What About Ben?

By StalkingEA

Here we are, a little more than a month from the start of training camp, and there is still no resolution in sight for Ben Gordon. In case you've been under a rock this off-season, Ben is a restricted free agent, which means the Bulls have the right to match any tender offer that another team signs him to. No other teams have offered him a contract.

Gordon wants to be the highest-paid Bull, since he is the led the Bulls in scoring over the last three seasons. That would put him in the $13 million range. The Bulls have $8 million in cap space, and have offered him a 1 year qualifying offer of about $6.4 million, which he won't even consider.

So now what? Ben is obviously not happy with the way the Bulls are handling this, but what leverage does he have? Does he go play in Europe, like Josh Childress did? OK, but that might help the Bulls by clearing part of the log jam at guard, and keeping some cap space free. Does he sit out a season? Not likely, as that would lower what he could get in a contract in the highly competitive NBA. Do the Bulls work out a sign and trade? Now you're talking!

OK, so they sign Ben to a contract he's happy with and then trade him to a team that can afford to pay him. Great! But wait, there's a reason that hasn't happened yet. Who's going to take him and give the Bulls some value in return? Memphis can afford to pay Ben, but what do they have that the Bulls want? Marc Gasol? Not gonna happen. On to the next possibility:

Andrei Kirilenko is Utah's most logical bargaining chip, and Chicago might be interested in him, although he plays a lot like Deng and Nocioni. It's possible the Bulls might feel they were duplicating talent by adding Kirilenko.

This is a pretty interesting article. The writer goes on to say that both teams would probably have to add more pieces to make a deal work, but I don't think the Bulls want to get into a major trade here. Besides, he's right, AK-47 plays the same position as Deng and Nocioni, and Coach Vinny already has a juggling act at guard.

What the Bulls need is to find a team with a big man, a center. The problem is, they just aren't out there. Zach Randolph is available from the Knicks, but his contract is enormous and he doesn't play defense. The previously mentioned Grizzlies have Darko Milicic, but they'd have to package more with him. I just don't see any deals out there that the Bulls would make.

I see Gordon signing maybe a 2 or 3 year deal for around $7.5 - 8 million per, just because he doesn't have another option. This will be a significant raise, but not enough to keep him happy. Look for the Bulls to then try to trade him during the season, when some other team realizes they need a scoring punch. I like Ben, he's been a quality player for the Bulls. I just wish there was a good way to keep him happy. I'll root for him as long as he plays here, and I'll wish him well if he goes. Just not if he plays against the Bulls.

Deng, Bulls agree on 6-year deal

Bulls forward Luol Deng can breathe a sigh of relief. It's likely that Deng just became the richest Dinka to ever live, as the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson is reporting that Deng agreed to a 6-year contract worth up to $80M late Tuesday night.

General manager John Paxson will confirm Wednesday that the Bulls have reached agreement on a six-year deal with restricted free agent Luol Deng.

The deal, first reported by the Tribune and ESPN.com's Marc Stein, is worth a guaranteed $71 million, according to sources. Incentives could push the contract's value to $80 million, sources said.

Deng, 23, rejected a five-year, $57.5 million extension in October and then joined in the season-long funk and malaise that shrouded the Bulls' underwhelming 2007-08 season.

So with right around $8M left without going into the forbidden land of the luxury tax, the Bulls now have the task of figuring out what to do with guard Ben Gordon.


A lot of talk is going on - including Ben's threats that he might jump on the overseas bandwagon and play in Europe - but it appears that the Bulls will most likely try some sort of sign-and-trade with the streaky shooting guard.

Gordon appears to believe he deserves money equal to what Deng received, but not only would that put the Bulls over the cap, they'd be locking up a lot of money that could be used in the 2010 free agent sweepstakes. $80M to Ben Gordon would be a big mistake, there are plenty of undersized guards out there at a much lower price.

The question is, where could Gordon go in a sign-and-trade? Right now your guess is as good as anyone, but I'd be willing to be bet that if they do make a deal, a center will be coming back to the Bulls way.

