Gooner

What an epic train wreck. That set the game of basketball back 50 years.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4946/3304091021cefc2850d8o.jpg

Both Gibson and Johnson look better than I expected, but it's only preseason. Until the games start to matter it means nothing. To me this team is really hard to get a read on. Personally I don't think they'll be that good, 38 wins is my prediction. If somebody from the future told me that they'd win 50 games I could see it happening, at the same time if they said 25 wins I'd have no trouble believing them. It's going to depend on a lot of things going right.

Jerome James, our answer in the low post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_K49xko2U

A couple of comments: Ben Gordon was by far our most consistent player last year. Gordon's issues with consistency are generally overstated. This is not true. Ben Gordon is an adequate defender. In fact the least effective position against the Bulls last year was shooting guard, which happens to be the position Gordon guarded. Our defensive issues started with Derrick Rose, who's the worst defender at guard that I have ever seen put on a Bulls uniform. That's saying something considering the likes of Jamal Crawford and Eddie Robinson played here. Our big men also played terrible defense last year. I hope Rose plays with more aggression this year. That's one thing I was disappointed in with him last year as he seemed too passive most nights. I like Noah and I think he'll be good for us this year. Thomas, on the other hand, sucks. The less we play him the better. I just hope that last year wasn't a fluke for Salmons. And I've got my concerns about his ability to play shooting guard. In my opinion, he's a much better small forward. But overall the additions of Miller and Salmons were good. And I agree about Gordon. The Bulls never wanted to sign him. He wanted to sign that 6/54 deal last year but the idiots that run this team decided to pull it off the table. Luol Deng was never an all-star. I just hope he can return to some semblance of an NBA player. I'm willing to bet that Michael Jordan's speech means nothing to the players. And I sure as hell hope Rose improves defensively, because if he doesn't it's not going to be pretty. I don't think Wade buying a house in his hometown really means anything. But it's all or nothing for the Bulls next summer. If we can pick up one of these big names then were sitting pretty. If not, than all these moves we've made will be egg on our face.

Jerome's not happy. And he's out to prove people wrong:

Can't say I'm surprised. The majority of people in this city opposed the Olympics anyway and the voters would have no doubt taken that into consideration. At least we don't have to showcase our crappy roads and piss poor transportation infrastructure to the rest of the world.

Trade bait.

I've seen all but a handful of Ben Gordon's games in a Bulls uniform and this statement is simply wrong. Ben was often doubled simply because in most games he was the only player on the Bulls who could hurt you. Of course he did, because he's a much better player than Ben Gordon. Larry Bird also played with the likes of Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. Who's the best player Ben Gordon has ever played with? Luol Deng? I never dismissed how many attempts a player shoots. You brought up this whole thing about how Ben Gordon wasn't shooting 500 attempts like Allen and Miller therefore he shouldn't be considered even though both Allen and Miller shot about the same amount of shots as Ben Gordon early in their careers. Gordon has always shot 300+ which is a significant amount and one that's been increasing year by year. Yet at the same time you bring up Larry Bird who never even sniffed 300 attempts and barely shot 200 a couple of times. I'm glad we can agree on something. Although I never claimed that. I said he was one of the best ever and in my opinion can be the best ever at the end of his career.

What the hell makes Larry Bird such a great 3pt shooter? He didn't shoot many nor did he make them at a high percentage. It simply wasn't a big part of his game. You act like Ben Gordon is a spot up shooter when in fact he was the number one option on all his teams. He often saw double teams. You think people cared about guarding the likes of Chris Duhon, Tyrus Thomas, Ben Wallace, Tyson Chandler, etc? You talk about Gordon's consistency and then bring up a guy like Craig Hodges. Hodges played for the Bulls. He was a spot up shooter and mostly shot open shots. Craig Hodges is the definition of an inconsistent shooter. Check his numbers, they're all over the place. Gordon's % for his career: 41, 44, 41, 41, 41.

No. No. The body of work I was talking about was career to date. You're comparing Gordon to the likes of Murphy and Williams who happened to have one outstanding 3pt shooting year. Yeah that would be true. We can't exactly look at Gordon's sixth season because, well, he hasn't played it yet. IMO, he will eventually be up there with Allen and Miller, who happen to be the two best shooters of all time. And he's clearly better than Bird and Hodges, just using your own metric. You're simply penalizing Gordon because he's only played for 5 years. Who's to say he won't follow the same trend as Miller and Allen and get better as his career progresses? That's simply your opinion. IMO, I disagree. Hey, if that's the way you look at things, fine. I can look at Lebron James and see that he's a great player regardless of the fact that he's only been in the league for 6 years. And I can look at Ben Gordon and see that he's a great 3pt shooter.

And if Granger continues to shoot like that than he will be regarded as a great 3pt shooter. Those are anomalies, not complete bodies of work. Allen and Miller didn't put up those kind of attempts until they were ten year veterans in the league. Gordon hasn't even hit his prime yet. Miller's high for attempts in his first five years: 362 Allen: 467 Gordon: 422 Who's to say Gordon won't follow the same patter as his career progresses? So when he's on the downside of his career than you can look at what he did in his 10th or 12th season like Miller and Allen. Dennis Scott, another exception which happened during the time of the shorter three point line just like Miller's best season above. Gordon has shot over 40% ever since the first day he stepped on an NBA court. You can't even say that about Miller and Allen, yet alone those other blokes you listed.

Deng is injury prone. He's only been healthy in two of his five seasons. So yes he can bounce back if he's healthy, but I don't like the odds.

Ok, percentage isn't everything. You have to take into account attempts and defensive pressure. Ben Gordon attempts a lot of three's and has done it as a first option every year he's been in the league. So he's tenth in all-time percentage and shoots them at a high frequency while receiving a lot of defensive attention. Sounds to me like one of the best 3pt shooters in the history of the game. Ben Gordon is a better 3pt shooter than Reggie Miller. I don't care that Miller played a gazillion years in the NBA and thus attempted and made a lot of them. The two of them average the same amount of attempts per game for their career. Gordon converts his at a better percentage and that includes Miller playing with a shorter 3pt line for three years. Twice the shooter he is not. But he is widely considered as one of the best of all time. So saying that he's better than Ben Gordon doesn't take away from the fact that Gordon is one hell of a shooter. Anyways, nobody in the history of the NBA has made more 3pt field goals during their first five years in the NBA than Ben Gordon.

No.

Salmons has never averaged 20 points per game, or 5 rebounds per game, and he barely averaged 2 assists with the Bulls last year. And this year he'll be playing shooting guard, even though he's a better small forward. The only thing he has on Gordon is six inches. And it's not about replacing Gordon's scoring point for point. It's also how and when those points are scored. Gordon's a top 3 shooter in the league and one of the best 3pt shooters in the history of the NBA. Salmons is a career 36% 3pt shooter. Deng can't shoot 3s at all. And Hinrich is decent, but now we only have him. Then there's the clutch factor. Deng's horrible when the game is on the line. Hinrich is bad. We'll have to see with Salmons. It's going to be ugly when the Bulls get in a scoring drought this year. But Deng probably won't stay healthy for the whole season anyway.

Yes.

Yes. Teams don't usually get better when they lose their best player for nothing.