pissed (tell me you don’t know why) – bulls v. celtics – game 5

well that sucked.  i don’t know what could be done to make it better.

[PICTURE OF BLOODY BRAD MILLER AND KIRK HINRICH COMING SOON]

brad miller is (UNOFFICIALLY) flagrantly fouled

here’s a thought, someone with a lot more money than i have should put out an ad series: “nba playoffs – where shi*#y officiating happens.”

don’t get me wrong.  i’m not saying the bulls got screwed over start to finish.  it was more or less equally bad for both sides.  but it hurt the bulls in the end because they got the bad calls last.

look, i think all most of us want is for the games to NOT be decided by the referees.  i believe it’s hard being an nba ref.  so, what i demand as a fan is that they call the game consistently.  again, will it be easy? of course not.  but that has to be the goal.  it almost never seems like it is to me.

sometimes one team seems to get the benefit of the doubt.  it could be because that team is a more veteran team or did a better job complaining to the league offices after the last game (or randomly complained that two of the officials at the last game were chicagoans – stupid celtics).  OR, it could be one player gets the benefit of the doubt because he’s the most talented person on the floor, influencing refs to avoid calling fouls on him and rush to call fouls against him.  OTHER TIMES, the officiating crew on a particular night just refuses to call things consistently, regardless of which player or team they’re calling against.  this last case is what occurred in the bulls game tonight.

CONSTANTLY picks, shooting fouls, blocking fouls or charging that occurred or didn’t to some extent were being called in exactly the opposite manner one or two plays later.  you couldn’t help but believe that whichever team or team’s player RECENTLY did the best job of complaining earned that team the right to get a “make up” call soon thereafter.  REGARDLESS of legitimacy.

all i’m saying is, why aren’t nba officials held to the same IDEAL standard as the home plate umpire in an mlb game?  we know everyone is human and has different judgments, vision, opinions, etc.  what we demand out of our umpires is that when the ball is up and in at a given spot and called for a ball against one player, every pitch in that location is called a ball for the rest of the game.  does it always happen?  of course not!  but that is the widely accepted standard.

the thing that drives me crazy about my beloved nba is that this consistency consistently isn’t expected, certainly doesn’t occur, and doesn’t even seem to be hoped for anymore by nba commentators and analysts.  i could give you quotes from nba writers i correspond with defending the refs.  well, defending might not be the right word.  it’s more that they tell me, “yeah, it’s messed up.  so what would you do about it?  david stern has nothing either.”  i say, “NOT GOOD ENOUGH.”

we know from the tim donaghy scandal, these guys make somewhere in the $200K per year range (i have no idea why).  that amount is good enough to force them to work 300 days or so per year (anybody who disagrees is free to switch jobs with me, i’ll do yours, believe me, especially if it is watching nba games).  if they don’t like it?  what was that other high paying job that refereeing basketball games made you qualified for again?  oh yeah, that’s right, nothing.  work your ass of for this money or walk away. it’s your choice and that’s what we (should) demand.  you’re not just influencing the 30 players or so in the stadium that night.  you’re influencing the emotions of millions of fans.  you have to work for that right.  it is not, nor should it ever be, a given.  when they aren’t officiating, make them study tape, watch pickup games, i don’t know, anything to get better.  hell, bottom string PLAYERS make less than that and are CERTAINLY held to higher standards (except for brian scalabrine who is in the league only so the moronic celtics fans DESPERATELY want to BELIEVE they have an irish person [i have no idea if he has irish ancestry or not] on their team).  the point is, DEMAND BETTER.  i just don’t see the nba doing it.

someday i’ll learn.  as of today, i can’t quite give it up.

P.S. – what happened to KG?  there was a time i believed he was the ideal nba player.  he really cared about winning.  he was the consummate pro.  now?  he’s a little other word for a female dog.  end of game 1 when the celtics were losing to the “lowly” bulls? he couldn’t stand it and ran to the locker room out of the public eye.  end of game 5?  ONLY ONCE HE KNEW they were going to win, was he on some BS.

so you're yelling at ben gordon because he's playing hurt and you're not?

