squally1313

The way I look at it, we had ground that we needed to make up, and in the last 10 games or so, we made that ground up. Now it's basically a 20 game season with 9 teams going for 5 spots. Yeah, there might be some slight advantages in points or games played, but I think the Hawks are on pretty even ground with everyone right now. If you look at it that way, it's hard to be too worried. The eye test, the numbers, analysts....I think pretty much everything points to the Hawks having close to the best team out of the group, besides maybe the Kings (also, not coincidentally, on a hot streak to get back into the race). We just need to play to our ability, and we'll be fine.

What a weird schedule the Bulls have had. The Noah injury could not have been timed any better July. Assuming there's no long term impact of the injury, in hindsight you can make an argument for him being injured when he was over July. The Bulls barely slowed down with him gone (mostly because of the schedule, but still). And honestly, his legs must have loved the time off. You always have to worry about a big guy putting too many miles on his legs, and he was at a career high in MPG before the injury. I think he's going to be in much better shape come playoff time then he was last year.

After the last two plays, I'd say he's just fine.

That is something I've been thinking a lot about though. It seems like 3/4 of the NBA has pretty much the exact same rotations for most of the game, no matter who they're playing. I wonder if there's a more efficient way to approach that subject. I think that's part of the reason why the Heat have been so successful, especially against weaker teams. No matter what, Lebron or Wade is almost always going to be on the floor, and when one of them goes up against a weaker second squad, they can just dominate and let the Heat pull away. Could also point to why they struggle so much with the better teams too. Most teams don't have a player with the defensive skills of Brewer on the bench to pick up their best guy when Deng is resting.

Well now that we're stuck with the team as is, I almost want to keep the rotation the way it is now. Like you said, "Bogans will be just as productive coming off the bench." Well, honestly, that's not very productive. Do you really want him on the second team with guys like Asik, who really has no offensive skills so far, and CJ, who doesn't really do a whole lot either? I like Brewer playing with those guys. Him, Korver, and Gibson give you a lot more offense than you typically find. Come playoff time, sure, switch it up. But for the regular season, if Bogan's going to be in the rotation, I'd keep him in the starting line up.

Eh, the win's nice, but Bogan's 2 point, 1 rebound, 0-4 from the field performance didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. If he's not going to get any minutes late in games, we basically have 2 guys who can play the 2 and 3 on both ends of the court. I guess I'm fine with today's lack of moves though, especially with the minutes Asik got. He was likely going to be involved in any trade, and if he was going to be behind Thomas in the depth chart, for whatever reason, that was fine with me. But I'm glad since we're keeping him around he's going to get his 15 minutes a game. He played awesome tonight, +17 in 21 minutes.

Yeah if Asik isn't going to get minutes over Kurt Thomas, better get rid of him while his value is still high instead of having to do what we did with Johnson. Now, I'd still rather just stick Thomas on the end of the bench, keep Asik and give him 15 minutes a game. But if Thibs is going to make Thomas the back-up, Asik's only value is in a trade.

I always used to think the worst part of being born when I was was being too young to appreciate watching Jordan grow and become the greatest player ever. Derrick Rose is helping.

In my extremely amateur opinion, Frolik kinda reminds me of Kane when he first came into the league. He's largely invisible for most of the game, but once or twice he's good for keeping the puck on his stick for an extended period of time, dangling a little, and making a good shot or getting a good pass. In terms of his performance though, I think you got to give him a few more games. Apparently the offensive system in Florida is much different and much less dynamic, and I'd guess he's still adjusting. Plus, let's face it....Florida is probably the worst hockey franchise in the league. There's an adjustment to playing (somewhat) important hockey, especially for how young he is.

There's zero chance that happens before the offseason, since the Hawks are right in the thick of things. I wouldn't trade for defense. I think the defense should be good -- the players are there. I'm just not sure why they aren't firing on all cylinders. Is it the coaching? The decision-making? As for what to get from Sharp... it depends. It's hard to get value in trades. What I'd really want is a true-second line center. Yeah the thing about defensemen is that there's only 6 spots to fill. Unless you want to get rid of Seabrook (which I don't), we've got four of those spots locked up, and all four players have a history of being effective. So obviously there's no point in trading someone like Sharp for a third pairing defenseman. You mentioned getting a second line center. I think the key is to figure out what they want to do with Bolland. If they still think he can develop into a scoring threat (his minor league numbers are Kane-esque), then I think you have to give him every opportunity to succeed on the second line with Hossa. If his ceiling is going to be a third line (typically a checking line) center, then you have to decide if you want to pay him $3.4 million to play that role, or give the role to Dowell, who can give you 80% of what Bolland does at 20% of the price. Yeah, he's a great penalty killer, which we saw in the playoffs last year, but bottom line is that he is god-awful at faceoffs, which is an incredibly important part of killing penalties. If it's me, keep the team as is for this season, see if they can remember how good they can be. But in the offseason, put Sharp and Bolland on the market, together or separately, and see what you can get back. Next year's checking line can be Bickell/Dowell/someone (Stalberg, Brouwer)...Johnson and Toews can be the two PK centers.

