We have several position battles where guys will be fighting for a starting spot during training camp and the preseason. New acquisitions, PJ Brown, Adrian Griffin, Thabo Sefolosha, and Tyrus Thomas, will all be looking to find their role some in the starting lineup. The other main battle is at our small forward position with the proven Argentinean Andres Nocioni competing for the starting job against the former Blue Devil who has shown limitless potential in Luol Deng. I'm going to break down all of these position battles and tell who I think should be named starter and who should be on the bench. [IMGL]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/andres_nocioni.jpg[/imgl][IMGL]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/luol_deng.jpg[/IMGL]The first battle is one that many Bulls fans debate about. After putting up 20 points and nine rebounds a night in the playoffs, has Nocioni? His well rounded game makes him a huge factor in our team on both ends of the court. Luol Deng on the other hand, is another excellent young talent who has shown the potential to be a star in the league. After struggling the first half of the season due to off-season wrist surgery Deng was a huge factor in the Bulls second half revival. Here is how this battle breaks down. Offense: On offense, I give the slight advantage to Luol Deng. His shot from mid range is smooth as can be, and his athleticism allows him to get off shots that Nocioni would struggle with. Nocioni is a good shooter from beyond the arc who can make any three point shot when left open. He also will not hesitate to drive the ball when asked of him. His speed is not up to par with Dengs but he finds a way to get the job done. However, I would still go with Nocioni. Advantage: Luol Deng Defense: The winner in this category is Andres Nocioni by a good margin. Nocioni is one of the most physical defenders in the league who can get inside people heads. Some people have called him a dirty player simply out of frustration with his smothering defense. Deng is not slouch either, not many Skiles players are, but Nocionis natural physical nature gives him the edge. Advantage: Andres Nocioni Size: Every off-season you seem to hear about Deng growing a couple inches. Right now, he is about 69-610 according to published reports. However, in this category it is all about who would you rather have and for what. On the offensive end Deng uses, his height to his advantage with his length he is able to get shots up that some people would not be able to. On the defense end Nocionis size, is anything but a liability he does not shy away from contact. I have to say the two are equal in this regard. Advantage: Push Health: Both Deng and Nocioni have been relatively the edge however goes to Nocioni. Deng has suffered some injuries that have caused him to miss an extended period of time such as his wrist surgery at the end of his rookie season. Neither are guys who you will have to worry about every time they fall hard on the floor. Advantage: Andres Nocioni Potential: Potential wise Deng has far more potential than Andres Nocioni does. Nocioni came into the league ready to play after contributing to a gold medal winning Argentina squad, and playing at a high level of competition overseas for a number of years. Meanwhile, Deng came into the league after spending only one season in Duke and despite being a projected project has shown he was far more developed than people anticipated. The sky is the limit with Deng. Advantage: Luol Deng Experience: Experience wise Nocioni has the upper hand having been part of European basketball for a number of years before coming to the NBA as well as the gold medal squad Argentina had in last years Olympics. Advantage: Andres Nocioni With the squad the Bulls have right now its a built to win team, finals or bust, now or never. Which is why I would rather have Andres Nocioni starting at the small forward position (at least in the start) barring injury Deng has the potential to over take Nocioni for the small forward spot as the season progresses, but as of now Nocioni is the man. [IMGL]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/pj_brown.jpg[/IMGL][IMGL]http://www.nba.com/media/mediacentralns/tyrus_thomas.jpg[/imgl]The next position battle is at the power forward spot between the veteran PJ Brown and the second overall pick (4th overall technically but come on realistically) Tyrus Thomas out of LSU. After acquiring Ben Wallace via free agency the Bulls then proceeded to trade Tyson Chandler to the Hornets in exchange for PJ Brown and JR Smith (then traded again). Although, last season Andres Nocioni played the power forward role for the squad many expect that this year Thomas and Brown will operate it. Lets break down this battle. Offense: Tyrus Thomas wins the offensive part of the battle in my opinion. Although, many have stated that his offensive game is under developed and he is a projected, Tyrus Thomas has shown range out to the three-point arc during summer league play and the ability to drive the ball when the shot is not available. Not to take anything away from PJ Brown, a virtual double double man in his prime, Brown still has a lot of game left in him and his jumper is butter from mid to short range. Advantage: Tyrus Thomas Defense: Although, it was against college players Tyrus Thomas used his freakish athletic ability to shut down opponents. During the NCAA tournament his stellar defensive play against fellow lottery pick (and draft day trade partner) LaMarcus Aldridge was a big reason LSU was able to advance into the final four. Meanwhile, PJ Brown has built a reputation as being one of the best post defenders in the league over the last decade. Both are proven defensive studs, but Brown is proven it on a higher level. I dont know which side to take on this so the only manly thing to do is Advantage: Push Rebounding: PJ Brown has the clear advantage in this account. Brown has averaged a double double in the league for the better part of the last decade and is still going strong. His box out ability and ability to alter opponents shots while remaining in good position is as good as its ever been. Advantage: PJ Brown Size: PJ Brown is 610-611 and has the size of a big man in terms of weight. Tyrus Thomas still needs to put on more weight and at 69 does not have ideal height for a power forward. Thomas wing span allows him to play bigger than he actually is, but as far as size goes Advantage: PJ Brown Health: With PJ Brown getting up there in age his health is not as good as it use to be. Meanwhile, at the age of 19 Tyrus Thomas still has fresh legs, and has the work ethic to keep his body healthy for a long time. Advantage: Tyrus Thomas Potential: The winner for this part of the break down is obviously Tyrus. At 19 years old, he has loads of potential. Many people question his size, weight, position, etc. However, one thing everyone seems to agree upon is that he was the best athlete in this years draft class and has by far the most potential. The truth is we have no idea how good Tyruscan be. He showed glimpses of stardom at times last season during the NCAA tournament, but seemed just above average during the regular season. PJ Brown on the other hand is more than 30 years old and past his prime. Advantage: Tyrus Thomas Experience: PJ Brown may be past his prime but the experience he brings having played on championship caliber rosters in his days as a Heat is immeasurable one thing this team has lacked over the last couple of years has been veteran leadership on the court. Sure they have brought in some veterans in the past such as Corie Blount but most of them where past the point of being on court contributors PJ Brown is not. Advantage: PJ Brown This comes down to the same thing the Nocioni/Deng matchup came down to in my opinion we have a small window to win right away for say the next four years with one of the best defenders of our generation starting at center. Right now, you have to take proven players over potential at least at the start of the season. If during the course of the season an injury occurs or Tyrus shows he is ready to contribute right away, ends up overtaking Brown so be it. For now, I think PJ Brown is the man for the job however. That leaves me with this roster for opening day: PG- Kirk Hinrich SG- Ben Gordon SF- Andres Nocioni PF- PJ Brown C- Ben Wallace That's a very good team with an even balance of veteran leadership and incredible talented young guys. With Thomas, Deng, Duhon, Thabo, and Sweentney coming off the bench in our second unit we have a squad at might start on some NBA rosters. We are in my opinion the deepest team at the league from top to bottom. A team capable of winning 55-60 games imo.
