Why Skiles got canned
The Chicago Bulls are in the spirit of giving Christmas gifts early and Scott Skiles was the only participant that didn’t like the gift, at least that’s what I assume. But then again, Skiles once left the Phoenix Suns in the middle of the season, so maybe he is happy to part ways with the only squad that was willing to bring his career back to life after he literally quit on his previous team – which is something only reserved for Larry Brown to do.
What I have heard prior to his firing is he has an inability to communicate with his players on a consistent basis and that a number of players had no idea what was expected of them on the court. My experience tells me that Skiles lost some enthusiasm and the players, as they always do, noticed and complained behind the scenes – which cost Skiles his job.
The overriding factor on coaches losing their job during the season is interviews with the players. And I will bet my bottom dollar that John Paxson had no choice because of player complaints – to go along with his own perception that this team was underachieving with Skiles at the helm.
Paxson is not immune to these problems either. I wrote a story already about the drafting of Ben Wallace clones (Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah) the last few years and holding on to Luol Deng when they could have had the best player on the planet in Kobe Bryant. Paxson showed his weakness by allowing Skiles to encourage him to build a team of hustlers and role players and not pull the trigger on Bryant or Kevin Garnett. I suspect Skiles wanted nothing to do with star players that would challenge his authority and compromise his theory that no player should dominate the ball. Well, I think it’s obvious where that gets you and that’s fired, because you need stars to win and the Bulls presently have none.
The Bulls did not win six championships with hustling role players. They won with megastar Michael Jordan and two superstars in Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. The problem I have with Paxson is that he is thinking so opposite of how he won titles and this has him in line with being next to go.
Now let’s see how fast those Kobe for Luol Deng and others come to life again, huh?
By the way, Skiles might not be alone getting canned this season…
Mike Brown (Cleveland). Was exposed by Gregg Popovich last year during the Finals and seemingly has struggled to get this team to perform consistently since that sweep.
Mike Dunleavy (LA Clippers). Yes, Elton Brand is out. But this team should not be a 9-17.
Lawrence Frank (New Jersey). Three star players and no consistency – which means trouble for Frank.
Pat Riley (Miami). Oops sorry, I forgot. He can’t fire himself.
Isiah Thomas (New York). Dolan is on record as saying Isiah will not be fired, but he has to get this leaderless team playing with passion or Dolan will be forced to go back on his statement of support. I am pulling for Zeke to get through this, but unfortunately his players are showing no heart, which is extremely disturbing for any fan.
Let’s give a pat on the back to the coaches that were on the hot seat, but are now Coach of the Year candidates.
Mike Woodson (Atlanta). Has done a brilliant job of molding this young team around superstar-in-the-waiting Joe Johnson. Woodson also might be one of the best coaches in the league at drawing up plays in crunch time, which is huge for a young team.
Flip Saunders (Detroit). Had the Pistons gotten off to a slow start, he would be gone. But give Saunders credit… It is not easy to coach a team laced with veterans who have won a championship. He seems to be in control and working hard at communicating better. Check out his interaction with players as they walk to the scorers’ table before games.
Nate McMillan (Portland). Along with Woodson, he is the front runner for Coach of the Year. I felt Portland would surprise this year without Greg Oden, but not to the tune of 10-game winning streaks. Nate has convinced this team to play extremely hard and allowed Brandon Roy, a second-year player, to lead them. The rest of the league better get use to this team dominating like this in the future once Oden is in uniform.
Doc Rivers (Boston). Rivers can communicate but most importantly he is allowing the three stars – Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen – to coach on the floor. That is extremely difficult to do for a lot of egomaniac coaches that would love to be in Rivers’ position right now. If Larry Brown coached this team, I would bet that he would run plays for Kendrick Perkins in crunch time just to keep the stars humble. Rivers understands why he is 22-3 and ego will never make him feel otherwise.
Dany Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
“I would bet that he would run plays for Kendrick Perkins in crunch time just to keep the stars humble” That line is halarious man, i actually laughed out loud. lol, i think skiles was a good coach i didnt kno all that stuff u said bout him, if its true then I dunno… i wasnt 2 sure about Rivers runnin the show, i still kinda questoin why pierce got the ball during the piston game instead of a red hot Allen or KG, but all in all a 22-3 record is more then impressive, keep up the Good work Eddie
Dany
Barlo Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 7:03 pm
lawrence frank may be spared now that he has removed Jason Collins, Malik Allen from the starting lineup in place of Josh Boone and Sean Williams. I would however love to see Magloire more instead of collins… somehow get him into a rhythm, collins has 0 offensive game, while magloire could probably do what collins do..even better
sevenpointman Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:08 pm
Skiles was a great motivator and is fine coach-his players locked up on his style of play and his tenacity.
Lets’s hope Poppa Dolan when he takes over for Baby Jimmie will give Skiles a chance.
With some motioin and emotion and maybe one or two more pieces + getting rid of the dead wood( Richardson, James, Jeffreys and Rose) -the Knicks will be headed towards a championship in two or three years.
Nic Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:33 pm
I am definately not inside any of the NBA circles, but from what I am able to see, I can’t belive the bulls are doing this. Complaining about money, whining about trade talks…I would’nt be able to pin all of their problems on Coach Skiles. Under Skiles the bulls have been defensively minded, blue-collar, hard workers. It seems as though the players gave up and threw in the towel when things got rough. This is a borderline disgrace. Again, I will admit that I am not getting ALL of the information as to what goes on outside of the actual games, but give me a break. You get paid millions of dollars to play a game. A GAME. And you can’t even go out and work hard? The players should be embarassed by themselves. I love watching the entire NBA, but the bulls have been pretty fun to watch over the past few years, and semi-successful too. They need to step back, look at themselves, and get their heads out of their butts. I wish both Scott and the Bulls the best, and I hope John hasn’t just won himself a chunk of coal for christmas.
Do you agree with this firing?
MSG Sherman Walker Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:45 pm
If what you say is true about the players whining, then Skiles should be fired and players should be traded. All of the Bulls minus a couple of players have shown that they are not star material and can be traded. The only players I’d put the no trade tag on is Kirk Hinrich, Tyrus Thomas and believe it or not, Aaron Gray(haven’t had a big in a long time). Lets start talking to teams now and lets get some deals done before trade deadline.
Signed
FAN BEFORE, DURING and AFTER MJ!
BRockin25 Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
good points about Doc Rivers and Larry Brown
bates money Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
nate mac has to be the front runner for coach of the year,the youngs guns play hard night in and night out without oden,once d. miles and mcroberts get healthy thats more bench help BUT THEY ARE YOUNG?
Matt Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Flip Saunders and the regular season go together like salt and pepper, but Flip is still on the hot seat. If he is unable to get the Pistons to the NBA Finals this year, he will be gone, no question about it. When June rules around, Dumars and the Piston faithful won’t remember a win over Boston in December if that same Celtic team defeats them in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Henry Jr Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 9:00 pm
Nate McMillan has to be feeling great. His team is on a ten game winning streak and next year they get Oden to anchor their defense.
Good point about Mike Brown. When the first game of the finals started and an obviously injured and limping Larry Hughes was assigned to guard Tony Parker I couldn’t believe my eyes. Talk about giving your opponent confidence!
I don’t know the inner workings of the Knicks, but something is obviously wrong. I watched their game a few weeks ago against the Pistons, and it’s the first time in recent memory that I truly thought an entire team had no interest in winning.
