Click-a-Bull (Offseason Priorities; BG; Playoff Hopes; Flip's Hook) + The Elusive White Sox Link

Phoenix Take Bulls Playoff Hopes Away; It's Probably a Relief Since James Johnson Needs to Go on Atkins

Offseason priority No.1: Get LeBron at any cost; if not, and probably won't, get a second-tier star.

Offseason priority No. 2: Get a new coach. There are no up-and-comers in the coaching world, yet even Vinny DelNegro knows he has to begin searching for a new job this summer.

Offseason priority No. 3: Get healthy. Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis), Taj Gibson (plantar fasciitis), Luol Deng (calf), Derrick Rose (take your pick, wrist?), Kirk Hinrich (ankle) and James Johnson (plantar and extra cream in his coffee with a Danish on the side) are all battling lingering injuries. They need rest and since they're probably out of the playoff picture with a 111-105 loss Tuesday to the Phoenix Suns, this may be a blessing.

Offseason priority No. 4: Teach Derrick Rose defense. There's no reason why he shouldn't be at least a competent defensive player, if not, a really good one. The Bulls are hinging their future on him and they can't have the defensive display they had on Wednesday when Rose was supposed to collapse on Grant Hill after Steve Nash blew by something called Jannero Pargo. He was late and his instincts on that side of the ball are still lacking. While the skill aspects of the game, like shooting, have improved with Rose, this team suffers still because Rose can't be counted on when on defense. I believe he'll get there, but coaching is crucial in this regard.

Offseason priority No. 5: Create a defensive philosophy - like a real one. Not the one they have now where all the guards get beat by the pick and roll and the defense collapses toward the lane, leaving 3 point shooters wide open. It's not really a philosophy since there is no pressure on the ball nor is there a plan to force the other team into doing what they don't normally do.

Were the Ben Gordon haters right all along?

Reading this blog, you know I'm a Ben Gordon fan. I've thought the Bulls made a huge mistake in not signing him to the 6 year 54 million dollar extension two seasons ago which would have locked him in to a 9 million dollar a year contract. A contract I considered a value. At the same time, I thought it was fine to let him walk when the pricetag was going to go up to 12 million this summer. Not that the Bulls would have seriously considered that due to the luxury tax.


While I've defended Gordon for most of the year, and I was still disappointed the Bulls didn't make things work for him, my own words after we declined to pick him up for 6/54 came back to me.

At that point I said, Gordon has just as much chance of becoming an MLE player as he does of earning more than the 6/54 that he originally declined (and then took at the last minute to have the Bulls decline). Fred Pfeiffer and I had debated that point, but this season has proven it. Swap Gordon's 08/09 and 09/10 seasons and he would have made the MLE (of course, then after a great 09/10 season he'd look like an incredible value at the MLE).

In six years in the NBA, Gordon's had a PER below 15 three times and above 15 three times. Overall, his career mark of 16 puts him slightly above average. He's become a volume three point shooting specialist, and this year he struggled to even do that.

More interesting to me is how it all fell apart in Detroit. Was it simply the injuries? If so, we should see a much better season from Gordon next year. However, it also seems like Gordon struggled to fit in with the players Detroit had. His greatest success in the season came while they had other injuries and there were no chemistry issues on the court.

That's partially Detroits fault. They didn't have a real PG, but a pure shooting guard in Hamilton and a SG forced to play PG in Stuckey. They added in another PG-sized SG in Gordon. The fit there is simply terrible. Hamilton and Gordon are performing well under career norms, while Stuckey, for whatever reason, seems to be played as if he's a stud guard when he's a straight chucker (career TS% of 49.2% is simply awful).

Little things add up to big loss for Bulls

A tense finish against Phoenix on Tuesday night at the United Center provided an illustration of the increasingly small margin of error the Bulls face in their quest to make the playoffs.

The ultimate result was a 111-105 loss to the Suns after the score was tied with less than a minute remaining. The defeat left the Bulls 11/2 games behind Toronto in the East with eight left to play.

Here are some of the little things that went wrong for the Bulls:

• Kirk Hinrich didn't play after turning his left ankle with about four minutes left in the second quarter when he stepped on Joakim Noah's foot. Hinrich came out after halftime and ran up and down the court a few times during warmups, then retreated to the locker room.

Having Hinrich available to guard Steve Nash down the stretch might have made a difference. Even Suns coach Alvin Gentry called Hinrich the NBA's best on-ball defender.