P.S.S. – sorry for all of the parentheses today.  i was in the mood to not care.

Trade! Nocioni and Gooden for Miller and Salmons

Bulls get Brad Miller and John Salmons for Nocioni, Gooden and Simmons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3916703

This is bittersweet. We were all excited for Amare, which even if you don’t like him, was a tantalizing possibility. Then that falls apart and we get this. Meh.

My snap reaction is that this trade will help the Bulls win more games this season and next than they would have, but it won’t take them anywhere special. I have to assume the thinking is make the playoffs to get Derrick Rose that much needed experience early on in his career.

I’m going to miss Noce though. I’m going to have to buy a new Bulls jersey. Sam Smith wrote multiple times this season – and I noticed on my own watching TV – that Nocioni seemed oddly frustrated all season. I think the losing was finally getting to him. He was a winner in Spain and on so many Agentine national teams that I think it got him down. It’s sad too because he’s not going to be winning in Sacramento.

K.C. Johnson also noted in multiple mailbags that Nocioni was far and away the most popular player amongst his teammates.

Other thoughts are that Aaron Gray’s minutes are gone, Joakim Noah will get way less PT which may very well hamper his recent improvement, and any thoughts of re-signing Ben Gordon are long gone. Miller is signed through next year at around $13 million. Unless another trade is made to dump salary (Hinrich to Minnesota for expiring contracts?), there’s nothing left for Ben.

Check back for more information and reactions in the near future.

Trade rumor frustration

I have to admit, I’m getting pretty sick of this.

Look, I was on the fence about the whole rumored Amare deal in the first place. However, how many years in a row can the Bulls be on the verge of getting a quality big at the trade deadline only to have it fall through.

First it was KG, then it was Gasol and finally Stoudemire. You know all those attractive, young assets on the Bulls roster that keep them in these trade rumors every year? Yeah, well it seems like they’re going to be NBA veterans by the time anything gets done.

Now this morning there’s some rumor about a three way trade with Toronto and Phoenix. Tell me why in the world the Raptors would be interested in turning Chris Bosh into Amare Stoudemire? They both can opt out after next season. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, they’re similar talents. Why would Toronto want to make this lateral move in terms of talent and contracts while ending up with the less popular, higher maintenance guy with a previously injured knee? Not happening.

Finally, the thing that drives me crazy every year, is how the Bulls continue to lose assets for nothing. Expiring contract are always valuable and have become insanely valuable this season. Make something happen. So Paxson is stepping down, well someone else has to do it. Get it done.

Tyson Chandler turned into P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith who turned into . . . nothing.

Knicks starting PG, Chris Duhon? Nothing.

Ben Wallace and Joe Smith were turned into Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes and Cedric Simmons. Now Gooden (and Simmons, but who cares) is on the verge of turning into nothing at the end of the season when he can leave as a free agent. Hughes might be a valuable chip next year with his expiring contract, but based on past non-moves, we don’t have much reason to be optimistic.

Oh yeah, and Ben Gordon is an unrestricted free agent this summer too. He can’t be traded without his consent this season because he’d lose his Bird Rights, so it’s too late to do anything about it. I’ve read rumors the Thunder are holding a spot and money for him. With the way negotiations have gone with the Bulls the last two years, I get the feeling Gordon would take less money in order to get out of town.

Good times.

At least there’s always Derrick Rose.

Fantasy Conundrum

I’m going to write about fantasy basketball today for a few reasons:

1. – It’s fun to play and I don’t mind saying that I am dominating my league.

2. – The main source for this site is to serve as an outlet for me. I have more passionate Bulls fans in my life right now than I’ve had in the past. That change leads to my frustration over not being able to share my thoughts less frequently bubbling over into a blog post. However, I still don’t have any fantasy basketball friends or family members. Hence this post.

3. – I have a conundrum right now and I need your help.

Here’s what my roster looks like:

I can change my roster daily and don’t run out of eligible games. Therefore, one of the objectives is to never have a player with a game that night that I can’t fit anywhere on my active roster.