Camden Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
The first thing Skiles did after the Bulls got Ben Wallace was to alienate him with that whole ridiculous no-headband-rule. I think they made a mistake anyway replacing a young Tyson Chandler with an aging Big Ben (no disrespect to Wallace, but like Shaq, he’s not immune to getting older), but then to bring him aboard and embarrass him by making him forsake his trademark headband and let that issue blow up and become so big was really ridiculous. Concerning Kobe/Deng, I thought it was Kobe himself who said he’d refuse a trade that included Deng because he views him as his best potential complement…
Brian Boitono Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 9:24 pm
Lets commend Isaih on a job well done. Everyone is wrong about the knicks. They are an Eastern Conference Finals caliber team, that relys on everyone putting there egos aside and playing as a well oiled machine. Every gets along fine and isaih is steering the ship so well that I have heard talks of the San Antonio spurs considering him for the predicessor to Pop. Now don’t get me wrong there are some malcontents on the team such as David Lee that will attempt to rip apart the team chemistry. Lee is just one of those guys who is all about the ego. Maybe the veteran presence of leaders such as Zach Randolf and Stephon Marbury can straighten him out. All in all if they can cut hefty salleries like Mardy collins, wilson chandler, Lee and balkman they may have a shot at signing a cheap but worthy player such as Wally skcerbiak. so please tread lightly on the knicks a dynasty of the new millenium that still has yet to be wreckoned with.
KennyH46 Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 9:28 pm
How would you rate Eddie Jordan’s job security and how do you feel he’s percieved by other coaches and GMs.
As a long-time Wizard fan, I’d give Ernie Grunfeld kudos for allowing players that didn’t help the team despite minutes given by Jordan to leave. Jordan’s preference of 6′8″ centers and him not being a good defensive coach are his weakness in my opinion. Being a stand up guy who insists on good chemistry, who gets the most out of his perimeter players, and a guy who is an offensive genius are his strengths.
I think he’s never going to be a great coach until he gets help better utilizing his bigs, such as Blatche at PF with Haywood at C. I think he’s been better without Gilbert Arenas jacking up shots. Eddie’s got fighters out there but his defensive lapses and his overreliance on scorers who dominate the ball put a ceiling on a powerful team.
I think top to bottom the Wizards have more talent than every team in the east accept Boston, but that they’re built to beat Boston with healthy Arenas, Daniels, Pecherov (7ft rebounding, scorer w. three point range), Butler, Jamison, Blatche, and Nick Young.
What don’t the Wizards have besides an excellent coach, Eddie?
Your thoughts?
Gregg Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
What would the Lakers want from Chicago? With Deng and Gordon becoming free agents after this season, any deal involving them could be risky. Does a team of Odom, Bynum, Gordon, Deng, Noah, etc., threaten to emerge from the West? I don’t know… I wonder if anyone believes anymore that pairing a star with Ben Wallace would be all that great… the Bulls were in a great position two years ago, loaded with young tradeable talent, but I think they blew their chance and that’s one of the reasons Skiles is gone, although Paxson is as much or more to blame.
Otis Shorter Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 10:12 pm
Need to be fired:
I think Phil Jackson should be added to the list. For someone making 12 mil per year, he looks like he is in a coma while on bench. What is this reasoning that the players figure it out routine when they get behind? When your team loses a 15 point lead, it is evident they can’t figure it out - so call a timeout. Also a rookie can’t play for jackson? Would he have told Magic that when he came into the league or Michael? Good players should play no matter how many years in the league. He is now saying he prefers Kwame Brown to start now that he’s healthy rather than Andrew Bynum - WHAT!!!!!! He acts as though he is just going thru the motions and collecting a check, and living off past accomplishments. He has got to go.
mattb Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 11:44 pm
SKILES WAS FIRED BECAUSE HE DIDNT PULL THE GUN TO GET KOBE.
ALSO HE REMAINED FAITHFUL TO NOT TRADING HIS SON OF BASKETBALL HINRICH 10PPG 5ASTS, AND GAVE AGING PIG PEN. I MEAN BIG BIG A 15MIL CONTRACT, AND DRAFTED TWO PLAYERS THAT NEVER SCORED MORE THAN 13PPG IN COLLEGE, THE KNICKS SUCK DUE TO BAD CHEMISTRY, NO LEADER,
NO 3PT SHOOTER.
CLEVELAND TO PULL OFF A MEGA DEAL-G-J.KIDD,J.MCGLOIRE,J.BOONE FOR DREW GOODEN,LARRY HUGHES,D.JONES,D.MARSHALL,&PICK
MOST IMPROVE PLAYER-CHRIS KAMAN 19PPG 14REBS 3BLKS
6TH MAN-GINOBULI-20PPG
ROOKIE-DURANT-20PPG
MVP-DWIGHT HOWARD 24PPG 15REBS OR L.JAMES 30PPG
COACH OF YEAR-DOC RIVERS OR ATLANTAS COACH
IF NOT MAKING THE TOP 10 IN DRAFT, WHO WOULD PORTLAND TAKE
OR NEED IN THE DRAFT? I GUESS ANOTHER 7′3 H.THABEET WOULDNT HURT- WITH TIME, AND ODENS HEALTH- A HUGE DEFENDER IS THE ONLY PLAYER
mattb Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
HOUSTON TRADES
T.MCGRADY&C.HAYES
FOR R.LEWIS, JJ REDDICK, 4 PASSES TO DISNEYWORLD
DJHOTT Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 11:52 pm
SCOTT SKILES IS GONE, FOR NOT GETTING KOBE.
FOR SIGNING WALLACE,
FOR MAKING BAD MOVES,AND HAVING A ROUGH YEAR
WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO KNOW, CALL LARRY BROWN?
OR IS STAN VAN GUNDY AVAILABLE?
WHO ELSE HAS BOSTON LOST TO? ORLANDO&DETROIT, AND WHO?
Milton Jones Said,
December 24, 2007 @ 11:57 pm
Hi Eddie. I always look forward to reading your guest column on hoops hype. The only disagreement I have with you is your comment on Isiah Thomas. How can you want to pull for Zeke? Sexual Harassment, fiscal irresponsibility to the tune of $100 plus million, record losing season and unprecedented favoring of Marbury…not to mention his previous bankrupting of the CBA. Can you offer insight onto why you are pulling for a guy who has embarassed, legally and professionally, the Knick franchise.
Adam Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:27 am
That is such garbage blaming Skiles for any lack of trades the Bulls haven’t made. Is it his fault the Bulls took TT over LaMarcus Aldrige? Paxson’s an awful GM - just look at his past history. He’s a moron for trading for Gasol, let alone the greatest player in the NBA - Kobe. Is it Skiles fault to absurd offers were make to Deng & Gordon, the way in which he did it? - 5 years 50mil take it or leave it. Gordon and Deng, even thought it’s their first contracts (post rookie) are well worth at least 12 mil per. I won’t even go into the ridiculous amounts scrubs such as Bobby Simmons, Larry Hughes and many others carry (see hoopshype.com). I think Nic summed it up best when he said the players threw in the towel. The Bulls have the best young talent by far in the east. I feel bad for the next coach who will have to deal with all the whinning and a GM who will stab him in the back, while he pays his brother Millions of Dollars to be a Jock-Sniffer second in command.
Adam Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:33 am
Sorry about my English - I meant to write He’s (Paxson) a moron for NOT trading for Gasol, KG, Kobe (Deng or Gordon plus throw in-s). Does anyone really believe Mchale would prefer AL Jeff (a HUGE Selfish 1 man show) over Noch, Deng or Gordon AND TT or Noah? Mchale got 1 player for KG - G-Money’s 4th year was turned down and Telfair will have a great year if he shoots 38%
NBAFAN Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:37 am
I completely agree with the Mike Brown situation. God, the Cavs should sack Mike Brown, it’s only because of LeBron James that he looks good. He can’t even get his team have a winning streak of 2 without LeBron. If the day comes Mike Brown becomes Coach of the yEAR, I will be damned and sure hell LeBron deserves that award not him.
Anthony Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 2:19 am
Mike Brown shouldn’t take all the blame for the problems in Cleveland. While he has made questionable decisions, they have the same exact roster from last year. Basically, the management failed again to put some talent around LeBron James. Drew Gooden is the second best player on the team, Gibson shouldn’t be a starter yet, and they just don’t have a very good team yet. Brown should be credited for at least taking that team to the finals. They missed out big not getting Mo Wil and/or Michael Redd, but now they should try to make a push to get Mike Bibby or someone else..just another playmaker to take some of the load of LeBron.
