Friday, March 12, 2010

Bullying the Bulls B team

Derrick Rose has been ruled out of tonight's game, joining Joakim Noah and Luol Deng on the injured list. Miami will enter this game without the services of Dorell Wright, Rafer Alston (still technically on the roster) and Michael Beasley is a gametime decision.

If I were to guess tonight's Chicago Bulls starting lineup it would be:

C - B. Miller
PF - T. Gibson
SF - H. Warrick
SG - R. Murray
PG - K. Hinrich

It is not a scary lineup, but I wouldn't sleep on them. Miami will need to come out agressive as this is a MUST WIN game for the depleted Bulls, who still have to travel to Memphis and Dallas before coming home to welcome Cleveland.

If Mike Beasley sits out the game, I believe Udonis Haslem should be rewarded with a start. I really do not understand why Spoelstra is so hell bent on not messing with the rotation. It doesn't work anyway, shake it up, something good could happen.

In the only two games that Beasley has not been available, Joel Anthony was given the start. I really don't have a problem with this decision, because I believe he will get the job done, but I can't help but get flashbacks to last season's Diawara at the 4 debacle.

The Heat must develop a killer instinct and send Chicago reeling towards a 7th consecutive loss. A convincing victory against a desperate, albeit shorthanded, Chicago team will go a long ways towards re-igniting the passion and fire that this unit had when they came out of the gates with a 6-1 record.

Out of respect for those who are superstitious I will not predict the outcome, but I see Wade getting the better of Hinrich and company. He will go for the kill and try to earn some 4th quarter rest again.

35 comments:

  1. Maybe Noah or Deng come back for this game, I really don't know honestly.

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  2. There's no way Noah plays and everything I've read about Deng has him playing next game, at the earliest. Both Gibson and Miller are notably dinged up as well.

    Beasley or not, there is absolutely no reason for anything other than an W tonight. We need this and we need to get it done early.

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  3. With the Heat, no game is a given no matter who the opponent is. Remember, all the opposing team has to do is double Wade or trap him at halfcourt and anything can happen from there.

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  4. Chris' Crazy Summer
    rayman_101 Post #1: Mar 11, 8:00 pm Quote | Report Violation
    Total Posts: 26
    Note: This story is set during the summer of 2009

    Chapter 1:

    It was a beautiful summer morning, and Chris Bosh lay peacefully in his bed, fast asleep. He was having a wonderful dream; a unicorn was carrying him far above the city, and the people on the ground looked like tiny dots.

    *RING* *RING*

    Chris woke up with a start-- his cellphone was ringing.

    "CHRIS!!!!!!" a hysterical sounding voice yelled.

    "Andrea is that you? What's wrong?" muttered Chris.

    "I'm scared!" sobbed Andrea.

    "Scared? Scared of what?" said Chris.

    "We just traded Roko and Carlos for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems!" said Andrea.

    "So what?" said Chris. He had never been very fond of either of them.

    "I've never had a black teammate before. Now I have two!" screamed Andrea.

    "What about me? Aren't I black? asked Chris.

    "No, not really. You don't have any tattoos," answered Andrea.

    "Oh, ok. Well listen Andrea, I'm sure everything will be fine," said Chris, before hanging up the phone.

    It seemed to Chris that Andrea had brought up a very valid point. In order for Chris to lose his reputation as a soft player, he would need to get a tattoo. Picking up his cellphone, Chris quickly called his best friend, Rasho Nesterovic.

    "Rasho buddy, meet me outside my apartment in 10 minutes, we are getting tattoos!" proclaimed Chris.

    Ten minutes later Chris spotted Rasho bumbling towards him.

    "Wow Chris, you sure have balked up! Are you lifting more?" asked Rasho.

    "Don't need to," replied Chris. "I'm on steroids now."

    "But don't those things make your balls shrink?" asked Rasho.

    "Yeah, by design though," said Chris.

    "What do you mean?" Rasho enquired.

    "I mean, that smaller balls mean less sperm, and less sperm mean less unwanted pregnancies!" beamed Chris.


    Thirty minutes later Chris and Rasho had arrived at the tattoo parlor. It was then that the enormity of what they were about to do settled upon them.

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  5. i saw this on espn board for toronto. thought it was funny

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  6. On a side note, the Bulls scored 95 points in their last 2 games against us.

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  7. Thats because their offense is terrible. Almost Miami Heat level. Especially without Rose and Deng. Its embarrassing that they scored over 80.

