Full Court Press

Kind of ironic that the only year "play it safe Paxson" decides to take a flyer (as opposed to proven talent...oh I don't know like maybe Aldridge or Roy), he takes it on this complete malcontent. Stromile Swift clone...

Another mistake by Pax.

Funny how everyone jumps on the "anti-Paxson" bandwagon ONE YEAR after winning 49 games and getting to Round 2. People, yes he signed Ben Wallace--but he found a sucker to take Ben off our hands. Isn't that one of the better moves you could ever imagine? A broken-down defensive-only big got dealt for a serviceable part in Gooden and a much-easier-to-move trading chip in Larry Hughes for this summer's trading bonanza. Not only did Cancer Wallace get shipped, but he got Cancer Griffin and Cancer Smith outta here with him. Fantastic move. A real GM admits his mistake, fixes it by removing the problem and prepares for next year. Nothing wrong with that at all. About Tyrus, Pax had no real way of knowing what Tyrus would bring to the table in '06. Playing it safe wasn't getting it done, so why not gamble on a potential Shawn Marion-esque young stud? At the time, all of the sports pundits were saying the kid had all the talent in the world, rating him as high as #1 on draft boards. The same pundits were saying Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge came with huge injury risks. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I'd say give both Pax and Thomas a chance. The kid is barely 21, had only played a year in college and barely played any high school ball. C'mon people. Take your anger out on Big Bum tonight at the UC, not guys we currently have.

We were so happy when paxton got us ben wallace. how could any of us know that he would not be what we paid for. Evaluating talent is a double edge sword. Thomas has the talent, give him time to grow-up.you draft kids and when they sometimes act like one your confused. I hate seing our talent sent elsewhere and produce well, aka chandler, phargo,curry and so on. Never should have fired skiles, he made them act like adults. Thank God wallace is gone and not on the payroll!Make them accountable through their pay-checks and you'll see some passion.

The problem isn't with Tyrus Thomas it's with Boylan! Look at his comments in the paper today about this situation? In additio to having no basketball knowledge or coaching ability, he has NO leadership or even people management skills. He is a pathetic waste of time and until he is fired, the Bulls will go no where no matter who is on the Roster. I don't excuse Thomas completely but come on do any of the young players on this team know their role? Is there any consistency, rhyme,reason or logic to who Boylan's starts or match-ups? NO! WE need a new coach, the sooner the better!

Ed, What do you what the coach to do? Do you think the coach should hold his hand and wipe his but. I am getting sick of athletes who think they are special.

I do not know what you do for a living but if don't show up for work then you are fired! Tyrus Thomas is nothing but a big baby just like the rest of plyers who are employed in the NBA. Athletic but big dumb and stupid.

I can't wait for the Olympics when our Athletic but dumb and stupid NBA Dreamteamers get their lunch handed to them by a bunch of slow White European players.

Aren't there bigger issues facing the Bulls right now?

Another frustrating setback to the season. Only good thing coming out of this year will be the draft pick.

I agree with Ed in that Boylan much like Skiles has yanked the rug out from under players too quickly many times. I can understand Tyrus's frustration, although I don't agree with the way he handled it. The other night he was called for a foul when the ball handler slipped and fell with no help from anyone and Tyrus was yanked not to return. And that wasn't the first time Boylan has done that to him or some of the other guys. How does that help a player to mature or learn how to play through adversity?

One missed practice? Toss it in the bucket and let's move on.

Boylan jokes about the reference to Wallace and Griffin adding a day suspension for Thomas...do you think he realizes the team totally owned him when they decided on the 2 days for Noah?

I agree with Ed...what a total dumb-a$$.

Just when you think he's about to turn the corner, T.T. pulls another knuckle-headed move like this. (And "T.T." is an appropriate term! Because, sorry, until he becomes a dominator - he can NOT be termed "T2")Tyrus better grow up before he becomes the definition and image for the following type of phrase "...(multi-)million dollar talent, pennies for brains..."
Yes, there have been much worse situations arise - even this season by Bulls teammates, and Tyrus IS still VERY YOUNG - but I wonder if T.T. will ever "get it" before it's too late.
P.S. RogersPark Kris, unless by some extremel long shot the Bulls get a top 3 draw in the draft lottery, they will be picking in the 8-10 slots, once again. Not the best of choices there to get what is most needed for improvement.