Eddie Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 3:21 am
i will answer u guys questions after Xmas———have a great Xmas!
gio Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 5:46 am
boston- might get gary payton (veteran leadership)
chicago- should trade some of their players while its still early
cleveland- should trade larry hughes
miami- should get mike miller
new jersey- should trade kidd
new york- should keep crawford, lee, randolph, richardson
throw marbury, curry, jeffries, james
philadelphia- trade andre miller
what do ya think eddie?
Nathan Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 8:46 am
I think that they had to do something and the only thing they could do was fire Skiles. That doesn’t mean it’s his fault they’re playing so poorly. I think the loss of P.J. Brown and Deng and Gordon not getting extensions really backfired. Those guys are playing for long term contracts and maybe they aren’t playing within Skiles’ system the way they have the last 2 years. I think it was a mistake by Paxon to not lock those guys up before the season started.
Jay White Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 10:24 am
Knick fans are acting very short sighted when asking for Isiah to be fired ASAP. If they had any brains they would want him fired after the draft, as this is a lost season anyways and if their is one thing that Zeke has shown he can do, it is running a draft with the best of them. Zeke always picks the right guy.
You’ve rolled with Zeke this long, you might as well let him make your pick for you next summer.
DJHOTT Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 10:36 am
KIDD&VINCE CARTER FOR YAO,R.ALSTON,L.SCOLA,S.FRANCIS
HOUSTON
G-J.KIDD G-M.JAMES
G-V.CARTER G-L.HEAD
F-TMAC F-B.WELLS
F BATTIER F-C.HAYES
C-MUTUMBO C-
NJ
G-MARCUS WILLIAMS G-R.ALSTON
G-S.FRANCIS
F-R.JEFFERSON F-A.WRIGHT
F-SEAN WILLIAMS F-J.BOONE
C-YAO C-KRYSTIC
BBackHills Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Eddie
Happy Holidays and excellent work! I have to 100% agree with your assessment of the Skiles firing evn though I don’t have all of the inside information). I live in Chicago and follow the Bulls and it is plainly clear to me that Skiles has too much of a chip on his shoulder to ever be able to successfully coach veteran stars. He had run ins with Ben Wallace and has not been able to use him to his full potential. The whole head band incident was absurd and showed the Bulls attitude towards its players. Paxon has to be the 2nd worst GM in the league (no one will ever be worse than Isaiah). To have the number of tradeable pieces that they’ve had over the last few years and not make a move for KG, Gasol or Kobe is inexcusable. Why do they think that Deng is such a superstar and utouchable?? Have I been missing something? He is a nice player that would make a good third scoring option on a GOOD team. That’s about it. Skiles probably had a lot to do with the Bulls holding on to so many young players and not bringing in anyone that would challenge him. Paxon has finally seen the light, but it might be too late. For that I suggest that he should be fired unless he somehow manages to make moves that make sense before the end of the year.
Thanks
bballer Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
again, a coach gets blamed for the stupidity of the gm. aside from dunleavy, iavoroni, lawrence frank and larry k in milwaukee there are not that many bad coaches in the nba. yes, maybe some of them have no offensive philosophy at all and hide behind being ‘defensive’ geniuses, the real problem is how teams are constructed. bryan colangelo, mullins, dumars and greg pops has a philosophy on how their team will operate and find the players that can fit into the culture of the team. other gm’s just put together players and you don’t know how they are supposed to mesh.
for example, a team that can get more offensive production is philly. start thaddeous young as a 6′8 pf, which is what evans is, and you get a guy that can shoot from the outside, take it to the hoop and creates mismatches. but instead they start evans who can’t score along with dalembert, who can barely score. they can then build a team with that ethos in mind, which is similar to how gsw is constructed.
in nj, lawrence frank finally inserts to marginally offensive players over 2 terrible players. this is way better than b4. but to be a little more daring, he should start nachbar over boone. keep s wills as your low post presence and force defenses to pick their poison - rj or vc.
10/11 teams who score 100 + ppg have winning records. only memphis doesn’t. thus, you can no longer score 95ppg and win in the nba. coaches have to open up the game and the nba should push for such a culture in the league to keep fans excited. this league is filled with talent but lacks leadership and vision in the front offices, on the sidelines and on the court. the nba has to challenge itself to become relevant again in the minds of the mainstream.
Corbin Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
I’m from Chicago and a die-hard Bulls fan. I thought the day would never come that Skiles would get fired. He did a lot of stupid things since last year that I thought were huge. Dating back to game three of the eastern conference semi-finals when he benched Duhon because he overslept practice. You never know what could have happened if he allowed Duhon to play. He tries to teach discipline to grown ass men, and trust me these guys would not have made it to the NBA if they didnt have some sort of discipline. He also believes in Hinrich way too much and making him guard bigger, faster, taller, and more athletic guards and you wonder why Hinrich’s play is suffering. He’s tired from playing D on people who are nowhere close to his size or athletic capabilities. I agree that Skiles had Pax getting all those “hustle players” so that team would be in Skiles likeness. And pax agreed because Skiles (must give him credit for this) did turn the Bulls around. Pax thought he knew what he was doing but Skiles philosophy plateaued, more like plummeted with his players. THats why Chris Broussard from ESPN wrote the article about his players tuning him out. The Bulls need to trade Ben Gordon, he’s nothing but a streak shooter, turnover prone, and huge liability on defense, trade ben wallace-he’s aging very quickly- and then the bulls might be able to salvage a decent player. What pax now is doing is cleaning up everything he did, and the first in line was Scott Skiles. Look for some trades next.
bballer Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 1:39 pm
teams that have no focus or identity:
memphis
houston
minny
clippers
nj
knicks
philly
milwaukee
cleveland
miami
chitown
until they develop an identity and makes a trade to become something, they will continue to flounder. teams like sactown, portland and seattle have focussed on youth and an uptempo type of game. even indy, which leads the east in scoring is developing a style of play and will bring the type of players to fit that style. if they commit to it, they will be an exciting team to watch. until the above mentioned teams make that trade they will continue to be dull and unwatchable.
DJHOTT Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
bballer, not everyone can make it with small ball
philadelphia needs to get drew gooden for a.miller
t.young is still a baby
igoudala is not a #1 option, too many turnovers also.
evans sux,j,smith will improve, and they will draft darrell arthur
Michael Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
You said it best Eddie, Skiles lost interest just like he did in Phoenix and his players quit on him. Personally I though the Bulls were doomed when they signed Wallace to that huge contract and then found out why Flip and Joe didn’t lose any sleep over it. I don’t understand why they didn’t keep Eddie Curry. How can his heart be OK for New York but not Chicago? Its Eddie’s decision isn’t it? Are they not insured in case he died? Skiles also is to blame for not be able to develop Tyson Chandler who is thriving in N.O. Too bad Chicago peaked last year and is now basically rebuilding again!
Nicolas Said,
December 25, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
“Well, I think it’s obvious where that gets you and that’s fired, because you need stars to win and the Bulls presently have none.”
That’s wrong ! Pistons were one the best teams in past years without having a big star but few very good players and it’s because none of these players accepted to NOT become the star of the team that they won in 2003 and they played for title since then. Furthermore, you should notice what happen outside of your borders, when USA team was beaten in the last international competitions, they got many stars and they loosed against some teams which don’t have big star.