Flip Murray’s Insane Half Court Hook Shot

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Jake Peavy setting the pace

Jake Peavy has nowhere to go on a rainy morning in Arizona; he is just standing in a doorway and killing time by talking baseball with Steve Stone and a reporter. But trying to keep up with Peavy in conversation is probably like trying to hit against him, because of his intensity.

The man is fired up. He's fired up about the White Sox. He's fired up about the starting rotation. He's fired up about Gavin Floyd and John Danks. He's fired up about pitching in the American League Central. He's fired up about facing the Minnesota Twins while respecting the depth of their lineup.

It's as if Peavy stored up all the energy from the months he spent on the disabled list last summer, after joining the White Sox. "I think we can do some damage," he says, and Stone nods.

The Twins, the AL Central favorites, have a strong lineup and a deep rotation, and the midseason trade resources flowing from a new ballpark. The Tigers have Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello, and a cleaned-up Miguel Cabrera. The Indians are armed with Fausto Carmona, who has looked great this spring, and what appears to be a strong offense.

The White Sox have Peavy, at the head of what should be a strong starting five, if he is close to what he was in three starts for the White Sox at the end of last season, if he's close to what he was in his years with the Padres. With San Diego, Peavy was established as the guy who wanted the ball in the big game, a guy who went 6-1 in his starts in Dodger Stadium, against the Padres' archrival.

But the White Sox acquired him last season at a time when he was on the disabled list with an ankle injury, and for weeks, he was the guy who hung around the clubhouse. Don Cooper, the White Sox pitching coach, worked with Peavy during his rehabilitation period, and he got to know Peavy; others did not. A player on the White Sox mentioned to Cooper that he didn't really know if Peavy was fully invested in what the team was trying to accomplish. Cooper tried to reassure the player, telling him how diligent Peavy was in his rehab, and how much cared; Peavy just was not in position to take a leadership role, because he was hurt.

White Sox and Bulls links

I was away at JORTS this weekend, but it was an interesting weekend for the White Sox. The Sox were attempting to sweep the Yankees, and Kenny Williams traded for Jake Peavy, who rejected the Sox a few months ago and has been out with a broken ankle since June 13. So does this trade help us now? Or at any point this season?! And did we give up too much?!

I have no idea how to feel about this, and my guess is that it will depend on what other moves we make (to get younger/faster and shed some payroll) this off-season.

Some analysis of the trade :

Peavy happy to be in the Chi.



Kenny playing "poker" -

The day before, he gave no impression, no idea. He walked around the offices of U.S. Cellular Field with a smile on his face while his team sent a message to the American League. No one knew.

The next day he came in calm. Same demeanor. But that was a disguise.


When the news broke that the White Sox finally closed a deal that they had begun piecing together last season, bringing 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy to town, general manager Kenny Williams had the same look on his face that he had had the day before. A look that gave no one any idea of what he had up his sleeve, what the hell he was doing. A look that gave away nothing despite Peavy's veto of a trade to the South Side just more than two months ago.

It was like one of the greatest hands of poker ever played. His own staff didn't know until that morning that he'd been working trying to make one of the biggest deals in team history. He made everyone around him think that everything was normal. I repeat, no one knew.

Peavy "pain free".



 



I'm not a huge fan of the Basketball HoF, but they gave MJ an exhibit -

The Basketball Hall of Fame has opened a Michael Jordan exhibit before his enshrinement next month.

The display features items from Jordan's NBA career and from his time at North Carolina and with the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. There is also a batting glove from Jordan's brief foray into baseball.

The exhibit is made possible in part by a $250,000 donation from

Nike and features several pair of the superstar's Air Jordan shoes.

30 teams in 30 days -

2008 Statistics

Finished 41-41, second in the Central Division, seventh in the Eastern Conference

Postseason

First Round: Lost to Boston Celtics 4-3

Key Additions

James Johnson via draft, Taj Gibson via draft, Jannero Pargo via free agency

Key Losses

Ben Gordon via free agency

You would think the loss of your leading scorer would completely dismantle your team, right? Not in the case of the Chicago Bulls. Thanks to a future all-star and having another star come off of injury, the Bulls are ready once again to make another push into the playoffs.

This off season the Bulls lost their sixth man in Ben Gordon. Even though he came off the bench most of his career with Chicago, his shooting touch and scoring flurries were pure fire and it would usually be his hot shooting that would lead the team to victory.

But those days are gone now and Gordon will be bringing his scoring outbursts to the city of Detroit where he was signed as a free agent.

Even without Gordon though, the Bulls do have a lot of young talent that it can rely on to carry it to the postseason. With point guard Derrick Rose at the helm, this team has a bright future to look forward to. In his first season, he averaged 17 points and six assists per game and took away rookie of the year honors.

