Way to go, Matt.

but no word on the height?

I got it. I cant wait for the draft thanks Matt. Tyrus is a great piece of clay hopefully Vinny can get something out of him. i love that name matt

my last boyfriend was named matt

Im sorry that was my girlfriend please dont write me up again! That was her last time too!!! please dude

Then you pencil him in as your starting center. We’ve gotta keep this guy around the basket as much as possible.

That means move Joakim to power forward, where he makes more sense anyway because he’s one of the best big men in the NBA at defending on the perimeter and off screens. We don’t want Tyrus defending jumpshots – just ask Kevin Martin, evidently.

Either way, I’m excited about this. Nice going, Matt.

Now he can be our flex point-forward point-center, playing the 4,5,1,3, and if he gets his shot down, the 2
...
Tyrus is an inch or two taller than Deng, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s 6’10 or more in a league that exaggerates height. He may be 6’9’’ or 6’8.5. Just think of how long it took to find out the actual heights of Charles Barkley or Ben Wallace.

As far as that picture, some other possible variables: I think I’ve read that a person is taller upon waking up (maybe 1/4 inch difference) and heavy training or running for marathoners can reduce height temporarily by another 1/4 inch. So did Tyrus just wake up ?

Kevin Martin is a heck of a player. He has that superstar ability of getting to the free throw line, which help him put up huge scoring numbers. He’s a fairly efficient scorer also – with great FT % and okay FG%.

But what is Theus thinking? He said that Artest was the player they would want to build around, not Martin. He also said he thought Artest was their number one option.

Artest is one of the best defensive players in the NBA, and he is also a hulk of a physical specimen. But the ball stops every time he touches the ball – he makes their offense so stagnant. Not to mention – kevin martin is definitely more reliable, less confrontational, and more willing to listen to direction.

I’d love for the Bulls to pick him up if the Kings continue to not value him.

I just realized that, while this reply was very generous with information, it neglects to answer the original question! How tall is Tyrus?!

I was just reading a ‘Chicago Bull Draft Preview’ on RealGM.com.

They listed the 2 greatest areas of improvement for the Bulls offseason:

1) Upgrade at point guard.....the Bulls love to shoot the outside shot. A playmaking point guard that can break down the defense and find the open man would do wonders for our jumpshooting team.

2) Interior Scoring....For the last few years, talk has been that the Bulls need a quality big man who can give them interior scoring. Trading Ben for Gooden gave us more offense from our big men. But Gooden often played away from the hoop and wasn’t a true factor in the post.

I feel that we very well may address RealGM’s first need for improvement. Drafting Rose will give us a physical, quick point guard who can break down a defense and find our many good shooters.

But what about improving our interior scoring? This is still one of the biggest question marks I have regarding our team.
And I love to hear about Tyrus possibly growing, and definitely working on his game. But is he going to be a guy who can hugely boost our interior scoring? I know he can finish on the break (which will happen more if we get Rose) but it would be very optimistic to think he will have a polished interior post game next season.
With Noah – I love his energy and tenacity. But he’s never been a dominant interior player on the offensive side. In college, Horford was the guy with the more polished low post game. Noah brings energy, defense and I think he’ll be a valuable player on our team. But I’m not sure he will make a big difference in our interior scoring.
With Gooden – he has scoring ability. I just don’t think his strength is necessarily in the post; he tends to stray to the outside.

So my question is what can we do to still improve our interior scoring? Or do you think we’re set with the players that we have? I’m still partial to the idea of trading for a big man who can bring some interior scoring. Any players you think we should target through free agency or trade?

I think that our current roster with Rose will be a good team. I think we’ll be in good position to be a 6th, 7th, or 8th playoff seed next year in the East. But this last year has shown that NBA teams can turn their teams into championship-contending teams in a short amount of time. With some luck (like winning the lottery), some risk-taking, and front office smarts – it isn’t far off to think about turning a team into one that contends for a title.

I see what you’re saying about our success being predicated on attacking the rim. I actually think we could have some guys who could attack the rim nicely- Deng, definitely Rose if we do get him. If we don’t add someone who can score inside then our ability to attack the rim will be hugely important.

A common theme I see from great NBA teams with great NBA point guards…a big who score the ball and draw double teams. And these bigs do a lot of their scoring in the interior. Look at David West, Boozer, Amare, Duncan, etc. You mentioned what D’Antoni did in Pheonix – he had an elite big man to go with an elite point guard. If we obtained Rose, we will be a good team. With a good big – we could be a great team. I don’t think that we have a big on our team that will develop into that elite interior-scoring big man. Tyrus is our best chance of developing into one of those elite bigs – but I’m not sure if and how soon that would happen.

And I definitely think Del Negro will more effectively use our current pieces. We do have good pieces. Deng can be very good with a new coach. BG will score alot of points with Rose at the point. I think Gooden will be okay – he’s developed as a player, I think we know what we’re going to get. Noah will be a great contributor – but no goto scorer in the paint. Tyrus is a bit of a question mark with loads of potential; but he probably won’t be that go-to scorer in the paint next year.

I think we will be a good team. I feel like we could grab a last playoff spot in the East next season. The prospect of getting Rose has breathed life into this Bulls offseason and our next season. Maybe I’m a dreamer – but I’d love to see this team be great next season. And I still see one of the biggest holes to be our lack of interior scoring. If we had that interior scorer – we could be flatout scary. And we’d be set for years with a young point guard and interior scorer.

this thread is on the current bullsbeat podcast. Pretty good discussion here:

http://www.bullsbeat.com/bullsbeat_46.mp3

we have nice community for Bulls stuff, no?

Thanks Matt – these kinds of stories (hopefully accurate) of improvement and work ethic are key reasons why you don’t give up bona fide exciting talent unless you are getting an elite difference maker. While its hard to quantify ‘difference makers’, its instructive to watch Gasol and Garnett struggle at different points in the Finals. Gasol refuses to post up aggressively with any consistency, often preferring to face up or lay the ball up softly on the rim. He can’t be counted on to get tough baskets in the post at all.

Garnett simply refuses to take any tough shots – It’s been written about a million times, but its simply unfathomable that such a talented basketball player refuses to be anything more than a screen setter / pick and pop player primarily down the stretch. His defensive impact aside, I don’t see how either his acquisition (or Gasol’s, for that matter) would have put us over the top, given what we would have had to give up to acquire them at the time.

While its hard to put our faith in an untested coach who embraces the occasional malyprop, the players, as always, determine what kind of season it will be. Thorpe’s email lends some credence to the faith we place in the young guns here at BaB.

From his chat, happening right now:

Brett (Chicago): You’re killing independent George!!!! What was your impression of Luol and Tyrus while they trained with you? How tall do you think Tyrus is? And they are coming back later in the summer right?

SportsNation David Thorpe: (12:15 PM ET ) They are extremely dedicated professionals. Ty is 6’9+ I think, and very long. I think they’ll be back a few times, but Lu goes to London for his national team duties in July.

Nothing too new, but still worth posting. I like 6’9+.