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Posted by: Balta1701-B Jan 15 2009, 12:52 PM

National game tonight. Cavs visit Chicago. Last time, Ben Wallace was scoring like crazy on us inside. That was a bad sign.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 15 2009, 02:08 PM

Won't be able to see any of this probably. I've got this stupid gay ass digital photography class at 6-8:45! Probably wouldn't be worth the time ne ways, we will just get embarrassed by these guys like last time.

Posted by: Cowch Jan 15 2009, 06:51 PM

Well, I sure HOPE that we can play well and maybe win, but Cleveland has made us look really terrible this year, not that we're great, but seriously, we suck against them. We should ask the Wizards how they do it!

Posted by: Sanitarium Jan 15 2009, 10:21 PM

WOW can't believe i missed watching this game...

did deng look good?

edit: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gamecenter/recap/NBA_20090115_CLE@CHI

What the HELL am I going crazy?!?!

Posted by: jorgefabregas Jan 15 2009, 10:30 PM

One of them had a crazy bounce. Nice win. Seemed kinda fluky, though (Deng's shot, etc.).

Posted by: DutheDoduhon21 Jan 15 2009, 10:41 PM

i had a good feeling about this game, i dont know why. they looked like the old bulls when we used to win by hustle and pure energy, and everyone used to call us scrappy. is it me or do they seem to be playing with a different mindset since kirk has came back? deng looked good again, tyrus was huge on the defensive end, and rose came up big towards the end. big win at home for us. that delonte west injury was nasty.

Posted by: Cowch Jan 15 2009, 10:53 PM

Both of Rose's And 1s were AWESOME! It is really nice to see Rose getting all the attention and throwing it to a wing and them making it. It's what everyone wanted to happen. Tyrus is playing like a different player right now, hopefully this is the Tyrus we will see from here on. I forgot how much I missed Kirk. It's crazy we won with some bad shooting performances. This game made my night.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 12:48 AM

The emergence of Tyrus Thomas is having a big effect on the team, also Kirk and Deng finally back! The team looks alot more like Skiles defensive team and I applaud for Vinny in benching Hughes! This was a huge win for us and I have a good feeling about the next couple of weeks. I'm glad Kirk's back. He has brought focus on defense to this team and its contagious. Tyrus stealing Lebron's soul late in the fourth was crazy, it was orgasmic- and then he continued to be a dominant defender near the rim. I didn't get to see the first half but this surprised me. Lebron didn't have as good of a game as his stats might indicate, we held him in check and Rose redeemed himself in overtime finding his shooters to pull out a victory. Great win! Now we gotta keep it up.

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 16 2009, 01:45 AM

That is one of the most incorrect statements I have EVER heard.

Posted by: Cowch Jan 16 2009, 10:44 AM

It's certainly not hurting them. I would sooo love Tyrus to average something like 13-15 pts, 9-10 reb, 2-3 blocks, and 1-2 steals. Of course that is wishful thinking, but that would be really valuable. He looked like a stud guarding Lebron. Every time he switched to him I got excited.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 10:59 AM

Geez, getting a little nuts about one game. 2 days ago we were ready to dump everyone on the roster...

Tyrus has been better of late, but he's still only had 4 good ones out of 8 this month and is averaging a decent-but-not-stellar 10-6 on 43% shooting. The Bulls are 5-5 in their last 10, but that includes home loses to the T-Wolves and Thunder. They're still the same team, they just came up with a good night.

Posted by: steve9347 Jan 16 2009, 11:03 AM

Wow, a shooting team got hot and won a game. Big freaking whoop. This team still blows.

Posted by: Balta1701-B Jan 16 2009, 11:13 AM

They shot 44% from the field. They were 7/13 from 3 land, but that's not a lot of attempts. You're still right on the latter part, but hot shooting didn't win that for them.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 12:19 PM

Actually its not.. Not at all. He has played some tremendous defense lately and it's helping alot.. Just look at last nights game. Without Tyrus last night, we would have lost the game.

Like I said, with Hughes benched forever now, Vinny has gone with the youth movement- (I'm not sure why Gooden isn't starting anymore, maybe someone could clear that up, I've been pretty busy lately..) With Kirk back, I "think" the team gets a trigger effect from his defense. Were not a great defense or even a above average defense by any means still, but its better than being a piss poor/god awful defense.

