Looking at Carlos Boozer and the State of the Bulls

I also think Boozer is overpaid in relation to his production, expectations of him, and what the team needs from him. Don’t forget thought that McDyess was always a really good player, his career just got killed by injuries. He was certainly a better defender than Boozer, which is where his real value came from. Finally, the Dwight issue has been discussed to death, especially here. He doesn’t want to come to Chicago. No one knows why. No one can figure out why. Fuck it.

If, for the sake of argument, the Bulls were to be eliminated by Miami in the finals, I can’t imagine pointing to Boozer as the primary reason.

Most would accept that he is underperforming based on original expectations and/or salary, but he is still a good, productive power forward. He is actually playing better than last year (e.g. shooting better from the outside and moving better on D), and in the context of this rather unusual Bulls team, is more than adequate enough to contribute to a Championship.

From my perspective, Noah is a much greater concern, as it is very difficult to imagine a Championship run with his current level of play. I won’t expand on that worrying topic here.

I’d like to also add something to the conversation that is rarely mentioned. Thibs’ weakness as an offensive coach is almost certainly contributing to Boozer’s underperformance, and that fundamental weakness (as it obviously affects the whole team) is – again in my view – a much more serious concern come playoff time than an individual player averaging a few points and a couple of rebounds less than some idealized version.

If Thibs were to refine his use of Rose and Deng (i.e. manage their minutes so that that aren’t burned out late in the playoffs), and his offensive schemes, then I wouldn’t expect Boozer to be any impediment to a Championship run.

Who doesn’t?

um, millions of people.

It’s highly unlikely Mr. Howard particularly cares what is good or bad for Adidas. What he does surely care about is what Adidas will pay him on his next shoe contract. And while we can all theorize about what would really be best for Adidas , odds are they know the effects of where Howard is playing more than we do on their shoe sales. And it appears they have given some information to Howard’s agent that is negatively influencing his desire to come to Chicago. That said, Since Adidas number one basketball star has an agent that was part of the organization, my guess is that Gar Paxdorf has a pretty good idea of exactly what they are up against and rumors are that we are still involved. So that’s a good sign.

As a sidenote, and apologies in advance to those I’m about to offend, anybody that pays an inflated $ amount for a pair of overhyped sneakers because a 25 year old basketball player’s name is on them is an idiot and hopefully has reliable family members who make the significant financial decisions in their life.

Phone Otis Smith and say, “Anything and everything we have outside of Rose is yours if you want it.”

Given what you mentioned about him not wanting to come here, if we gut ourselves for him and don’t win a championship, we lose our best argument for staying; that we’re a dynasty with him. In my mind, if we trade for him without guarantee of more years, we have to win with him to convince him to stay.

Now whatever your prior opinions of Carlos Boozer are, and however you want to define the expectations a reasonable fan should have of him, I think you have to agree the an offense whose second option looks remarkably like a 32 year old Antonio McDyess is an offense with problems.

This is a completely silly and meaningless conclusion. You’re comparing two players against each other but not against anything else. Saying Boozer is putting up similar numbers to a 32 year old McDyess means nothing until you put it into some kind of context. It could just as easily mean that McDyess was playing very good that year (which is probably a lot more fair to say). Not to mention that Boozer is 30, so what’s the point? McDyess was actually a pretty good player too. So this should be encouraging. “Look at the numbers McDyess put up when he was 32, Boozer could do the same.”

Look, lost in all this overanalysis of how good or bad an individual player is playing is the fact that EVERYONE in the league is, on average, performing poorly due to the lockout. There is a lot of poor and sloppy basketball being played. Did you see the Lakers/Mavs last night? Defense is outpacing offense across the entire league. The Bulls arguably have the best defense in the league and their offense has actually been more efficient this year than last.

Despite the league-wide poor play, the Bulls actually have improved upon last year and have the best record, best defense (which is very important), and one of the best point differentials (which is a great predictor for future success) – and while playing one of the most difficult schedules in the league so far.

Of course there are issues the team needs to address. Every team has issues they need to address. And address them they will (and have been). But it’s ridiculous to blow out of proportion how poorly a player has played, especially when he’s playing very near what he was playing at last year and has been the 2nd or 3rd most productive player on the team for the season.

This goes for everyone on the team. Really the only player that is concerning is Noah, and even that I’m not too concerned with. Yet…

the only question is when the Bulls will use it.

The Bulls will probably wait until when Mirotic comes over from Europe before they cut Boozer loose. Mirotic and Gibson (if the Bulls keep him) would actually be a pretty good PF rotation, with Mirotic providing the offense and Gibson being the defensive replacement.

As for Dwight Howard, the guy doesnt want to come to the Bulls, so no reason to think about it further.

which is why their PERS are similar even tho McDyess has slightly better TS, REB, TOV%. Your point about minutes stands though. Clearly if 2 players are making similar contributions, the one playing more minutes is adding more value.