Jeff Van Gundy Goes on Mini Rant About Cheap NBA Teams

http://www.chatsports.com/chicago-b...-on-Mini-Rant-About-Cheap-NBA-Teams-2-7515911

The Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls had the privilege of being graced by Jeff Van Gundy's presence on Sunday afternoon, and as usual, Van Gundy had a few pointed words, this time directed at the Chicago Bulls.

Basketball games can lull, and generally when that happens and Van Gundy is on a microphone, he gives us all a reason not to get up and go make a sandwich.

Today's rant of choice was toward cheap NBA teams, the ones who put the bottom line over a potential championship.

In the crosshairs were all the players that Chicago let go over the offseason, including Omer Asik, Kyle Korver and C.J. Watson, all terrific members off their bench now having great seasons on other teams because of Chicago's penny-pinching.

Asik is now averaging a double-double in just 30 minutes per game, Kyle Korver is leading the league in three-point percentage, while Watson continues to be an incredibly solid backup point guard behind Deron WIlliams.

As usual, Van Gundy took out his truth gavel and pounded it on his desk as everybody listened. It changes nothing in the league, but it's good to have a commentator who isn't just regurgitating catch phrases and goofing about.

It makes you wonder if this is what's keeping Van Gundy from returning as a coach. I'm sure some team would love to have him, but he seems to be so disheartened by the changes the league has made in terms of building teams over the past few years.

Until then, we'll always have Van Gundy rants to look forward to.

Of course, it's only a matter of time before a few guys in suits stand behind our favorite commentator and look menacing over the course of a game. The league's going to have to keep an eye on him.

Who knows? Perhaps Jerry Reinsdorf was listening and he'll be convinced to start spending a few more bones on his basketball team.

 

Who is this Van Gundy guy? He must be a casual fan who writes for bleacherreport.com.

 

http://www.bulls101.com/2013/03/10/chicago-bulls-81-los-angeles-lakers-90-game-grades/

Jeff Van Gundy: A++

During the game Jeff Van Gundy (referred to as JVG from here on out) absolutely ripped the Chicago Bulls front office for the decisions made this past offseason. To briefly summarize, JVG essentially said that when you have a team as profitable as the Chicago Bulls are, you need to be willing to take less of a profit and pay for players to continue to contend for the title (referring to the decision to not resign Omer Asik and trade Kyle Korver to try to avoid the tax). He continued on to say even if you don't want to keep Asik with the poison pill contract, you simply re-sign him and trade him to another team for assets. You never let an someone like that walk for nothing. JVG also pointed to the fact that the Bulls' lack of willing to spend has turned them into the second worst three point shooting team in the league since they gave up Korver (who coincidentally is the top three point shooter in the league and holds one of the best true shooting percentages in the NBA).

I completely agree and have been saying the same thing all season long and it's about time someone called out the Chicago Bulls front office on national television. Even if the Bulls didn't want to keep Asik with the poison pill contract they would have had two years to trade him before the $15 million year kicked in. I find it hard to believe that in a league where overpaying for centers is a common practice the Bulls wouldn't have found a suitor to take him on especially given the fact that the Bulls allowed less than one point per possession any time Asik stepped onto the floor.

The Bulls made huge mistakes this past offseason and are now having to pay the price of putting a mediocre team on the floor. They tore apart a contender only to give the fans nothing more than a playoff team. I'm glad JVG said what he said.

One thing I would like to point out though is that, again, I have been literally been saying this all season long (not that the Bulls are one of the worst teams in the league as people have liked to interpret it) and have been repeatedly attacked by Bulls fans and non-Bulls fans alike. I wonder how many people will now agree with me (and many other writers/bloggers who have said the same thing) now that JVG has spoken.

 

Does Reinsdorf also own the Tribune? Or is the Tribune simply afraid to speak truth to power?

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...308_1_van-gundy-tom-thibodeau-deng-and-boozer

ESPN analyst offers high praise of Bulls

Van Gundy extremely impressed with Noah and with Thibodeau's coaching around myriad injuries

 

The full text of the rant. It's a thing of beauty:

JVG: You see the lack of shooting by the Bulls, it's hard to get space for Boozer to attack in the low post. Somehow have to address that in the offseason.

Breen: Missing Kyle Korver has been huge, they're second-last in three pointers made per game...their bench was depleted. Asik, Watson, Korver, Lucas, Brewer. Some key players that Thibodeau used off the bench.

JVG: They had such great depth. I think they're going to regret for a long time not matching the Rockets offer for Asik. In 30 minutes a game, he is averaging a double-double, second in the league in rebounding, and he is a great great defensive center.

Breen: But he'd only have been a backup [with the Bulls], tough to give that money for a backup though.

JVG: not at all! Noah's been out with injury, Boozer's been out before. Listen: you don't draft, sign, develop a guy like they did with Asik and then let him go for nothing. You match it, and then later in the contract if you want to trade him, trade him. But to lose that great player for zero? They're going to regret it.

(commercial)

(later mention of Asik amongst NBA rebounding leaders)

Breen: It's going to be very difficult, especially with the new CBA penalties, to pay that kind of money to a player that's only going to be a backup.

JVG: Well then you don't want to win. You don't want to win. I listened to the Bulls in the offseason. They said they didn't make that decision for financial reasons, that it was purely a basketball decision.