If they don't trade Gordon, the Bulls can tender a one-year $6.4M deal that would allow Gordon to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2008-09 season. This is not something that's advantageous for either Gordon or the Bulls, but it may be the last resort if they fail to trade him.

All things Gordon aside, with Deng locked in for the long haul, the starting lineup is a promising combination of youthful explosiveness and veteran talent, and hopefully will only get better with pieces added before the start of the season.

G Derrick Rose
G Kirk Hinrich
F Luol Deng
F Tyrus Thomas
C Joakim Noah

Rose named to USA Select Team

I knew there was a reason I signed up for the MyBulls newsletters - they always give me good posting topics. Today's most recent topic - Bulls' rookie PG Derrick Rose has been named to the USA Men's Basketball Select Team. Rose will join nine other top young NBA players to help the 2008 USA Senior National team that will compete in the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

Team USA Managing Director, and former Illini, Jerry Colangelo named Oklahoma City head coach and last year's Select Team head coach P.J. Carlisimo as the head coach for this year's team. Colangelo explains the thought process behind having what is virtually a JV team.

“We also brought into the senior team’s training camp last summer a select team of young NBA superstars and it proved to be valuable preparation for our Senior Team. Again in 2008 the Select Team features some of the league’s most promising young and upcoming players – including Kevin Durant who is a member of our Senior National Team and was the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year.

We’re looking for this select group to really compete and help prepare our senior team for Beijing,” said Colangelo.

I'm happy for Rose to earn such honors without even playing one minute of NBA basketball but at the same time, I worry after his recent MRI results showing tendonitis, more basketball will only hurt his chances of being 100% going into the 2008-09 NBA season.

I think I can speak for everyone at ChicagoBull, which is basically only myself and Dr. C (Sorry EA), and refer back to our last post that said Rose needs some serious rest if he's ever going to be able to heal.

I'm no doctor, let me just get that outta the way. In fact, I have made it through 24 years of life pretty much ignoring what would generally be considered sound medical advice, but I decided to read up on tendonitis and here's what I found, particularly about tendonitis in the knee.

From to About.com's Orthopedics section,

What causes patellar tendonitis?
Patellar tendonitis is the condition that arises when the tendon and the tissues that surround it, become inflamed and irritated. This is usually due to overuse, especially from jumping activities. This is the reason patellar tendonitis is often called "jumper's knee."

When overuse is the cause of patellar tendonitis, patients are usually active participants of jumping-types of sports such as basketball or volleyball. Patellar tendonitis may also be seen with sports such as running and soccer. Also, some patients develop patellar tendonitis after sustaining an acute injury to the tendon, and not allowing adequate healing. This type of traumatic patellar tendonitis is much less common than overuse syndromes.

What is the treatment for patellar tendonitis?

Rest
The most important first step in treatment is to avoid activities that aggravate the problem. Your body is the best guide to know how much to rest the injured knee--if an activity hurts in the area of the injured patellar tendon, then you should rest from that activity.

The good news about this is that according to the same site, surgery is extremely rare and almost never an option unless chronic patellar tendonitis develops. So he's got that going for him, for now, which is nice.

I guess Rose will have to be the person in charge of how he feels but from his reputation as a gym rat who had dozens of MRI's on his knee during his one year at Memphis, I wouldn't doubt that he'll just play through the pain. Whether or not that affects his performance is yet to be determined.

I hope for the kid's sake and for the Bulls' sake that this is strictly a learning opportunity for him to gain knowledge of the position he'll be playing from some of the game's current greats in Deron Williams and Jason Kidd.

Maybe He Should Take It Easy For a Bit

Derrick Rose participated in the night practice of Saturday’s double sessions for Bulls’ summer-league mini-camp despite battling tendinitis in his right knee.

The No. 1 pick limped noticeably following the morning practice, his knee wrapped in ice, but vowed not to miss games at the Orlando Pro Summer League beginning Monday.

"I’ve been coming 90 minutes early every day to get treatment," Rose said. "I’ll be fine."

