What are your stat predictions for the team next year? mine are

ppg rpg apg bpg fg%

Kirk Hinrich 16.9 3.1 7.5 0.4 44

Ben Gordon 23.1 2 3.1 0.1 46

Luol Deng 22.5 7.5 2.0 1 52

Tyrus Thomas {if he starts} 12.9 7 1.0 2.4 54

Ben Walalce 6.4 10.8 1 2.1 52

I am going to wait an see what we do on the free agent and trade markets before making any predictions.

Barring any Kobe trades...

Hinrich- 15.4 ppg 3.4 rpg 6.5 apg 1.1 spg

Gordon- 23.1 ppg 3.0 rpg 4.0 apg 0.8 spg *Allstar*

Deng- 21.2 ppg 8.8 rpg 2.3 apg 1.0 spg *Allstar*

Tyrus- 10.8 ppg 6.5 rpg 1.7 apg 1.1 spg 2.0 bpg

Wallace- 5.8 ppg 10.2 rpg 2.5 apg 1.2 spg 1.5 bpg

Thabo- 5.5 ppg 3.2 rpg 2.7 apg

JamesOn- 9.8 ppg 1.0 rpg 2.0 apg

Barring major changes...

Hinrich- 15 points, 3 boards, 7 assists, 1.4 steals, 45% FG, 39% 3PT

Gordon- 21 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, .7 steals, 46% FG, 42% 3PT

Deng- 21 points, 7.5 boards, 3 assists, 1.3 steals, .7 blocks, 49% FG, 30% 3PT (few attempts)

Wallace- 6 points, 9.5 boards, 2 assists, 1.4 steals, 2 blocks, 46% FG

Nocioni- 10 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, .5 stl, .5 block, 48% FG, 39% 3PT

Thomas- 7 points, 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1.75 blocks, 48% FG

Sefolosha- 6 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 1.5 steals, 46% FG

Noah- 5 points, 5 boards, 2 assists, .6 steal, ,8 blocks, .46% FG


Yeah, I know those stats basically means those 8 get basically all the playing time, that's pretty much what I expect...

Thats sounds pretty realistic. 91 points between 8 players. Leaving about 6-10 points for the other 4 bench guys per game.

So I take it you think the Bulls will average more than 100+ points a game? Serious question.

deng- 22 pts, 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal

gordon- 26 pts, 2 boards, 4 assists, .5 steals

hinrich- 17 pts, 10 assists, 4 boards, 1.5 steals

wallace- 4 pts, 11 boards, 3 assists, 2.3 steals

tyrus- 11 pts, 8 boards, 1.9 assists, 1.8 steals

noah- 5 pts, 7 boards, 2.4 assists, 2.4 steals

thabo- 9 pts, 5 boards, 3.5 assists, 3.2 steals

94 without Nocioni? I don't think so.

If Gordon gets over 22 I'd be quite surprised. He would need to either go to the free throw line a lot more, incease his shot attempts, or bump his shooting percentage up to at least 47. Given his style the latter isn't likely, and with the team getting deeper I don't expect him to shoot more.

I don't quite see Tyrus averaging double figures yet either, he needs to get a bit better at creating his shots. I can see around 8, that'd be about 2 dunks, an open jumper, and a couple of free throws per game. Minutes will also still probably be an issue for him, I don't see Skiles totally trusting him in crunch time of close games until possibly later in the year...

yeah, its hard getting statistics because you have to get the right amount so they don't average 110 ppg..

I'm going to make my stats not on what I think will happen but on what I think would be the ideal stats for this team to be the best team in the East.

Kirk Hinrich 12 ppg, 7.5+ apg, 3.5 rpg, 42+ 3p%, 45% FG, 1.3 spg

Ben Gordon 23.5+ ppg, 3.5+ apg, 3.0 rpg, 46% FG, 44+ 3p%, 1.0 spg

Luol Deng 22.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 50% FG, 30+ 3p%, 1.5 spg, 1.0 blg, 3+ apg

Tyrus (if starting) 9.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 48+ fg%, 70+ ft%, 1.2 spg, 2.3 bpg, less than 3.5 fouls per game

Ben Wallace (same as last year) 5 ppg, 10.7+ rpg, 2.0 bpg, 1.4 spg, 55+ft% would be nice

Noah 7+ ppg, 8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 1.2 spg

Thabo 6+ ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 45% FG

Nocioni 12 ppg, 40% 3pfg, 45+ fg%, 5+ rpg, 1.5 turnovers

Curry 6+ ppg, 3.8+ apg, 2+ rpg, 36+ 3p%, , 1+ spg



These projections are assuming Duhon is no longer a Bull. They also assume Tyrus starts.

Gordon & Deng should be even bigger parts of our offense next year. I think Nocioni and Kirk should become smaller parts of the offense and should instead focus on specific areas offensively. Kirk should distribute the ball more and Nocioni should primarily focus on hitting the outside shot at a higher clip. Noah, Curry, Tyrus, & Thabo should all become more involved in the offense and we should have more options than last year.

Of all the predictions, Gordon and Deng's should be the most realistic in order to ensure the Bulls are the team that they should be. That would mean that both Gordon and Deng have developed a lot offensively from last year and are becoming a very potent 1-2 combo in the league. I think that them becoming better together is vital to any chance we have at a title run (unless of course they are traded for a superstar).

Not everyone will play 82 games either. The sum of averages will be higher than the team averages because of that.

That's what I am talking about. If you add up what each player on the roster averaged individually last year the Bulls would have averaged 112.6 ppg when in fact the team only averaged 98.8.

Either way, to assume they will average over 100 is not going out on a limb. In 2005-06 the averaged 97.8 ppg, in 2004-05 they averaged 94.5 ppg. So they have shown improvement in this area each year and they key players are only getting better. They could easily average 100+ points next year.

I only get 107.3 when I add them up from last year (using ESPN). That one was a bit unusual too, since Nocioni and his 14.1 average missed about 30 games. While something like that is possible again, that's the less likely scenario, and something that we hope doesn't happen again. That's about the only way you'll get a 5+ point descrepancy.

100 points is definitely possible with Deng improving, Gordon good for 20+, and Hinrich/Noc good for about another 25 or so. The big thing will be post production, we need to get SOMETHING down low for that to happen, we can't just rely on the perimeter guys. The way Tyrus has looked so far in the summer league that looks possible, and adding Smith could help as well.