A big star or few stars are not compulsory to win a title, this is just an choice and I like the way that the Bulls played, by doing that, they beat the Heat during playoffs last year, who knows if they did the same with a star, maybe… or maybe not…
DJHOTT Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 12:02 am
skiles got fired because his players are over rated.
he was optimistic in his off season moves
but over his tenure his drafts have been ok
and out of these rookies, only sean williams or navarro, would have been better choices then jokim noah.
chicago may need to try to get eddie curry back
like kirk hinrich, b.wallace
for eddie curry,q.richardson,malik rose
or even try to get mcgrady for b.gordon&t.thomas
kidd how portland is playing and getting oden next year, would kidd consider portland.&p
g-s.blake,t.outlaw,c.frye,r.lafrentz for kidd
g-kidd g-j.jack g-t.green
g-roy g-c.douglas roberts15pick g-s.rodriguez
f-webster f-james jones
f-aldrige f-d.miles
c-oden c-j.prizbilla
DJHOTT Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 12:13 am
i think oden will heal fine, and come in next year and average 13pts 9rebs
and no rookie next year will average 20 like durant
rose looks nice, i like donte greene, and havent seen beasley a whole lot.
i think kevin lowe is overrated. deandre jordan, plays like bynum, which now is a compliment. and oj mayo, can score, but doesnt dominate, or nothing says, i just need him on my team. his size is a plus.eric gordon is a real nice player, and i think would be great on durants team- he could get 30mpg as a rookie combo guard, and if jared bayless could improve his ball handling,jon flynn is a superb handler and assist man, with 40inch vertical,
rashad anderson 66 sg 20ppg also is good.kuofos 7′1 fc-is soft, but decent, like a mehmet okur/a.bogut
Melvin Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 6:19 am
“Mike Dunleavy (LA Clippers). Yes, Elton Brand is out. But this team should not be a 9-17.”
What??? IMHO the clips are unhealthy these days and everyone looks like they are aging except for Caveman… I mean the lineup were just fucked up and of course you don’t expect them to be just 4 games under .500 with everyone getting sick… I mean guys like Frahm and Dickau should not even have an NBA team. So basically if he got sacked in future I think the management’s decision would be retarded!
Melvin Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 6:52 am
Brian Boitono (please search his name to see what he has posted here)
Man you are insane for posting everything that is the opposite of the other… I don’t know if you are serious or just insane or just joking…. but at the end of the day it still made me laughed… =)
anyway here’s my friends take about Chicago
http://basketballnonsense.blogspot.com/2007/12/skiles-getting-best-gift-of-christmas_26.html
Brian Risse Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Everyone is talking about Nate Mac as a coach of the year candidate….but in not a single publication anywhere have I seen mention of Jim O’Brien as a candidate for coach of the year….Pacers are a major surprise and he is the reason
Also, Wallace was one of the main guys who got Carlisle banished from Detroit….young guns on Chicago would not likely respond well to his VERY regimented style. Good coach..yes…good fit…not so sure
eddie Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 11:46 am
Melvin
i am glad i made you laugh. Now look in the mirror and laugh some more! LOL
DJHOTT Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 11:58 am
chicago to trade ben gordon&t.thomas for zack randolph
chicago trades k.hinrich for nene
chicago drafts oj mayo
next year
g-chris duhon
g-oj mayo
f-l.deng f-nocioni
f-z.randolph f-j.noah
c=nene c-b.wallace
knicks draft donte greene
g-b.gordon g-marbury
g-j.crawford g-n.robinson
f-d.greene f-q.richardson
f-david l ee f-t.thomas
c-e.curry
Adrian(LAKER FAN) Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Eddie as always I like the flavor you bring but I would like to add some side notes. I respect you more than ever for putting your nose on the line for Zeke. I am a fan too and I know he is a hair from turning things around but i know I am waaay in the minority on that….Moving forward don’t you think it’s funny how John Paxon was a genius for getting the draft picks from the Knicks? Looks like Paxson is a very bad GM as I said from the start. Hiring Skiles in the first place. Giving up the only lost post source they had…GIVING AWAY an ALL-STAR center in Tyson Chandler and waaay over spending for Ben Wallace. Kirk Hinrich is a nice 3rd or 4th option and got #1 or #2 option money then he’s looking crazy when its time for Ben and Luol to get their money asking them to take below market money. This reminds me of the Pittsburg Pirates of the early 90’s. They gave Andy Vansylke a ton of money then looked at Bonds and Bonilla crazy like they are suppose to take a under market contract. Go figure. Why draft Noah?????? Why not trade for Gasol? They cant even get Collison from Seattle? Good job Eddie as always!
eddie Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Nicholas
it’s so funny how people want to name the Pistons when it comes to having no stars.
well let’s look at it this way. If Karl Malone was healthy and Shaq and Kobe were not hating each other that might not had happened.
Why hasn’t this same Piston team sniffed the finals again?
History tells you —you don’t win Titles without a go to star and Chauncy Billups stepped up for 4 games and played like one.
The Bulls didn’t win before not having a Star and they have not won since. Let me take it further.
The Celtics have not won
The Lakers have not won, but Kobe has put a scare into the Suns two straight years and now with help they look great! hint hint –star.
Miami sucked until Shaq and Wade.
give me a break. The Bulls will never win with the team that they have. especially when your go to guy is a 6 foot jump shooter.
i hope you are not comparing the Bulls players to the Pistons. They gave the Bulls Wallace and still look at them.
BBackHills Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 2:12 pm
Nicolas
You will always need a star to win in the NBA. Using the Detroit example is to pretend that the exception is the rule. And not to take anything away from that Detrt team, but the only reason they won was because the East was not very good and by the time the Lakers made it to the Finals, they were too banged up and had lost Karl Malone. Having said that, Rip is much better than Gordon. Billups is a go to guy and a million times better than Hinrich. Prince is head and shoulders above Deng and I don’t even know who you would compare Rasheed to on the the Bulls roster. Oh yeah, they also had the younger, and better utilized Ben Wallace version on that team. The Bulls will not win crap with their current roster. Paxon better get to work on getting some inside scoring and veteran leadership for a few of the nice young players that they have been drafting and stock piling for what seems like forever. As a side note, I hope English is not your first language. If it is, please apply yourself at school a bit more. If it’s not, disregard this note.
JoJo Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 6:25 pm
Finally!! Someone with the chutzpah to call it like it is: Kendrick Perkins sucks.
I love the Celtics, and think that Doc Rivers is doing a fine job this year, coaching a la KC Jones–but must admit that Perk is a failure as an NBA player… Stone-hands, poor free throw shooting percentage, no reliable post moves, only collects rebounds that go straight to him, and coughs up the ball at the slightest provocation. He’s below avg-to-bad at everything that one could ask of him. I gasp in fear whenever he handles the ball.
Thank the Lord that the Cs have an opportunity to acquire a more reliable center before the deadline. (75 yr old PJ Brown perhaps.)
I’ve watched the Celtics religiously since the late 80s (when I was five years old,) and I’ve never seen such hype around a Cs player who sucks… I relish the thought of him sucking for some other team.
ComeNGetME Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
Have the Bulls assembled a Title-caliber team? No. But theyre definitely better than what theyve shown. I think Skiles is a great Xs and Os guy, but coaching in the NBA is also about managing personalities and millionaire egos. I dont doubt that Skiles lost his team in this regard. He may be better suited for the college game. If Skiles lost his players, theres not a whole lot that can be done besides firing him. Its a player’s league and firing 1 coach making a few mil (if that) is easier than trading 4-5 guys with salaries ranging from 6-12 mil. However, as stated in another article, some of the blame should fall on Paxson as well. Hindsight is always 20/20 but Paxson goofed on some draft picks, FA signings and trades (or non-trades).
Its obvious that Paxson has tried to follow the blueprint of the Pistons and Spurs….play the team game with fundamental basketball relying on defense and limit the amount of possessions. But the Pistons still had top level guys (who may not be seen as “superstars” but were playing at that level) at every position, along with a playoff tested coach. The Spurs….well, theyre the spurs.
