The "Guys, we're OK" Post
by Sir Buckets on Jul 9, 2010 11:36 AM CDT
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PrintNo, the NBA wasn't ruined on the night of July 8th, 2010, but something else was:
LeBron James' legacy.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely stunned when LeBron announced he'd be going to South Beach. Although, in doing so, he has made arguably the single biggest mistake of his basketball career; a mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
I think we now know what kind of person James truly is. If there was any doubt before, it has been removed. By joining the Heat, he has permanently tarnished his legacy. It's a lose-lose situation if you think about it:
- If this Heat team dominates the league and wins 6 titles (pretty much the best-case scenario), there will still be a little asterisk next to all those championships in people's minds.
- If this Heat team never wins a championship, it will be viewed as one of the single greatest failures in the history of sports. LeBron and Co. would never live it down.
- If this Heat team loses a series or two in the Finals (or ECF, etc.) the murmurs will start to appear, and only grow louder.
Contrary to what he said, James didn't pick the team that gives him the best opportunity to win now and for the longest period of time -- that team would happen to be the Bulls. But hey, what's done is done. James is a Heat (...?) now. More importantly, there's no reason to panic and wave the white flag. We're still in a very good situation, and we can compete with the three-headed monster in Miami. Let's compare the two teams:
Rose vs. Wade
This statement is debatable, but I feel that Rose will be slightly worse or just about equal to Wade in the not-so-distant future. Wade will be 29 by the end of the 2010-11 season, and with his style of play and injury history, you have to wonder how long he'll still be playing at an elite level. Now, that's not to say Rose's peak is a declining Wade. I believe Derrick has the special combination of amazing work ethic, a good head on his shoulders, and physical abilities/tools to become something truly incredible.
Boozer vs. Bosh
While you could make the argument that Bosh is the slightly better player than Boozer overall, Boozer is the better fit for our team. Sure, he could be a little younger, but it is what it is. Both are All-Star power forwards.
Deng vs. LeBron
LeBron.
I suppose it helps that one of our best defensive players happens to play the same position as LeBron, but let's not kid ourselves, no one can completely shut down James. Maybe if we got Delonte West a Deng mask... nah, sorry, just thinking out loud.
And lastly, the rest of the notable players from both rosters.
Bulls: Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Omer Asik(?), James Johnson,
Heat: Mike Miller, Mario Chalmers
As you can see, we match up pretty well with this Heat team right now, as well as in the future. We are deeper and, for the most part, younger. Also, we still have a good chunk of cap space to use. Things are definitely not as bad as some people have made them out to be. I actually like our current situation and our chances of legitimately competing with Miami and the other top teams.
We got this.
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i think the only way we contend..
is if Wade takes a quick sharp decline. we’d still need a really good (probably near-elite) SG to contend. and obviously Rose would need to become a superstar and true leader.
Really good SG? Yeah, I suppose. Near-elite? Nah.
Agree with the Rose part, and I have full confidence in him.
The lack of depth on the Heat is scary, though
the lack of depth definitely leaves them vulnerable this year
but unless there are drastic changes made after the CBA negotiations, they’ll be able to add actual good players in the following years. this year alone, the Lakers have a good shot at knocking them off. but beyond that, it’ll be tough. that’s why i say near-elite SG. maybe really-good could get it done, but it needs to be an all-star level player. maybe not Brandon Roy, but somebody fairly close. that’s why getting Turner or even Mayo or Eric Gordon (all pipe-dreams at this point) could put us in contention in the pretty near future. as Wade declined we’d be getting better.
I think the Owners will definitely target the MLE.
Bird Rights, the soft cap, the luxury tax will all probably stay the same. But the MLE will go away. Its about the only thing I can see that the players would cave on. Because they definitely won’t cave on the percentage of revenue.
I think the owners like the MLE, it gives them a solid cap to spend on average players
My guess is they try to find another slot between MLE and the Max to limit the contracts paid out to the above average players
Well, isn't what LeBron did last night the living embodiment of The Secret, leaving millions on the table and turning himself into a hometown villain, all for the sake of winning?
Neil Paine, basketball-reference.com
We have to see how they play before we can make any decisions.
Remember how Lebron would drive on us during the playoffs, and we’d collapse and Lebron would pass it out to a cutter/shooter? Well, it’d be 10042040324x worse with Wade/Bosh on the team.
a couple of more thoughts.....
depth- the heat really doesn’t have any, and if those three idiots have to play a lot of minutes, then that favors the rest of the NBA.
head coach- we have thibs, and his defense against james is widely known. meanwhile it looks like riley might head back to the bench (already throwing thier coach under the bus,as not good enough to lead this team, see article on si.com about that).
pressure- it’s all on the heat now…they have to win it all or they will be branded as failures, now way around it. the bulls just have to play basketball,knowing that they will be better than last year and that anything can happen.
surroundings- the bulls have a pretty good structure around them,it will be about playing good team basketball and hard nosed defense. the heat? well it seems that they might be looking at this as it’s party time…" hey we really don’t need to pratice that much, look at who we are" type of thing just my opinion.
i still say that the bulls are going to be pretty good, and will be able to sustain it for a lot longer than the heat, better class of people all the way around.
and to lebron: what goes around comes around……..what you did to your home fans was just appalling, what a load of trash you turned out to be. you and that back stabber wade ought to be right at home.
oh,yeah…..and boozer is going to push bosh all over the place!
