Go Magic, Go Bobcats.

I didn't pay attention enough to know if John Calipari coached well or not in Monday night's championship game.

But I do remember, while seeing some key free throws clank, when weeks ago he started really bristling at the questions regarding his team's shooting from the line:

(Eh, there was more that I remember hearing audio on and I couldn't find a better link.)

The point is, instead of just saying "of course, I wish we shot free throws better" he attacked the questioner asking if they knew anything about the team's record or what kind of team they were, and in general led his group in some 'us against the world' hooey going into the tournament.

Not that I was ever really interested in him or any other college coach (his first pro stint didn't go too great) leading the Bulls next season, but looking at Calipari, he sure comes off as 'un-professional'. Just another basketball-coach-as-mayor in the small pond of campus, Calipari is likely better suited staying the overbearing arrogant leader of teenagers that are the celebrated 'stars' of the college game.

Ok, the insults are basically just an excuse to crap on the institution of college basketball coaches, and the fact that Calipari was once tied to the Bulls coaching vacancy makes it fair, heh.

I mean, Tim Floyd is regarded as successful in that realm, so who knows, maybe Jimbo the Clown will be a star himself if he gets a chance at the Marquette vacancy, where he can get away with playing 4 guards and a forward in a lineup. Not exactly a place where credentials are built.

As you may have noticed, the 'what I'd do this offseason' diaries and comments have started to accumulate on the site. Usually they include the Bulls giving an opposing GM Rohypnol, and then having their way with their roster while only giving up Andres Nocioni.

But if such a grand plan must turn out lopsided in the favor of the beloved, at least make it cap-legal. The main stickiness involves two of the Bulls better players, Deng and Gordon. Both of whom, you may have heard, are restricted free agents this offseason.

This means you have to remember a few key things when discussing their role in a make-believe Bulls offseason makeover, sorted out by the extremely handy cap FAQ by Larry Coon.

Deng and Gordon cannot be traded before or on draft night. So if you had the idea of using either to move up in the draft, sorry. Bulls can't even negotiate (i.e. "go find something better than $50m, fools!") until the free agency period begins, which is after the draft. Technically, what could happen is that the drafted player remains unsigned until free agency begins and his rights are traded, or that draftee is signed and (after 30 days) is then included in a trade. I don't think a drafted player, especially a lottery pick, has ever been traded that fast, and it seems far-fetched that a pre-arranged deal could occur between draft day and free agency, with both teams and the free agents agreeing.

If Deng and Gordon are signed&traded, they are still treated as base-year compensation players. I was slightly surprised by this one, as I thought perhaps an offseason sign&trade would be a loophole. But after hearing that wasn't the case on Bulls Beat, and looking it up...the BYC status still applies.

Base-year compensation (BYC) is the designation both Hinrich and Nocioni were under this season (as they both received 20% raises when signing their contract extensions), and it basically means that in a trade with both teams over the cap (which is, as we know, nearly everyone), the outgoing salary is considered halved (or $4.5m, or last year's salary. Whichever is greater), while the incoming salary for the recipient is the whole salary.

So let's say Gordon finds his elusive 6/$66m (identical yearly payments) contract with another team that's over the cap. The Bulls can work out a sign&trade with that team, but while the incoming salary for that team would be the $11m, the Bulls outgoing salary would only be considered $5.5m. If a team wanted to deal back an $11m player of their own, that means the Bulls are taking in $11m, while only sending out $5.5m. That's not within the 125% threshhold for a trade, so the trade can't happen.

It's not an impossible situation, there just has to be more players involved. The best candidates financially being Drew Gooden ($7.15m) or Andres Nocioni ($8m. ugh), who have cap figures that are significant but not too much (when combined with a Deng or Gordon). So in the previous example, if the Bulls send out Gordon and Gooden, it's now $12.65m going out, and for the other team  it's $18.15m going in. If the other team sends the Bulls a trade package with a total salary of $14.5m, it's within the 125% threshhold for both teams.

So like I said, it isn't impossible. But it's still a pretty tough situation. For the Bulls to execute a successful sign&trade with either Deng or Gordon, they'd have to find a team willing to pay their new salary, also willing to take the additional players needed to mitigate Deng/Gordon's base-year compensation, and then willing to give the Bulls a package they'd accept in return.

