deal as done, though. Crazy owner involved too. :) There's actually some chatter on reputable news sites to back them up, so we'll see: http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=518336

Maybe the rest will do him some good. Maybe Kane should rest too.

Yeah......I don't think the death videos are really enriching anyone's experience here. Final say on that would be the mods though.

LOL. Dude, sit up in your freaking chair. Especially when you're fat.

Finally they turn back into Indiana again. Sheesh.

These guys couldn't make a 5 foot shot in the first half. What exactly is that? Rope a dope?

Someone explain how Indiana can look so godawful 10 minutes ago and now they look like worldbeaters.

I couldn't find this game anywhere. Kinda sucks that I got to watch the St. Louis debacle, but not this game -- I'd rather have missed St. Louis and watched this one :(

+1 -1 I don't know of anyone who doesn't realize Jerry's a problem. Nothing can be done about JR. Maybe shout at him a little bit from the curb as he gets in his limo.

I'm sure everyone's shoulder feels good now. Let's see how it feels when he starts pushing it. Harden too.

9-4-3 in their last 16 games. They aren't that bad. Only 2 games under .500. Take out a 5 game losing streak when everyone was hurt and Legace was ass and they're a contender for a low playoff seed. Really, they are a talented team with a weird mix of youth and experience. No shame in losing to them. And in the midst of all this [expletive] Kane bashing, maybe he isn't a wuss, he's just too small to take a full season's beating when people are gunning for him. The Blues have the 2nd lowest point total in the Western Conference. Maybe they do have some interesting players, but teams have been beating them pretty good this year. Sure, there's no shame in losing to any team once, maybe twice. But 4/5 times? Two shutouts in a row? Come on man, it's embarrassing for a team with playoff ambitions such as the Hawks.