We forgot a biggie. LeMarcus Aldridge traded for Tyrus Thomas on draft day. Thomas had his best year last season at 11/6, and it's looking like we may let him walk. On top of him not panning out (yet), looks like Taj is a way better player already.
Sorry, but Deng is a better player than BG and if you have to choose one and let the other walk, the bulls made the right choice. And a team built around Deng and BG making ~25 mil/year isn't going anywhere. The only way to fault the bulls on the BG deal is not trading him before he walked, since it seems pretty clear that management had made up their mind not to sign him to a bigger extension. This idea that more talent equals better team is ludicrous. Look at the clippers or the grizzlies for an example of what more talent gets you. Either of those teams has had more "talent" than the bulls have had over the last decade. It's not talent, it's how you play the game. There is nobody on that list worth even mentioning that would have made a significant difference over the last 10 years.
Look at the Lakers or Celtics if you want to see what more talent gets you. Hell, look at Atlanta, Cleveland, Miami, Orlando, Portland, Denver, and Phoenix. Then look at 5-4 Detroit, led by Gordon, Villanueva, a way over the hill Ben Wallace, and you'll see what having a couple of high talent guys gets you. Thing is, you need more than 2 - again, see Boston and the Lakers who have 4 guys of Gordon's caliber or better. You don't get more than 2 if you keep letting guys walk or trade them for corporate profit.
Let's be honest, the Celtics and Lakers have 4 guys with twice as much talent as BG, and none of the guys on the original list above have half as much talent as BG. So I'm not sure what you're getting at, or why anybody is worrying about the talent because there isn't much there. But I do wonder why BG and Wallace struggled so mightily a year and a half ago in Chicago. Villaneuva can't be the reason, can he? Could it be that Detroit with one exception, hasn't beaten anybody good yet, or really played many good teams yet?
I think they're not reaching my expectations for them because they're missing Rip and Prince. That's two players better than any two we have. I think they're doing extremely well without those two.
Ok, but the bulls, who have only played two teams with losing records and have a better record than the pistons while also losing a starter, are disappointing? And RIP and Prince were old when the season started, have seen their best days and aren't better this season than anybody on the bulls, and now Dumars isn't going to be able to get much for Prince and his bad back. And you like that teams future better than the bulls? I think you should be expecting more nights like this from your favorite player: Ben Gordon, SG 41 1-16 0-6 3-6 1 0 1 2 1 0 4 2 -13 5 This is the high water mark for their season.
Talk about cherry picking his one bad outing. With that one bad game, he's shooting 45%, 37% from 3pt, scoring 22.4 PPG, and 3.4 APG. How about the 5 games he's scored over 25, or the one over 30? And no, the Bulls aren't disappointing, they're playing like a .500 team which is the high end of my expectations for them.
Not cherry picking just pointing out the pattern. Last year BG had a bunch of big games early and a PER over 23 after the first 6 games and then it dropped like a rock. Same thing is going to happen this year.
So they had a shot at beating the 8-3 Mavericks, missing a 3pt shot to tie it with 1.9 seconds left. Pistons coach John Kuester said despite Gordon’s poor shooting night, the final play was designed to go to him. “I wanted him to have the last shot,” Kuester said. “Are you kidding? I have the utmost respect and confidence in Ben Gordon.” Gordon has been battling an illness the last few days and had played 42 minutes in Saturday’s win at Washington, but he didn’t make any excuses after the game. “I don’t know if it’s the flu or whatever it is over the last few days,” Gordon said. “That’s just part of the game. Everybody has to battle through that, especially this time of year. I just have to take care of my body, get my rest and be ready for next time.”