Not exactly easy, which is why this will likely be a long, long, offseason for Deng, Gordon and the Bulls. But I applaud anyone's creative effort, and if you can't play within those rules for Deng and Gordon, you can always trade the rest of these guys. Nobody's untouchable. No, Mike McGraw, not even the great Thabo.

Bulls wind up losing, so they're preserving their little nest egg of ping pong balls.

But the team played reasonably hard and cohesively. Although it wasn't exactly the most competitive environment, Boston was mostly keeping the Bulls at a safe distance until waiting to pull away late.

And in the 4th quarter, Boylan took out Hughes and left in Thomas, so some interim credit is in order for that. (Thabo and Duhon played the same minutes though...)

It's absolutely shocking that Thomas would produce when given minutes. Completely floored. You can't predict things like that.

Finished with 24 points, 5-9 around the rim, 4-7 on jump shots, and 6-7 from the line. I don't even think he played that well. He's not going to always do that well on the jumpers (one make was an especially improbable turnaround fadeaway), and he only finished with an Aldridge-esque 7 rebounds in 37 minutes.

But I won't buy that figuring out that Thomas can play is considered part of the 'learning' that can only come with being out of the playoff race: it's a lesson we knew already.

I remember when I was choosing between the 11-game season ticket plan options, and seeing this game against Boston on the schedule was a major factor in picking the option it was under.

I thought Boston would be obviously far better than the previous season (as people were too busy worrying about whether Kevin Garnett was a 'winner' or not to see how good he really was) but there were some things to be worried about. Namely injuries and poor play from the supporting cast. Not exactly brilliant observations at the time, and they've proven to be even more worthless now.

I also said the Bulls would have the best record in the conference to end the season...

Point is, now that the game is finally upon us, my enthusiasm in the Bulls is startlingly far below what I expected them to be at this point. So much so that the tickets for the game I was possibly most excited over (needling Celtics fans was one of my favorite things to do on the internet) have now been sold off.

The Celtics have done a fairly good job promptly putting away inferior opponents, which is what they'll try and do tonight. While they're pretty comfortably in the first seed, it's a team that goes all-out nearly every night. A reason why I thought the 8th seed wasn't even a hope worth pursuing. Guess we don't have to worry about that!

Drew Gooden (and Aaron Gray, who knew?) are likely out for tonight's game. The Celtics like to play small their own damned selves, so I wouldn't be surprised if we still see Tyrus, while starting, getting limited minutes. When they go small it's still with Kevin Garnett, when the Bulls do the same it's with the Noc.

Something to watch for? eh, I'm stumped. Doesn't mean I'm not open to the possibility of finding something though, provide your reasons below. Sarcastic entries encouraged.

With the Bulls all-but-officially eliminated from the playoffs, it's difficult to find a reason to watch the final 9 games of the season.

First of all, Boylan's still coaching:

(There has been one drastic change: Chris Duhon's back in the rotation. Why? who knows!)

Whatever Boylan rambles, it at least looks like the team is starting the subtle, seductive dance of tanking. The first move being Drew Gooden being held out of Sunday's game with an abdominal strain, giving the start to Tyrus Thomas. Unlike Boylan's unintentional tanking, sitting guys with injuries makes sense. (although one guy who's been battling injuries all season, Luol Deng, is in a contract year, so I doubt he'll be sitting.)

So it's tempting to think if we see guys like Tyrus and Thabo getting more minutes (although they had 22 and 17 minutes respectively, so it's not quite free reign yet anyway) that playing out this string may actually teach us something about those two, Noah, and the team.

But sadly, this is not just a pointless stretch of games in terms of record, but also evaluation.

The Bulls will be phoning it in, not running plays on offense or giving an effort on defense, and it's likely they'll see a few opponents who will be doing the same. Heck, Curry and Chandler had a great stretch run together in a similar environment...it's a loosely-played style of basketball that's more towards the playground than professional end of the hoops spectrum.

If certain players thrive, it shouldn't be viewed with much encouragement. Not discouragement either, except perhaps at the idea that more sensible rotation decisions could've been made earlier when the games still mattered.

Where inadvertent tanking happens.

This is it. A loss here means finally the playoff talk stops.

Or as My Man Sam put it in his final Tribune column: "the must-not-lose-yet-again game"