You Chicago fans are great... scapegoating a 33 yr old undersized PF with no offensive skills and diminishing athleticism--WHEN YOU SIGNED HIM--for all the ills of the 07-08 season. Paxson threw megabucks at Big Ben when even Joe Dumars, Wallace's biggest backer, refused to let Ben name his price. Paxson chose Tyrus "I Only Dunk for Money" Thomas over LaMarcus Aldridge. Paxson fired Scott Skiles, which was probably the right thing to do considering that Chicago's "young stars"--who Paxson inexplicably refuses to trade--quit on him.

Don't worry guys, I'm sure Luol Deng is just a season away from challenging Bron and Kobe for best player status. At least, that's what Pax keeps telling me.

Boylan is in over his head and has no idea what he's doing. However, Thomas had 4 fouls in only 8 minutes. How is a coach supposed to continue playing a guy who gets 4 fouls in 8 minutes? It's stories like these that make me wish I didn't like sports so much.

I'm not a Thomas fan, but shouldn't the Bulls be trying to develop young talent rather than *break* it?

I had thought Tyrus Thomas was starting to grow up and develop. It turns out he is the Nuke LaLoosh of the Bulls. He has million dollar body but a 5 cent head. Paxson needs to clean house this off-season.

I don't blame Tyrus. Every time he gets minutes he produces. He might commit some fouls in a game or two and not produce, but overall he is our best defensive presence (changes people's shot constantly) and is still young. His abilities far outweigh Chandler's and look what he is doing once he got consistent minutes. The Bulls coaching has been horrid this year. Stick with a rotation and quit making players something they are not. They need Hinrich at Point (and play him 35-37 minutes). Their is no offensive movement when Gordon is at point. You need Hughes at SG. Play him 30-32 and let BG come off bench for about 25 mins like Vinnie Johnson used to. If he is super hot he plays 30-35. Deng needs to be at SF for 35mins a game. he is the best at moving without the ball. Plat Tyrus and Gooden and Joakim in a rotation. Then you still have Noc to plug in. That is all they need to do. Quit trying to play 11 guys every game!

What was his excuse? Has he given one yet?

Roman responds: No.

Again, this goes back to the Bulls' so-called commitment to develop the younger players on this team and yet, the core regulars continue to get more playing time minutes away from the kids. At one point, you either commit to your development plan and do it successfully like the Chicago Blackhawks or you don't, but don't try to deceive the smart fans out there who have watched all the games and press conferences closely and think they'll forget what was said.. Obviously, the Bulls are still trying to play for the playoffs by mixing the core regulars with the new guys hogging up the minutes. Last game, Bulls blow out the Memphis Grizzlies and everyone is all so excited, stirring up false hope again about the playoffs and going on a possible winning streak. Boylan and Paxson just don't get it. This accomplishes nothing and doesn't make our overall team better next season.

As for Tyrus Thomas, yes, definitely stupid of him to skip practice because of what was reported as his protest over only playing 8 minutes against the lowly Grizzlies last game and he deserves the suspension. Yes, he's a head case, has a problem with work ethic, has poor basketball IQ, he’s immature and so forth, but you have to let him try to play through it or else he's not going to learn from his mistakes. Yes, I know he picked up 4 quick fouls in limited minutes in that game, but you have him shut down the rest of the game even during garbage time? Having him play 20+ mins one game and then 8 minutes the next game is not going to work if you expect him to get any better. Sometimes I really question the Bulls entire coaching staff and their ability to teach and develop NBA basketball players. Sure, it's easy to cut minutes and give out suspensions, but then what? Who sits down with the young guys and helps educate them from their own mistakes? Isn’t that part of the coaches job as well? People assume that just because we draft a talented lottery player that he doesn't need good coaching? Besides, look at how many top 10 draft picks we have had in the last 7 or 8 years and how many of them have at least earned an NBA All-Star accolade? None, zero, nada. Forget Jim Boylan because he's obviously not the answer, but get a real head coach and overhaul the entire coaching staff in the offseason. The other assistants are not going to work either. Pete Myers – he should have been gone a long time ago. Ron Adams - . Fred Tedeschi and Mike Wilhelm – most fans are thinking who are they? I almost died laughing when I heard from the Bulls in December when they practically bragged about announcing the hire of Mike Brown as another assistant coach to help coach the big men on the team. Oh my, need I say more? This is ridiculous. None of them have a plan and are just hoping for the team to make the playoffs as an attempt to salvage a poor season. Yeah, that might work and satisfy the casual and bandwagon fans, but not the die hards and season ticketholders like myself who know better. You know what, maybe just forget the whole development plan because I don’t trust any of them know what they’re doing. This is such a mess and is even more frustrating than the losing seasons we had in the post-Jordan rebuilding era.