I agree with both, I think Deng could potentially take over, but I do think he'll be a great 6th man. Last season when he came of the bench he did pretty well. And because we have a good chance to be a top team in the East, I think Brown will start because of his expirence.
I don't agree with that "Push" on the PF Defense. Would of thought it would be a no brainer to pick PJ. Tyrus hasn't proved anything to me yet and I think he'll struggle defensively at the start against 4's in terms of position and man defense. I don't doubt his shot blocking skills though.
I agree that Noc and Brown will start the season as starters. Deng and Thomas could possibly take over. The good thing is that we will be getting maximum effort regardless of who plays. We know that Deng, Noc, and Brown will give their all on the court as well as the rest of our players. Also, Thomas will be out to prove that he is NBA ready when he is on the court. Deng has started more games the last 2 seasons then Noc, but they both saw 20+ MPG and they both produced. I like the fact that we know that we will be getting production with either Deng or Noc starting.
When it comes to our SF, I love Noc, however, I think he's better suited to come off the bench. I love his energy, and I think that's more needed off the bench than as a starter. Deng will give us just as much offense, if not more than Noc. So, because of that, I think Noc would be better suited off the bench. However....I also don't want to lose his defense in the starting lineup. So, for me, that's a tossup. With Noc, we may get a little less offense, but his defense and energy are phenomenal. With Deng, we get more offense, and a little less defense. It's really a toss up, and I think they could go back and forth for a good part of the year before Skiles finally decides on a starter. With PF, it's no question that it's PJ Brown. He's the veteran and he'll give us lowpost offense that will help make us a more rounded offensive unit. However, I think, if by the AS Break, if Tyson is doing well in his minutes that he gets, I think there is a great chance that he could be pushed into the starting role. However, at the beginning of the year, I don't want him starting. I don't like the idea of throwing a young kid like him into the fire that quickly. Just cause he can dominate SL doesn't mean he can do it in the NBA. I think he's going to have to earn his minutes early on, and to me, it's obvious that PJ will be the starter on opening day. It's really not even a battle.
I agree with Moo about Deng vs Nocioni. Deng would suit better in the starting lineup because I think we'll need that offense more than defense. Having Hinrich, PJ and Wallace is enough defense in the starting lineup. Also Moo, I think you meant Tyrus not Tyson.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NaKz:</div><div class="quote_post">Also Moo, I think you meant Tyrus not Tyson.</div>Yup....that'd be correct. I am having some mad issues getting his name mixed up with Tyson Chandler....why must those names look so similar anyways?
In this one article Skiles said that our starting guys will be Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Ben Wallace which we all know . But it seems kind of weird that PJ Brown would not b included when everyone knows its going to b him unless Paxson has another move up his sleeve to get a power forward or maybe Deng and Noc will both be starting. If Paxson does get a decent starting PF b4 the season starts i feel Andres Nocioni will start because Luol Deng will bring more points off the bench. Also since we faced the Heat n the playoffs Andres Nocioni killed Antoine Walker and has the advantage of starting. If Paxson doesnt get a decent starting post-player then PJ Brown will be starting along with Luol Deng because we need some scorers other than Ben Gordon n the first quarter and Luol Deng will help him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">my one legged, blind grandma could kill Antoine Walker in basketball.</div> Wow she's amazing
I wouldn't call Walker useless. While he certainly takes some questionable shots and didn't shoot a particularly high percentage, he still filled his role on that team. He was one of the only legit three point shooters on that team, so when he was on, he opened things up down low for Shaq and Wade. Beyond that, his ability to hit the open jumpers forces the opponents PF to lurk out and guard him, also opening up the middle. So, while he's a far cry from his 20ppg days, he's not useless.
Antoine Walker is a solid offensive player, but he literally plays no defense. He even admitted it on television one night that it's not his thing and that he could care less about defending his opposition. He's very lazy, which is why he's just a bench player and Miami plays Udonis Haslem at the starting PF spot.
