David

Hey, there's dexter doing what I said he would do and arguing about a term he obviously defines differently than I do. What a surprise. I only predicted it two posts ago.

You've proven me wrong. Tyrus Thomas doesn't get lots of blocks and steals and stuff when he plays. He's first in the NBA among PF in steals/48 and 3rd among PF in blocks/48 (8th among all players). But those silly plays don't have impacts on games.

Yea, mannnn, that's exactly what I said. Fantasy basketball and stuff... ROFL

so he just chooses not to? Right. That's it. well you said he can fill up the stat sheet with ridiculous frequency. why doesn't he? He doesn't get lots of blocks, steals, and rebounds with the occasional nice scoring game peppered in? I know you love to argue about semantics and that your definition of "filling up the stat sheet" may be different than mine, but it's really just a waste of time. That or you're going to pick apart "ridiculous frequency." Amirite?

so he just chooses not to? Right. That's it.

Well that sucks... I didn't even know a game was on TV today and was even less aware that Harden was supposed to pitch, but now I'm bummed that I won't get to see him pitch.

I love how all the pseudo-coaches/scouts think he can't possibly have success without changing the swing that he has used successfully his whole life. Just because it doesn't look pretty to us doesn't mean it's the reason he struggled.

While this concern is certainly legitimate, especially if his swing still has a huge hole in it, I'd like to give him more than 17 sporadic at-bats before casting judgment. Perhaps he's just rusty like a lot of players at this stage of spring training. We're 24 days into the Cactus League season. Isn't that enough time to shake off most of the rust? Fukudome hasn't been playing in the Cactus League....

Fontenot will have the second highest OPS among NL 2B after Utley.

It's unfortunate that Gordon got labeled as a bad defender (deservedly so) as a rookie and now can't shake that label despite the fact that he's improved his defense to the point that he's about an average defender now. Perception matters more than reality, I guess. And Noah has been playing very well for a while now. ~10 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in ~30 minutes for the past few months. Not sure what more people expect out of a player like him (granted, he needs to come into next season in better shape). And I don't even like Joakim Noah at all. And the funny thing about "most of Tyrus's game" is the fact that much (if not most) of his game is very good. He's a difference maker who can fill up the stat sheet with ridiculous frequency. It's a few (major) parts of it that are very flawed that keep him from being great. Paxson is another one I don't totally agree with but it's an argument I know I can't win (actually, neither is BG's defense, or any of these, for that matter). /rant

dont lie I've been watching the Bulls over the Hawks all season if they're both playing at the same time. The Bulls are in just about every game this season and I'm having a good time following Rose's progress. all that means is that you likebasketball more than hockey so a horrible team with a horrible coach is more exciting than a team that was high scoring, fast, young, exciting, and 3rd best in the conference for most of the season? you're just mad because the hawks are tanking. you know that they've been more fun to watch than the bulls this season. The Bulls aren't a horrible team and have one of the most exciting young players in the game. I have a lot of fun watching them too. The fact that they're frustrating and inconsistent doesn't make them horrible. They have a nice, deep and versatile roster right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see them make some noise in the playoffs (not win, but put up a fight, much like the 05-06 team did to Miami). Whether or not they're more fun to watch than the Hawks is a pointless argument not even worth getting into because you're not comparing apples to apples. There's no way to adjust for how much one likes one sport over the other. I've tried to build up an interest in hockey this season and have been mildly (to use the term generously) successful. I'd much rather watch the 2000-2001 Bulls than the 91-92 Blackhawks. I'm not sure what I'm trying to illustrate there other than the fact that it's pointless to make comparisons across sports like that. /rant

Rose has forgotten how to miss.

I think the reason people think that is because he's 29 and doesn't appear to have a whole lot more physical ability/talent to build more on.

that's just 100% not true. Which part of it? The definition of "good" is subjective, I suppose. I'd probably say he's good, but not all that good. He's good for the amount of money he makes, I guess. It depends on what you expect from him going forward, too. I don't really see him OBPing .400 again, but who knows? As far as the ceiling part goes, how much further can he possibly take his game than he already has? How much more can he get out of his relatively limited abilities?

I think the whole team wears those damn affliction shirts. We love a team full of d-bags.

Yup at home this team is completely different. I dont know what it is and apparently they dont either, cause they are horrific on the road. Reminds me of the 02-03 team... difference being that that team cost itself a shot at LeBron/Melo/Wade/(Darko) by being so good at home.

Is this sarcasm? Beating good teams is something they do. Particularly at home. They just blew out New Orleans. They beat Cleveland earlier in the year. They blew out Orlando. They beat the Rockets. etc. It'll surprise me more if they beat a terrible team.

There's proof.

We doing this or what?

Yea... why is that really stupid?

I think some people just don't realize how good Fontenot has been at the plate. It remains to be seen how he does with a (mostly) full time job, but he's definitely earned a shot at it. (and I know that's not what this thread is about, but it isn't completely absurd to hit him a spot ahead of Soto)

Disagree. A guy making the $400,000 minimum is comparable to a guy making $800,000. The higher the payroll, the higher the discrepency of "comparable". For a team like the Cubs, that regularly throws significant amounts of money in the toilet, it's bigger than most. But $3.3m this year is probably beyond the furthest end. The fact that they are owed the same total is somewhat meaningful, especially when you consider the possibility that Miles could be a net negative to the team if they feel obliged to keep him there throughout his age 33 season. Caught me before the edit. ](*,)

They're not comparable salaries when one is more than twice as much as the other. It's not like we're talking league minimum salaries, either.

If you flip a coin and it's on heads nine times in a row, does that mean that that you're certainly going to flip it on tails the next time? I was about to use this exact example.

In principle, I agree, but then again, I'm pretty sure we absolutely crushed lefties last year. It could've just been skewed by Pittsburgh, though.