I happen to like Paxson and he did do a great job of rebuilding the team from the Tim Floyd days, but he has to take the heat for this current mess. I understand that he can’t or won’t do anything about the roster and coaches this season, but he better be prepared for a big offseason and make some big decisions and changes or else we’ll soon hear him on the hot seat also soon enough.

Go Bulls

Paxson is a fraud and the dumb blind bulls fans are giving him a free pass. First he hires a good college coach in Skiles. Skiles is a good coach but only at the college level this childish military type dictatorship doesnt work in the NBA. Then he trades Chandler for a guy who is worst than Chandler but lifts a lot of weights. Ben Wallace is a complete waste of money with no offensive ability at all. If this was anybody else he would have been ran out of town. Just because you went to Notre Dame and can shoot doesnt make you smart. This guy built a team full of hustle players but there good guys and speak well. The hell with that can we get some players who can score and have NBA talent and stop getting players that play like him. Once again never get players from Duke. They speak well and are nice guys but CANT PLAY.

Paul sez: "Ed, What do you what the coach to do? Do you think the coach should hold his hand and wipe his but. I am getting sick of athletes who think they are special.

I do not know what you do for a living but if don't show up for work then you are fired!"
___________________________

Tyrus reminds me of Ron Artest: Tons of talent, athletic ability, and potential; but nonetheless, a certifiable head case.

Petulant players with chips on their shoulders rarely reach their potential, although Randy Moss looks to be a possible exception.

These guys may have grown up in tough conditions, and under difficult circumstances, (poverty, single parent families, crime ridden neighborhoods), but the main ingredients / traits that are missing, (and therefore inhibiting their developement) are responsibility and accountability.

What's the BIG deal about missing practice! You miss a day of work don't you! You miss a day of work ...you call in that's all,no big deal. So What he makes a million dollars! They don't give Tyrus enough minutes to be effective anyway...Young guy need at least 30 minutes min. See Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Al Horton logging heavy minutes. GIVE ME A BREAK!

people should just leave tyrus alone he has never been given a fair shot. every time he gets a turn they find away to take it from him. i dont see why he was replaced in the line-up in first place.

Why do I get the sneaky feeling that Tyrus Thomas could be one of those players? You know, the ones who will be incredibly succesful in the NBA but not for the BULLS. Like Ron Artest, Tyson Chandler, Elton Brand, JR Smith, and most recently, Ben Wallace.

When will Tyrus get it? He is 21, a millionaire, and playing in a league that guarantees he will be worth more than 10 mil by the time he is 25. Who is advising him. He reminds me of Miles with his mom being upset that they didn't like him with braided hair. He seems to feel he's intitled rather than realistic. He still makes lots of mistakes, gets foolish fouls and needs to improve his jumper. He needs 1-2 yrs more to see if he grows. Miles will probably get one more chance then done, Tyrus could go that way.
On the Bulls in general, Deng seems to be healthy again. Gooden is stepping right in and Hughes is scary with all that talent. Noah has waited and been rewarded, Hinrich is just fine at the point and Gordon is the scary guy on the bench with Noce, Gray and hopefully Tyrus. I still like Duhon and we do miss Thabo. Very, very nice team, just need to jell. I would much rather have Hughes on the floor than Gordon during crunch time. Boylan has a team that can win. He has the conn, so this is his chance. I like him and I think the players do also. Give him a chance.
Go Bulls!!!!!

Paul is playing the race card. ROD got slammed for the same comment.

D. Green, he didn't call. At some jobs no call no show is reason for firing.

Boylan hands out PT like it's gold, he doesn't go with the flow in the beginning, and adjusts too late, the team finally has different pieces in place, Hughes can score on his own, and so can Gooden.