Has anyone see video of Rose running these past few days? He's pretty much hobbling up and down the court.

Rose said the condition dates to his one season at Memphis and developed for noble reasons.

"I was scared I wouldn’t have a good season, so I would stay in the gym for like four hours until I got tendinitis," he said. "Coach (John Calipari) had to tell the managers don’t let me in no more because I was tearing up my knees and I had to keep getting MRIs. I just wanted to prove people wrong and let them know that I was going to play hard. That’s just the way I think."

I'm very glad he's opposite of Michael Beasley in that he wants to spend every minute of his day maximizing his abilities, but shouldn't the kid be watched very closely at this point?

Judging from my posting nickname, you would think I would have a say in this, and here's my prognosis:

Let him play this week, but play him maybe a little less then you normally would if he wasn't hobbling around the court.

82 games is a long season, and there's plenty of time for him to adjust to playing in the league. While I think it's good that he goes out there and starts to get a feel for how high can he lob the alley-oop the lob for Tyrus, or how much listerine he should keep near him for Noah's breath, he has plenty of time.

If Paxson and Del Negro really don't want to burden him right away with lofty expectations, then there should be no need to push him during these meaningless games.

Another reason (from Wikipedia): Chronic overuse of tendons leads to microscopic tears within the collagen matrix, which gradually weakens the tissue.

Due to their highly specialised ultrastructure, low level of vascularization and slow collagen turnover, tendons and ligaments are very slow to heal if injured, and rarely regain their original strength. Partial tears heal by the rapid production of disorganized type-III collagen, which is weaker than normal tendon. Recurrence of injury in the damaged region of tendon is common.

If you try to push him too much, you run the risk of him getting tears in his knees. He's only 19, and he had to get a shitload of MRI's in college for this. Tears lead to time on the DL, and that leads to an even slower development then if he takes it easy and allows his tendons to strengthen.

I'm sure if you're like me, you're very excited to watch him play today. But let's not forget; there's plenty of time to enjoy Mr. Rose. He must continue to grow before he can blossom.

Announcement

First off, the busty blonde to the right is a friend of mine. She was a Luvabull a year ago, and now she models all over the place. Nevermind the Ben Wallace shirt. Oh, you didn't notice? Good, neither did I.

Second, We wanted to get some different voices on Chicago Bull, so we asked reader/commenter/correcter of my terrible use of the English language Stalkingerinandrews to contribute. StalkingEA will post when he feels like, and today he's a little concerned about Mr. Rose. Take it away, StalkingEA:

A Plea to Derrick Rose

Wow. My first actual blog post. This is such a magical time when a lowly commenter becomes a lowly blogger...Wait, what!? I'm putting myself on Buzz Bissinger's hate list? Does this mean my wife is kicking me out and the only available room is in my parents basement? Crap. Ah, the days of last week when I was just a commenter making wise-ass remarks on various blogs. *sigh* Good times. (Editor's note: for future reference, attempting to be less gay when writing will supremely enhance the quality of your posts. - Noce)

The rest of this post is aimed at Derrick Rose. If anyone can get him to read this, by all means please show it to him.

Derrick, the city of Chicago already loves you, and you haven’t even played a game yet. We all have high hopes for you and the Bulls, and we want you to bring as much success as possible to yourself and Chicago.

That being said, please stay out of any more trouble. Just go to your court date, ask for leniency, and never get on the wrong side of the law again.

We here in the Chicago area have been plagued by star athletes who just can’t stay out of trouble, and we don’t want to see you go down the same path. Scottie Pippen was caught with a gun in his car, Lance Briggs crashed his Lamborghini and ran away, Cedric Benson can’t drive anything motorized while sober, and Tank Johnson’s crimes are too numerous to list here, just to name a few.



While your 106 mph speeding ticket was minor compared to these, nobody wants to see you progress to anything worse. Now, I realize it’s fun to put the hammer down on a machine that will take it, especially out in the country. Hell, I live not too far from where you got stopped. If you really want to come out my way and test the limits of some car, I know stretches of road where the cops won’t be. Just let me know.