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  8. true ^
    Knicks whipped the Mavs & ended their 13 game win streak. Now they can tell Wade "you can continue to break Dallas's heart out here in NY" lol

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  9. Heat without Wade didn't beat the Mavs. Just sayin'.

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  10. -1 to the both of you for talking Knicks basketball

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  11. toronto lost again... even if toronto finds their way to the playoffs, i just cant see bosh staying with that team. i think all the amare re-signing posturing is an inlking that bosh is destined for south beach

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  12. Asked what Toronto needs to do to turn things around, Bosh -- the franchise leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots -- was succinct in his reply.

    "Just do it. Act like you care," he said. "I'm going down playing offense on (the Warriors) side of the court and their bench is louder than we are. That doesn't make any sense. They're not playing for anything.

    "We're trying to make the playoffs, maybe get a fifth seed, but that's like slipping every day. This isn't playoff basketball

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  13. http://stats.sports.theglobeandmail.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=globeandmail&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4297387

    The Raptors lead Chicago by two games for the last spot in the East playoff race with 19 games to play.

    "I think we got really selfish. We had guys coming down and taking shots and other guys are not happy that they don't touch the ball. We miss the shot and they (Sacramento) get the rebound and then fastbreak points," said Toronto head coach Jay Triano

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  14. http://twitter.com/timpchisholm

    this guy follows the raptors and seems to have a solid pulse on them

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  15. Did you guys hear how pissed off Bosh was after the Raptors lost to the Warriors? Hmmm...

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  16. Curry should be a Knick...
    & Bosh has a right to be mad. They were a solid 5th seed, but he goes down & they start losing. Well, that's expected, but then they keep losing when he comes back like they don't care anymore. Welcome to the Heat, Chris. Or Chicago...

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  17. I take back what I said before. I do think we could beat the Celtics in a playoff series. Obviously even though they're weaker than they're perceived to be, it'd still take the whole team playing great, but when's the last time they've won a statement game? This is as good as it gets for them imo.

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  18. GodsSon521 said...
    I take back what I said before. I do think we could beat the Celtics in a playoff series. Obviously even though they're weaker than they're perceived to be, it'd still take the whole team playing great, but when's the last time they've won a statement game? This is as good as it gets for them imo.

    MARCH 14, 2010 6:14 PM

    lol not in a series. As bad as the Celtics are playing they're still better. Take away the shooting guards from the equation and the Celtics are literally 15x better than the Heat. Now bring in Wade and Allen, and Allen can actually make Wade work on defense. Obviously Wade's gonna get his but according to John Donne "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main".

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  19. toronto loses again to portland.

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  20. The Heat have two roster spots open and are close to signing former Siena shooting guard Kenny Hasbrouck.

    A deal could be reached as soon as Monday.

    Hasbrouck was with the Heat for several weeks last summer, then got hurt shortly before training camp.



    Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/65360/20100315/with_spot_open_heat_eyeing_hasbrouck/#ixzz0iGCpY64S

    LOL. Who the fuck is that?

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  21. golden state may not be winning, but they are entertaining to watch.

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  22. I have been saying for the last several months Bosh comes here. I'm just not sure if it is by a sign or trade or if he signs outright and comes to the Heat. I don't think the Raptors would want to pair Beasley with Barnangi.

    I'm also starting to forsee the Heat resigning everyone. If they resign Wade and sign Bosh they'll have around $5-6 million. It will be enough to bring back JO ($5-6 mil/yr), Richardson (min), Wright (min), and Arroyo (min). Haslem may or may not be back, but with Bosh in the mix it doesn't matter. Do you honestly see anyone offering JO a MLE deal? If so, who?

    The starting lineup improves with Bosh and the bench improves with Beasley. I don't like the idea of JO paired with Bosh, but I don't see anyone offering him the MLE and he is probably the best center on the market.

    Arroyo
    Wade
    Richardson
    Bosh
    O'Neal

    Bench: Beasley, Chalmers, Wright, Cook, Anthony, Magloire, plus whatever they do with the two draft picks

    Two months ago I would have been pretty upset with this situation, but it's probably the best we can do with the limited cap space we have after signing Wade and another max guy ($4-6 million). Richardson and Arroyo play well off Wade and I'm assuming would work well with Bosh. Beasley can play 30-35 minutes off the bench at PF and SF, while Bosh goes to C for the second unit.

    The power rotation could be something like:
    Bosh = 35mpg
    Beasley = 30mpg
    JO = 28mpg
    Anthony/banger = 3mpg

    When Wade is out you could have something like Arroyo, Chalmers, Richardson/Wright, Beasley, and Bosh out there.

