Since we drafted Tyrus Thomas, (I like), we still did not address our lost post scoring need. With Curry, we were a much better team, by just having in option like him down low.

So who is a low post scorer in free agency? I was thinking Al Harrington. He is 6'8, but he plays with his back to the basket and not to mention a good rebounder. But who else is out there that can score in the post?

No one.

we are screwed unless we make a big trade.

It's going to be awesome to watch our miniature front court made up of center 6'7 sweets, and PF 6'7 Noch.

Al Harrington would add a nice dimension down low at 6'9 240lbs. Not to mention plenty of years of NBA Experience. And in the prime of his career.

Harrington, Gooden, or Nene are our best chances at an offensive OF who can score down low.

Believe me, I think Paxson and Skiles, definately know this a need. We struggled scoring in the paint this year and they dont want to go through another season like that again. Especially when our young nucleus is beginning to blossom. I whole-heartedly trust that they will do something.

They passed on Aldridge and took Thomas because they saw something they liked more in Thomas, and they have a PLAN for the low post scorer. I'm sure of it. Or else they would have took the soft Aldridge.

He's not really a post scorer, he's another SF playing out of position. He makes us better, but he isn't the ultimate answer.

Thomas isn't exactly a bruiser either. He's going to get abused physically by an awful lot of PF's in the NBA.

Know your right, Thomas is not a bruiser. He does not play with his back to the basket, therefore he is not a bruiser. However Aldridge does and sometimes plays the game half-heartedly. (aka Eddy Curry) Thomas, has passion and thats what I mean here.

I'm pretty sure thats why Skiles stared him down at dinner for 10minutes. I'm sure Skiles saw the weakness in his eyes. And new right there Aldridge wasnt the man.

That sounds so cliche and cheesy and wrong.

They interviewed Paxson and he said he was inpressed with how Aldridge handled the staredown from Skiles.

Haha, Skiles stared right through him. And made Aldridge sweat.

He's not a bruiser because he weighs 217 pounds. It has nothing to do with his heart and passion. If you watch the tape he doesn't play any tougher than Aldridge either. You don't see him doing hardly anything in the post, which is something we desperately need. Comparing Aldridge to Curry is just inaccurate. Aldridge is actually willing to work unlike that other overweight slug.

exactly.

I disagree. By not having passion or heart that means that includes that they dont wanna work in the post. Take a look at rebounding between the two.

Thomas gets his position in the block well, and boxes out strong. And explodes and jumps to grab the board. Aldridge on the other hand, is slow to get his postition and once out of it, uses the Curry method and leans over the back of the defender and just hopes and relies on his length and size to get the rebound.

So comparing Aldridge to Curry here is just.

They both averaged 9.2 rebounds per game. I'm not sure where you're going with that...

Thomas gets boards because he jumps high. He's not the greatest boxing out. He also caught a break in playing with another serious post player on his team in Davis. Teams had to worry about the big man as well, meaning Thomas had a little easier time getting boards. Aldridge isn't that great either, but he's a little more likely to be able to do it in the pros with his superior height and length.

Actually you just answered my response yourself.

Thomas had Glen Davis. And guess what, Big Glen Davis can suck down some rebounds.

Who did Aldridge have on his team? Exactly. Him and Thomas having the same rebound averages, really shows a downside to Aldridge.

If you were to put Chandler on a bad rebounding team like say, the TrailBlazers...Chandler would end the season averaging at least 13rpg.

If Aldridge was on the LSU team instead of Tyrus, Aldridge would average a lot less.

Not really. Buckman and Tucker stole some rebounds too. Both are pretty solid for college players. It doesn't really matter either way, you find dominant rebounders on strong rebounding teams and on weak rebounding teams. Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan aren't exactly being held back in that department.

They're virtually the same type of player as a rebounder. Neither is a dominator, but both are competent.

So there really arent any other low post scorers other than one via trade?

I'm curious, does anyone know who the main undrafted players were?

Harrington is the best low post scorer available. If we dont trade for KG...he should be priority number 1.

Nene and Gooden on the FA market are the best options, with Boozer being the guy to look at on the trade market.

He's not really a low post scorer either. He's another SF playing out of position, although he's got good bulk at 240. He can probably play PF better than our current options, but he's not ideal.

There isn't really a solid low post scorer in FA. Gooden is decent, but he's known to be somewhat of a slacker. Unless we trade for Garnett, O'Neal, or someone like Boozer, it's still going to be an issue.

