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Say It Ain't so, Phil!

tknup — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 02:40:35 +0000

Phil Jackson has said he will coach one more year. The 2009-2010 will be it for him. He has hd 2 hip surgeries and few other things that have just made it harder to go to work everyday.

I always liked Phil Jackson. He never went overboard on the bench. The even tempered coach has had a way to handle all caliber of players including the stars like Jordan and Bryant.

With this retirement, the contract of Kobe Bryant looms large. His contract ends after this year. Will he bolt?

Yes, he will go to Boston or New York, in my opinion, depending on the salary cap issue.

Meet Your Next NBA champions!

tknup — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:50:00 +0000

Utah Jazz: They’ve held down the fort through the season’s first half (25-17) pretty well, which is impressive considering they haven’t had their best players healthy at the same time. Between Deron Williams’ ankle and Carlos Boozer’s hamstring, as well as several other less prominent injuries, Utah has relied on its superior depth to carry it through the first half.

Boozer could be back for the season’s final month or two, which would be a huge boost. And even if he isn’t, Williams is back to playing like the Williams of old, and it’s showing in the Jazz’s recent results. Despite the injuries, the Jazz are also defending better than they ever have in the post-Stockton-Malone era, ranking 10th in defensive efficiency.

Utah has been as high as No. 5 in the Power Rankings and is currently No. 9 even without Boozer; should he come back, I’d still argue this is the one team that can legitimately say it can match the Lakers talent-wise and come out of the West.

Merry Christmas, Scott Skiles, you're fired!

tknup — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:20:54 +0000

Nice.

What a way to treat an employee. Especially since GM John Paxson call Skiles a friend. Sure I know it is a business. But Paxson was quoted as saying he is not going to fill the coaching position until AFTER the season. They will use an interim (Pete Myers) for the remaining season.

SO, why couldn’t Paxson appeared to have heart and not do the firing on Christmas Eve. I could have waited a few days. I know, business is heartless and this is the epitome of it.

John Paxson, you are the TOOL of the WEEK.

Bulls clearly outmatched by the Celtics

admin — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 05:56:01 +0000

As I sat and watched bits and pieces of the Bulls and Celtics game tonight, I couldn’t help but realize that these two teams are on COMPLETELY different levels. It’s like a AA school playing a A school. Or a D1 team going up against a D3 team. The Celtics had better athletes, better shooters, better ball handlers, bigger guys, and so on. Boston jumped out to a quick 56-41 halftime lead and the Bulls could never get any closer in the 2nd half. The Bulls ended up losing 107-82.

Guys just didn’t show up tonight in Boston. Hinrich with 2 points and 2 assists? Deng with just 8 points? A. Gray turning in the best performance of the night? How bad is Joakim Noah? Ahhh, it’s going to be a long year for the Bulls. They fall to 9-15 as the Celtics improve their league best record to 21-3. This leads to the question… Are the 2008 Celtics going to challenge the Bulls 72-10 mark? Possibly…

Where's Ben Gordon?

tknup — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:19:30 +0000

Ben Gordon was awful for the Bulls again, going 3-of-9 for eight points. He’s having a terrible December to go along with his terrible year, so I am benching him in all my fantasy leagues until something changes. He’s scored 13 or less in six of his last eight games as the nightmare continues. A spot off the bench could be just what the doctor ordered.

As if that’s not enough to think about, fantasy refugee Tyrus Thomas is back in the Bulls’ rotation again. He had 10 points, six boards, four assists, two steals and three blocks last night, which is exactly the type of line that had me so excited a month ago. But the kid’s minutes have been all over the place this season. He bottomed out after a pair of benchings on Dec. 7 & 8, but has gotten 20-plus minutes in two straight, which would have been three straight had he not gotten into a fight with Troy Murphy (which led to an ejection, followed by a suspension). Even after the suspension, Scott Skiles went back to him last night for 23 minutes. Really, that’s all we’re asking for here, is 20-plus minutes per game. Many owners will be gun shy about picking Thomas up again, but the numbers don’t lie.

The Bulls travel to Boston on Friday, then return home with Houston on Saturday.

This is bad news for the Bulls (8-13). So far this season, they are 0-5 when playing the second leg of back-to-back nights.

The first four times it happened, they averaged 77.3 points and never shot better than 38 percent from the field.

During their fifth loss in a back-to-back, the Bulls scored 102 points at Indiana, but allowed the Pacers to score 97 in the final three quarters.