I have little use for a team

I don't see why you can't understand this, Matt. It's so OBVIOUS if you just WATCH.

Hinrich is not only the starting point guard but also the engine of the offense. When he's off in outer space like he has been this season, the team is going to suffer.

Sure, the Bulls as a group shot horribly and look inept on offense, but it starts with Kirk. On those four possessions in the middle of the third quarter when the Lakers turned a tied game into a 12-point lead, Kirk was in. He was bringing the ball up. He was making bad decisions, missing shots and turning the ball over.

It's easy to blame Skiles, but he's not the one missing all of those shots and making bad decisions.

I didn't stay up for the second half but watched some of it at the fitness center this morning. Why the hell didn't TT play more? I don't understand this at all.

Quite the difference in nights. You could say night and day.

Last night, the Bulls were lifeless. I was tellin' a friend of mine at the game, it was probably the worst basketball I have ever seen played at a game I was at.

No offense to the Lakers, but the Bulls did it to themselves last night. I really couldn't figure out why Tyrus wasn't playing at all pretty much.

I was dumbfounded when I saw Adrian go out for the opening tip. I was just looking around asking people why Tyrus or Noah wasn't in there instead with Noc moving to the 3. Shit, I would have taken Joe Smith as well.

Like most of us, I was a huge Skiles fan. Those days seem like fond memories now.  I can't take his tactics anymore. Like hscs wrote near the top of this post, having Gardner and Griffin in the game at the same time had me almost puking into my $8.25 Bud Light.

It was really funny how much disinterest Kobe seemed to have at the beginning of the game, when the Bulls were still in the game even whilst playing miserably. Once the second half started, you could just see how fast he turned it on and the game got outta hand for Chicago. All with a flip of a switch.

I seriously can't take the rotation anymore at all. Why draft Noah at all? Wasn't he supposed to be that "help right away" kind of player? You're not helping his confidence by sitting him for 3 straight games while he's watching his team getting their butts whipped.  And even though the guy was 0 for 7 on his field goal attempts coming into the games, he does a lot more than shoot. He changes tempo and gives the team instant energy. WHY NOT PUT HIM IN?!

There are somethings that Skiles can't control obviously, like Kirk's shooting woes. But he can really put an effort to changing games in the Bulls favor instead of adjusting to the other teams' strategies. Guys like Noah and Thomas do that for a team. When you start Griffin to guard Kobe, you're clearly playing into the hands of the Lakers right off the bat.

Get the younger guys some time to play when the game's not already out of hand.  And if Kirk needs to shoot himself out of this horrendous slump, why not leave him out there to do it with the game getting out of hand?  And why bother "saving" Noc and his fouls when the game is spiraling out of control?  I hate that I'm so irritable over this that I'm still grouchy the next morning!

Does anyone ever ask the follow-up question: why?

Skiles has lost it and this team.  

Then I remembered we're coached by Scott Skiles.  Sure, Chicago shot poorly again last night, but then Skiles went to the three guard lineup again.  This lineup sucks.  We gave up buckets, scored none, and gave the game away in the crucial third quarter.

To add insult to injury, Kobe never got off on the night.  He finished with 18 lackluster points.  He did score in the third just before heading to the bench for his standard rest.

The Skiles player rotation is just a complete mind f*&k right now.  It's all over the map.  Somebody has to try and get through to Skiles right now.  Maybe we need to criticize him in Italian.

"I actually thought about purchasing it, decided not to," Bryant said. "I like Oprah's penthouse instead."
I couldn't put a link here,but article is on espn.com

Skiles:

Skiles is pissing me off not playing TT enough and I think Noah should see the floor more also.

I'll make the case here first against Paxson.  

What can I say except that Paxson's idea of a roster kind of makes one wax nostalgic for the Jerry Krauss era?  At least Krauss knew that the foundation of the team had to be a player of surpassing skill and ability.  TO Krauss's credit, he tried again and again to find that player.  He told us all along that Curry and Chandler would take four years to show dividends.  The problem was that Reinsdorf heard the fans' cries for blood, and terminated Krauss ahead of his timeline.  Paxson came in and scuttled the whole thing.