The Bulls right now have no identity. No true go-to guy (Gordon is best served off the bench), no low post presence and no big guard. I love Hinrich, I love Nocioni. I love what Deng should be. Wallace is on the decline, Gordon is a suped-up 6th man thinking hes a starter. If anything, the bulls probably overachieved the past few years given their shortcomings. And given Skiles coaching style, it was only a matter of time before the players began tuning him out. If he were winning, theyd put up with it. But theyve struggled, so hes gone.
paulot Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
my favorite sports columnist: Agree to all except the inflation of the word “superstar”. To me a “superstar” is Pele, Michael Jordan, Willie Mays or Tiger Woods. Scottie Pippen was a “star” but not someone who fundamentally could dominate as he showed when he was on other teams. As for Rodman, he was a two-tooler who was a star within his narrower domain.
eddie Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
Paulot
i can agree with that. i just wanted to say mega star for Jordan. (-;
paulot Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
thanks! I agree, if there are several superstars then you have to come up with new vocabulary for Jordan. Thanks for the response. And you have to give Pippen and Jordan credit, their defense may have been superior to some of today’s “superstars”
ComeNGetME Said,
December 26, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
Eddie….What would u do for the bulls with their team as is? Who’s the coach? What are the lineups? Who does the offense go thru?
Basically, how can the Bulls right the ship without a Kobe-type trade?
bballer Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 12:28 am
true, not everyone can play small ball. but if you have an above avg pg like you do in andre miller and some wing guys who can run, shoot and grab rebounds you can push the ball continuously. thaddeous is young but can grow through his mistakes. he is 6′8 and 240, with more upside than reggie evans. lol! philly is going nowhere so you might as well take the chance.
as for chitown, pax has made too many mistakes. but let’s play with what he has. he has 3 bigs who can’t post up - wallace, thomas and noah. gray and smith are the best post players. you can trade for gasol, but his demeanor is terrible when his team loses. he has no fight in the nba. gray and wallace will be you best starting combo with smith and thomas coming off the bench. thomas and noah cannot play together. it will take a while for them to try various combinations. they should try anything since chitown will not make the playoffs regardless.
DJHOTT Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 1:52 am
chicago will get larry brown
he will trade loul deng to miami for r.davis and pick
chicago may get 2 top 5 picks
and get eric gordon&deandre jordan
they get rid of deng before the salary, then get a quality lotto pick
and drop rdavis salary, a great situation for chi, eric gordon can slide bgordan to 6th man of the year, or expendable
g- b.gordon g c.duhon
g-e.gordon g-t.safosha
f-r.davis f-nocioni
f-s.marion fmario austin(2nd rd pick
c-j.noah c-d.jordan
or also move
t.thomas,b.wallace&hinrich for marion&m.banks
suns then move-hinrich-b.diaw for antawn jamison&daniels
phoenix
g-nash g-a.daniels
g-r.bell g-barbosa
f-g.hill f-chase budinger with atls pick
f-a.jamison f-t.thomas
c-a.stoudemire c-b.wallace
DJHOTT Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 1:55 am
washington
g-hinrich g-sean singletary(2nd rd pick
g-arenas g-n.young
f-butler
f-b.diaw
c-hasheem thabeet
Gregg Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 1:57 am
It’s funny how things have panned out so far this season. First, with Andrew Bynum starting to have big games, it looks like maybe Kobe and a lot of so-called experts will soon have to admit that Laker management was right in choosing the very young Bynum over the aging Jason Kidd, if those trade rumors were in fact true. And, though Shaq got one title with Miami, it now also seems like maybe that move wasn’t so bad either. Imagine if Shaq was a Laker now, making 30 mil a year…. they’d be screwed. And the Bulls will have to admit that the aging Ben Wallace is not nearly the player now that the young Tyson Chandler is. Who would’ve guessed, say, two years ago, that Stephen Jackson and Tony Parker would be on the verge of surpassing Big Ben and Shaq in terms of effectiveness and dominance?
Rashidi Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 3:55 am
Skiled deserves the axe because this is the third time one of his team’s has gotten off to a ridiculously slow start. You cannot hope to go deep in the playoffs without a high seed, and Skiles always puts his teams in a hole that they have to fight back from.
Remember when Skiles’ Suns started the season something like 1-15 and ended up making the playoffs?
Or when the Bulls started out like 2-11 before they finished with 47 wins?
The Bulls are on pace to make the playoffs with a bottom tier seed (mainly due to how weak the rest of the conference is), but three strikes and you’re out.
It’s not about the talent on the team being overrated, the talent is fine, Skiles just can’t maximize it efficiently. That Suns team had Kidd and Marion as well as other veterans so it clearly wasn’t without talent.
Rashidi Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 4:11 am
“I wrote a story already about the drafting of Ben Wallace clones (Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah) the last few years and holding on to Luol Deng when they could have had the best player on the planet in Kobe Bryant.”
1. The drafting of “Wallace clones” is fine considering they came for the cost of nothing (Eddy Curry who the team refused to re-sign without medical insurance).
2. Kobe has a full no-trade clause and already stated he would not join a Bulls team that didn’t have Deng on it. You continuously restate this as if a trade was any bit likely.
2b. Why mention Kobe, but not Pau Gasol, i.e. the post player the team sorely needs?
“The problem I have with Paxson is that he is thinking so opposite of how he won titles and this has him in line with being next to go.”
The problem here is one star does not fix the Bulls, because due to their small salaries, they would have to trade away most of their talent to acquire one. They do not have a situation like Boston did where they had excess assets to give away for two stars (and one at a discount due to friendship).
“Now let’s see how fast those Kobe for Luol Deng and others come to life again, huh?”
Not too quickly if the Lakers are a game out of first place. The Lakers have absolutely no reason to trade him and why would Kobe accept a trade from a team with a good record to a team with a bad record?
“Mike Brown (Cleveland). Was exposed by Gregg Popovich last year during the Finals and seemingly has struggled to get this team to perform consistently since that sweep.”
It won’t happen during the season. Maybe after depending on the results. However it is far more likely that a slew of trades will occur and that Brown will get a chance to handle the new players. It is probably likely that if he can’t get anything done by next year’s midseason, he gets canned as Lebron will be closer to free agency and the team needs to think about that.
“Mike Dunleavy (LA Clippers). Yes, Elton Brand is out. But this team should not be a 9-17.”
You’re right. They should be MUCH WORSE. They have had more injuries than any other team. No Brand, Livingston, Cassell has missed half the games, Mobley is playing hurt, and so is Tim Thomas. If it weren’t for Kaman’s breakout they’d be the worst team in the league. Hmm, you don’t think Dunleavy deserves some of the credit for Kaman playing like an all-star?
“Lawrence Frank (New Jersey). Three star players and no consistency – which means trouble for Frank.”
It would help if they weren’t playing three on five every game. Their frontline is atrocious and thankfully Jason Collins is finally coming off the bench. They have nothing after their big three, two of whom had some injury issues. They’ll be fine, they are a middle of the pack team so long as they have no frontline to speak of. Kidd is averaging a triple double and RJ is 4th in the league in scoring, averaging 10 more than last year, so Frank has some idea of what he’s doing.
“Pat Riley (Miami). Oops sorry, I forgot. He can’t fire himself.”
No but he could hire a replacement. When you look at their bench it’s pretty clear how thin they are, it’s basically a recovering Wade against the world, as Shaq is falling hard.
“I am pulling for Zeke to get through this, but unfortunately his players are showing no heart, which is extremely disturbing for any fan.”