Not to mention that with the new CBA coming up, that’ll just eat Miami alive…
Buckets, I give you massive kudos for the We’re Okay thread… We need something like that now.
Is it October yet?
Just so I never have to answer this again. I'm from Singapore so whenever you see me online, I'm either sleep deprived or just waking up.
We got this!
All we need is a two
(remmbers years past where all we screamed was we need a big)
regardless, all we need is a 2!
Bosh + Wade plan = FAIL
Definitely much different
We are so used to having guards and now we basically have none.
by Bulls Fan 4 Life on Jul 9, 2010 12:49 PM CDT up reply actions
Time for people to stop fawning over Asik.
He’s a mystery and will be lucky to get any significant minutes.
While we can't know until it happens,
I’m optimistic about him as a backup defensively, and not so optimistic about him offensively. If you read his scouting report, he’s a quick learner with a tall defender’s body who does give it his all, but is likely to be gunned out by bigger guys (ie a Shaq or a Howard). But I think he’ll quickly be a solid backup. Certainly better than a C you could get for the minimum.
A true friend stabs you in the front - Oscar Wilde
First off, I don't see how Miami is going to sign Mike Miller.
It just doesn’t seem possible, and Woj says it’s not close to being a done deal. I don’t think we should assume it is a done deal, at all.
We have a few things that Miami doesn’t have: Rebounding, Size and a legit Point Guard. There’s no way we can match up with their three guys, so we have to look to beat them at other spots. To beat this Miami team you need to force them into two point shots, rebound the ball and take advantage of mismatches. If Thibs is as good a defensive mind as we’re told, we have all the necessary tools to put up a great fight with Miami, maybe even take them down. Play defense, crash the boards and hit threes/chase MIA off the 3 point line. Orlando can do that, we can do that, LA can do that and so can a few other teams. I don’t think this Miami team is the lock they’re said to be. At least not yet.
I agree.
The biggest key is Derrick Rose. It’s time to go all in on building a team around him. If there’s an elite FA available then of course try to get him. But the key now is to assume that Rose will be a top 5 talent and to finally put pieces around him to exploit his talents.
First get a SG that can demand a double team and complement Rose’s kick game. Whether some here want to argue or not, a BG type of player is the perfect fit.( A platoon of BG and Sefolosha at SG would be PERFECT right now) I know it’s the past, just making an example. Secondly, at some point find a SF that can shoot the 3 and dribble. A Hedo Turkoglu type player at the 3 would be perfect here. Then finally find a competent backup center to spell Noah. (Gortat maybe)
With Boozer now in the fold, I think that these types of moves would put the Bulls in a position to compete against the Miamis and Orlandos of the world.
i wonder if the bulls are working on making a trade........
why i am thinking this is because if they really wanted a free agent SG, they would probalbly be signing them pretty quickly. but if they are trying to work out a trade it might be a little while to complete it…..seems a bit quiet on the bulls front right now.
They may be....
……but some of the delay probably has to do with supply & demand. There are several teams with money to spend right now, and any halfway decent player is probably getting multiple offers to consider.
Remember our response to Shaq, we need that at SG/SF
The 3 headed monster- 3 beefy dudes that gave us 15 fouls to burn. We are going to need a stable of long defenders at SF/SG to send in against Wade/Lebron. For Bosh, we have less to worry about – hes not a grinder. Tony Allen, Brewer, ?
I still think LeBron will play point forward
and that will really mess things. Who can guarde LeBron at the point?
It doesn't matter what position he plays,
Luol will be guarding him. He’s pretty much been a point-forward for as long as I remember, the only difference is that in your scenario he brings up the ball. Actually, he might be an easier guard for Deng now because I believe he’ll be looking to pass more, not be as aggressive.
What do you guys think it would take to get BG back from detroit?
and is this even remotely possible?
No
That ship has sailed. I wouldn’t want him back.
I think Detroit would LOVE to get rid of him
In the 8th grade Mike Ditka won his school's Science Fair with a model of a working volcano. There were 17 other working volcano's made that day, but only one named Mount Ditka.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jul 9, 2010 2:17 PM CDT up reply actions
Will Cleveland beat the Heat this year?
Can you get ❼ Lebron? Can you get 1 Vikings? 2010 is the year to do it!!
by UnBannedVikingholic on Jul 9, 2010 7:11 PM CDT reply actions
Is Lebron's leaving Cleveland
= to Peyton Manning leaving the Colts? (Want happen just saying)
Can you get ❼ Lebron? Can you get 1 Vikings? 2010 is the year to do it!!
by UnBannedVikingholic on Jul 9, 2010 7:15 PM CDT reply actions
Nope. More like Drew Brees leaving the Saints.
But Brees actually brought home some hardware.
LBJ leaving Cleveland is much worse than that.
''James is a Heat (...?) now.''
LMFAO!!! just made me think about it,last night he said I am taking my talents to south beach next year. Mainly because it would sound stupid as hell saying Im proud to call myself a Heat lol
"The intangibles are terrible for the Clippers, and maybe it precludes them as a desitination. But intangibles are hard to measure because you can't tange them."
Steve Perrin
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