http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=20907

Keep it up fellas!

good to hear, get noah down there.

I'm not surprised to hear Deng is working hard, but it's quite refreshing to hear about Tyrus. Get that trade value up kid.

I think it has to be good for TT having Deng around b/c he can push Tyrus and get his ass working. It makes it much easier to stay motivated when you have someone pushing you, which I'm sure is what the case is here with them working out together.

Somebody refresh my mind... But uhh... When did Tyrus became known as a lazy player?? Just curious to hear other people's thoughts on this subject...

The first time when it really started to surface was when Skiles called him out one day in the media saying something to the effect of "Tyrus running hard all the way down the court would be news to me".. I don't know how true that is but judging by his season it certainly didn't look like Tyrus put as much effort and work into his game as he should have.

The team also called him out last year for not working out at the team's facilities during the offseason, despite the fact that we had some positive reports of him working hard elsewhere (500+ jump shots a day or something like that).

1.) Skiles: "The next time Tyrus runs hard down the court would be the 1st."

2.) Skipping practice multiple times.

3.) Not working out with players/coaches in the Berto Center in the off-season.

On this one...ya know...I'm going to give him some flexibility...because it sure as hell seemed to me like there was a lot more going on behind the scenes driving those. Especially with all the problems we kind of heard about with Boylan, it seemed like every single player had some issues there.

He was the coach, whether you like it or nor. Get your head out of your ass and go to practice. Skipping doesn't help the team in any way at all. He's a whiny, immature player. I'm sure most of the other guys didn't like Boylan either, but they didn't skip practice.

Thanks for the info... I believe i do remember this quote... On another note, ive read in other forums how Tyrus always ran back on defense... but not offense... And i dunno if this is a reason, but the guards almost never gave it to their big men who got in early, good position on offense... I even remember hearing Stacy King saying how its pretty frustrating when your a big guy, your running hard, and you dont get the ball... But at the same time, if you're a guard, and you see Thomas gettin good low position, you might think, "should i give it to Thomas right now? His low post scoring isnt that good... Or should i just pull back, and run the offense, or take the shot".... Anyways, In brief, getting back on D is hustleling.

Also, Skiles knew Tyrus had/s potential, and he was always trying to push him more and more. He often made remarks to the media about him... He always made remarks about Gordon as well...

Im not just trying to defend the guy, just stating some other views... I heard how he had a monster work ethic before he was drafted... but who knows... I think we'll see how committed he is over the summer, and see how much he improves this year. That being said, i really hope he gets playing time as well

I think that Tyrus got stuck in a bit of a terrible catch 22. Part of it is that we do have to realize that he's only 21 years old with limited basketball experience. He's also never really lived outside of the state of Louisiana. They've provided terrible leadership on the team really with limited Chemistry (which, IMHO, is the biggest negative of the Paxson GM experience). So they have this kid who is still learning how to play basketball, also learning how to play power forward and small forward all at once, with a coach who is terrible at consistency when it comes to players. Last year he suffered through the most selfish era of Bulls basketball I've ever seen.

Yes, he is immature and has to grow up as a person. But if you watch the game, he always runs back on defense. He's definitely 10 times more excited to play defense at this point than offense. I'll definitely take that right now.

If the Bulls give up on him now, they're going to be severely disappointed. Here's a guy that's still got his ceiling to hit. Unlike a Ben Gordon or a Kirk who have already hit it and won't get much better.

I know he works hard, he practices hard. But it took the Bulls a year and a half to add a big man coach. With the amount of youth on this team, does that make sense to anyone?

Why hire a big man coach when you trade all your talented big men away. That's the Bulls Philosophy.

Elton Brand, Brad Miller, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and to some extent (Ben Wallce but he's not that talented anymore).

Anyway, I think Paxson finally got a big man that he likes in Noah and that's why they got a big man coach. I don't think they did it for Tyrus but that's my opinion. They should have had a serious big man coach here with Tyson/Curry. Hopefully having a big man coach will help improve Tyrus's, Gooden's, and Noah's complete game.

Sounds like the work is being put in!

Any word on Noah, and if he is down there yet? Or will be down soon?

Nothing recent...most of the recent Bulls press has focused on the lack of a coach, and for the next 2 weeks we'll probably hear about little other than the draft, so the only other option is to go to one of them ESPN.com chats and ask.

Continuing positive stories about the pair from Thorpe.

Ah, yes, great to hear! Definitely biased, but he didn't have to feel the need to respond with that long of an email if he didn't really like what he saw from both players. I mean, he can pump them up all he wants, but they still have to perform in games for any of it to matter, so I would say he's probably telling us exactly what he sees from TT and Deng every day.