The only reason he will, is because they’d have to replace him as coach AND as GM. Firing him this early will only add to the chaos. Once they are out of the playoff picture after the trading deadline, is as good a time as any to fire him as they can get a new GM to focus on the draft and a good coach isn’t necessary for a team out of the playoff picture (i.e. Herb Williams interim AGAIN)
DJHOTT Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 9:40 am
denver would be foolish to give up camby for kidd
they will win in a trade if nene and jr smith is enough
or nene, kleiza,cash
pau gasol to memphis for ben gordon&jokim noah
works for both teams
gordon gets a 5 year 55 mil contract in memphis- noah&mike beasley can make up for gasol
bulls then draft eric gordon, whom is a inch or 2 taller then ben&a better shooter
08 bulls
g-hinrich
g-eric gordon
f-l.deng f-nocioni
f-p.gasol f-t.thomas
c-b.wallace c-j.smith
memphis man Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 9:49 am
wow
memphis if we got gordon&noah
and then drafted deandre jordan,or roy hibbert, we would be nice
trade stoudamire&h.warrick to chicago for nocioni
g-lowry g-conley
g-gordon g-j.caderon
f-m.miller f-nocioni
f-r.gay f-swift
c-j.noah c-deandre jordan
or the top 5 lineup
g-b.gordon
g-m.miller
f-r.gay
f-nocioni
c-d.jordan
anthony Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 11:59 am
Nice article eddie.
How about this? Kobe wants to play with Luel Deng. Deng is a free agent next year? Kwame Brown’s $9 mil contract will expire at the end of the season, along with some of their bench players. They will have over $10 million freed up and if Dr. Buss is willing to push the salary cap a little farther, do you think they would have a chance to entice deng to come to the Lakers????
eddie Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Rashidi
you never cease to amaze me.
1. The drafting of “Wallace clones” is fine considering they came for the cost of nothing (Eddy Curry who the team refused to re-sign without medical insurance).
i would take Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in a heartbeat over those two and the Bulls would too.
2. Kobe has a full no-trade clause and already stated he would not join a Bulls team that didn’t have Deng on it. You continuously restate this as if a trade was any bit likely.
Don’t count on it –Kobe would have come and still will because he knows the Bulls will be forced to build around him to justify.
2b. Why mention Kobe, but not Pau Gasol, i.e. the post player the team sorely needs?
because he sucks and has no heart!
You’re right. They should be MUCH WORSE. They have had more injuries than any other team. No Brand, Livingston, Cassell has missed half the games, Mobley is playing hurt, and so is Tim Thomas. If it weren’t for Kaman’s breakout they’d be the worst team in the league. Hmm, you don’t think Dunleavy deserves some of the credit for Kaman playing like an all-star?
no they should not—experience should have them much better. if they play hard like the blazers they would be fine enough to be playing better
It would help if they weren’t playing three on five every game. Their frontline is atrocious and thankfully Jason Collins is finally coming off the bench. They have nothing after their big three, two of whom had some injury issues. They’ll be fine, they are a middle of the pack team so long as they have no frontline to speak of. Kidd is averaging a triple double and RJ is 4th in the league in scoring, averaging 10 more than last year, so Frank has some idea of what he’s doing.
They have three EXCELLENT players case closed.
No but he could hire a replacement. When you look at their bench it’s pretty clear how thin they are, it’s basically a recovering Wade against the world, as Shaq is falling hard.
Why is that so duh—i repeat duh
i feel sorry for your wife or girlfriend. i bet you break down her cooking all the way to how she picked it up at the store LOL
bballer Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
eddie,
as a continuation of your leadership column, which was great, can’t you attribute the failure to most teams to lack of leadership in the front office, which leads to hiring bad coaches and fail to pick up a player who can be a leader on the court? who is the on court leader for the bulls? b wallace was not even the leader in detroit since he has a tendency to sulk all of the time. portland brought in character guys, but the most important aspect of the team is the leadership of mcmillan and b roy. jordan was not just a great player, he was a great leader on the court. this is what separates champions from also rans. this separates good players from great players.
when you look at losing teams you can see that they are either missing either one piece of talent or that leadership aspect. chicago is missing both. no low post scoring, no leaders. a championship team has low post scoring, a skilled 2 or 3, a defensive 2 or 3, low post defender and an above avg pg. in addition the teams will have a low post scorer off the bench and a scoring sg/sf off the bench. look at the mediocre teams and you can easily see why they lose.
what do you think eddie?
Gregg Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Eddie– It’s pretty rude of you to say that Gasol sucks. He’s better than Eddie Curry any day. You have a serious european player bias.
eddie Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
I have no bias at all and that is why i can say what i want knowing that i have no Bias. I am honest and thats all i have been with regards to this blog.
Gasol
is a poor leader- he is inconsistent on the court. He pouts, and he has not improved over the last year. which tells me he has reached his peak.
I am not judging Gasol as a person –i don’t know him, but i have tremendous reservations about his heart and desire. So thats why the word comes to mind.
He is not better than Eddy Curry because they are the same.
eddie Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
bballer
i totally agree with everything you said.
Gregg Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
So YOU are the only person in the world completely free of bias– congratulations. You must really know yourself well.
Eddie Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 6:03 pm
Gregg
when it comes to writing my articles yes gregory. i will tell u exactly what i think. so congrats to you for coming to that realization. lol
Rashidi Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
“i would take Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in a heartbeat over those two and the Bulls would too.”
It’s comedy at it’s best that you mention “heartbeat” because that’s the main reason the Bulls had no interest in re-signing Curry. He has a heart condition that he couldn’t get medical insurance on. Curry is one of the league’s most overrated bigmen, for every point he scores he gives up two on the other end because
A. He can’t defend
B. He can’t rebound (offensive boards for other team)
C. He can’t hold onto the ball (turnovers)
Why don’t you ask Knick fans who they’d rather have? Curry, or the two lottery picks he was traded for? Knicks fans would love to have a guy like Noah, big men with energy and a great defensive mind do not come along often, so stocking up on them is not a bad thing. You act as though the Bulls are going to keep Tyrus or Noah forever, or that Ben Wallace is untradable as he gets older.
Spencer Hawes would not have solved anything for the Bulls, so whining about how the Bulls spent their draft pick doesn’t mean a damn thing.
Chandler has been in the league longer and took a long time to develop. You would have had the same criticisms about him 3 years ago as you would Tyrus and Noah, comparing them to an older player like Chandler isn’t really fair, although not unexpected since it’s coming from you.
“Don’t count on it –Kobe would have come and still will because he knows the Bulls will be forced to build around him to justify.”
Um, again, THE LAKERS ARE NOT TRADING KOBE FOR BEN GORDON AND LUOL DENG. You talk about the Bulls not having any stars, yet you expect the Lakers to actually give away the best player in the game for these same non-stars?
What is the Lakers incentive for trading Kobe when they are 18-10 and a game behind the Suns? Use your noodle.
“because he sucks and has no heart!”
Which obviously explains why you constantly criticize the Noah pick. You dislike stars with no heart, and roleplayers with heart???
Gasol is available. Kobe is not.
You’re right. They should be MUCH WORSE. They have had more injuries than any other team. No Brand, Livingston, Cassell has missed half the games, Mobley is playing hurt, and so is Tim Thomas. If it weren’t for Kaman’s breakout they’d be the worst team in the league. Hmm, you don’t think Dunleavy deserves some of the credit for Kaman playing like an all-star?
“no they should not—experience should have them much better”
What experience dude, you don’t even know whose on the roster!
LOLOLOL come on NBA blogger lets look at who even played for them in their last game
http://www.nba.com/games/20071222/LACSAS/boxscore.html
PG Brevin Knight
SG Cuttino Mobley - playing hurt
SF Josh Powell - averaging 0.4 ppg
PF Al Thornton - A rookie
C Chris Kaman
Bench
PG Dan Dickau
SG Richie Frahm - Could barely stick in the league and has actually started games since arriving
SG Quinton Ross
PG Sam Cassell - Played 8 minutes, trying to return from injury
PF Tim Thomas - Played 2 minutes, also recently injured
Aside from the obvious Brand and Maggette, Corey Maggette did not play due to injury, while backup center Paul Davis is also lost for the year.
