Notes from Thursday's practice: Gibson&Hinrich starting, Thomas returning
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 24, 2009 3:12 PM CST
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PrintVDN (yup, still head coach) went with Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson in the starting lineup in the second half of Tuesday's game in New York, and they did so well (showing a pulse is all it takes these days) that they're keeping it that way for now.
Says Vinny (replace 'Kirk' with 'Kurt', of course):
I just think it’s another ballhandler out there, another pick-and-roll guy, Kirk’s one of our best defenders, if not our best defender. We can play with a little more thrust, a little more pace with Kirk. Where we’re at now warrants some type of change. It’s not engraved in stone right now and it’s probably not a permanent thing. But for right now, I feel that’s the direction we need to go.
A couple things jump out:
- Some would say the obvious 'change-for-change's sake' move is firing the head coach.
- He used the word 'thrust' again when describing what Hinrich brings. I thought when he did so post-NYK it was a slip-up.
- I get the move, they both stink and can't shoot, but at least Hinrich isn't as much of a ball-stopper.
KC says that Salmons 'took the benching hard', but the quotes are pretty mundane. And Luol Deng continues to inadvertently (at least I think so) take shots at players by saying how much 'more energy' the new lineup will have. Remember this?
Switching Taj for Miller makes sense simply due to how terrible Miller is in. After his torrid run to end last season, it's possible that we're seeing the steep decline of an aging player, or that Miller dogs it when times are tough. Kings fans would probably point to the latter.
In happier news, Tyrus Thomas is back and should be ready for Saturday. I feel like rooting for Thomas is simultaneously rooting against the Org., so it's sort of a win-win. And lets face it, there's no more embarrassment that could be necessary to affect meaningful positive change anytime soon, so might as well hope for some wins.
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Geography?
Well, I mean, there are the Michael, Scottie, Phil years. As a team, the defined modern NBA basketball. That’s pretty cool, even if it is history.
by hitlesswonder on Dec 24, 2009 3:43 PM CST up reply actions
i live in la and im a bulls fan sadly
i think its been a while since ive been this embarassed as a bulls fan
I feel you on that.
I guess my ID speaks for itself
by DamnBullsFan on Dec 25, 2009 11:53 AM CST up reply actions
I'm from Norway
Think I’ve been asking myself this question a few times in the last seasons?…
Did anyone else catch what Jannero Pargo said he'd buy his coach for Christmas in the paper this morning?
“Absolutely Nothing.”
Please find Jay Cutler some help...
I'm guessing the mandatory VDN Christmas Party is cancelled?
USE THE SOFTWARE. Actions-> Rec/Flag. Reply to comments with the reply button. Rec good fanposts/fanshots so the crud gets pushed down.
by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 24, 2009 3:41 PM CST up reply actions
You don't say that shit
Even if you really mean it and are pissed you are not getting any minutes.
If I’m the Bulls, I trade or cut his ass.
It may have been the first time I laughed out loud reading the sports section
Please find Jay Cutler some help...
Vinny Del Negro > Jannero Pargo
Crap > Poop, I know.
but still, while VDN is responsible for a lot of blunders, he wasn’t the guy who signed Pargo.
by darksmokepuncher on Dec 24, 2009 5:42 PM CST up reply actions
The lineup changes make pretty good sense to me.
I’d start Tyrus, obviously, but given that this is the Bulls we’re talking about, I know doing something obvious like starting your best five players will never happen.
Still, I agree with Kirk providing more “thrust”. Salmons is dog slow and plays a dog slow style of play. I feel more confident that Kirk will play at a faster pace, and that he’ll make better decisions.
i can understand
not starting tyrus his first game back after 8 weeks out or whatever it is since i assume his minutes will be limited on sat. i hope he’ll be back in the starting lineup by thurs @ detroit. i don’t see vinny putting him in there vs indy.
"They should. They better. I'm Vinny Del Negro!"
(only cause it's vinny, not because it's the right thing)
and not that i think he shouldn’t necessarily start tyrus on sat, but this is the bulls we’re talking about.
"They should. They better. I'm Vinny Del Negro!"
I do too
Now Fish and Miller can come in for anybody, If they are struggling or foul trouble.
Fish in for Lu or Kirk, or Rose with Kirk moving to point
I still find it hard we could not get another athletic 6’5"-6’6" guard with TT and Kirk out, Gray not playing, etc.
At least to defend and hustle, get break points for 10 minutes. Luxury Tax issue?
A
Well, when players are injured, for eight weeks for God's sake,
they just can’t resume their former position. Besides VDN has put in a lot of new stuff, and it’s going to take time for TT to feel comfotable whith the new schemes.
It is a process after all.