But for now, please, PLEASE, just lay low, play some ball, and work on bringing some joy to Chicago and Bulls fans everywhere. Thanks, Derrick, I know you’ll do the right thing.

Summer Basketball

I know you have all been dying to get your hands on the Bulls' Summer League schedule, so ask and you shall receive.

The Bulls will be sending new head coach Vinney Del Negro along with rookie Derrick Rose who will team up with Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah and, how could I forget, Demetrius Nichols in the four game set. I doubt it's going to be on TV but if I had to predict what's going to happen, I'd say alley oop Rose to Thomas will be a popular call.

Monday, July 7, 2008
1st Game 3:00 Indiana vs. Seattle
2nd Game * Chicago vs. Miami
3rd Game ** Orlando vs. New Jersey

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
1st Game 3:00 Miami vs. New Jersey
2nd Game * Seattle vs. Orlando
3rd Game ** Indiana vs. Chicago

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
1st Game 3:00 Chicago vs. Orlando
2nd Game * New Jersey vs. Seattle
3rd Game ** Miami vs. Indiana

Thursday, July 10, 2008
1st Game 3:00 Chicago vs. New Jersey
2nd Game * Indiana vs. Orlando
3rd Game ** Miami vs. Seattle

Friday, July 11, 2008
1st Game 11:00AM New Jersey vs. Indiana
2nd Game * Seattle vs. Chicago
3rd Game ** Orlando vs. Miami

Chris Duhon Departs The Bulls

Dear Chicago Bull readers,

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that your favorite Duke alum has packed his bags, and is supposedly heading to New York according to the NY Daily News.

If I may, I would like eulogize the Chris Duhon era in Chicago with a few words.

Ahem.

Chris Duhon was the 38th overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2004 draft and the third of the day which included Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Upon his arrival, he was as well received as AIDS in Uganda. But despite this, Duhon attempted to make the most of his by playing in 82 games his rookie year, averaging 5.9 ppg and 4.9 apg.

In the years following, Chris may not have been always been the leading scorer or hero of the game, but he usually lead everyone in the poor decision making category, a stat that truly reflects his abilities.

In his 4 years with the Bulls, he scored 2,077 points, and with 34 Lincoln Park sluts.

Chris' shitty attitude, ability to whine about playing time, inability to dribble a round fucking ball, and late night appearences at McGee's on Webster and Sheffield will truly be missed.

While Chris has been the subject of harsh language from myself and Noce over the past four years, we wish him nothing but the end of the bench, genital herpes, and a nasty tumble out of the airplane when he steps foot in the Big Apple.

I think Bob Costas' thoughts on Will Leitch's departure from Deadspin also work in the Duhon case...So long, Fuckhead.

PS: The parade planned in his departure will start down Michigan ave. at 5:30 pm today.

In case you missed it...

The Bulls took hometown stud point guard Derrick Rose with the 1st pick in the 2008 NBA Draft last night.

With a guaranteed salary of $10M+ for his first two years, Rose will be able to buy as much candy and sour straws as he can stomach. As a Sour Punch connoisseur myself, I could only imagine the damage done to my teeth if I could afford such luxuries.

Like Chicago really needed another "Vinny"

And so begins the era of Del Negro for the Chicago Bulls...pray for us.

"Having played 14 years at the professional level and several more as an executive in the front office, I am looking forward to this opportunity and the challenges that lie ahead as head coach of the Bulls," said Del Negro.

"There are a lot of things to like about this young Bulls team," he added. "My efforts are going to be geared specifically toward getting the best out of each player - whatever their particular strengths may be that make them most successful."

Allow me to translate Vinny's words into what I think he was trying to say:

"Look, everyone knows me for my ability to hit shots from anywhere and my fucking kickass name, but I'm more than just a one trick pony. This job seems like a pretty sweet gig, all I gotta do is a better job than whoever this Boylan character was and I look like the next Phil Jackson. It's win win!"

