Link Post

As a life long Bulls fan and basketball fan in general I love to hear other people's opinion of the game and different theory's they have about players and teams. Sam Smith has one of the best blog posts I have seen in a long time.  By visiting http://blogs.bulls.com/ you will notice that everything is organized nicely in categories like: the draft, free agency, NBA playoffs, Awards, trade talk, and other things around the league. The main post I am going to talk about compares LeBron James and MJ. Over the years the 2 have been compared to almost every aspect of their game but today was a big day and it might hurt LeBron in ever being compared to great players like Kobe, MJ, and Larry Bird ever again. They all made legacies with their teams and stayed there for most of their careers discounting Jordans comeback with the Wiz. At this point it won't mater how many titles that LeBron gets on the Heat anymore because everyone will always remember that he couldn't do it on his own team, he needed to go somewhere else to win. If LeBron doesn't win at least 3-5 championships it will be a complete failure. LeBron is suppose to be "The King" and now he is going to play second fiddle under Wade. It sure will be interesting to see if all 3 of these superstars work well together and are able to share the ball. By leaving the Cavs LeBron also is giving up the chance to break multiple records in the NBA. If he would have stayed he might broken all of Kobe and MJ's records but now instead hes only going to average about 20 or so points a game. Another factor is LeBron is going to be hated by alot of people and he may never be able to go back to his hometown of Akron again without hearing booos and harsh words from people.

10 things i learned

1 How to get a donation page on my website
2 How to make an e-book
3 How to start my very own blog
4 How to make a web site
5 How to submit my site to google and yahoo search engines
6 How to use google adsense to make money
7 How to make money when people buy amazon products
8 How to sell and make products on CafePress
9 How to keep track of online visitors with page counters
10 How to set up a Click Bank account to make money on my website and blog

Promote another Blog Post

This blog called White Sox Chicago’s favorite team is mostly dedicated to baseball but in this post he decided to venture off into basketball. He made a very long post on NBA free agency that goes through each of the top free agents and where he believes they will end up. This basically shows that no matter what sport you are a fan of many people are still recognizing that this upcoming free agency is a very important time for sports fans. It is not past July 1st so players, teams, and GM have all met each other multiple times and most of the All Stars have already accepted deals with the teams that have offered them contracts. He goes through many players with a lot of insight in what the Bulls are going to try and do too. Not only does he go in depth with the cream of the crop talent like LeBron James, Bosh and Wade but he also takes a look at role players such as Shaq, Nate Robinson, John Salmons, Ray Allen, and, David Lee. He made some pretty bold predictions throughout his 13 player post and he so far only has 3 players going to the teams that they are suppose to go to and they are Dirk. PP, and Wade. He had Chris Bosh and LBJ both coming to the Bulls which would have been a dream come true for all Bulls haves out their but the possibility of it happening is slim to none with Bosh saying he will go to Miami and play with Wade. LeBron James is set to make his choice of where he wants to play tomorrow on ESPN and that is really the only free agent that everyone wants to know about at this point.
Here is the link to the blog post that I just talked about it I hope you enjoy.
http://whitesoxchicagosfavoriteteam.blogspot.com/2010/06/special-nba-free-agency-blog.html

CARLOS BOOZER

It took just about a week but the Chicago Bulls have finally done something this free agency they got Carlos Boozer. He may not have been one of the big 3 that included Wade, Bosh, and James but he is much better then getting left out of the free agent extravaganza. It has been a busy day for the Miami Heat when they got Wade and Bosh to both agree to terms and at that point the Bulls knew they had to make a move and fast. A couple of hours later the Bulls Got Boozer to accept their deal, even though the full terms of the deal is not yet known until tomorrow when players can officially sign with their teams he is expected to make 75 to 80 million over the next 5 years which isn't too bad. I was afraid that the Bulls would get scared they were not going to land anyone and then over pay a guy like Boozer or Lee to a max deal when they are definitely not max players. Over the past 4 years Boozer has the 3rd highest rebound average in the league. That is a very important factor considering teams that rebound the ball more in a game tend to end up winning the game. Boozer has been wanted to play for the Bulls since the trade rumors of him coming here last year so it was exciting news for him. He will also fit in our system nicely as our number 2 guy behind D-Rose.