I'm excited to see TT play
Sat. night. I just hope it’s more than 8-10 minutes tho.
OK I don't know shit about basketball.
by SoulEater7 on Nov. 5, 2009 9:51 PM CST
As excited as I am to see the game Sat. I'm really getting tired of Deng's comments about teamates
Deng is out of line again in my book, I know some disagreed with me about the Tyrus and Kert remark Deng made, but to say the lineup without Salmons gives the team more energy, that’s a pretty jacked up statement to make especially knowing Salmons is having a hard time right now. If I was Salmons I’d be pissed, Deng is showing himself to be a charitable a—hole IMO, he made another remark a week ago that if the team doesn’t play better somebody might get traded, what kind of crap is that? How can a player feel he has the clout to make a statement like this? I wanna punch Deng in his left temple!
Is this what you're talking about?
"I think it will help," he said. "You never want to see a lineup change. Most of the time when there’s a lineup change, it just shows that the team’s struggling or individuals are struggling. What it does, I think, is pick up energy." Deng also shared the news that Thomas looked great in practice.
If so, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that statement at all. For starters, he said that “you never want to see a lineup change”, so clearly he’s not trying to make it sound like a good thing.
And honestly, who gives a shit if Salmons is having a hard time? He’s having a hard time because he sucks.
by darksmokepuncher on Dec 24, 2009 5:37 PM CST up reply actions
I didn't read the quote myself, I just went by what YFBB wrote.
Reading the full quote, it isn’t as bad as I took it to be, I wouldn’t have said some of the things in the quote myself. Again, Deng may not mean any harm, but he probably shouldn’t be the team’s spokesman. I’d leave that to Noah, cap’n Kerk, or ……Derri…no….I’d leave it with Noah and Kert!
Deng HAS clout
By virtue of his contract. I don’t think this is as much indicitive of Deng as it could be of Salmons. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was an unpopular teammate based on fast breaks alone.
I just put up the old quote because I like to mock the early season optimism ;-)
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by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 24, 2009 5:42 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
You wound me
I thought we could get up to 48 wins. (lowers head in shame)
I now think my 38-44 prediction was too optimistic.
28-54 is more realistic the way the team has been playing.
We miss you, Ben Gordon!
by Granny Waiters on Dec 24, 2009 9:54 PM CST up reply actions
I think my low-30's prediction was optimistic
but then again I’m pessimistic. It makes it more fun.
Go Rockets/Nets[CDR]/Bucks[Jennings]!
Tyrus thomas not starting
I guess its okay for one game, maybe ill let it slide for two….but if tyrus outperforms taj from the getgo….even if the plan is to trade him…PLAY HIM!!!
John Salmons trade on the horizon?? And also…i feel hinrich is about to be thrown under the bus again due to these comments….just a feeling
On Behalf of Sue, Wjb, majoyenrac, Bullshooter and all the other Hinrich fans...Ill keep the Hinrich Hope coming...There will be light!
So I was just looking at Hinrich vs. Salmons this season over on B-R
and it’s honestly depressing. Both have been horrendous. Kurt has a TS% of 44, eFG% of 41 and an 8.1 PER. Seriously.
Salmons is putting up a TS% of 48, an eFG% of 44, and an 11.6 PER. I mean, I know neither has been that terrific over the course of their careers, but who knew they were really this bad? Blech.
Oh my lord
That is hideous. I’ve been somewhat out of the loop this season, and I had NO IDEA just how bad Kurt and Salmons have been. No wonder Pargo is so pissed.
"You ain’t as hot as I is / all of these false prophets is not messiahs /
You don’t know how high the sky is / the square mileage of earth or what pi is." - Nas
Well...
Pargo has thrown up a 43 TS%, 40 eFG%, and a 7.5 PER, so he’s been even worse than both of them, which is apparently somehow possible. Remember when the Org. tried to tell us he could help replace some of BG’s scoring? HAHAHAHA!!!
Deng could use some energy
when he watches people tie their shoes. Seriously, are you kidding me Loul?
by The90sBullsRevival on Dec 24, 2009 6:42 PM CST reply actions
Just saw Salmons talking about the demotion on the 10pm NBC news
and he did seem pretty depressed about it, for what it’s worth (probably tired of answering questions about it). I wonder if there’s a Bull that’s not down about things right now tho.
I would be the first volunteer to pack Vinny's bags but what can Myers add?
A scout recently said he had almost nothing to report since the Bulls only ran 3 plays in the half he was watching. Myers is part of this team of non-entities. Santa should load up the entire Bulls coaching staff with lumps of coal, unlike Pargo who said he would get his boss absolutely nothing for Christmas.