"My efforts are going to be figuring out who the hell is still on this team once we trade most of these useless fucks away, then try to see if they are actually worth a shit. Strengths? Nobody on this team is stronger than me, I can guarantee that. I've played with that asshole Hughes before and I still don't think I've seen him make a fuckin' shot."

Oh, and just in case you were looking for some clever pun with the new coach's name, sorry but I tried everything I could think of and couldn't think of one that either, A) Hadn't been already used or B) Wasn't racist. You try googling "Negro jokes" while at work, I dare you.

I welcome any puns/jokes/quips in the comments.

On Doug Collins and Pace

An Illinois guy? A former Bulls coach? Someone with head coaching experience? The new head coach of the 2008-09 Bulls? Doug Collins?

Yes, it appears Collins fits into each of the above questions, as K.C. Johnson reports that GM John Paxson is expected to hire his former coach.

While my immediate reaction to this news was shock, I admit I am somewhat pleased after looking beyond the surface of hiring someone who looks pretty comfortable in the broadcast booth over at TNT.

Collins began his NBA coaching career as head coach for the Chicago Bulls, joining the organization on May 23, 1986 and coached the Bulls for three straight seasons. He coached them to their best record (50-32) in 15 years during the 1987-88 season. He also brought the team into the playoffs three straight seasons, losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to Detroit, 4-2, during the 1988-89 season.

Much has been made over at Blogabull about the fact that Collins' teams finished in the bottom of the league in pace during his tenure as the Bulls head coach from 1986-89.

While this is true, I wouldn't use one random statistic to determine the validity of whether or not the man can coach. If you look at the teams that finished 1st in Pace during Collins' tenure, you'll see the Denver Nuggets lead every year.

While that's all well and good for the Nuggets, their high pace didn't necessarily lead them to the NBA Finals as they were only able to make it as far as the Western Conference Semifinals in 1987.

The Nuggets were swept in the 1st round both in 1986 by the Lakers (10th in the NBA Pace at 101.6), and again were swept in 1989 by the Suns, while the Pistons went on to win the 1989 NBA Finals, despite finishing dead last in Pace at 95.5.

Let's look at how Collins' Bulls teams fared in pace in relation to the league average and compare it to the Bulls' Pace from the last three years under Scott Skiles:




Seeing what I'm seeing? While I'm sure Paxson isn't even aware of this small statistical aspect, apparently the entire league's Pace has slowed considerably. Going back to what I said about the Nuggets before and even applying that idea to the Suns and the Warriors: high pace doesn't equal championship teams.

Teams like Phoenix and Golden State are still playing uptempo, but the numbers just aren't what they were 10-15 years ago. Chalk it up to better defense, more athletic players or a more individualistic game, but it looks like Pax might be going with just the right candidate for the job.

Collins is a firey individual, unlike a certain Skiles butt buddy who just sat around moping all the time and provided the occasional jab in the media.

Paxson's next job will be to collaborate with Collins and bring in some high-quality assistants to keep the team moving along in his direction. Clearly there will be some trades made before the next season starts, but having the right personnel in place is the first step to establishing some solid ground for the young players who are going to be the foundation from which the next five, 10 years of this program is built upon.

Call me an optimist but I think the D'Antoni baffle could be a blessing in disguise for the Bulls. Sure he would have came in here and ran the Bulls up and down every night, assuring Big Macs for every fan while the team struggled to stay at .500. Collins will bring invaluable coaching experience and lessons from an era where MJ and Pippen started on their paths to greatness. How many stories do you think he has about Jordan fighting someone in practice over their lazy attitude? Think our current team needs those to be pounded into their heads everyday? I do. Collins can be the guy to maximize the amount of talent that these young guys possess.

And if that doesn't happen, let's remember that the Bulls replaced Collins with his assistant coach, Phil Jackson, who went on to do some pretty good things. So we got that going for us, which is nice.

Just Because

One of my buddies from Phoenix was in town last night and told me to watch this.

