Deng doubtful for Denver, Skiles goes with old folks

If he was taking a slap at the younger players, it was the bench players and not the starters, IMO.</p>

I am really beginning to wonder if management has lost the attention of the players. All the jib and hard work kinds of things have only paid out $$$ to Hinrich so far, and Paxson's comment about never paying the LT has to get these guys wondering who's going to go since there's not enough payroll to go around and keep everyone happy.</p>

The press hasn't helped, with their talk about the Bulls' need for post scoring - and Pax's comments all along in agreement. He's basically telling the team they're not good enough to win it all. Then there was the Kobe rumors and Pax didn't get out there and deny anything or otherwise reassure the players - until it was clear there was no deal. Again, telling the players that as constituted, this team isn't good enough.</p>

Then there's Skiles. I've warmed up to him a bit, but I still question whether Deng, Gordon, and even Hinrich have been held back from their potential. The drill sargeant schtick would get really old (to me) really fast - especially if the players aren't getting paid to take the abuse. The game has to be fun at some point for the players, it is after all, a game.</p>

We fans were rather patient with Paxson and Skiles as they tore apart the team and rebuilt it into something of their choosing/liking. In the process, we've seen the big contract dollars go to guys like Antonio Davis, Tim Thomas (who didn't even play for us), PJ Brown, and to a lesser degree Joe Smith. The one exception is Ben Wallace - a prize free agent signee. Yet he's in the mold of those other players (except Thomas), and they clearly demotivated him with their "our way or the highway" attitudes (headbandgate, etc.).</p>

Instead of consolidating depth in young players for a young veteran superstar like Gasol, we stood pat with the guys we had. We also shed talent for not much return, for the past few seasons (Curry, Chandler, Crawford) and replaced guys on the bench who could score (Piatkowski, Pargo, even Malik Allen) with guys who can't (Noah, Thomas, Griffin).</p>

Maybe you can go 4 on 5 on offense if you have a defensive talent like Wallace. To carry that to the extreme, you might play 8 on 10 when you consider the bench players. What I see in this team is we're playing 4 on 10 or 5 on 10.</p>

It ain't pretty.</p>

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Is Tyrus Thomas really one of the Bulls best BASKETBALL players? He was given the starting job coming out of training camp/pre-season and he clearly fell flat on his face. You can't expect the guy to play well in 1 out of 5 games and contribute to winning on a regular basis. Last night he did get plenty of opportunity to show his stuff, and he went 1-6 with 2 boards in mostly garbage time.</p>

I had high hopes for Noah, but he's not getting any burn. I never thought he would contribute as a scorer, except on put backs and a few foul shots, but he's seriously deficient as an offensive threat. Much more than I expected. It's tough to play him and Wallace at the same time because you don't really have to guard either of them and you can foul them if they get a scoring chance and take your chances on them making FTs.</p>

MikeDC has mentioned to me that the Bulls may well be missing PJ Brown, which is hard to fathom. The guy was simply not a very good player by the time we got him. Yet here we are looking for anyone to step up and shoot better than 40% from the field and grab 4 or 5 rebounds in 30 minutes and that guy is nowhere to be found.</p>

If I am puzzled by anything, it's the lack of PT for Joe Smith, or even why he's not been the starter all along. It seems like he has 4 out of 5 good games, can shoot better than 40% from the field, and certainly grab those 4 or 5 boards.</p>

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Maybe they miss PJ's leadership in the locker room right about now more than his production on the court. Having those vets around to help you through early season struggles is hard to replace. I don't think Ben Wallace can fill those shoes.</p>

They mentioned both Joe Smith and Adrian Griffin have tried to help the team bond during the Phoenix broadcast and the Clipper broadcast. Joe Smith had a dinner for everyone at his home in Phoenix and called out Ben Wallace. Griffin called for a players only meeting prior to the Clipper game. The commentators were wondering why wasn't someone in the starting lineup and a team captain taking the initiative instead?</p>

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I think Griffin is co-captain.</p>

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Smith and/or PJ isn't the issue. Face it, it's Wallace. He's only looked like something approaching the Big Ben of last season in one game (Clippers). I think you put this year's Smith on last year's team in place of PJ, and they win more than 50.</p>

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