What can I say but that I really like reading your posts. Yours and transplant's and Fat Jerry's and everyone else's. I'm not at all pushing the panic button. I say let Rose determine when he's ready to play again. He wants to be 110%, which is as much a state of mind as a physical thing. Pushing him against what's in his heart is what was done to Marcus Fizer and we know how that turned out (ruined his career). Everything I've seen from the guy is that he's a fierce competitor. I'm sure he'd rather play than fuck the owner who's fucking him (by sitting out his entire contract). I think it's not GarPax, but GarPeriod. The team's fortunes drastically improved when Pax threw a punch at Vinnie and was kicked upstairs (instead of being fired as he should have been). The basketball decisions, given the handicap put on him by management, have been solid if not spectacular. We may have given up Asik for nothing, but we also aren't letting our leading scorer walk season after season (as we saw with Rose, Crawford, Curry, Gordon). The carrot and stick thing is drafting LMA and trading him for Tyrus. The "p-p-p-potential" is the carrot. Can't wait for (whenever) when we'll really be good!
I suspect that I'm the one that pressed the panic button. While it's true that posse members speaking out of turn is fairly routine, Reggie isn't merely a posse member and he's not even just Derrick's brother. He's Derrick's manager and is paid to represent him. I agree with Denny about letting Derrick determine when he's physically and mentally ready. I mean, what's the alternative. However, if as RRose said, the quality (or lack thereof) of Derrick's teammates is a big factor in delaying Derrick's return, I have a very big problem with DRose. I disagree with just about all of Denny's shots at Paxson, but we've been through that before.
Reggie is saying, "Derrick is doing his part. He's busting his ass to rehab. Management wants him on the court to boost ticket and merchandise sales. Yet what is management doing? The moves they made to put a quality team around Derrick when he does return are pathetic." You disagree with me that Pax punched Vinnie? Or that he cut Corie Blount too late for him to be picked up by a contending team? Or that when the President of the company punches an employee that it could result in a devastating lawsuit (hence he should be fired)? On Fizer: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...zer-fred-tedeschi-general-manager-john-paxson Cartwright was fired 5 days later. I'm not even reading very much into this to say that Pax told Cartwright he was on the bubble and he'd better change his mind about playing Fizer or else.
Yes...as I recall it was reported as more of a shove. I vaguely recall this, but recall it as being more of an unfortunate oversight than any sort of big deal. In the overall scheme of things, getting all exercised over this comes across to me as reaching. Yeah, I was an HR exec so I'm not completely insensitive to this one. However, "devastating lawsuit" is a little over the top IMO. In terms of common ground, it seems clear from reports that Paxson was physically intimidating with Del Negro, but did no physical damage. Assuming that it was a first offense, a formal warning and possibly mandated anger-management counseling, rather than termination, would have been indicated. I don't know what to say about Fizer. I remember he was a former player of Tim Floyd's and a high 1st round pick by Krause. I remember being disappointed by the fact that he wasn't very good at NBA basketball. The idea that Paxson ruined Fizer's career is either brand new to me or the entire concept is so old that I've forgotten.
Wow. Fizer was drafted and forced to play out of position at SF. Cartwright finally played him at PF and the guy rocked for us. In 2002-2003, he was putting up a 17.9 PER for us, and basically made Donyell Marshall redundant. Not only was he putting up that 17.9 PER, but his arc was the opposite of CJ last season. In other words, Fizer started out real slow and came on a lot stronger than that 17.9 over 2/3 of the games he played to get his averages up to that point. Fizer blew out his knee and missed the 2nd half of the season. Fizer was in no way ready to play in November of 2003. Cartwright wouldn't play him. I realize the KC Johnson/Tribune article doesn't remind you of what happened back then, but the stories are out there, the dates verifiable, and the story cannot be denied. It seems if you love Paxson, you ignore these kinds of things. I get it. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...rcus-fizer-bulls-general-manager-jerry-krause So 9 months later you had new GM Paxson wanting to make playoffs, fighting with Cartwright who didn't want to play Fizer too soon. Paxson won. This RealGM wiretap article says Fizer was expected to miss 5 games on November 9 (10 days before Cartwright "changed his mind") with an inflamed right knee (the same one as his ACL tear). http://basketball.realgm.com/wireta...rich_Johnson;_Fizer_and_Mason_on_injured_list After limping through half a season on a gimpy knee, Paxson did not extend a QO to Fizer, making him a UFA. This was right before he had to undergo a 2nd surgery on the bad knee. http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/169177/Knee_surgery_may_be_next_obstacle_for_Bulls_Fizer Paxson is obviously not a people person.
FWIW when I said "PANIC button" I was referring to the general tone of Bulls nation everywhere, and not your posts in particular. I think the last part of your post pretty much gets to the heart of it. Obviously it's a good idea to let Derrick take his time getting ready. For the most part I find myself trying to understand Derrick's point of view, but am unable to find common ground. We had the best record in the NBA the last two seasons and made it to the ECF when he was healthy. The team has played at about a .600 clip without him over a stretch that's come close to 82 games. Not exactly chopped liver. So why the indignation? A few ideas: 1). Derrick has succumbed to the ego-centric worldview that seems to afflict most superstars. 2). Management has had a chance to make trades that Derrick wanted to happen but turned down due to financial reasons or risk aversion. 3). Derrick has a general feeling that the Bulls are about money first, and view him as a way to sell tickets, and this combined with #2 leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. These would describe Derrick's discontent in spite of our on-court performance.
I wrote about this recently... NBA players are generally good physical specimens and are athletic. It shouldn't be hard to get D-Leaguers and get them to play defense. The Bulls proved all along that they could put together some nice regular season records using that formula. The old Bulls saw the playoffs as when the "real season" began. Rose cannot do it all by himself. Deng and Rip are not ball handling wing types. There is no real help. Rose is pushing for the team to build itself for playoff victories instead of regular season.