Posted by: Balta1701-B Jan 16 2009, 01:18 PM

Gooden sat on Tuesday after re-injuring himself, although it was supposedly minor.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 01:42 PM

Whoopie, he had a good game and helped us win against a tough team. The problem is on the flip side if he had shown up against OKC we probably win that one too, instead he put up a dis-interested 6-2 in 26 minutes. He's been a bit more consistent of late, but he's still not exactly setting the world on fire and we're still a bad team. I really wish people would get off his jock every time he has a good game, I don't see everyone flipping out because Deng put up 22-8 with 4 steals one night after he went for 16-14. It's one thing to get excited about the team's performance now and then, but I've never seen so much fellating of a guy that averages 10-6 in a good month.

If he were really making such a HUGE difference we'd be better than .500 in this recent stretch. We got one win against a Cleveland team we shouldn't have and two losses against OKC/Minnesota teams we shouldn't have, that's not exactly significant progress.

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 16 2009, 01:46 PM

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand thread.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 02:10 PM

I don't mean to sound like a total douchebag by the way, I just get annoyed by all of the Tyrus-love considering he's still inconsistent as hell and the guy we passed on to get him puts up 17-7 on a nightly basis. He did have a very solid game last night and played a big role in the win, especially considering Rose and Gordon were a bit off.

Deng had a good one as well, hopefully he'll start to get out of his funk. He's no superstar, but if he can get back to a 16-6 type that'll help a lot. He's been pretty inconsistent as well this year, he'll have a couple of vintage-Deng games and then mix in a couple of 4-10 for 11 points or 3-9 with 8 points type games, then get hurt again. Those injuries are getting annoying too.

Posted by: Balta1701-B Jan 16 2009, 02:58 PM

Eat it Lebron.

Posted by: TeaLeafReaderII Jan 16 2009, 04:36 PM

See, but its a 10-6 guy with loads of potential. Every big game like this there is a chance he turned the corner. That is exciting. Especially because he is tall, fast, and can jump high. You know the type of guy that should be able to fit in with Derrick Rose in a fast paced game really well.

He played awesome defense against the MVP of the league. You saw the game, no? Did it look like Lebron was hampered because of his cold? Was that why he was missing layups? Or was he tentative because he was worried about TT altering/blocking his shot? To quote Henry Abbot: "His next matchup with LeBron James will be must-watch, because last night Thomas got himself on the short list of defenders who can bother LeBron James once in a while."


This spiff is exiting. Felating is acceptable. Go ahead and touch it, Dave.


P.S. the game against OKC was different. Larry Hughes played. Those games don't count.

PPS If Hinrich and Deng keep playing like they are the Bulls are going to be above .500 and back in the playoff picture in no time.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 04:58 PM

First off, Hughes had 16 points and 6 boards with 2 steals and 2 blocks against OKC, so he was far from the biggest problem. Secondly, I seriously doubt a few blocks did anything to significantly deter Lebron, especially since this wasn't their first game against the Bulls and Tyrus didn't do a whole lot to deter him (or the rest of the Cavs for that matter) in the past. Thirdly, Lebron definitely had a bad night, but 13 of his 20 missed shots were long jumpers, so that's not exactly because of Tyrus, and even Lebron "only" shoots 74% in the basket area. If he plays the whole game he's still very likely to get 30 on the Bulls next game, as he is every night.

If it were still his rookie year I might buy that. How many times have we said that though? How many big games do you keep crapping your pants with excitement about before you realize that he's just as likely to put up 7-4 the next game? This is his third year, we should really be seeing more games like that by now if he's finally going to break out. You can't blame the playing time anymore either, he got 27, 26, 24 and 22 in his four non-stellar games this month. He's always going to have an explosive game here and there because of his athleticism, but until he can iron out the games where he doesn't have it and put up more like 9-6 we're still going to have a guy that averages out to be only okay. For someone like Josh Smith, who people keep hoping he becomes, Tyrus' good games are fairly average. I mean spiff, even Stromile Swift had accomplished more to this point than Tyrus. It takes an awful lot less for Tyrus to inspire slurpage than it does for other guys on our team. At some point it has to stop being about potential and be about consistent production.