**Noce says he found it first, and told our friend. Too fucking bad Noce, Wiese gets credit.

A Rose of the Perfect Color

Excellent finisher. Blinding speed. Powerful leaper. Rare ability to create passing lanes. Clutch player who raises his level of play against good competition and wants the ball in crunch time. Hits his foul shots at a good rate. Very team-oriented with a great attitude. Willing to learn, very coachable and still improving.

Still need any reasons to look past Derrick Rose with the first pick? If the answer is yes, you're either sniffing glue or Chad Ford.

He's a Chicago guy who led Simeon to two state championships, the guy who's nickname - The Great Poohdini - is about as crazy as his fear of needles. Call him whatever he wants to be called but draft him, sign him and make sure he brings his dribbling skills because he's a guy who's going to make everyone on the Bulls roster immediately better just by showing up.

John Paxson should be at Rose's house right now with a whiteboard and an eraseable marker diagramming every possible way he can throw alley oops to Tyrus Thomas all night.



I have no idea what Pax is planning to do with the current cast of players but Rose succeeded at Memphis playing a run-and-gun style of basketball. This is something the Bulls can surely be capable of with Thomas, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah all young and able to run all over the floor.

Drafting Rose would certainly mean the end for a couple players currently on the Bulls roster. Thabo Sephalosha, Larry Hughes, and Kirk Hinrich would almost certainly be either relegated to the end of the bench or traded because I'm assuming Rose would handle the ball 90% of the time.

Even Larry Hughes knows Larry Hughes has to have the ball in his hands if he's going to score points, so take a seat until your contract is up or someone calls about a trade. Thabo had his chances here and definitely showed some flashes of talent, but he's not anywhere near Rose's level when it comes to running an offense and being confident with the ball.

As far as Kirk goes, well where do I start? Could it be that he's past his prime? Did he ever have a prime? Is he a point guard or a shooting guard? Can he stay out of foul trouble? Does he know how to lead a team? Does Nick Collison take up his entire fave five? Is he too white to play basketball? I doubt even Kirk would have the answer to most of those questions, and even if he did, he'd be too busy counting his money to stop and answer them.

Where was I going with this? Oh yea, Derrick Rose. DRAFT HIM. The United Center will be rocking every game with their hometown boy leading the way toward 10 years of glory.

And by the way Pax, maybe you should give John Calipari an interview for that vacant head coaching position. I think he knows a little bit about the kid and how to get the best from him.

Bank on It: Bulls Will Sign Larry Brown

(Bulls, You are my Rock of Love)

With Larry Brown resigning as the 76'ers Philadelphia's executive vice president Thursday despite the team still being in the playoffs, make no doubt about it this is who John Paxson should get to run the Bulls. And Larry feels the same, hence him leaving the organization at this point. The only the vacancies to this point are complete garbage, and would take a while to turn around. The Bulls? Only a season removed from 49 wins and a second round playoff exit. To me, Brown wants in now so he can start molding the team as he sees fit to run his offense.

Honestly, there's no better coaching option out there then Brown, and his resume which I documented earlier shows that. I think both sides need each other as well. The Bulls need someone who has creditibility that can instantly earn the players respect. Boylan the Band-Aid aka Nikita Khrushchev came in trying to be a positive priscilla as opposed to the Skiles Negative Nancy act, and in return had Tyrus Thomas skipping practice when he felt like it and Duhon flying off to Durham without saying a word to anybody. There was too much lack of confidence in the team as a whole, which all started with the coaching staff. The defense that grinded down opponents became a lazy who gives a shit if we lose reoccurance. The Bulls need someone who can balance both personalities, and Brown's shown the ability to do that.

For Brown, being outsed in the Shithole of a situation that was and is still the Knicks is not how he obviously wanted to go out. With the Bulls, he'll get to exact a little revenge on his past two coaching stops as well as be in an ideal situation with backing from Pax to do things his way. While I dont think they have the current pieces in place to contend with the Celtics or Detroit, they're still much younger then both of those teams, and with the right personnel could get to the Eastern Conference Finals within a 3 year span. I know that's hard to imagine given how fucking awful they were, but the elements of a winning team still exist.