product/player recommendation=T-Mac

Tracy McGrady:  There is so much to say about T-Mac I don’t even know where to start. The man has won a scoring title and was considered to the one of the most dangerous players in the league who could hit a shot from almost anywhere. He’s played on 4 different teams in his 14 years career but also can straight out of high school so he will have some extra years in the tank. T-Mac is also known for a curse that he supposedly carries around with him. Tracy McGrady has never brought his team out of the 1^st round of a playoff series EVER. The one and only time his team made it to the second round he was actually hurt and watching from the sidelines. Although many people probably don’t take it seriously it might have gotten into T-Macs head. Since he is only about a shadow of himself these days look for him to take mid level exception offer from a good team. I would like to see him in LA with the Lakers coming off the bench but that doesn’t seem very realistic. T-Mac will most likely go on a struggling team and do the best he can to score as many points as he can and fall short of the playoffs once again. This might be one of the riskiest free agents on the market because when you sign Tracy McGrady you are not going to know what guy you are going to get. If he’s signed and goes back to his All Star ways the GM will be considered a genius but if he gets hurt he will have been a costly signing. But in the end I think he is worth the risk as MLE.

Felton and Mike Miller

Raymond Felton: Raymond is coming off of his 5^th year in the NBA playing with the Charlotte Bobcats. It was the 1^st time that they had made the playoffs since becoming a franchise but it was too bad that they had to play the Magic because they were easily eliminated. Since Felton is a Free Agent there are many teams that are looking into his services. One of the main teams that desperately wants Raymond Felton is the LA Lakers. They will be losing 2 of their guards and D-Fish looked pretty old during the season. Felton is a great young up and coming point guard who has averaged 13 points and 6 assists with his time in Charlotte. Another quality that will make Felton very attractive to teams is his ability to hit the 3. Although he isn’t great at hitting the 3 ball he shot 38.5% last season which was the best in his career.
Mike Miller: This could be one of those pickups that could really help a team that lands a major star like LeBron or Bosh. Mike Miller is known for his great ability to shoot the 3 ball with deadly accuracy. He has been on 4 different teams and pretty much filled the same role on each team. A slight draw back that teams might have on Miller is that he has only had 1 healthy season in his 11 year career. That really hurts teams especially if it is a season ending one because then he would be useless in the playoffs. If LeBron leaves Cleveland and doesn’t pick up an All Star to take his place look for Mike Miller to end up there.

line up possibilities for the Bulls

At this point in the game the Bulls options are getting thinner and our number 1 option is still LeBron James. If we can get LeBron and then surround if with Ray Allen or Carlos Boozer that would be the best possible team we will be able to come up with. Ray might be the best bet if we do get LeBron because he needs to be surrounded by 3 point shooters to make him more dangerous. If the bulls can grab Ray Allen for about 6-8 million for a couple seasons and then grab LeBron the Bulls will be a very dangerous team. Getting Ray is not a long term thing though considering he probably only has a few good years left before he becomes a bench player. Boozer is also in his prime of his career being his 8th year this coming season. Getting him on the Bulls as a recruiting factor to get LeBron James could be risky though. They both were actually teammate at the beginning of there careers and they didn't succeed together and Boozer was later traded to the Jazz. But both players have matured and might be able to work better together. The main thing that the Bulls NEED to try and do is trade Deng to a team that needs a small forward. There are a couple of teams that need a small forward like the Wizards if they don't re-sign Howard could end up taking his contract for almost nothing, the Warriors just lost Corey Maggette and could look to unload Monta Ellis, and the T-Wolves who have been trying to shop Al Jefferson for a small forward. All those teams could be in the hunt for Deng and the Bulls need to work fast to try and unload him.