You can’t seriously tell me that this lineup should have won more than 9 games in the western conference. They have a better record than Memphis, Seattle, and Minnesota despite all their injury problems. They have two fewer wins than Sacramento who with Artest, Kevin Martin, Brad Miller, are far better even before you consider the improvement of John Salmons and Beno Udrih
KNOW YOUR LEAGUE BEFORE YOU DISCUSS IT
“if they play hard like the blazers they would be fine enough to be playing better”
Oh right, because it’s every day a team with a middling amount of talent wins 11 games in a row. I forgot.
“They have three EXCELLENT players case closed.”
And none of them are up front. The Celtics have one MVP, two future hall of famers, and even they have Rajon Rondo and some decent guys on the bench. Jason Collins and Malik Allen make Kendrick Perkins look like a fourth all-star. Josh Boone has done well as the new starter, averaging 12 points and 8 boards so that is probably the start of something good.
“i feel sorry for your wife or girlfriend.”
Likewise, you probably mix your wife up with Mr. Socko on a daily basis (mainly because you have a difficult time differentiating talent). On Valentine’s Day you probably get her four leaf clovers because you aren’t sure what a heart actually looks like, while in the bedroom you are desperate to trade her in for Kobe Bryant and screw his no-trade clause!
Gregg Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
Telling people what you think is not the same as being unbiased, Edward. Archie Bunker always told people what was really on his mind– see the difference?
bballer Said,
December 27, 2007 @ 11:49 pm
i think what eddie meant with keeping curry and chandler is that they compliment each other. curry is a good low post scorer and nothing else, while chandler is a good defensive player and rebounder. that is usually the combination you need up front if you are to win. look at duncan and oberto. oberto, with elson, will cover the opposing team’s top big man and in the last quarter duncan will take over. this will help conserve the energy of duncan. isiah makes the mistake of pairing curry with randolph. the two are low post players who plays minimal defense. it has taking isiah 30 games to finally start lee with curry. curry actually will be better coming off the bench. now if isiah can figure out his backcourt, the knicks can make some strides but it may be too late.
the problem with chitown is that they have no one player who will take over the game at crunch time. the star less pistons had chauncy who did that for them. he may not be the traditional star, but he played like one. on defense it was both the wallaces that maintained the integrity of the team. who plays that role for chitown? even if you add gasol, the team will only be marginally better. it will not be a championship team. jordan was great because he was a great leader.
eddie, nash is the leader of the suns on offense. who is their defensive leader? isn’t this the real reason why they struggle against the spurs? are the suns ready to admit that the loss of kurt thomas is greater than they realize?
i really love this topic.
Rashidi Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 3:53 am
“the problem with chitown is that they have no one player who will take over the game at crunch time. the star less pistons had chauncy who did that for them. he may not be the traditional star, but he played like one”
Since entering the league, this was Ben Gordon. However this year he has struggled badly. I have not caught enough Bulls games to know for sure but from what I have seen it seems they are just settling for jumpers. When they played the Knicks they had many chances to go to the lane but just decided to settle for short jumpers that were clanking. They were making the Knicks look like an elite defensive team as they looked timid and unsure of what to do out there. If the players were complaining about Skiles coaching then this would seem to be the culprit, but it is now on the players to get their acts together. All of this crying about how the Bulls have spent their draft picks doesn’t mean a thing, because they won how many games last year with PJ Brown in the starting lineup, and he ain’t never been a post option.
anthony Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 9:53 am
I’d take chandler over noah and tyrus thomas anyday.
if paxson can’t analyze talent enough and realize you have to develop young players, maybe he shouldn’t be working as a GM in the NBA.
My opinion is Kobe would have moved to Chicago even if they included Deng to the Lakers. Paxson was the roadblock through the whole thing.
Noah is a future journeyman with stints in the european leagues. It is pretty obvious for anyone outside the Chicago area.
Rashidi Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
“I’d take chandler over noah and tyrus thomas anyday. ”
That’s pretty irrelevant since Chandler left Chicago as a free agent.
Perhaps you have Noah mixed up with Viktor Krhyapa? Pretty quick judgements for someone who has played a whopping 260 NBA minutes. Tells me something about your opinion…
The main obstacle of any Kobe trade is the salary cap. Kobe makes 19.4 million this year. Deng, Gordon, and Noah only make 10.2 combined. The only Bulls making 8 digits are Ben Wallace (15 million) and Kirk Hinrich (11 million). The Bulls would have to gut their whole team to be able to get salaries to match, and Kobe isn’t going to approve a trade to a gutted team with a bad record when he is a game out of first place. The Lakers would need to lose 10 in a row for him to even consider it now.
Eddie Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Bottom line the Bulls made a mistake on Curry and Chandler. they gave up to soon and it is costing them. They should have hired an assistant coach that understood the power game. They relied on Skiles who only knows how to play one way. dive on the floor.
I wrote an article on this site about not letting them go.
Rashidi
i told u before your long winded responses make me laugh. You trying to debate me about ball the way u do is so funny. You have no inside knowledge about The NBA at all.
Not only do i have 15 coaches in the league that are friends of mine but i probably Know half the players personally. i am really not trying to validate myself to you. I only say it to show you why i laugh at your long responses. LOL
Eddie Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Rashidi
Chandler did not leave chicago as a free agent! he was traded
BBackHills Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 4:55 pm
Eddie
Excellent column and great discussion! I actually think Rashidi makes a lot of good points as well as you. Chandler was traded after the Bulls signed Ben Wallace which is basically an older version of Chandler. At the time, most (if not all) people in Chicago felt good about getting Wallace for Chandler. This might have been short sighted or myabe all he Bulls need is a change in coaching to get Wallace to play like an All Star again. Eddie Curry was, is and always will be a bad player. He is lazy, doesn’t play defense and doesn’t rebound to save his life. He still sucks with the Knicks. The Bulls got a steal from the Knicks for him. Too bad Skiles couldn’t get along with Tim Thomas and basically let him go. To give up on Noah and Tyrus Thomas at this point is absurd. Thomas is very young and incredibly athletic. Granted, Paxon looks like a moron for trading Aldridge for him, but give the kid a chance. Same thing with Noah. He has an ugly shot, but the kid is a winner and has endless energy and hustle. He is young and needs some time to develop.
Eddie, how could you possibly think the Clippers should get rid of Dunleavy? This comment I don’t get at all. They have nothing on that team right now and when they were somewhat healthy they won more than they lost. What coach could possibly be doing better with that team right now? Did Dunleavy cut you from a team back in your playing days?
bballer Said,
December 28, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
noah will probably admit that he will never be a dominant big in the league. what he will morph into is a more offensive dennis rodman. he will get up to about 12ppg. his main strength will be his rebounding ability, man to man post defense and his passion for the game. in fact, noah may become what tyson chandler has become for new orleans. i still don’t understand the tyrus thomas pick up. he was never a low post scorer in college and has not shown the inclination to be that player in the nba. he will become another stromile swift. he will need to be traded with either nocioni or ben gordon. the problem is, what team would really want to pick up gordon and pay him $12M per year. i see him as nothing more than a bobby jackson, which is good but not at $12M.
Rashidi Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 3:03 am
Eddie, all of this insider information doesn’t mean a thing because I am talking about your analysis, not who you know or don’t know.
That you have personal relationships with X player or Y player does not explain the absurdity that is expecting the Clippers to have a markedly better record than what they have. They have not been healthy, have had a tough schedule, and weren’t very good to begin with. They missed the playoffs with Elton Brand, so why would they have a prayer of making it without him?
Rashidi Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 3:33 am
Answer: Because you know them.
Eddie Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 11:37 am
BBackHills
when did i say the Clippers should get rid of Dunleavy? read the story again. i said he was on the hot seat.