Noah’s cryptic comments lead me to believe that he is well aware they bring almost nothing to the table other than left over scraps. At least with Tyrus’s return, the cows might not be as painful to watch, until of course, he gets sent to the end of the bench again as soon as he commits his first turnover, to join JJ, Gray and Pargo in silently cursing the bufoon as the ship continues to take in water while all Vinny can offer is a small bucket with a hole in it and a plea to Kurt to add more thrust.
Meanwhile, Fish returns to the bottom of the tank realizing his one magic season is behind him and MIller decides to take his bong out of storage again since he figures he may as well be high, because he can’t move any slower even if he was stoned out of his mind and Vinny’s exhortations will seem entertaingly funny rather than just mindless and stupid while he’s mellowing out. Taj again gets to demonstrate his mediocrity which on this team makes him practically an all star in the eyes of our blind leader. Rose remains as confused as ever in trying to figure out his role and the true meaining of Christmas and the word development.
Luol selfishly hopes he can wring a few more shots with HInrich distributing the ball after resenting Salmons almost as much as Gordon for being a ball stopper, preventing him from padding his stats, winning be damned. Pargo just wants to shoot and finds his only purpose in life going unfulfilled since he can’t get off the pines. Aaron is just grateful he hasn’t been sent to the “D” league yet, since he knows he would struggle competing at that level. JJ remains starry eyed by getting a chance to actually be playing in the NBA, although he would prefer doing it in a real game instead of just practice. Vinny is looking forward to getting a new set of DVD’s called Basketball Basics from A to B, which he hopes to incorporate as soon as he figures out how to load it.
Merry Christmas everyone. Don’t abondon hope. Maybe Scrooge Riensdork will be shown visions of Christmases past of those heady days of the Bulls 3 peat repeats and decide to finally do the right thing by opening up his wallet and bringing in a REAL COACH for Christmas so the Bulls fans will no longer have to wear bags over their heads while attending future games. Remember, 2010 is just one week away and we call all find out if management’s New Years resolution to bring in a game changer will actually be kept.
If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost. You can still call him vile names.
Elbert Hubbard
by Tyrusmancrush on Dec 25, 2009 2:04 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Vinny DVDs
Hopefully he’ll learn a couple more basketball words of wisdom other than “attack” “attack” and Kirk’s “thrust”
Mmm I wonder how he knows so much about Kirk’s “thrust”
"I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it."
"Go ahead, make my day"
"We boil at different degrees"
"A good man always knows his limitations"
"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"
3 plays in a half...
That’s enough for Vinny to be fired off this alone. This team is not developing players right. I hope they trade Rose before they really stunt his growth. In this game you need “that” coach and Vinny is not “that” coach. This makes me mad and makes me think about the Cubs. I hope shyt changes real soon.
by Lsd on Dec 25, 2009 11:27 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Deng complaining again ... How low will the chicago Bulls eventually go!
A Jerry Springer taping is in the works! This is not a basketball, but a entertainment reality team.
Episode 1
====
Maybe a day will occur when punks Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng declare their love for one another, kiss and get married at center court! But Vinny Del Negro attempts to stop the wedding as he declares he’s in love with Kurt! Losers! Still I hope they both are traded to another team before this happens here in Chicago.
Episode 2
====
It’s revealed John Paxson doesn’t even come to work anymore, he was seen working on, painting and cleaning his garage for at least 15 hours daily for weeks straight between the period of the Bulls lost to the NJ Nets and the 35 point comeback by SAC?
"I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it."
"Go ahead, make my day"
"We boil at different degrees"
"A good man always knows his limitations"
"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"
Episode 3- It’s revealed JJ broke Tyrus arm doing a martial arts exhibition that went horribly wrong.
Episode 4- Kerk Hinrich finally loses it due to the fact that he hasn’t been able to cash his checks for the past year and a half because Vinny keeps misspelling his name. Vinny tearfully apologises and confesses that he has a serious problem remembering names.
Episode 1-a & 2-a the saga continues
Vinny, heartbroken at his loss, drowns his sorrows in a gay bar on Rush street. Arriving home at 2AM, he is greeted by his irate wife who happened to be watching the show. In a fit of jealous rage, she chases him out of the house bombarding him with a bag of basketballs. As he’s racing to his car dodging the flying objects, VDN thanks God that he never did take up golf as a hobby.
Upon finally completing his garage renovation, Pax drives to the corner drugstore to pick up the latest Tribune, shocked to discover that Ty’s 6 week absence was due to a broken arm since he had assumed it was just Vinny’s way of establishing discipline by benching him for having a poor attitude.
If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost. You can still call him vile names.