Knicks make a move

The first max player has finally agreed to sign with a new team. Amare Stoudemire has agreed to terms with the contract the New York Knicks have offered him. The All Star forward will receive about 99.7 million dollars over a 5 years span. This could possibly be a huge move for the Knicks because they now have an All Star who can tell LeBron or Wade to join him. One plus the Bulls get out of all of this is that Chris Bosh can no longer go to the Knicks because Amare and Bosh play the same position. Bosh's suitors have been narrowed down to the Bulls, Heat, and with an outside chance of the Nets and Rockets in a sign and trade. A huge plus for the Knicks is that they are still able to try and find a sign and trade for David Lee who also plays the power forward position so he would have to be moved with the addition of Amare. One of the main trade possibility they are looking at is trading David Lee for Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors. The Knicks have many holes in there roster but adding a good point guard will be key because Amare has been used to having a 2 time MVP on his team in Steve Nash since hes been in the league. The guards the Knicks currently have will not be good enough for a playoff roster so look for them to try a sign and trade with Lee for a solid point guard.

Big changes coming....well maybe

During this years free agency many big name players were on the market and were to have thought to leave there teams in search for more money or a chance to be on a better team. But so far there has been a lot of unexpected moves in the NBA. Dirk Nowitzki was one of the bigger surprises in the league when he decided to opt out of his contract. Many teams were interested in Dirks basketball abilities like the Knicks, Mavs, and even the Bulls. But as of recently Dirk has excepted a deal from the Mavs for 4 years and 80 million dollars. This was actually a 16 million dollar pay cut because he was suppose to make 96 million with a 4 year contract. Dirk took the deal on a promise from owner Mark Cuban that he would try and help sign better players to help the Mavs win a title. Joe Johnson another big time free agent that was talked about going to the Bulls or Knicks this off season has made an agreement to sign a deal with his former team the Hawks. Joe Johnson is a 4 time all star and is going to be paid 119 million over 6 year with this new contract and that is 27 million more then he could make anywhere else so that is probably the main reason why he decided to stay. Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics also opted out of his contract in which many teams thought he might be on the move considering the Celtics are an old team and are most likely only going to get worse as a team with aging players like KG, Ray Allen, and Wallace but instead he has also decided to take a pay cut to help his team try to sign better players this off season.

Bulls back up plan

Before free agency began this look extremely bright for our young Chicago Bulls with enough cap space to sign 2 All Stars things could only look up right....? Everything doesn't always go according to plan and the Bulls might be starting to realize that. With most of the the NBA's top talent not looking to go with the Bulls plan its not looking to good for the future. Its looking more and more like Wade's second visit with Bulls management was more of a ply to get Pat Riley to pick up his pace and sign somebody then Wade actually wanting to come to Chicago. The Bulls chances of getting Bosh and LBJ also decrease if we can't move Deng and his 11 million out of town. There is always next year when there is a whole new free agent class with some top stars like Carmelo Anthony. Even though the Nuggets have laid an offer on the table for Melo it doesn't mean that he is going to take it. The Nuggets haven't had many good playoff runs because they always seemed to run into the Lakers. If the Bulls added Melo to their roster next season and just picked up a guy like Boozer this year we might actually have a top team next year if Rose and Noah both increase their skill level and play better ball with each year to come. Melo is a pure scorer who isn't the best defender or rebounder but that isn't what we would be asking him to do. The Bulls haven't had a pure shooter since MJ and this could actually be what the Bulls are looking for.

Dwyane Wade

Wade had his second interview with the Chicago Bulls yesterday and now many feel like he is destined to be a Bull. Originally no one thought that Wade would even schedule meetings with other teams just because he said he was so committed to being a member of the Miami Heat organization. Wade does have some ties to Chicago which is actually his home town. Wade recently bought a house near Chicago and his family also lives there. Wade is going through a messy divorce at the moment and it might look better to the judge if he plays with the Bulls in Chicago because he would be closer to his 2 sons. Wade said the interview was "interesting" and "intriguing" but I am sill not convinced that he becomes a Chicago Bull in the future. I have a couple of reasons why, for one is that he can basically make his own team in Miami and get more money there then anywhere else in the league. He loves south beach and may be visiting Chicago just to put the pressure on Pat Riley in order for him to make a move a sign some top players to play along side Dwyane Wade in the years to come. It doesn't look like the super team of LeBron James Chris Bosh and Wade is going to be formed mostly because of money reasons and they all can't have control of the ball all the time. At this time I feel like they are all going to go their own way but to what team they go to is still a mystery to everyone.