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 16 2009, 05:06 PM

This theory of Lebron James being intimidated by Tyrus Thomas is incredibly laughable. The next game they play won't be a must-watch because of Tyrus, it'll be because Lebron is going to make Tyrus the dot on his exclamation point.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 07:00 PM

For Gawd Sakes... he has been playing a whole lot better than he ever has in the past. He's playing his best basketball RIGHT NOW and he's shaping into becoming a pretty solid defensive player, the other night was about as good as it gets.. You should be happy about his progress. A couple months ago I thought he was done and could have been traded. I think he got a scare out of Paxson in fear his days were numbered and thats when he started playing good.

And for the last time, STOP TALKING ABOUT LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE! Would you seriously rather have Lamarcus Aldridge over Derrick Rose?!!!! That's essentially what you would be looking at. I sure as hell wouldn't.

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 16 2009, 07:06 PM

Absolutely irrelevant argument.

In fact, it pretty much works against you, because if we did have Aldridge, a GOOD NBA player, we wouldn't have Rose. But at the same time, we have Rose, a GOOD NBA player, because Tyrus suck(s/ed) balls.

And finally, if Tyrus is playing his BEST basketball right now, he was NEVER worth the 4th overall pick at all, let alone dealing Aldridge + for him and Krappa.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 07:11 PM

No spiff, that's what I'm saying. If we had Aldridge, we wouldn't have had Derrick and idk about you but I'd rather have Derrick Rose over Lamarcus Aldridge 10/10 times. Is he a better player than Tyrus?? Definitely and he would have brought more wins at this point but like I said, Rose is going to be a superstar and is a franchise type of player, Lamarcus isn't..

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 16 2009, 07:18 PM

Portland fans might argue that when he carried their team without Roy and how he has scored 20+ in 12 of his last 18 games. So, in conclusion, Tyrus still isn't good, hence we have Rose. I suppose it's just another reason to slurp Tyrus.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 07:27 PM

Sure, he can carry a team for stretches but he is no superstar. Aldridge is a poor man's Chris Bosh which is still good but make no mistake about it, Brandon Roy is their franchise player and Aldridge is a great complimentary part to him.

As for Tyrus, I'm just thrilled he's playing such good defense (especially on help side where he's getting his blocks), and that's what our team is lacking most IMO. That's where his impact is felt and with Kirk and Deng back were starting to become a better defensive team, which will give you a few more wins.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 07:28 PM

It depends on how you define "right now". Does "right now" constitute last night, the last week, the last month? Anything but the first one he still has a significant amount of time where he simply doesn't have an impact. I certainly didn't see any "solid defense" against OKC, Portland or Toronto. I said I'd be happy with him if he could average 12-8 with good D, he isn't even doing that this month. You still don't know if you're going to get Good Tyrus or Bad Tyrus on a given night, and there's quite a gap between the two.

I love it, now we're on the "thank god Tyrus sucked because now we have Rose" line of logic. We got lucky in the lottery so everything is good now. Tell you what, I'll stop talking about Aldridge (which I do about once a month, if that) when you stop freaking out about Tyrus and his supposed development every time he puts up 15-7. He's a far better player and we directly chose Tyrus over him.

And no, I wouldn't rather have him than Rose, but we have no god damn idea what would have happened if we chose Aldridge and there are a lot of variables we just don't know about. We have no idea how it would have affected our picks (placement or who we select), or if we would have been more likely to trade Gooden or Noah with him around, or how playing with Aldridge instead of Tyrus affects the performance of our guys. What if we had opted for a guard like Stuckey or Rudy Fernandez instead of taking Noah and get Brook Lopez this year? What if we had still missed the playoffs last year (not a total stretch given the injuries, and Portland missed too) and we still ended up in a position to take Rose or Westbrook? What if JR sees his team playing well with the developing Aldridge and decides to go over the luxury tax to bring in Gasol for a late push? We just don't know. Our team isn't exactly a real contender as-is, so it's highly possible that we end up in a better position with Aldridge depending on how the other variables fall. I am happy that we have Rose, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be mad when our other players play poorly or underachieve, or that I'm going to drink the koolaid while we're still an underwhelming team as a whole.

Posted by: Chicago Bulls Franchise Jan 16 2009, 09:26 PM

One more loss would have meant no Rose last year. With Aldridge we would have been a better team because he's a better player than Tyrus. We lucked out with Rose, THANK GOD! You can say all the what ifs you want, and it is highly possible stuff like that would have happened, but I still would rather take Rose over anything that might have happened over those 2 years unless it brought us the elite guys like a Kobe Bryant.. I hate how the select group of people (And you know who you are) always talk crap about Tyrus no matter what and think that everytime someone brings his name out they have to play the "Stop talking about him everytime he has a good game" card. I think its BS. I get it that you guys are bitter about Tyrus under achieving as the 4th pick in the draft, but for the life of me, I do not understand how someone can be so god damn negative all the time about Tyrus Thomas and not give him atleast some credit for playing better and improving.

