I do not like Larry Brown abandoning every team he has been with.  He did size up the Knicks in a month trying to make changes that Isiah now realizes but cannot make because they are his players.  He did pull Detroit together t win a championship and put Philly in the Finals.  What do you guys think?

Noce was overpriced, but saved the season with his overconfident chucker mentality, and Joe Smith has the highest PER on the team.  If Noah and Gray count, they have made significant contributions and their selections should be noted(Gray might be the steal of the draft, if he can become more consistent).  Also, refusing to give Gordon and Deng more money may have not only saved money, but may have just saved the Bulls' future for the next few years, as they have not been worth big-time money all year, and the leap forward has not happened, for the team or the players.

The big-money signings of BW and Hinrich(the former far more than the latter) were good at the time, but now appear foolish.  When we look back, Paxson's decision making seems to be getting slightly better, IMHO.  Ben Wallace is an outlier, and I think that Reinsdorf is at fault there.

I think a big-time coach can save this team.  Only a coach that really draws some water(LB, for one), will sit Wallace and be able to take the heat.  Noah, Smith, Gray, Thomas and Thabo are now the most important assets to evaluate, as Deng seems to be stable rather than improving at this moment in time, and Gordon enjoys his new role, but doesn't seem to be earning a starting spot just yet.

Better decisions up to the trade deadline and this offseason are something I think have the potential to give us back the hope that the Bulls regression has taken from us.

paxson needs to be fired and they need someone who doesnt have a mancrush on each of his draft picks. fire sale would be better than watching this team. it makes me sick.

Boy did the game get away from them quick.  The biggest difference was the aggressiveness.  Joe Johnson looked unbelievable out there.  Childress was trying to dunk everything, when he wasn't travelling.  And the officiating was awful, both ways.  Noc got pulled down on that spin move by Anthony Johnson, Johnson grabbed him on the shoulder.  Couple of the Hawks were mugged on dunks and no calls.  Kirk was hit on those jumpshots he bricked and there was no call.  For all the travels and palms they did call, there were more they should have called.  It was a very inconsistent job by the refs.  Not that it made much difference when the bulls came out with no aggression.  They were up 6-2 I think, turned it over a couple of times and all of a sudden I looked up and it was 25-8.  My wife asked me if they were always this bad...

The most interesting thing about the game were the size of the players.  There is no way BG is more than 6 feet, and Noc is a lot bigger than I thought, still just as slow as on TV though.   And Aaron Gray deserves the nickname "Sasquatch."   Joe Smith is really big, too.  I was imnpressed with how professional he seemed compared to some of the other guys.  During warmups, he spent at least 20 minutes going around, taking passes from the coaches after setting a pick and practicing jumpshots.  At the same time Wallace was jacking up fadeaway 20 footers and taking the occasional free throw.  Noah was running laps.  Thabo was working hard and took a lot of shots, too.

The strangest looking guy was Marvin Williams.  If you've ever seen Ben Wallace in person, the first thing you notice about him is his huge arms.  Well, don't take this the wrong way, but Marvin Williams has the ass of a 300lb woman.  He can't even stand up straight, it's like some kind of birth defect.  I feel bad for the guy.

I got a picture with Red an Wayne after the game.  I think this season has taken a decade of Red's life, and he might not have had 10 years left, he is looking old and tired.  You can see how frustrated he is.