As you can see, I only have two players who qualify as SGs on my team currently. The Bucks’ Ramon Sessions is currently available and I want him, bad. He qualifies as a SG/PG, which makes him even more valuable since I could slide him in at several spots. He’s taken over for the injured Michael Redd, so he’ll finally be able to take the consistent production he’s provided all year and combine it with big, starter’s minutes.

I’m tempted, very tempted, to add him to my roster in place of Tyson Chandler. Chandler has been painfully inconsistent all year. On top of inconsistency, I drafted him far higher than I should have because I’ve been a fan since his Bulls days. That draft day mistake has kept me feeling bitter about him all season and looking for an excuse to get him off my team.

I’m further tempted by the fact that my league only has one position that is devoted solely to C. However, my roster features five players that qualify for that one spot. Logic would dictate dumping at least one of them, especially one that isn’t a C/PF, for an SG. See, PGs, SGs, SFs and PFs are more valuable that Cs because each can play in five different spots. If it’s a PG, he could play the PG, G, or any of the three UTILs. A C can only play four spots. I should lower my number of Cs, no?

The problem is that I drafted or acquired mostly outside shooting Cs, thinking that they add more. You get 3s, still get rebounds, often more points than back to the basket kind of guys. This strategy has helped me lead my league in points and assists, but has me sitting six out of ten in blocks, making that by far the weakest category I’m competing in. Now, can I afford to give up Tyson when I desperately need blocks?

I should mention that my league is head-to-head. The standings via category are mostly useful as a general idea of what I’m accomplishing week-to-week.

Here’s where I stand in each category:

FG% – 7 of 10 – I’ve simply conceded this category. Can’t win ‘em all.
FT% – 4 of 10
3PM – 3 of 10
Reb – 2 of 10
Ast – 1 of 10
Stl – 1 of 10
Blks – 6 of 10
Pts – 2 of 10

Like I said, I’m conceding FG% because I’ve been consistently bad enough at it that I won’t win there. My team is mostly guards and long-range shooters. Too late to change that and I’m not going win the percentages that way. Plus, I’m doing well enough in most other areas to get over it.

So do I go for Sessions, who I know would help me, but in categories in which I’m already ranked in the top three? Or stick with the frustrating Chandler and be forced to swallow some unecesary DNPs?  On top of everything else, Chandler has been hurt lately and Sessions is one of the most added players in ESPN leagues in the recent past.  Will Chandler come back stronger than before?  Will someone else in my league jump on Sessions and make me regret my inaction for the rest of the season?  These are the pains and joys of fantasy basketball.

Then there’s always Lamar Odom, another candidate primed for a great production increase with Bynum going out. I could lose him instead?

I think writing this has convinced me to sit tight for the moment, but boy, Sessions is tempting, especially considering I just found out Andrew Bogut is out for two months . . .

Bulls beat Knicks and Basketball Business

I went to the game last night.  I walked there from my apartment.  The weather was awful and I had a complete layer of ice on by the time I got to the stadium.

Fun game but it would be nice if the Bulls even tried to play defense.  Fortunately the Knicks don’t play any either so it all worked out in the end.  Drew Gooden had a great game, Larry Hughes was surprisingly solid again.  Let’s hope he’s playing himself into a trade.   As for Gooden, I’m starting to hope the Bulls re-sign him after this year.  He likely/hopefully won’t be hugely expensive and he’s very productive if not consistent.  He’s a likable guy and his facial hair is sure to entertain.  I don’t see the downside really.  Plus, if they let Gooden and Ben Gordon walk I think the Bulls would average about 65 points per game.

Chris Duhon added a very nice game to what has so far been a very nice season for him.  I’m glad for him because I never thought he got a fair chance in Chicago and never understood why so many Bulls fans were haters (eh hem blogabull).  Last year he was playing hurt when Ben Gordon among others was milking a minor injury in order to avoid risking some poor stat games.

There were problems with the Bulls last night other than defense, unfortunately.  I’m no coach, but they seemed to avoid running any set offense a bit too much for my taste.  I don’t mean that they were pushing the ball too much, but instead that when they did get into the half-court the plan seemed to be that they’d just see what developed.  Against a team with half a defense I think Chicago could have been blown out last night.