Big move for the Sox?!

Today was off to a great start when I woke up to a text message that the White Sox were trying to trade for Peavy. Now it seems that he is vetoing the trade because he prefers the NL -

The agent for San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy expressed doubt Thursday that his client is ready to sign off on a proposed trade to the Chicago White Sox.

Agent Barry Axelrod told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that Peavy has a "strong preference" to stay in the National League. That preference, along with Peavy's fondness for his new home in Southern California, could impede a proposed deal that would send the pitcher to Chicago.

And the Sox got crushed today -

Joe Mauer hit a grand slam, two doubles and drove in six runs as the Minnesota Twins routed the White Sox 20-1 Thursday, matching Chicago's most-lopsided loss in team history.

Another reason today sucks ... my favorite Chicago Bear Rex Grossman is trying out for the UFL -

According to UFLAccess.com, which is a site for fans, former Bears quarterback Rex Grossman will participate in drills in front of UFL head coaches.

The Web site quotes a Las Vegas television station, saying that another player, Graham Harrell, will also participate in the drills in a "pro day" in Las Vegas.

A representative from the UFL would not confirm any players who will be in attendance at the workout.

Cutler honeymoon -

For those compelled by precision, for those looking for the exact moment when the Jay Cutler hype machine clicked into overdrive in Chicago, I propose May 17, 2009, at 1:40 p.m.

At that exact moment this past Sunday, Chicago Bears play-by-play man Jeff Joniak grabbed a microphone at the team's annual fan convention and formally introduced the new quarterback to a fan base long in search of its savior.

Some clapped; others yelled. Some pulled out their cell phones; others pulled out their digital cameras. Young and old, male and female, it didn't matter. From grandmas to baby girls, from frat boys to business execs, everyone wanted to see the hero, everyone wanted to hear him speak. With each passing second, more and more fans squeezed closer and closer to the stage. It was as if Cutler were John, Paul, George and Ringo all rolled into one.

And in a way, he is. That's what happens when a franchise that hasn't had a franchise quarterback in half a century mortgages its entire future on the right arm of a 26-year-old Pro Bowl answer.

After Paxson made arguably his best move (acquiring Salmons and Miller), he has promoted and will no longer be Bulls GM -

Gar Forman has been promoted to general manager of the Chicago Bulls, replacing John Paxson, who will remain with the team as executive vice president of basketball operations.

The Bulls announced the move Wednesday in a release promoting a Thursday news conference.

Forman has been director of player personnel the past five years. He joined the organization as a scout in 1998 and became the team's director of player personnel in January 2004.

Paxson is expected to retain a major say in personnel moves, but was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. He had been GM since April 2003, when he was officially hired as executive vice president of basketball operations.

The new titles reflect a shift that had already taken place over the past year, with Forman assuming more day-to-day responsibilities. That included the lead role in contract negotiations with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon and input in the coaching search last summer.

Besides helping Paxson evaluate potential trades, free agents and coaches, Forman coordinated Chicago's amateur and pro scouting as director of player personnel.

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NO BIG MOVE FOR THE BULLS!! At least not involving TT -

No Moving Tyrus: This time of year speculation runs rampant for a lot of players because trades are a big part of the NBA Draft and because teams want to start as early as possible planning out their roster for the next season. Players' names are bandied about like people are trading basketball cards and rumors can be sparked at the drop of a hat. The latest victim of such speculation seems to be forward Tyrus Thomas of the Chicago Bulls.

Thomas has had his ups and downs in his three seasons in the NBA. Some say he is a tweener forward; not really a small forward and not really a power forward. Still, he played more consistently the second half of this season when the Chicago Bulls made their postseason run, and he was solid during their seven-game first-round series with the Boston Celtics.

The Bulls have stated they would really like to keep as much of this year's team together as possible, adding in forward Luol Deng and his return from injury. Unrestricted free agent guard Ben Gordon is an obvious question, but Thomas is not.

While many have already traded Thomas in whatever deal strikes their fancy – to Phoenix in a package for Amar'e Stoudemire is a popular one – the Bulls are committed to Thomas being part of their future. The word on the street is the Bulls will open contract extension talks with Thomas' agent this summer – he is eligible for an extension that would kick in for the 2010-11 season this summer – to keep him in Chicago. That's where Thomas wants to be and that's where the Bulls want him to be.

Yes, anything could happen, but it would seem that moving Thomas is not in Chicago's plans at all. Quite the opposite.