Jimmy Butler admitted Chicago and Miami have a dislike for each other, and he believes that intensifies the Bulls' hopes not to let the Heat three-peat. "That rivalry, it's crazy," Butler said. "They're the back-to-back champions and when you think three-peat, you think Chicago so we can't let that happen." Butler said the Bulls are not looking forward to watching the Heat receive their championship rings on Oct. 29, when the two teams are expected to open the season in Miami. "I don't think anybody wants to watch that on our team so we won't pay too much attention to it," Butler said. "They deserved it. They won a championship, definitely, but they got to deal with the Chicago Bulls for 48 minutes coming out right after that, they get their rings." Read more http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/14662/butler-bulls-cant-let-heat-three-peat
It certainly doesn't qualify as trash-talking, and it could have been said by any of a number of Bulls' vets, but I'm glad Jimmy spoke up. He's one of the Bulls' key guys now.
Someone who can take over games, put up 25 points and fill the stat sheet. I hear Bismack Byumbo said exactly the same thing. It must suck being champs and having that kind of target on your back!
Bismack Byumbo? The Bismack Byumbo? Sorry, just kidding, but what did Bismack Byumbo say, in what context and to whom? Oh, and while I'm asking why should anyone care what Bismack Byumbo says?
The road to the championship goes through Miami. They've proven they're the team to beat. That's all there is to say. To play for anything else is not eye on the prize.
I agree with this. However, I don't see it as a matter of matching specific individual players. Pardon the cliche, but it's a team game. Good thing 'cause Lebron James is in a class by himself as a player. Even conceding a full recovery by Rose, when last seen on a basketball court, Rose was not as good as James...no one was or is. The Heat are and deserve to be the favorite to win the title. According to the Vegas boys, the Heat are 2-1, the Thunder 4-1 and the Bulls 6-1. Sounds about right and I don't think anything the Bulls might have done this offseason would have changed these numbers much.
Press rose near half court and hope Jimmy can get the pass way above the key and make an offense out of it? I wouldn't bank on it. Press LeBron and he gets it to Wade. Good things likely to happen. That's why we need a Wade. Someone to make em pay if they use two or three guys to stop Rose. Noah's tornado shot from the top of he key ain't going to cut it. Deng dribbling the ball off his feet won't either.
I'm sure that this will shock you, but I think that you're overly negative about my favorite NBA team. However, until the Bulls prevail over the Heat in a playoff series, you own the day. This said, the "Deng dribbling off his feet" thing is an unfair cheap shot. One of Deng's strengths is ball security. I'd appreciate it if you'd drop this from your ample anti-Bulls rhetoric repertoire.
Maybe we want the same thing: championships. You're right. Deng stops fast breaks to keep from dribbling off his feet. So he doesn't turn the ball over. But nobody who watches games can find the Bulls' fast break to be really pathetic. The stats show how few there are, even with a healthy Rose. They don't count the 2-on-1 opportunities that stop with Deng or Jimmy or Korver simply picking up the ball near half court after a couple of dribbles.
I'm not banking on it. But I don't think you can dismiss it either, right? Jimmy is one of those types of players -- the athletic freaks who are already somewhat productive and coming into their own. You just never know how they turn out. They're notoriously hard to project. I look at him like I look at Serge Ibaka, Derrick Rose, Gerald Green, Josh Smith, John Wall and Deandre Jordan.
Is he really athletic relative to other SG/SFs? I think he makes up for it's with effort and good shot selectiin and overall BB IQ. Correct me if I'm wrong.
In all honesty, he's much more athletic than I thought he was when the Bulls drafted him. When he goes up for a dunk his head almost hits the backboard, and he's a fast twitch athlete. Very strong too. This is actually one of the reasons why I'm optimistic about Jimmy's potential: he really is a very good NBA athlete. And he's got the IQ and hustle. I think he's a legitimate MIP candidate.
I agree with this in principle, but I'd modify it a little bit. We probably don't have to have a Dwayne Wade. We need a guy who can handle the ball, score points, and not be a liability on defense so we can play him at the end of games. Dwayne Wade would be great, but the Bulls might be better off finding themselves a Jason Terry or a Ben Gordon.
Yeah, I think following Butler has made me change my definition for what is an athletic swing man. He doesn't have ideal length and I think there may be faster guards than him, though he's certainly very quick. Butler excels through being stronger and having better balance than any other two guard. I never realized how important those elements were for backcourt players. When I think back, mid and late career Michael Jordan kinds of fits that profile too, though Jordan was long for the position.