Gordon still takes dumb shots like, Noce, and Deng, but at least they are trying to work the new pieces in. Think Noah will be a beast at Power Center, he needs to play at a lower base, and get up quicker, as well as TT. Gray is just slow, he plays real slow, but somewhat effective.

TT has to play much quicker on offense, and use his jumping ability coupled with strength training to get off the ground faster, and at better angles for dunks. Kiss the rim should be his specialty.

Mark, do you know any NBA players? Have you lived it a tough neighborhood? Did you live in a single parent household? Then, who the hell are you to know what is missing for NBA players, did you poll them? Because judging from your comments, all people who grew up in these circumstances have missing traits of accountability and responsibility.

Damn that's cold to paint a whole financial, social, and lifestyle community of people with one brush. 50% of all households in the US end in divorce, so their percentage of the children are missing some of the "ingredients" you describe? The so called troubled kids have seen their moms or dads or both work 3 jobs, attend night school, just to get them to graduate and go to the pros.

There are more families in poverty going to work everyday than average workers, because they cannot afford to take a day off. Spend some years in an alleged "bad" neighborhood, see how all the people live in the community, don't paint everyone in the area with one stroke."

Stop with the ignorant comments, TT is a kid who made a dumb mistake, it had nothing to do with his childhood, just like being in the NBA had nothing to do with his childhood, he was blessed to be 6'9" and worked hard to make it.

Petulant bloggers who look to down people because they hate the fact they cannot compete at a high level have a chip on their shoulders, too. Of course their missing "traits" are Intelligence, wisdom, compassion, and mercy.

Those people reach their potential with every blog, bringing the rest of us down with them.

"See Kevin Durant, Al Horford"

Please don't ever put Thomas in the same sentence as those two. Those guys are real men playing a man's game. On their worst day, Thomas can't match up with those 2

He's still young and immature, give the kid some room. This may be a shot in the arm, who knows. One thing for sure, with a healthy Deng and Gordon, we look pretty good out there. Gooden, Deng, Gordon, Hughes, Nocioni, Hinrich, Thabo, Noah. In order, a decent eight. Now if Beavis(TT) can quit being a butthead already, the tail end of this season looks very watchable. If we don't lose to Washington we're in the eight spot. Let the games begin!

Maybe we should get more Duke guys...

Sheyer is one of the nicest kids in the world. Could run for Congress!

It may help to have a positive Thread in here for a Change...

How about...

BULLS BLOW OUT LEBRONS BIRTHDAY CANDLE!

or

BULLS RAIN ON LEBRONS POINT PARADE!

*First up, anyone who thinks Gordon isnt clutch, can just stop ever talking about hoops again, you have been exposed and exploited as the fool you are

*Secondly...Noah is a stud in the making!

*Thirdly, I sometimes confuse Noc with Gray...(and I have a 65 inch HDTV)

*Lastly....The Less the Cleveland Steamers (Gooden & Huey Lewis) Play, the better!

I'd ask if anyone even cares anymore; however, for some crazy reason 22,000+ fans continue to invade the U.C. for every home game. Perhaps the fans of the Bulls are a perfect fit for a bunch of malfuntioned BB players. Misery does love company, so they say.

Actually though, i'm dissapointed in myself as well. Living down here in S.E.C. country, i was very high on Tyrus Thomas when he decided to enter the draft, and i personally hoped the Bulls would draft him. So, blaming Paxson for doing what i hoped he would do, would not be fair, but i think it's time that we both admit that was a big mistake.

This season for the Bulls has been about as crazy off the court, as it has on the court, and about the only consolation that i could see being done, whether the team squeaks into the playoffs or not, would be to totally weed out all the bad apples and start over (again). Paxson did get off to a good start by finding a taker for Wallace, now it's time to rid themselves of Thomas, as well as Deng and Gordon. Thomas for obvious reasons, and Gordon and Deng for the fact they don't want to be long term Bulls, so it's best to get rid of them, while there's still a chance to recieve something in return. Hopefully, Pax will admit his mistakes, and make these moves, then Pax himself can have his one more last chance to make this team a consistent winner, before he needs to go as well.

Rod, did you see the game last night?
I dont know about you....but...I was jumping off my couch, when we made that run in the 3rd Q.

Id pay to see that puppy for a SECOND TIME!