The Bulls would have to be stupid not to sign Brown, and Brown would be stupid to think that he can change Miami, Memphis or Charlotte. This is a win-win situation. Paxson, don't fuck this up.

Benny The Bull: Possible Steriod Abuser and Chicago Mascot Crime Boss

For your next chapter in Benny The Bull v. Chicago Police Department, I submit to you this story today from the Chicago Tribune:

A Naperville dentist called a flagrant foul on Chicago Bulls' mascot Benny the Bull on Monday, suing the team over a high-five gone awry.

Dr. Don Kalant Sr. alleged he was sitting near courtside on Feb. 12 when he raised his arm to get a high-five from Barry Anderson, who portrays the exuberant mascot in a bright red fuzzy costume.

But Kalant, an oral surgeon, may now wish he had settled for a fist-bump instead.

Instead of merely slapping Kalant's palm, Anderson grabbed his arm as he fell forward, hyperextending Kalant's arm and rupturing his biceps muscle, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

So let's see here...Benny has been arrested for dealing 6 ounces of weed in 2004, battery at the taste of Chicago in 2006, and now has apparently gone back to drugs by ripping someone's arm out of their socket instead of high fiving them. Which leads to this question: Is this really the fucking guy you want on Dora the Explorer?

He already has drug connections, but now you're going to now equip him with spanish to make some deals with the Latin Kings?


It's only a matter of time before he consolidates his chokehold on the Chicago mascot underground. Word in the streets is he's already got the union sealed thanks to the Chicago Rush Mascot Grabowski, an apparently Polish construction worker. Meanwhile, he has Sparky of the Chicago Fire as his capo in the streets. It's only a matter of time before he betrays his Reinsdorfian partner Southpaw to take on Staley for control of the city...Staley, you've been warned.

No Words Needed

Please kill yourself.

You Can't Be Serious...

I really hope Marc Stein is wrong about what I'm reading on the 'Leader:

• Two of my most plugged-in sources say that the big trade Cleveland is pursuing, as our good friend Brian Windhorst warned us about in his Akron Beacon Journal blog, is a multi-player exchange that would bring Ben Wallace to the Cavs.
We have not been apprised that any deal is close or received a reliable read on the Bulls' level of interest, but we have been assured that it is being discussed: Wallace and teammates Chris Duhon and Joe Smith heading to Cleveland in exchange for a package headlined by Drew Gooden ... and Larry Hughes.

Fans in Cleveland hate him so much they have this website:

http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/

That's your big fucking move, Pax? Gooden is a decent, younger version of Joe Smith. Nothing special. Please god, say it ain't so:

Where is John Paxson?

The trade deadline is just hours away and it seems that Pax decided to take the morning off because so far nothing but speculation and fizzled trade rumors with Toronto are circulating through the wires.

Looks like Pax decided to play his favorite video game this morning instead of improving the team he is in charge of. I really can't fault the guy, look what he has to work with.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed that something, anything actually happens and if it does, we'll be here to comment on it for sure. I wonder what Al Jefferson is up to right now? I think he'd really like Chicago.

Has It Really Come to This?

Not that long ago Bulls fans were talking about getting the best player in the NBA but John Paxson waited, and now he is fucked. He is so fucked he is going to probably have to trade with the worst team in the NBA and hope to somehow better his team. All I know is, Pax better so something, ANYTHING because he is going to really be fucked if he ends up getting nothing in return for Ben Gordon and (shudder) Luol Deng.

So much for the "character" guys that Paxson and Skiles were supposedly favoring over question marks like Zach Randolph and other rumored trades. All that shit has been thrown out the window now, about a year too late. The Bulls have enough problems with their current question mark players in Gordon and Ben Wallace, who they should immediately trade or we might wake up to find out that "The Body" is just that, a body lying dead in the streets of Chicago.

As far as I'm concerned Gordon shouldn't play another second in a Bulls uniform, he obviously has shown he does not want to be here with his "sprained" wrist. As for Tyrus, hey it sucks but the NBA is a business and he's just too much of a project for a team that isn't getting any younger and was supposed to go deep into the playoffs this year. Tyrus may turn out to be a solid NBA player but he's too inconsistent on both ends of the court.



