Second Half Tipping Point

by cubbybear on Feb 18, 2007 2:49 PM CST Comment 19 comments

I get the feeling that the Bulls are on the verge of something great. I also have the feeling that they are on the verge of a monumental collapse. I'll explain more.
(No talk of the personal pronouns, I know)

We are consistent only in our inconsistency. If we could play as well as one of our better nights, we're a 55 win team easily. On one of our bad nights, we're a 30 win team. We don't have any player except Deng that gives conmsistent production, and we seem mentally defeated sometimes even before the tip-off.

Skiles is a great X's and O's coach. I feel like he's a good teacher, albeit a bit impatient. But he has a tough job. He has more youngsters than any other +.500 team in the league, and has to therefore worry about this year just as much as next. Even our veterans are working out their rookie contracts. He seems quick to pull guys out, and appears to win games we just shouldn't win with our lineup. Our players are collectively outperforming their individual talent, IMHO. Our team is miring in mediocrity, only in the East that means over .500. We need a clutch, consistent player and a post player, best if one player fits both. Pau may be one, but hasn't proven to be a leader and an elite player yet.

PJ Brown is a huge bargaining chip, but only if we think that FA money is not going to help us. It's obvious that trading PJ Brown is basically signing a player for their contract, and giving up the other stuff. Would I rather have Pau than a rookie like Horford? Yes. Post players are hard to come by, and take a long time to develop. I think that unless Pau can be gotten for a deal like Our pick/PJB/Tyrus, we shouldn't do it. We might be able to get a PF this summer, through FA
or a trade. We're not ready to compete yet with the tops in the league. Forget the East, we can't beat the best teams in the West yet.

The Bulls are either having a tough time gelling, or we just don't have the pieces yet. I think that until we get a post player who can score while being double-teamed, we're going to continue to be an also-ran in the East.

These next few weeks are crucial, here are some things that I want to see:

35 pt game from Deng
Wallace getting some energy and 20+ rebounds
Gordon playing 48min
Knicks losing every damn game
Tyrus to start for a while
Thabo to not throw the ball away
Duhon ridin the pine, he's not the future of this team
Bulls get 1-3 seed

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I don't know if Skiles is.....

a great X AND O guy? I haven't seen it. They have a leaper like Tyrus yet they never throw him a bone or and ally opp. Sefo has gotten worse. I think he has lost cofidence.

by JoJoEnglish94bulls4ever on Feb 18, 2007 2:56 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Rooks aren't being used right

Throwing Tyrus lobbs seems like a no-brainer. It also seems like Sefolosha is being set up to fail his rookie year by playing him at sm. forward of late and playing him alongside Doo Doo and other second stringers, its weird I dont understand it.

by Bulls Mouthpiece on Feb 18, 2007 9:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

From your post to God's ears

chgobr

by chgobr on Feb 18, 2007 2:57 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

i think deng can easily

get 35 points, as he could have easily done it 2-3 times during this season. i think that he doesn't care much about how many points he's getting, just on whether the team's going to win or not.

WE ARE... PENN STATE

by NittanyBull on Feb 18, 2007 3:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

respect for Deng but....

He becomes complacent late in the games. A sign of a great player is when they get better as the game goes on, however with Deng it appears that he either isn't that competitive(disappears in the fourth most games) or he gets his points rebounds and then feels like he can coast(I hope he isn't playing hard because its his contract year). I could be wrong since I have seen the fire in Deng at times but overall I expect more from such a gifted player.

by Bulls Mouthpiece on Feb 18, 2007 9:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

out of ban

to point out this isnt contract year

by milesgmsu on Feb 19, 2007 8:58 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

deng

tends to dissapear a lot of the times late dfuring games even when he is having 20+ pt nights.

I also havent seen that many X and O's from Skiles that have worked this year. Pick and Roll?

all those games we have lost late could have been won if Skiles had drawn out better plays or maybe the bulls just didnt execute them well.

by Sambossanova on Feb 18, 2007 5:21 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

My world in perfect harmony when all are true

35 pt game from Deng
Wallace getting some energy and 20+ rebounds
Gordon playing 48min
Knicks losing every damn game
Tyrus to start for a while
Thabo to not throw the ball away
Duhon ridin the pine, he's not the future of this team
Bulls get 1-3 seed

by Bulls Mouthpiece on Feb 18, 2007 9:53 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

PJ does not equal FA money

Unless the Bulls renounce their rights to Deng, Gordon and Nocioni. Signing just one of the above to a new deal will cap out the team. There will be no FA other than the veteran's minimum. The only way to add a player of equal salary is to deal him by Thursday.

by rednomore on Feb 19, 2007 7:14 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

out of ban

to say that for the last bloody time, signing them does not nessecarilly cap us out this year, as the only player up will be noch, and if we're over the cap we toss nhim the MLE and we're set....pleasssse people if you post anythign with salary, cap, luxury, or tax do your hw and read my old posts

by milesgmsu on Feb 19, 2007 8:59 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

uh...

are you referring to this?
http://blogabull.com/comments/2007/2/12/162320/348/43#43

They will be capped out, I don't know what you're arguing about here. Rednomore was saying that they'll be too far over to get another $8m player this summer, which is accurate. Re-signing Noc isn't exactly being 'set'.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Feb 19, 2007 9:25 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Can you answer this question for me....

I understand how the soft-cap and luxury tax thing work 100%, I just can't get a straight answer on this:

Say we're over the soft-cap by some amount, doesn't matter how much, would the Bulls be restricted as to the amount they could give current players up for extensions/new contracts? For example, if the Bulls were at $60m, could they only offer Player X the MLE or could they offer Player X $10m?

What about if we're in the luxury tax level?

"all the girls loved BJ." -sue369

by Colossus on Feb 19, 2007 11:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

There's re-signing, then FA signing

In re-signing any offer can be extended depending on the players # of years in the league. That's the reason there are so many sign and trades when players are about to become free agents. The team that the contract expires with can offer that player the most money.

The MLE is the max a team can offer a free agent even when they are all ready over the cap. As you approach the Lux Tax, your MLE amount decreases.

by kingj41 on Feb 19, 2007 12:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Clarity

The MLE amount itself does not increase nor decrease. It is a fixed number.
But since teams want to avoid paying the luxury tax the amount they can offer is different depending on how close they are to the luxury tax number.

by kingj41 on Feb 19, 2007 12:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

So for extending/re-signing our own guys

the amount can be greater than the MLE? Like with Gordon and Deng, they both could be offered contracts starting at $8m even if the Bulls were already over the soft-cap?

"all the girls loved BJ." -sue369

by Colossus on Feb 19, 2007 12:22 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs