Seriously.

I don't care if the entire team was playing with one leg. I don't care if our line-up consisted of Gray, Griffin, Nichols, Viktor, and Jameson. I don't care if we were coached by Tim Floyd's chubby little cankle.  I don't care if Marcus Fizer came out of retirement and brought a gimpy J-Will on a mini-moped with him. There is no excuse for losing to this Minnesota club.

If, at any pont during tonight's game, we are losing by more than five, I will boo.

And I think McHale should get some slack for taking what looks like was the second best offer for KG.  He turned down the best offer when he could have obtained the exact same package plus the #5 pick, missing his opportunity to pair his youngsters with a Noah.  Al Jefferson is better than the Bulls impressive offer of Deng, Chandler, and Thomas, if that even was offered.  I know you couldn't pry Al Jeff from Minnesota if you offered McHale that same package today.  Just imagine what that team would be today had McHale not dealt Brandon Roy for Randy Foye.

Tonight is still a must-win game.  A playoff appearance is not wasted if the young guys are able to develop into signficant contributors by season's end.  That will be a different team than we see today and that we've been accustomed to seeing, and coupled with our existing core, or whatever assets they may bring in a trade, the Bulls could be a newly dangerous team come playoff time, if they can just get in.  

Last time I heard that stat from a team playing the Bulls in the UC, it was the Knicks....and we all know how well THAT turned out.

So that, coupled with the Wolves winning 3 of their last 4 -
Not to mention the Bulls being without almost their entire "core"...

The word yikes comes to mind.

finally, a bulls game i'd like to go out of my way to see... unfortunately i'm in atlanta this week so i'm relegated to watching the hawks/suns game... yippee.

i hope noah comes thru with 18/10, and thomas gets some solid minutes for a double double.

kirk's recent production is interesting in that it shows that he can be a scoring guard when needed, which brings into question gordon's importance to this team next year as a cap gobbling undersized defensive and dribbling liability at shooting guard (CGUDADLASG for short).  in an ideal world, we could unload ben and ben for a player like kidd this year.  kidd's making about $20m for 1.5 more years, but his production and leadership could get this team kickstarted again.  this is not saying the nets would even want ben and ben... they already have a rebounding center who can't shoot free throws, and a shooting guard who doesn't give a damn.

go bulls.

noc:
2004 - 1.2/ 29%
2005 - 2.9/ 39%
2006 - 3.9/ 38%
2007 - 4.9/ 35%

deng:
2004 - 1.9/ 26%
2005 - 1.0/ 26%
2006 - 0.0/ 14%
2007 - 0.3/ 40%

deng is always commended for his good fg%, but he's a small forward that rarely steps outside the 3pt line.  in the past 3 years, you would think that he would have expanded his range to make himself more valuable by being able to spread the defenses.  it's actually the opposite in that it seems he has regressed.  he is an above average slasher and jump shooter, but until he can step out beyong the 3pt line, his true value as a small forward (or even a slow shooting guard matt) will never be realized on a teamwide level.

am i saying that noc is better than deng?  no, they are 2 different players that offer different skill sets at the 3.  but i hardly think noc is deserving of the perpetual thrashing he tends to receive here.  and if the deng supporters feel that noc is expendable, how about hearing an analysis on why deng can't shoot a three?  

i would still like to see deng put on 25 lbs and become a back to the basket/ slashing power forward....