I wasn't upset with Boozer, he was brutally honest. Profit first, playoffs is always the goal. I think he was saying we didn't have the horses even then, which is true in retrospect.
The more I look at it, the more I don't see the Anthony to the Bulls scenario as anything more than a theoretical possibility. This is the case even if Anthony and the Bulls should openly acknowledge their mutual interest. The inescapable truth is that Anthony can get tons more money by staying in New York...that's what's going to happen. This means that the Bulls are going to need to be a bit more creative in adding that elusive piece to their puzzle.
The Bulls can't express interest. It'd be tampering and the fine would hurt profits. I think they can talk to him after the season, though.
The Bulls interest isn't really the issue. They'd love to have Anthony on the team. If this is going to happen, Anthony's going to need to be super-interested in the Bulls, enough to make himself affordable to the Bulls. I don't see that happening.
TBF started a thread today with tweets and so on. Supposedly, Melo would take a contract starting at $18M. The losing in NY is not worth the money to him, supposedly.
I foumd this article to have a pretty lucid examination about the necessity of another superstar im prder ro contend. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...C4O1pkju-KxEh1vqQ&sig2=x4G9y76EnC9aLBp4r2gISg
Sorry, TB#1, but the BleacherReport amateur got it wrong. Take a look at NBA champs going back decades. You may find 1 or 2 that aren't top third of the league on offense. Great defense or not. The team we had that lost in the EC finals to the Heat was 20th out of 30th in PPG. The Heat? They were 8th on offense, 6th on defense. 7th and 4th the year after. And that Mavericks team had a number of superstars, albeit some were older. Shawn Marion and Caron Butler, for example. That Jason Kidd guy may end up in the hall of fame, too.
The Bleacher Report amater as opposed to us professionals? But yeah, sure. Offensive productivity is important. An offense and defense that combines an end result in scoring more points than the other guy equals a win and winning enough games to end with best of 7 in the finals equals a championship. One superstar plus scrubs or undeloped talent clearly can't do that or MJ would have another half dozen rings. I agree with the author though that there is mire than 1 way to skin a cat.
Useless stat. They were 30th in pace. Slowing the game down doesn't require skilled players. It does give opponents less possessions, so the defense appears better. ORtg would matter if the teams had 100 possessions. The bulls have ~80.
There is more than one way. The Pistons are pointed to as another way. They won A championship. They're the outlier. To emulate their strategy goes against what is demonstrably repeatable best practice. I also really might have the title to the bridge over the Chicago River that I'd sell pretty cheap.
Completely disagree...Surprise! Pace matters. The Nuggets, Lakers and Kings rank 11th, 12th and 13th in points scored per game. They're a combined 46 games under .500. They score a lot of points because they play at a very fast pace...they all suck. The 76ers are a hideous basketball team (.246 winning %), but play at the fastest pace in the league. This enables them to rank 18th in PPG. They are dead last (30th) in ORtg which reflects the fact that their offense really and truly sucks.
Guh. The Lakers are 29th out of 30th on defense. Denver is 28th. Sacramento is 27th. PPG. You have to be top 3rd of the league at BOTH offense and defense, or really close to it. Not 28th like our Bulls. Going backwards: Last year's Heat was 9th and 8th (offense and defense). Year before 7th and 4th. Mavericks were 11th and 10th. Lakers were 12th and 9th. Lakers were 3rd and 13th. Celtics 11th and 2nd. Spurs 14th and 1st. Heat 6th and 14th. Spurs 18th and 1st. Pistons 24th and 1st (the outlier) Spurs 12th and 3rd Lakers 3rd and 10th Lakers 3rd and 23rd (outlier the other way - all O, little D) Lakers 6th and 6th Spurs 13th and 3rd Bulls 9th and 3rd Bulls 1st and 6th Bulls 1st and 3rd Rockets 8th and 14th Rockets 13th and 5th Bulls 15th and 2nd Bulls 5th and 3rd Bulls 7th and 4th My goodness, you don't have to sacrifice offense to have a good defense, nor do you have to sacrifice by playing at a slow pace.