There's a way in which it can be said that Paxson's attempt to build a team in his own image has been a complete success.  He has created precisely that team--a group of obviously flawed players, personally driven to succeed beyond their natural athletic gifts.  And we have now seen how far the Paxson experiment can go--the conference semi-finals.

In support of Paxson, I think he did see the limitations of his visions.  That's why he drafted Tyrus Thomas.  Thomas is the one player on the Bulls who has the athleticism to lift the team to the next level.  In Thomas, Paxson, like Krauss before him, had to take a chance on a player, and gamble on his potential.  I think Paxson knew Aldridge was the more polished player, the safer pick.  But I also think Paxson realized he needed greatness, rather than simply "very goodness," to make his team a championship contender.

Skiles has failed Paxson's vision.  By holding back Tyrus' development (and, it could be argued, Sepho's, too) he has negated the key piece Paxson has provided.

My vote: Paxson is, at most, 30% responsible for the current mess.  By far, most of the fault lies with Skiles.    

I'm trying not to get upset by this, but f$%#, he might just be our best player right now.  And he's practicing waving a towel.

Skiles just seems out of his element right now.

Healthly (relatively so) Lakers are much better than Clips minus Brand and Livingston. And actually improve when Kwame is out!

Despite a 3rd Q offense where the answer to getting an open shot seemingly was to keep shooting it from further and further outside, they were still close at 63-60 with about 2 mins left.

Wallace: No travel, but still technically a back-to-back.

Didn't expect to get two in LA anyway. "It's just one loss".

Going small? Didn't GM and coach make a point of how they had the optional capability of going bigger than other teams with this year's roster? Though TT at center helped them get back in it against the Suns, it has to become apparent (even to Skiles?) that this is not the automatic solution. (Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing TT at center, as long as he plays 30+ SOMEWHERE. It could happen!)

If Skiles remains an ignoramus, and bad starting lineups and substitutions lead to more 30pt blowouts, won't that just hasten his eventual departure? As soon as this year? It could happen!

Consider the long term. This team is still full of young promise. Just 'cause half of them don't get meaningful PT doesn't change that. Collectively, they've already proven that they're not the ATL Hawks (to me, at least). I believe these guys are mentally strong enough that their psyches (ies?) will survive whatever the hell it is that's going on, if indeed there is some untold story here.

Deng is a damn important piece. Until his healthy return (fingers cross), Noc at SF is not that bad an option, if TT and Noah get more burn than they would've with Noc at PF. Also Thabo (rebounds well, at least). Ol' Joe too.

Kirk: Momma always said, "If you can't say somethin' nice..."

Some of that was hard to come up with and write. Some I believe to the core. Mainly, AG > TT can't continue because such ridiculousness will be evidenced by similar team "performances".

I'll still make the effort Tues at the sports bar. Denver plays fast, but they're a bunch of dum dums on the court (Camby excepted). But they're not just fast, they're big and fast, so the small line up will be killed. Does Iverson usually do well vs Kirk? Maybe I'm becoming a loyal fan, or maybe just perverse, but I have to see what happens....

DNP: Kryapa, Gray, Griffin, Gardner

Thabo should be used in matchup situations only.  He is the last off the bench.  Kryapa, Gray, and Griffin, Gardner shoudl only come in during garbage/blow-outs!!  It shouldn't be this hard...

"Guys have to make shots. This is the highest level, the pros. To constantly be talking about it every day is not productive. "Guys have to snap out of it. Pro shooters make shots. It's what they do. If you can't do it, you better get in the gym and figure it out and get your head screwed on or whatever the problem is and make shots."

It is like he is leaving Hinrich to solve this himself.  I thought that is what a coach is paid to do.