If your a fan, i think you cant but help to want to win...its natural. I want us to win every game. I know it sounds obvious, but i mean, we actually have a gutteral reaction.

Think about it...
were
1 game behind New Jersey, 1 game ahead of Hotlanta for the 8 spot.

Thats not much...i think we make run and screw the draft pick...look at last years #1.

Ricky responds: I'm a little nervous to respond like this on a post Roman wrote (it's cool, right Big Guy?), but since you're asking me...yeah, last night's game was tight. I usually hate when the Bulls play Deng and Noce at the same time because they end up getting killed on the boards, but last night without Tyrus, Boylan didn't really have a choice, and it ended up working out. LeBron was absolutely heroic in the first half, that's about as perfect an individual performance as you'll see for one half in the NBA, so that third quarter run was even more surprising to me. And I agree you on the playoffs, go for it. I think it will happen because Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng are all back now and playing relatively well, and Noah is just a monster. I'd like to see Boylan give Tyrus some more PT when he comes back, and I like what Drew Gooden can do. He's a way better rebounder then Wallace is right now, and certainly better offensively, so I don't get that deal from the Cavs perspective. Anyways, yeah last night was good, let's win three in a row now for the first time all year.

"PRACTICE???? We're talking about PRACTICE???"

what the Bulls lack more than anything is a leader! that one player that brings the team together both duuring games and practice. Noah maybe emerging as that guy but how sad is it when a rookie steps up into that position? what does it say about a coaching staff that's more concerned about head bands than positive re-inforcement teaching methods? Did Boylan leave Noah in after he got his 4th nfoul in the third quarter because he had faith in Noah or because he lacked faith in Gray? Either way it was a good experience for Noah but unfortunately not for Gray. We'll see on Sunday what kind of effect Tyrus's conversation with Boylan had if any. for those who keep lamenting not having gotten Aldridge, who's to say that under Skiles he would have played they way he is playing. You only have to look at Chandler and how Skiles retarded his developement. I hope Tyrus was right when he said he and Boylan broke down some barriers other wise I'm afraid Brian Little(wondering if that's my nephew) could very well be right and Tyrus will become an all star somewhere other than Chicago.

Culzie Gordon is streaky not clutch. when he's on he's on fire when he's not he's the iceberg that sunk Titanic. When he starts to consistantly drain the pressure shot at the end of a close game you can start calling him clutch. I won't deny he can be instant offense off the bench but with the game on the line so far he has been clank not clutch.

In the immortal words of Bruce Webber "Who Cares"

Ben Wallace was not traded because he stunk with the Bulls. He was traded because both Deng & Gordon underachieved this year. The deal for Wallace was made with the belief both Deng & Gordon would emerge as all-stars this year. It was made with the belief they would sign long term deals.

I applaud Paxson for getting Hughes & Gooden in place of Wallace. Their addition puts pressure on both Deng & Gordon to sign and overachieve. They can no longer take their status on the Bulls for granted.

Both Hughes & Gooden have already proven to be much better with the Bulls than they were with Clev so Paxson has the edge in that part of the deal right now.

Maybe not Clutch...but...how about.. He's Money?

Too many of you people expect money to solve all the problems. He's got money, I'm sure people who have less money then you think you're also spoiled.

He's in a world where EVERYONE has money, that's not an issue, it's being frustrated with what you do day in and day out. Almost every top pick in the last 10-20 years gets their time on the court to develop, Tyrus hasn't... the other I can think of is Darko in Detroit... and he's younger then Noah.

- Played well last year in the 2nd half of the season, got benched because Nocioni came back. BTW Nocioni was a non factor.
- Ben Gordon actually blogged about how Tyrus was going to be the x-factor for them last year in the playoffs, yet he got hardly any court time... so even his teammates expected him on the court.
- Tyrus started at the beginning of this year at PF, then came the bench the first team in the Toronto game, Tyrus wasn't playing bad like the rest of the starters yet was benched... after that he was taken out of the starting lineup to get consistency in the lineup because our vets weren't getting the job done. Tyrus at that point was the lone bright point of the season with his 2 big games.
- Tyrus didn't even get in the regular rotation, for most of the year it was musical chairs with Noah on who got to play.
- Paxson then trades Wallace and Smith and says he did that to get playing time for his young bigs.