Also, Thomas and Sefolosha did not play at all.  Sefolosha not playing why I’m really hoping they’re trying to showcase Hughes for a trade.  As many have pointed out in the world of Bulls fans and followers, the team needs to figure out who works around Derrick Rose for the long term.  I assume they already know Larry Hughes is not in that group.  However, even if he is in that group, they still need to carve out time to figure out whether or not Sefolosha can be.  He simply hasn’t played enough so far this season to know.   The same goes for Thomas except he has seen more time than Thabo.  Finally, these two not playing against the Knicks is even more frustrating because they would have matched up perfectly with a very small New York team.

It just seems like Vinny is still figuring out how to coach in general, not just in the NBA, while simultaneously preventing some of his young players from getting development/entitlement minutes in a season that holds a 7th seed and first round loss at best.  It’s just frustrating, that’s all.

**************************************************************

I wish somebody would pay me to be knowledgeable about the NBA.  Not about basketball in general, but just this league.  I wouldn’t want to travel around as a beat reporter explaining what happened or to try to coach rich athletes with big egos.  Instead somebody should pay me just to be a general reference about anything to do with the NBA.  That would be fun.

The reason I bring up this fantasy is that I found a very extensive, awesome and interesting FAQ document about the NBA salary cap today.  I was very pleased with myself when I discovered that I already knew basic versions of the answers to pretty much all 106 of the Qs on the FAQ list.

NBA Salary Cap FAQ
www.cbafaq.com

It’s worth checking out if you’re almost ridiculously obsessed with (I’m going to be purposely annoying the) “The Association”.

This web site also pointed me to some pretty cool other resources:

Patricia’s Various Basketball Stuff
http://www.eskimo.com/%7Epbender/index.html

A fun resource up updated stats, links and information about the current NBA season and past seasons.

The NBA Players Association
http://www.nbpa.com/

You can read the entire Collective Bargaining Agreement if you want.  It has other content at least I find interesting as well.

RealGM’s CBA and Basketball Business Forum
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=4

A venue in which to discuss all things to do with NBA business that features some very knowledgeable participants.  Worth a look and some time.  People will answer your questions.

If anybody else out there has other similar links that you’ve found useful or interesting, please let me know.

Gordon accepts one-year qualifying offer

Ben Gordon, up against a deadline, reportedly signed the one-year qualifying offer of $6.4 million late last night.

This is better than an extended hold out and worse than just about anything else.

Gordon is now in position to leave the Bulls at the end of the season with nothing to show for the former #3 overall pick. Sigh.

Here’s how I imagine this season going:

Ben is a true professional. A short professional by NBA standards, but a professional nonetheless. Therefore, he will show up and work hard. Accept the 6th man role he will be given yet again. Only this year the Bulls have two too many guards in the back court and a rookie coach. All of the guards’ minutes will vary greatly and many different rotations will be tried over the course of the season.

None of the guards will be very happy with this situation because, as I’ve written before, NBA players seem to want minutes and a set role more than anything else (besides money). However, Ben Gordon will have reason to be even more upset than the others. He is going to have to depend on a big year in order to get big money as an unrestricted free agent this summer. The overflow of guards on the Bulls roster is going to make having that big year extremely hard for him. At some point in the season we’re going to hear some grumbling from Ben. It won’t be too bad because, as I’ve said, he’s a pro. But we’ll hear some. His situation will be too desperate to unfold otherwise.

The biggest problem, in my opinion, with the above scenario is that it will cause Gordon to resent the Bulls more than he probably already does. This resentment would mean that when he’s shopping around for contracts this summer, if the Bulls and another team offer him similar money, you have to assume he’s going with the other team. Not only would that decision cost the Bulls their best scorer, it would also leave them with nothing to show for a high draft pick who also turned out to be a very talented guy.

That’s not how you want to run a championship NBA team.

Ben Gordon yet to practice

OK, this this situation is just short of the definition of “no new news”

Ben Gordon has yet to practice through the first day and a half of training camp.  He says he’s decided whether he’ll sign the qualifying offer or the 5 or 6-year deal being offered him.  Rumors on the internet say it’s the qualifying offer.  Any hard evidence has yet to emerge.