Brinoch, any thoughts on trading sharp for, as you called it, a "kings ransom"? Obviously it's an affordable contract, so it wouldn't be for the salary relief. But really more just selling high. Not saying he isn't a very good hockey player, but with the way the season has gone, we need to shore up our defense. Maybe not get a defenseman, but I'd look for more of a two way forward than sharp.

If it comes down to Sharp or Seabs, you tell Sharpie thanks for his time, send him on hid way, and laugh at the team that inevitably overpays him. As recently as a couple weeks ago, the advanced metrics had sharp as the worst even strength player on our team. You take away all the wide open nets he's had from some sick Kane passes, and you start to look past his goals total and see his crappy +\-. Meanwhile, seabs has been our most consistent physical defenseman all year. We're like second in the league in goals per game. You don't take away the top line defenseman from that team, you take away the guy who shoots at all the open nets

That first and second period today summed up why this season has been so frustrating. They look god-awful that first period...I think they gave us 9 shots but I couldn't think of a single legitimate opportunity, just a bunch of Bickell-esque 40 foot wristers. Then they come out for the second, and play like champions. Just enough to show you that the talent is there to completely dominate a team. I've never really believed in the theory that players don't try all the time, but this year's team has really made me question what I think. I guess we'll see though, because time's running out to translate that talent into wins. Even with the victory, Leddy and Hendry looked awful. I'm not a big fan of the current pairings, simply because I know how effective Seabs/Keith and Campbell/Hammer can be together, but it's becoming increasingly clear that a Leddy/Hendry (or Boynton) pairing would be a total disaster. It'd be really nice to grab another d-man before the deadline, I just don't know if our cap situation is going to allow it.

Kind of sad that David DeJesus might end up being the best bang for the buck name on that list. I'd go with JD Drew, he always tends to be underrated for the production he provides. Obviously he'd be pretty old by then, but if he could give you a low 800s OPS for a cheap one year deal I think he'd be the best bet.

Mark Mulder? Used to be a decent pitcher, yeah, but doesn't really fit in the group that you're describing.

This play by play guy on TNT is god awful

Yeah I think these next 12 hours are huge. As long as we can avoid a contract getting figured out, or something like a deadline extension, I think the chances of him leaving are really pretty good. You have to wonder if La Russa's comments could really come back to hurt the Cardinals. He basically came out and said the only reason the contract isn't done is because he is asking for too much money. Now, obviously he blamed it on the union. But if it's Pujols alone who is holding out for what he thinks he deserves, suddenly he looks at La Russa's comments and thinks that he (Pujols) is being called selfish, or too greedy, or whatever. If there's no contract by tomorrow, you got a whole season of them sharing the dugout, which, given La Russa's history (control freak, the whole Rasmus situation, etc)....I can see it not playing out well. Add in some of the Cardinals fans who believe it's the world's greatest honor to wear the Cardinal uniform turning on him for being greedy (anyone see that Dispatch article talking about how he would be making more money than anyone else in St. Louis?), and it could be a really interesting season.

Looks like according to this we still should have wished we got Redick instead of Brewer. That said, I am not going to scoff at having the 17th best bench player in terms of WP82. I included JR Smith there because he's another trade target. I wish we got Redick instead of Bogans. Same but considering Brewer is making nearly $5 mil and Bogans $1.6, I'm guessing a Bogans was always an option. What I wish is that we signed Eddie House instead of Bogans. In terms of skill sets and what they provide to the team, shouldn't we be wishing we got Redick instead of Korver?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6124272 I believe that's what they call "panic" from the Cardinal's camp. Also, I hate Tony La Russa.

For a little bit there, both games (this and Bos/Mia) were the exact same score with pretty much the exact amount of time played (4:40 left in this game, 1:15 left in the third in the NBA game).

God I hate Garnett. Literally half a second after he gives a shoulder to the head to Mike Miller he flops back about 15 feet on a Wade push. What a bitch.

OJ Mayo suspended 10 games for steroid use. Get him. Now.

Easy, complete win. Dex?

http://www.secondcityhockey.com/2011/1/13/1933768/the-balcony-is-open Real good article about (among other things), the pros and cons of Bolland possibly being shipped, which was something I mentioned a couple pages ago. Apparently there were a bunch of scouts at the game last night, and Bolland was the name that kept getting thrown around. If that's the case, they picked a good game to go to, as it was probably his best of the year. Originally, I was for trading him, not because he isn't a valuable player, but because he's getting paid too much to be a third line center. This article goes the other way though...focusing mainly on his skillset which is typically very important in the playoffs, and the lack of available players out there currently that would suit our needs. Personally, I'd leave the offense alone, and if you're going to trade him, look for an established defensive D-man so that between him and Hammer, we wouldn't have to worry about the third pairing nearly as much as we do now. Being able to roll out all three pairings without worry would keep us all from closing our eyes during Boynton/Cullimore/Leddy/Hendry time, and it would relieve the pressure on 72, who I think are being way overworked anyways.

you can look back in the thread and see for yourself. the boston game i didn't post because i wasnt home (although i did post after the game saying how good of a win it was) I don't know, I just get the feeling that if the Bulls won by 20, and the Hawks got beat 4-0, you would have ignored this thread and posted a bunch of complaints in that one. Like people said, these games are largely worthless, and without Noah we aren't going to learn much. On the flip side, the Hawks shut out a quality conference rival for their third straight win. So basically....do you just watch the games you can complain about?