EDIT: And I wasn't talking specifically about you on the Lamarcus Aldridge thing, just Bulls fan's in general.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 16 2009, 09:56 PM

That's not necessarily true, it depends on which of our "numbers" for the lottery we lose by winning one more game, every team in the lottery gets at least one, that's all it takes to win it. Granted the odds are slimmer and very unlikely overall, but we didn't have the greatest odds to get him in the first place. That was only one of the numerous variables that could have fallen differently, Aldridge affects every move we make over the last 3 years leading up to this point.

And Slav and I don't talk spiff about Tyrus EVERY time he has a bad game, if you look you won't generally see a comment on him from me unless someone already posted something about him. It happens so often because the guy gets a massive pass from most people for being mediocre-to-bad in at least 80% of the games he's played thus far but gets such large amounts of love whenever he actually does perform. There's also a difference between something like "Tyrus had a good game" and what typically ends up in these threads. He's playing somewhat better of late but still isn't close to consistent or dependable. Seriously, how can you look at the 3 games that immediately preceeded this one and talk about how much progress he's made? He does have good ones more frequently than in the past, but it's still 50/50 at best (historically less). If he regularly performed at even a decent level people wouldn't say much about him. Personally, I'm not even asking for him to put up 16-10, if he can regularly put up 12-8 with good defense I'd lay off him significantly. I don't think that's anywhere near unreasonable with his athleticism, that's basically Drew Gooden (though obviously Drew can't defend). However, he hasn't even done that in any month of his career yet.

Posted by: SoxFan1 Jan 17 2009, 02:09 AM

Mooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy.

AZoom for th winA!

Posted by: Cowch Jan 17 2009, 04:56 AM

I think in the end we can all agree that Tyrus is showing signs of improvement, but they are inconsistent. Who would be happy to see Tyrus suck forever? I doubt any of us would as long as he's a Bull. I doubt there is anyone hoping to see Tyrus suck even if it's just to say, "I was right, he does suck." I'm a big fan of Tyrus, but I realize he's got a long way to go until he reaches what everyone would like from him. At least he's having good games, it's a good enough reason for me to be optimistic.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 17 2009, 08:49 PM

God no, I don't WANT to see the Bulls or their players play poorly. I'd much rather be proven wrong like when I said a few times that Rose would struggle signifcantly as a rookie, he's been way more productive than I anticipated and that's a very good thing.

Posted by: TeaLeafReaderII Jan 19 2009, 10:55 AM

hmmm your anti tyrus rhetoric echos that which was directed towards Tyson Chandler. Maybe you can keep it up and convince the bulls brass to ditch Tyrus for pennies on the dollar and then they can pick up an aging defensive/rebounding ace like Camby watch him decline faster than expected and see the franchise set back several more years. Are you guys allergic to letting young bigs develope?

We knew Tyrus was a project. He didn't play organized ball until his senior year of highschool. Pax picked him with the expectation that he wouldn't be playing much until wallace started to decline which most didn't think would be for 2 or 3 years. He screwed up. Wallace gave up on the team and for the last 2 years Lamarcus would have been better, but that doesn't mean he will be better for the next 2.

I don't want to make it seem like I'm against trading Tyrus. I'm not. No one on this team is untouchable but Rose. But they shouldn't get rid of him for the sake of getting rid of him.

And don't throw Hughes stats at me. When he is out there they aren't playing team basketball. Swap Hughes minutes for Hinrich and this team becomes watchable. In Hughes defense there was about a month where he wasn't too selfish and the team looked good. Sadly it didn't last.

Posted by: ZoomSlowik Jan 19 2009, 12:45 PM

I never said anything about dumping Tyrus for nothing (though the Tyson comparison is a bit off considering he had two highly productive years before being traded). That said, his chances for exponential development are dropping, most guys that end up being elite players have done quite a bit more than him by now. I'd gladly take the next 2 years of LA over Tyrus (and more), he's built up quite a gap already and is still pretty young himself. It's kind of a moot point now though, we're resigned with still waiting for Tyrus to consistently perform like a starting caliber player.