I’m excited the Bulls are starting to play.  I’m disappointed there’s no resolution to the Ben Gordon situation.  All in all, no real news of note yet from this preseason other than a lack of developments.

Poor (for now) Ben

Interesting post by Kelley Dwyer about Ben Gordon’s situation. I agree with most of it, especially the hypothetical situation where Gordon could go to Europe for one year, make more than he would here, and then come back as a free agent to a Bulls team that has cleared out space for him via a Hinrich or Hughes trade. Found, as usual, via TrueHoop. I really have to start visiting Ball Don’t Lie more on my own.

Again, via TrueHoop, here is a nice breakdown of Luol Deng’s first performance for the British team this year. He finished with 30 but fouled out in the closing moments of regulation in a game that went to overtime.

What to do about Ben?

The situation between the Bulls and Ben Gordon has really gotten sad and the worst part is that there’s no good solution.

If I ran the Bulls I’d offer him a contract averaging $10.1 million a season which would allow him to save face by not losing annual money over last year’s offer. This deal however would still allow the franchise to “win” the negotiations as it would neglect to make Gordon the teams highest paid player as his agent has demanded he become. This deal would of course require the Bulls to go over the luxury tax threshold, but only temporarily. It would be vital for them to figure out some salary-dumping move later in the season in order to get back under.

The Bulls would not make such an offer because they don’t want to risk ever having to pay the luxury tax. It’s probably good business not to back themselves into a corner the way this proposition would. However, it’s not going to be enough for the fans. The team is going to make money either way, it’s just a question of how much. The Bulls are and have for years been one of the leagues most profitable teams.

Another reason they won’t go for an offer like this is, as far as I can tell, they really don’t believe they need Ben Gordon very much and are using the luxury tax thing as an excuse for why they can’t offer him more money. This line of thinking is, in my opinion, dead wrong. In that he’s a better shooter, Gordon is a better complement to Derrick Rose than Hinrich, both today and in the future. I’m not bashing Hinrich here.  I’d just love to see Gordon getting open threes after the lighting-quick Rose hits him on the arc while getting doubled penetrating the lane. Rose should turn out to have the ability to guard the opponent’s bigger guard while Gordon can continue to take the smaller guy. However, Hinrich is not a consistent enough scorer to make up for the lack of production that would result from losing Gordon. The Bulls would have a mighty weak offense next season unless Tyrus takes a big step or Larry Hughes magically remembers how to play team ball and shoot again. The Tyrus possibility is better than the Hughes, but not a sure thing by any means.

I sort of like the scenario described at the top of this page where Gordon would leave for a year, get the money he desires, and come back to money and a bigger role here. It’s not that the Bulls don’t want him on the team at all this coming season, but neither the team nor Gordon are in a position to make much happen on the trade market. Assuming they did sign him, there’s not enough playing time for all the guards. This Russia scenario would give the Bulls wiggle room to provide him with the money and tic he wants while letting young Derrick acclimate to the league in a rebuilding year of sorts. Only one problem. No way in hell Ben would come back to the Bulls after they let/forced him to go play in Europe.

Unfortunately, as of now there just is no good answer, either real or hypothetical. It’s just sad.

Bulls to start ‘08-’09 season against Skiles’ Bucks

No new interesting news.

A lot of outlets are forcing a story over the fact that the recently released 2008-2009 NBA schedule features a Bulls vs. Bucks opening for the Bulls.  This is potentially interesting because the Bucks are now coached by Scott Skiles.  Bah.  Seeing Rose and Vinny Del Negro start their Bulls careers will be much more interesting than Skiles back in the United Center.

Think about Scott Skiles and his time with the Bulls.  The man gave a less interesting interview than Lovie Smith and his, “We’ll all see the answer to that on game day” quotes.  While Skiles was often pleasantly candid, he was almost never emotional or exciting to hear from.  My guess is he likely would secretly relish a win on October 24th, but we won’t see or hear much of anything to let us know.