Elbert Hubbard
by Tyrusmancrush on Dec 26, 2009 1:55 PM CST up reply actions
Episodes 3-a & 4-a of the Bulls traveling circus
Further investigation revealed JJ’s claim that Tyrus’s injury was accidental was anything but. He was hoping by knocking TT out of competition, he could buy more playing time. Apparently his scheme worked as JJ’s minutes increased from less than a minute to 2 minutes every other game, far exceeding the 6 seconds Pargo earned in the 35 point collapse.
Vinny’s admission that he can’t remember names didn’t go far enough as his leaked medical files reveal he has developed a serious case of early Alzhiemer’s known as Sometimer’s disease which accounts for his inablilty to come up with any plays during timeouts since his entire repertoire consists of only 5 plays to begin with. But it really doesn’t matter since Paxson has already blocked out from his memory that he hired DelNegro in order to keep what remains of his sanity and credibility and JR is busy trying to figure out how he can bring another championship to the southside while simultaneously cutting payroll by 40%.
When not reading BaB, stay tuned to Jerry Springer’s winter specials for more exciting Bulls news.
If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost. You can still call him vile names.
Elbert Hubbard
by Tyrusmancrush on Dec 26, 2009 2:10 PM CST up reply actions
mancrush ... you r a madMan funny crazy!
"I tried being reasonable, I didn't like it."
"Go ahead, make my day"
"We boil at different degrees"
"A good man always knows his limitations"
"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?"
Merry Christmas, BaBers.
i hope you all get you wishes (Vinny firing) this holiday season. and here is to more success to our favorite team, however misguided our allegiance may be.
we went out for pizza after the game. -dave wannstedt
by BULLieving in Miami on Dec 25, 2009 10:50 AM CST via mobile reply actions
Merry X-mas!
Funny, the Bulls are 9-17, and (at the moment) I don’t have any hate for VDN.
I guess it’s because I have no expectations for this year’s team at all anymore, and know that no quality free agent will sign with this team because the management of the team is piss-poor and THEY are the ones who hired a guy with no coaching experience. It’s not really VDN’s fault. It’s management and ownership. Playoffs? Does it even matter?
If the team with Tyrus playing again does not improve dramatically in the next 10-15 games, management may clean house at the trade deadline if there are any offers for Deng or Tyrus and then replace Vinny (probably after this season is over). Tank the season for a top-10 draft pick.
Unless the team can get Jeff Van Gundy (or similarly qualified coach) mid-season this year, every free agent will leave for a team with a good coach and stable organization. Even hiring a new guy at the end of this season after firing Vinny (and another season in the lottery!) will make this team seem like it’s too much in turmoil (too much bull****!) for anybody with a brain.
The Knicks may suck, but at least they look like they FINALLY have had some sort of PLAN the last few years. This team is the exact opposite of that. Our “plan” was lucking out on Rose.
by KentuckyBullsFan on Dec 25, 2009 12:42 PM CST reply actions
just checked the standings on espn...seems to say the Bulls are 10-17, not 9-17.
(the record on the blog-a-bull homepage says 9-17…must be wrong)
If the Bulls are 10-17, then that makes them tied with Washington for the 6th worst record in the NBA.
by KentuckyBullsFan on Dec 25, 2009 1:00 PM CST up reply actions
its early
that means nothing. we’re also just outside of a playoff spot. not like that matters 1/3 of the way thru. still a lot of games to play. hey, maybe TT IS the x-factor.
we went out for pizza after the game. -dave wannstedt
by BULLieving in Miami on Dec 25, 2009 3:23 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
But only 1 game out from the 8th seed
And 2 out of the 7th. The east has so many poor teams a new good coach can still make a run and give this team a chance to look like a good free agent destination.
by BoxingHideout on Dec 25, 2009 3:39 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Merry Christmas, people.
- holidays.
Oh, and go Blazers. I love rooting for the underdog. Except if that underdog is too pathetic to ever win.
[hoping Rose and Noah will be on a team that is “worth them” by this time next year]
:)
Go Rockets/Nets[CDR]/Bucks[Jennings]!
So you hope Rose and Noah get traded to a good team?
hoping Rose and Noah will be on a team that is "worth them" by this time next year
We miss you, Ben Gordon!
by Granny Waiters on Dec 25, 2009 10:40 PM CST up reply actions
Either/or.
Go Rockets/Nets[CDR]/Bucks[Jennings]!
[More realistically, yes.]
Go Rockets/Nets[CDR]/Bucks[Jennings]!
Hope everyone had a safe holiday, the misery and self-loathing returns tonight!
The 2009 White Sox....like a 40 degree day.
Anyone else pissed off that Brad Miller actually still has minutes?
I mean seriously, his play is absolutely anemic. He can’t do anything right.
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