Breen: Well that can't be true.

JVG: Right! There's no way you can let big, young talent go if you want to compete for a championship. The reason teams go in the Luxury Tax is to try and win it. That's where Miami is, that's where Dallas has been. The same with the Korver trade. You can't give a great shooter like that for nothing. It's not my money, so I'm not saying the Bulls and Jerry Reinsdorf should spend the money, but I'm saying that it impacts your ability to win.

Breen: Well there's no doubt....

JVG: If you want to win championships, you're going to have to spend. Because their greatest strength was their frontcourt depth, and Derrick Rose.

Breen: Unfortunately I think that's going to be more of the norm [due to the new CBA].

JVG: The Lakers will spend! They're going over the luxury tax. They will spend $100m in tax next year.

Breen: But the Lakers could've signed some extra help down the stretch of this season, and didn't do so because of the financial implications.

JVG: Well who's out there now who can make a difference? Asik makes a difference. I can understand not signing people just to sign people. But when you've got difference-makers, and you want to win it...and I think this goes back to what Reggie Rose was talking about...if you want to win it, then you're going to have to pay.

Breen: Reggie Rose created quite a stir [when he talked about his brother coming back and the team around Derrick]. ..next time you have a contract negotiation with ESPN, stand there and say "you gotta pay!"

JVG: It's not that, I'm just saying: you can't have it both ways. You have to decide and prioritize. Again, it's not my money, so not that Jerry Reinsdorf should spend it. But if you want to win, you keep Asik. You've got to keep those young talented players. I believe the new CBA screwed up, where you have to pay for guys that you helped develop. I don't get that part.

Breen: Unfortunately the way it had been, so many teams were losing money that the system had to change.

JVG: But the Bulls weren't one of them. The Bulls make huge money. So all I'm saying, is making less profit...I can understand losing money not doing it.

Breen: But the teams losing money caused the change, and that impacts all the teams, not just the ones losing money.

JVG: Well I don't even believe that many teams were really losing money...

(they go into stuff about disagreements in franchise accounting during the lockout)

 

I agree with JVG.

The only guy I was really bummed the Bulls didn't bring back was Asik. 6 million per and then one big year (expiring) seemed like a fair price to pay for Asik, especially with Thibbs as the coach.

Watson / Korver / Brewer have been pretty well replaced by Robinson / Marco / Butler.

Pay extra for difference makers. Don't spend just to spend. Asik was a difference maker.

The sad thing is, the Bulls ARE paying the tax. They can't even not pay the tax correctly. They have the money. Uncle Jerry was philosophically opposed to paying the tax and now we are. Perhaps now Gar will have some flexibility to go over within reason going forward.

 

I think we miss all three of Watson, Korver, and Brewer.

Watson should be our starting PG while Rose is out.

Korver is simply the very best in the NBA at at least one thing - shooting the 3pt shot. He managed to be on the court at the end of games a lot last season. For good reason.

Brewer is an efficient scorer and elite defender at the SG position. He can also play SF. Butler shouldn't have been seen as a replacement, but in addition to what Brewer brings. Brewer should be our starting SG, if he were still here. Should have been last season, too. I think he was a lot (43 games started).

I mean, you don't shed guys who you started and get better. If you do improve at a position, say SG, you keep your previous starter as backup.

 

I dunno, it seems like wash to me, other than missing CJ to run the point due to Rose not coming back.

In hindsight, using Hinrich's money on CJ would have been a much better option.

Butler getting increased minutes and Robinson being used as a 20 minute instant offense type guy I think works great. Korver is good at hitting open shots, but on this team, with no scorer really, he would never be open. I think Robinson's and Marco's ability to create their own shots are more valuable on this team.

PERs
Butler: 14.8
Robinson: 17.3
Marco: 10.8

Watson: 13.2
Korver: 14.0
Brewer: 10.1

I don't think the record is much better with the old three versus the new three.

Now, if the Bulls didn't foolishly blow money on Hinrich and instead paid a productive backup PG and kept Asik, I do think we'd have a few more wins.

 

Include butler in the 2nd group, too. Now you have two excellent wing defenders on the bench.

Robinson is a great pickup, but we're relying on him to play PG and he's not really helping us win games like CJ did.

Marco is a good pickup, too, but he really sucks for us as a sub, especially late in games. Korver was on the floor at the end of Q4 a LOT for us last season. If Korver didn't play defense better than Marco, he at least tried harder

 

I think where it doesn't matter is when you are playing your starters 40+ minutes a night.

There has to be a reason Thibs is doing that, eh?

 

I can think of several games where all 5 starters played 40+ minutes. FWIW.

 

Please name one.

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201303100LAL.html

I didn't look that hard. I remember seeing a few games like that one.

 

OK, I looked hard. Couldn't find any this season.

 

The game I linked was this season.

 

Sorry, I thought when you wrote

that would mean

a) that at least 5 Bulls' players, would have played 40:00 or more in the game and

b) that there would be more than two examples where at least 5 Bulls' players, would have played 40:00 or more

Am I to assume that Noah's 39:26 and Deng's 38:17 in the game you linked are "close enough for gov't work?"

 

Close enough for government work.

 

Hmm. Then I guess it's fair to claim that Hinrich is a career 40% three-point shooter.