Damn right we need a low post scorer, Tyrus Thomas can't play in the low post OR score.

If we want a low post option, Harrington is the only FA who can provide that. He is about 2 inches shorter than ideal, but he has the skills and body size.

Honestly,
I cant take another year of 6'7 sweets playing center and sf Noch playing PF.

Tyrus Thomas hater.

You weren't here last night were you?

Honestly, I'm not sold on Harrington as being a long term option in the low post. The Bulls aren't going to win the title next year, and Al Harrington sure isnt onestly, the player to put them over the top. Harrington is a short term fix for a much larger problem on this team.

To me, the Bulls need to add another complementary player in the post (Nene, Nazr, Pryzbilla) who will add height and another body to the low post. I know this isn't the ideal solution, but without a trade, there isn't going to be that ideal guy this year.

No, why?

Haha, because there was ALOT of Tyrus Thomas hating goin on yesterday. Your lucky you werent here.

Wow. Thank god i wasn't here then.

What part of averaging 20 points a night for an awful Hawks team didn't convince you? Put him in the Bulls uni and he isn't even the first option anymore. Al Harrington will do well in Chicago.

The problem with getting harrington (besides he's another combo forward) is that he cannot play center. If tyrus is your pf of the future, harrington cannot be.

We HAVE to get someone who is lining up at center, not someone who couldn't.

You cannot have a front line of deng, harrington, thomas. Can you imagine how scared they'd look when a bunch of bigs are charging at them full strength?

Harrington would be a nice short term fix while tyrus bulks up and learns how to play, but we still aren't bulky in the middle and eventually one, maybe even two of tyrus,harrington, chandler would have to hit the bench.

We have two options, as I see it.....

1) Add a bulky low post scoring center such as Nene or maybe chris wilcox or someone else via trade. Someone who could be a very good long term solution, not a quick fix and FUTURE problem.

2) If this person is not available, and I think both guys are going to be hard to get bc their teams want to keep them, we HAVE to get a guy like Nazr bc he can start at center now but would move to the bench in the future as we find our scoring big with the knicks pick next year or however we do it. Al harrington is gonna be a punk if he's benched. Nazr would be a good stop-gap to start with chandler this year and would be a great super sub for both spots off the bench down the road.

It is extremely important that we don't just go for the best scorer now if they are someone who won't be able to coexist with what our roster will look like in the future. That means no Al harrington, and unless gooden can play center, no gooden.

The fact that he only shot 45.2%. If he's our back to the basket guy, he needs to shoot the ball better than that.

Furthermore, he's another combo guy which the Bulls don't need. Al Harrington is not the guy that is going to put the Bulls over the top IMO.

Thomas is a decent enough scorer, but the problem is that he can't score with his back to the basket. The problem that the Bulls have is that none of the big guys on the market (Pryzbilla and Mohammed) are real good in the post.

The only way the Bulls can address this is make a big trade.

That shooting percentage will go up as he won't be the first option in Chicago. The floor balance alone will make sure that he is either kicking the ball out or facing one on one defense under the basket. I'll bet Harrington would end up at just under 50% FG shooting.

He wasn't the first option on Atlanta either, they had Joe Johnson.

Hinrich, Gordon, Deng, and Noc are all going to be options on the outside before the ball gets down through the couple passes and down to the low post.

I guess you are happy with Noch at PF and 6'7 sweetney at center then.

No, I'm not saying that's ideal either, but my point is that the Bulls are building to win a title within the next 5 years. That doesnt mean you throw money at a player that isn't going to put you over the top. Ask yourself honestly, is Al Harrington the difference between the Bulls making the NBA finals or not? Also, the Bulls shouldn't have Sweets starting at C, I'm assuming Pryz or Nazr will be signed to start at C and when a true impact post comes around, they move to the 8 man rotation.

Furthermore, Harrington is really more of a 3 anyway, and as has been pointed out at length, the Bulls already have plenty of these guys.

I'm just saying the Bulls should not be content with signing a guy to a 3 or 4 year deal unless they are convinced that player is better than anything they have now, or expect to add in the next 2 or 3 years.

Al Harrington would make the Bulls marginally better in the short term maybe, but I really think the Bulls need to be patient with their approach this off season and not throw money at someone just to throw money at someone.

Finally, I still fail to see how Al Harrington shooting 45.2% is the dominant post play that wins NBA titles.