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  23. Milwaukee, cleveland if shaq retires, san antonio, and detroit could offer JO the MLE. they could all use backup centers or in some cases, a starting center

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  24. ira thinks that JO thinks he would and will get more than the MLE

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  25. Adrian,

    The Bucks have Bogut and Gadzuric on the books for $18 million next year. Signing JO for $5 million will essentially be $10 million due to the tax. Is he going to be the difference between them getting an 7-8th seed and getting homecourt. No. It is unlikely.

    I think San Antonio either needs a banger or someone who spreads the court next to Duncan. JO is neither.

    Detroit ($51 million) is right around the cap. They're not a very good team. I'm assuming they resign Wallace, but is JO the guy to get them to the playoffs? IMO, that's unlikely. Is is worth it for them to pay JO $5-6 million when he's not going to make much of a difference? I think they want to get younger, not get older.

    Cleveland makes sense. But, Shaq wants to play again and I think Z will be back. It wouldn't shock me, but I think they'd be better of paying Kurt Thomas less money to quietly sit on the bench behind Shaq, Z, Varejao, Hickson, Jamison, and Powe.

    Another thing to consider is JO is at best the 5th-6th best big man on the market behind Bosh, Amare, Boozer, David Lee, and possibly Camby and Shaq. Then you have the guys who will come cheaper like (in no order) Carl Landry, Petro, Scola, Chuck Hayes, Gooden, Josh Powell, Etan Thomas, Kurt Thomas, Al Harrington, Brad Miller, Haslem, etc. All these guys aren't better than JO, but most of these guys can legitimately play either the 4 or the 5 while JO can only play the 5 and I don't see any of them getting more than $3-4 million.

    If you're looking for a guy to come off the bench I think you'd want a guy who is versatile and can play more than one position. If you are looking for a backup and it comes down to JO for $5 mil or Drew Gooden for $3 mil I think most teams would take Gooden. Additionally, if you are contending team looking to hand out the MLE would you want to give it to JO; a guy like Camby, Josh Howard, John Salmons, Randy Foye; or split it on something like Drew Gooden and Marquis Daniels or Haslem and Steve Blake?

    The Heat will be able to offer him right around the MLE. The Heat, or any other team who doesn't sign him to a MLE deal, will be able to offer annual increases each year greater than a MLE deal. The way I see it, if the Heat wants JO back the ball will be in their court.

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  26. gadzuric will be an expiring contract next yr, so JO is still a good possibility with milwaukee. JO to cleveland would hinge on shaq's or big Z's availability, especially if they win the title. San antonio could definitely use another veteran big man who could match up with the bigs out west, although i do see your point about needing someone to spread the floor. i dont know if camby goes anywhere other than NY, LA, or prtland. brad miller vs JO? i take JO. the same with gooden. once the dominoes fall, with JO's performance in miami, i do believe he will have interest at the MLE from middke of the road teams

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  27. My point is the Heat will still have the opportunity to offer him a better contract (less money upfront, but more money over time) even if middle of the road teams show interest at the MLE.

    I think the Heat will have to decide whether or not he is worth paying $5-8 million over 3-4 years.

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  28. I agree JO is better than Gooden and Miller. But, if you need depth would you are looking for a backup center and want depth would you rather add JO and one minimum guy or Gooden/Miller and a Marquis Daniels/Steve Blake/decent backup type.

    Remember, teams can split up the MLE... they don't have to give it all to one guy. Is it really worth it to pay JO $5 mil to play 15-20 minutes a game?

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  29. If the Heat landed Bosh I would almost be more happy with a Randy Foye ($3.5 mil) and Brad Miller ($2.5 mil) combo if they could pull it off over JO for $5-6 mil. Roll with Miller, Anthony, MAgloire at C for 24 minutes with Bosh taking the remaining 24. That would give Beasley 24 minutes at PF and 6 minutes at SF off the bench.

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  30. "Talk about peaking at the right time. Wade is playing better than anyone, averaging 30.6 points, 7.9 assists and 5.0 boards during the Heat's current 6-1 stretch."

    On a side note, Miami made the FBI's top 25 most dangerous cities list as #14. Another reason to bolt to NY who didn't make the list...

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  31. another reason for Wade* I meant

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  32. JB, did you see JO'Neal owning Brad Miller the other night? Miller is washed up. And Foye??? Come'on man. Sometimes more isn't better. 2 crappy players are not better than one ok player. IMO

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