Eddie Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Rashidi
because the Suns did without Amare. The Clippers are under achieving and should be better case closed.
futhermore were u the same person that disputed my surprise teams? what do u have to say now about that. go back and read the column and learn instead of always wanting to dispute with no inside knowledge of what i am talking about. you can argue surface stuff but stand back and pay attention when you have to guess. you will never win that debate. LOL
BBackHills Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
Eddie
You are right. You mention that he might “get canned” this year and that the team should not be 9-17. I simply disagree with the idea that he should/might be canned because the team he has is hurting big time and it would serve no purpose. He was the coach there 2 years ago that actually won a playoff series. He should not have been mentioned in your column at all in my humble opinion.
ComeNGetME Said,
December 29, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
[i]Bottom line the Bulls made a mistake on Curry and Chandler. they gave up to soon and it is costing them.[/i]
There wasnt any way Curry and Chandler were going to be productive under Skiles or in Chicago for that matter. I think Skiles lost them as players because of his approach as a coach vs their personalities. Youre right in that regard. Skiles wanted a roster full of guys similar to him as a player. Chandler wasnt that and Curry definitely wasnt that.
Curry has proven to be nothing more than a soft inside scorer. I dont think he’d be helping the bulls all that much; or at least not to the point where theyd be legit threats in the playoffs. And if hes not scoring, hes basically useless on the floor cuz he cant rebound, defend the post, pass out of the post or block shots.
Chander is a different case. Hes turned into a tremendous defensive anchor, rebounder and shotblocking presence. However, i dont think he wouldve blossomed this way in Chicago. It probably was more a case of a player needing a fresh start.
Both those guys came into Chicago with huge expectations placed upon them, probably unfairly. They went thru a lot, from lot of different teammates and coaches. Thats got to weigh on people Eddie, especially youngsters like they were. If you put Chandler on the Bulls now, he’d be a huge help. But he probably wouldnt have broken out like he did had he stayed in Chicago.
[i]because the Suns did without Amare. The Clippers are under achieving and should be better case closed.[/i]
Thats an insane statement, especially for someone who calls suns game and watches them as frequently as u seem to do. The clippers are playing about the way they should be. Youre comparing them with the 05-06 suns?? That team maynot have had Amare, but it still had a reigning MVP, and 20/10 guy in Shawn, an all defensive guy in Raja, a future 6th man in Barbs and that years MIP in Boris Diaw.
Where is there any kind of talent like that on the clips? Kaman is about as solid as they come, fine. Mobley is a solid scorer but should be a 6th man, Cassell is still one of the better PGs but at 38 can only do so much. But Maggettes never shown the ability to lead a team and be a go-to guy, Shaun Livingston is still recovering from his injury, and TimThomas has been in and out of the lineup as has Cassell. If you were talking about a relatively healthy clipper team (Cassell, Livingston, TT, Maggette, Kaman with Brevin Knight, Mobley, and rookie Thornton) minus Brand, then i’d agree that they should be in the playoff hunt. But these Clips are relegated to relying on Josh Powell, Richie Frahm, Quinton Ross and Dan Dickau for major contributions each night.
Rashidi Said,
December 30, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
LOL everything goes back to the Suns for Eddie
As if any of the Clippers have even half their talent. When fully healthy, they lost to the Suns minus Amare, and then missed the playoffs last year. So why would things be any different?
The Suns are sucking btw and are on pace to finish with a worse record than they did in 06 without Amare, so whose fault is that Eddie? D’Antoni should get the axe.
Grant Said,
December 30, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
Maybe the Suns playing well while Amare was out is an indication that he might be a bit overrated. He is a very poor defender and often a liability on that end of the floor. The same cannot be said of Brand. I find it funny that Eddie thinks the Spurs would be a .500 team without Duncan, but then when the Suns are equally as good or even slightly better without Amare, it doesn’t make him re-evaluate Amare’s value. How is it that Amare is a first team all-nba center, but when he misses games his team’s performance is relatively unaffected? The reason is defense, and this is the reason Dwight Howard is a much more valuable player than Amare.
Chi Fan Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 1:21 am
Tyson Chandler looks great. He’s a defensive monster, rebounds, plays smart… he fits perfectly with Chris Paul. I can see a New Orleans vs Portland conference final happening in the next four years with Chandler and Oden anchoring the defenses, Paul vs Roy, Aldridge vs West…. great future matchup to look forward to. To think the Bulls could’ve had Chandler & Aldridge!
Calvin O Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 1:43 am
Good point about what might have been for the Bulls. Imagine this starting five: Heinrich, Gordon, Deng, Aldridge, Chandler. That is a team that very possibly wins the east. Based on this, maybe Paxson should fire himself.
Michael kukich Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 3:29 am
“The Suns are sucking btw and are on pace to finish with a worse record than they did in 06 without Amare, so whose fault is that Eddie? D’Antoni should get the axe.”
BTW how does being in first place in the Pacific, 2nd place in the WC and 4th overall translate into “sucking”? They are still ranked by all power rankings as a top five contender. D’Antoni fired, why? As he has done in each of the previous three years he has made adjustments to roster changes but this year the rest of the league has caught up to the Suns and they simply aren’t as good of a three-point shooting team and they aren’t running teams off the court. The opposition has made the effort keep up in transition “D”. He is in the process of making his tweaks, number one is making amare the focus of the offense again and feeding him the ball to start games to make his man work immediately and an offensive Amare just seems to defend and rebound better. The lack of three-point shooting and the addition of the all-around & mid-range game of Hill has taken some time to get integrated into th esuns style but Hill’s game is made for the playoffs and something the Suns lacked since Joe Johnson.
They haved to try and diaw going but he just does not seem able to co-exist with Amare on th efloor so they have to adjust to having Skinner play with Amare and bring Diaw in when Amare is out. Bell has been hurt most of th eyear and is struggling and LB has been hot and cold. 22-9 and the best road record out West and they still have a lot of home games coming up. For a team that supposedly plays no “D” they vlead the league in block shots, not bad for smallest team in the league. They lead the league in scoring and point differential. The only thing they suck at is rebounding and preventing other teams from rebounding but that will improve by the time the playoffs start.
Your analytical skills suck thats for sure and its more than hilarious that you think you know more than Eddie Johnson. New York was willing to trade for Eddie Curry with the heart condition so why didn’t Chicage keep him? The Clippers had enough talent w/o Brand to be playing better than they are. Brand is excellent but he wasn’t a one-man show. Suns didn’t lose a thing without Amare and there isn’t that much of a disparity between the rest of the players.
Michael kukich Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 3:46 am
BTW the Suns Have only “sucked” in three seasons out of 39, their inaugural year 68/69, and the 86/87 & 87/88 seasons. They happen to be one of the most successful franchises in league history, a remarkable feat considering that Phoenix was a small market for most of those years.
Eddie Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 4:48 am
Rashidi
the suns will be 35-12 after 47 games. book it. stop trying to be a prognosticator and leave that to the pro.
Eddie Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 4:50 am
I am not comparing the clippers with anyone. they have veterans that should be competitive and right now they are not. face facts.
Petro Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
Eddie, stop arguing with these numskulls and get back on the tube. I can only handle so much of Dan Majerle!
Petro Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
ComeNGetME,
It seems like your are comparing people who stepped it up to people that haven’t. That simple.
Except for the Kaveman.
Calvin O Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
It’s true you were the pro, but sometimes your associations might cloud your judgement. You say the Clippers are underachieving, but regarding your pal Isiah you say he has “tons of redeeming qualities.” If you were not friends with him, you might be calling for his job, as the Knicks have the second worst record in the nba with a team that you yourself say is one of the most talented one through twelve in the league. You have more patience and empathy for your friend, which is natural.
Rashidi Said,
December 31, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
Sorry but I guess we’re gonna have to disagree. Veterans don’t mean a thing if they aren’t healthy or any good.
And considering the Suns play the T-Wolves twice, Bucks twice, Sonics, Clippers, Bulls, Pacers, Cavaliers, and Nets (10 of the next 16) games, one would certainly hope they’d go 13-3.
Eddie Said,
January 1, 2008 @ 12:02 am
last i recall they lost to the wolves lol they are playing the schedule dont hate