So if this trade really works according to ESPN (and we know they're NEVER wrong), here's what the potential starting lineup would look like:

PG: Thabo Sefalosha
SG: Kirk Hinrich
SF: Quentin Richardson
PF: Zach Randolph
C: Joakim Noah

That looks like quite an upgrade with an actual low-post presence in Randolph and the promising recent play Thabo has shown. This is also assuming that Deng is going to be out for an extended period of time, which would allow Q to return to Chicago and add his chemistry with Randolph to help the Bulls mesh quickly with their new players.

Plus, this leaves Joe Smith, Andres Nocioni and Chris Duhon on the bench, which I believe is a GOOD thing because every one of those guys is a quality team player and won't bitch like a fucking baby about not getting the PT they deserve. Also, having those three guys on the bench plus guys like Aaron Gray, Collins and Adrian Griffin would have a mixture of young and old talent on the bench that could each provide key support in any number of roles.

Holy shit I can't believe I'm advocating a trade with the fucking New York Knicks. Hey, it worked out pretty well last time didn't it?

Top 10 Playoff Moments: Chicago Bulls

I should have known better than to try to be funny on a Monday, maybe it was the chicken wing hangover from the Super Bowl coming back to bite me in the ass. Anyway, everyone needs to relax and enjoy some Bulls playoff highlights and marvel at the play of Jordan, Pippen, Kerr, Paxson, Kukoc, Grant and Rodman supplied to all of us during those golden years.

Ben Gordon is no Michael Jordan

The Bulls play the Sacramento Kings tonight in the start of a five game West coast road trip that will likely decide the ultimate fate for this year's disappointing team. The Bulls have not been very fortunate in Sacramento's Arco Arena, losing their last eight games against the Kings.

In fact, the last time the Bulls beat the Kings inside Arco was on November 23, 1997, the same season the Bulls finished their second 3-peat. I just had to search for the video of Michael Jordan absolutley schooling the Jazz in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and it made me feel a little bit better about how badly the Bulls have been sucking this year. Everyone remembers how awesome "The Shot" was that Jordan made over Bryon Russell, but that video reminded fans how badly Jordan was abusing Russell throughout that entire game.



The funniest part of the video, something I've actually never noticed before, is at the 5:31 minute mark. After the game is over Jordan is getting mobbed by his teammates and Steve Kerr is hugging Jordan and the only thing he has to say to him is "You're fucking unbelievable", which is pretty much a perfect way to sum up Jordan's performance.

Anyway, enjoy the video and let's hope tonight's game will go differently than past road games against the Kings. The Bulls should welcome Ben Gordon back after he's recovered from his period, I mean "wrist sprain". Gordon has not had the season I bet he'd like to have had going into the end of his contract.

If he were anything like Michael Jordan, let me just say he is not, he would have put his head down and worked his ass off rather than acting like a selfish prick, which is what he's done so far this year. He used to be a fan favorite because of his ability to hit the big shot, something that gave fans some resembelance of MJ, but those days seem like decades ago now, and Gordon probably feels as if this season has dragged on for about 10 years.



Word on the street is "coach" Jim Boylan got the team out of the frigid cold of Minnesota and arrived in California a day early for the Bulls to get a few practices in out west before the start of the road trip. Whether this is a good idea is yet to be seen but I'll take any effort to motivate these assholes if it leads to a winning streak. Remember what those feel like? I sure as hell don't.

To finish for today, I'd like to also welcome new assistant coach Mike Brown to the bench. Brown has been hired to work with the young big men. A veteran of 11 NBA seasons, including two with the Bulls, Brown was Chicago’s third-round pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.



If I were Brown I would make it my first order of business to tell Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas to ignore and to forget every single thing that Ben Wallace has told them. In fact, Brown should just tell Wallace to start bringing some reading material to games from now on, because I have a good feeling he's going to be watching a lot of the games from the bench.