What Are You Guys Worried About?

This thread has led me to a thought that I find interesting:

I think this offseason has shown that the front office believes that the hiring of Hoiberg makes the Bulls a contender this season. GarPaxdorf thinks this team without Thibodeau can compete for a championship. Or else they would have made moves in free agency, right?

I don't agree with them. Don't think I've heard another voice around here agree with them either.

 

Yah, I don't think the addition of any head coach in the history of the game would make the Bulls the favorites to defeat the Lebron superteam in a 7 game series right now.

You never know how the season goes though. This season for instance, we were able to play Lebron's team in a weakened state and the Thibs team was a whisper away from being up 3-1 against them. Far better than the Atlanta Hawks fared, who had the #1 record in the East and super smart minutes management technique. You want to have your best personnel at every position when the shit is going down.

It was pretty clear that GarPax and Thibs were not going to be able to work with eachother anymore, and GarPax of course are still around. The Bulls would be better off, IMO, with Thibs and a replacement level VP/GM which I think is what GarPax is.

Hoiberg could be one of the great ones though. Its a total crap shoot and the odds are that isn't the case, but we'll see soon enough.

 

Whether Thibodeau was much of a leader is pure speculation on our part. I think there's ample evidence that Thibodeau was highly respected by the players.

I speculate that Noah's been the primary leader of the team for a while. Butler emerged as a secondary leader last season.

 

They don't believe it either.

This is a holding season under the guise of giving this core one more run. The reload/rebuild starts thereafter.

 

I wonder how the players reacted when Thibs kept pushing Hinrichs wheelchair out onto the court, then.

 

The really worrisome thing is that this is seemingly a lost season. We have a lot of veteran players, several 30 or older, and even us Bulls fans can't really make a compelling case that the Bulls can get to the NBA Finals.

Let's say Rose leaves town and we're left with a core of Butler / McDermott / Mirotic in a couple years. Its quite worrisome to think of how the Bulls build a title contender from that. How many times can we luck into the #1 pick (and have it be an actual MVP level player, at least for one year) while being around the middle of the NBA?

 

It seems like they all continued to play quite hard for him and were a whisper away from being up 3-1 against Lebron James. Far better than the #1 in the East Atlanta Hawks did despite Pops-lineage Budenholzer and "smart" minutes management that led to key players being injured in the playoffs.

Crazy that the front office gave Hinrich a player option and he'll be back again this year. The front office sure loves him. Of course, they always have, long before Thibs was the coach. The Bulls love affair with Kirk Hinrich is one of the puzzling stories of the Paxson era.

 

I'm not at all worried about what might happen in a few years. Lots can change between then and now.

This coming year has plenty enough intrigue. And if you're s fan of the league as well as being a fan of the Bulls, well, its gonna be a great season there too.

 

Its hard to get *that* excited about a "win now" roster that not even their own fanbase thinks is going to "win now."

Kind of a downer really, after several seasons of being one of the elite teams with a legit chance.

NBA Basketball is always fun to watch. It would be nice if the Bulls could be one of the teams that could win a ring. Heck, I'd take just getting to the Finals again for once. Its going to likely be *years* until this team is back to where it was the last 5 seasons, off and on due to the Rose injury.

 

True or false, K4E:

The way the season ended for the Hawks completely discredited their coaching hire and other approaches to the game and the franchise needs a reboot.

 

Based on their roster, I don't think they can just reboot and be a lotto team. They also have to think about building upon the fanbase they picked up last season, from a business perspective.

It has to be quite disheartening from the Hawks perspective that they were throttled and swept 4-0 by a weakened Cavs team. Its hard to think what they can really do to beat Lebron. The Thibs Bulls almost beat that team, but the "smart" Hawks were not even close. Gimpy and outclassed. What can they do? More wearable tech? Even smarter minutes management?

 

So, no, that loss didnt discredit their approach, then.

Thanks.

 

Its an approach that seemingly leaves you gimpy in the playoffs and that gets you swept by a weakened Lebron Cavs team, at least last season.

It is what it is.

I wasn't ever really on that bandwagon the way many were, so while it was surprising to see them absolutely wet the bed I wasn't expecting them to make it to the NBA Finals.

 

It was one season. Small sample size.

 

Yes, they have been one of the players in the East for one season.

I'm sure Lebron and co are shaking in their boots right now about the Atlanta Hawks.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on...rites-despite-spurs-signing-lamarcus-aldridge

Edit: 33/1 by more recent marks.


Bulls chances fell from 10/1 to 16/1 over the last month. Worrisome.

 

I think there are probably only two to three teams in the league that concern the Cavs...it's silly to narrow it down to just one team so you can call them a failure.

You'll never have even half the league be serious contenders at one time. Has such parity ever happened?

 

Did I say failure?

Just that the Hawks were gimpy come playoff time, despite "smart" minutes management and were swept by a weakened Cavs team. The Thibs Bulls on the other hand were a whisper away from being up 3-1 against that same Cavs team, using a different approach, one that was highly criticized by some.

At 33/1, it doesn't look like the Hawks, despite their minutes management techniques, are picked to be much of a factor in the NBA this season. And they were pretty much the poster children for such a team management strategy last season.

Also sad to see the Bulls slipping from relevancy as well.

Let's hope Freddy Del Hoiberg is everything the front office believes he will be.

 

Yes.

Stop trolling.

 

It sure would!

 

I hope we score as much as Vinnies teams did.

Yes Lets hope!