At least we have Olympic basketball coming up to take our minds off the nothingness of Bulls news right now.  (yes I stole the link to the schedule from TrueHoop)

Reinsdorf as owner of the Bulls

I just found (via blogabull) this outstanding post by Kelly Dwyer about Jerry Reinsdorf as the Bulls owner. Every Bulls fan needs to read it because if you don’t know this about Reinsdorf, you need to. It will shape how you view the Bulls organization.

I love the Bulls and the White Sox. Reinsdorf owns both. He is a fantastic baseball owner and a terrible basketball owner. I don’t have a source for this, but I’ve read multiple times that he said he’d trade all of his Bulls championships for one Sox World Series. This mentality is played out in how he spends on each of his teams.

Important points from Dwyer’s article/post:

Since Michael Jordan left the team in 1999, the
Bulls have been the league's most profitable franchise by far. The team
doesn't rake in money comparable to the Lakers or Knicks, but they don't spend
the same amount of money either. The team is swimming in profits.

This is hugely important. I believe that the more profits a team makes, the more it should spend. Not that it shouldn’t remain profitable, but there should be commitment to winning and spending is a part of that. Owners in any league that take advantage of their fans’ lack of knowledge or utter loyalty by not spending as much on their team as can be afforded don’t deserve to be owners and should be forced out of their leagues. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to be a Memphis Grizzlies fan.

You watch. The team has about seven and a half million
dollars to spend this summer before it hits the luxury tax, and though Ben
Gordon is worth about eight million a year, the team will find a way to worm
its way out of sending money to the team's leading scorer and hardest worker.

The Bulls don’t owe Gordon a contract because he’s their hardest worker. If he doesn’t fit, he doesn’t fit. I love Gordon but am not positive keeping him is the best move. That said, this situation will go down as Dwyer describes. It’s important to note that when it does, the Bulls will tell us they wish they could have got something done when really everything is going according to their plan.

The rookie salary scale was the best thing to ever happen to
the Bulls, because they can hold potential and promise in your face while
keeping eight figure contracts at arm's length, and by the time you've talked
yourself into believing that the lottery-derived hotshot from four years ago
has too many holes to retain, the Bulls have taken advantage, moved on, and
picked up another shiny piece (Derrick Rose!) for you to get distracted with.

Nothing else to say here. This is just the case.

And he has his guys. Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim NoahAndres Nocioni ... those are his guys. Scrappers. Plucky sorts. Reinsdorf is just
fine with a second round exit with a team that makes him money and reminds him
of the 1970 New York Knicks.
probably ... he doesn't mind it when his basketball braintrust drafts these
sorts, but he doesn't want to be the one handing eight-figure a year contracts
to them. Hinrich, Deng, Chandler,

It’s true. He wants the Bulls to make the playoffs (and win a championship for that matter) because then they are more profitable. The point is that he can build a playoff team without spending too much while it would take breaking the bank (or being extremely lucky over the course of several years) to win a championship. Given that he’s not going to break the bank and has to pay some players to give off the appearance of a team that’s trying to win, he only pays the guys he really likes. KC Johnson wrote today the Deng’s commitment to community and charity work was vital in his negotiations. While that commitment makes Deng a cool and great person, what does it have to do with whether or not he deserves the largest contract in team history?

Neither Dwyer nor I are saying the Deng signing was bad, just that it’s the same old smokescreen tactics from Reinsdorf. For that matter, Dwyer also admits that he could be and hopes to be wrong:

6). And if the Bulls
re-sign Gordon to a sizeable deal? If they pay the luxury tax?

I will dance to this song, repeatedly. I
will warm myself thinking about the possibility of the Bulls showcasing an
offense that is above average in offensive efficiency, at least by the year
2011.

And I will come on here and offer a mea culpa. But only if
they pay the luxury tax.

Seriously though, go read his entire post. Great, enlightening and I believe true stuff.

Go Sox! While I’ll continue to be frustrated by Reinsdorf’s handling of the Bulls, here’s to hoping that the Sox can hold on and make the playoffs. Their roster, by the way, features seven players who make over $10 million per year and an eighth making $9.5 million.