Role players in Free Agency

Besides the top players in free agency this off season like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and Joe Johnson there are players that are willing to take a lot less in order to help your team out. Veterans such as Tracy McGrady and Shaq could be great players coming off the bench of a team with a super star. Veterans such as those have loads of experience in the playoffs and are leaders in the locker room. Drew Gooden has resently got an offer and John Salmons  who is looking at a deal worth about 39 million over 5 years. Both have been in the league for a while and on a couple of different teams and know how to get the job done. Salmons especially has seemed to blossom after coming onto new teams for example going to the Bulls in 08 they can a playoff run and a terrific playoff series with Boston and this past year when Salmons got traded to the Bucks even with their injured center Bogut they managed to get the 5th seed in the playoffs. General Managers need to watch out though and not over pay players especially with the new bargaining agreement coming up next year where teams will have less money to spend. I think the T-Wolves have made a couple of mistakes this year by using most of their available money to sign players an highly over rated played named Darko Milicic who was drafted before Wade and Carmelo none the less he turned out to be a bust and now they have signed him to a huge deal, not smart. The Bulls should not rush out there and just sign anyone just because they have money to spend. They need to pick the right pieces that will mesh well with their core players Noah and Rose and defensive minded coach.

1st day of free agency

The Chicago Bulls were pretty quiet the 1st night of free agency by only meeting 1 player in Chris Bosh. The Bulls don't seem to aggressive but it might be because they seem to feel they have the best option out there for teams with the tandem of Rose and Noah. The Bulls have a meeting with Dwayne Wade this afternoon, David Lee tomorrow, and Lebron James on Saturday. It might be strategy on the Bulls part to schedule the interview on the same day as the Cavs did. James has also been reported saying hes going to make a decision by July 5th so the Bulls might still be on LBJ's mind.  Other teams have already reported some things for example: the Cavs are set to announce Byron Scott as their new head coach, the Houston Rockets have been very interested in Chris Bosh and have sent the Raptors a couple of trade offers for  the All Star. The T-Wolves have been a very active team so far already making offers to 2 players: Darko Milicic and Nikola Pekovic. With those 2 signings the T-Wolves will only have about 3 million in cap space to play with but there has been many reports that they are trying to trade Al Jefferson so that might be part of the reason that they picked up the 2 big men. It was also reported today that Joe Johnson has received a max deal from the Atlanta Hawks, the deal is supposedly for 6 years and 119 million bucks.

Sneeze Page

Here is a little reminder of past blog posts that I have made throughout the past couple of months, out some of the players in the NBA. The comparisons are over a couple of different players new and old.
Battle of the PG who is better.....Rose or Rondo?
Everyone who is a Bulls fan probably remembers the epic playoff series between the Celtics and Bulls in 2009 but in this post I compare the 2 point guards and choose who i like better. "Rose has the ability to take over games with is quickness and ability to finish around the rim.........Rondo is a better rebounder but and has just broken the single season steals record for the Boston Celtics this year which would mean he is great at predicting what his opponents are going to do before they do it."
 MJ and LBJ
With LeBron posting Jordan like numbers throughout his career is he the next Michael Jordan? "There will always be comparisons to LeBron James and Michael Jordan until the end for LeBrons career. But in reality how can he be compared to MJ when LeBron has not even won a single ring when Jordan finished with 6."
Bosh or Stoudemire???
These guys are both free agents this summer and the Chicago Bulls have shown great interest in their abilities to score down low. "Both are phenomenal players and the top scorers on their teams but who would be best suited for the Chicago Bulls? Well looking at there statistics they seem like almost the same player but they actually can be very different."

New Free agents

In just 12 hours teams will be able to discuss contracts and deals with all free agents. 2 new players have come in the free agent market looking to strike up a good deal with a new team or even just re-structure there contract under the old marketing agreement. Both players have now been linked to the Bulls even though I don't believe the Chicago Bulls will go after either of them unless they get left out of the big names like Wade, LBJ, and Chris Bosh. The 2 players that have just entered the free agent market are Paul Pierce "The Truth" of the Celtics and Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavs. I feel like both players still have some years in the tank and could play for about 2-3 more seasons before they start declining rapidly in their game. Both players would be nice to have but i just can't seem to believe that the Bulls get Pierce after that tough playoff series in 2009 when there was a lot of bad blood split between the 2 teams. But on the other hand I feel like he would be a good fit if we got LeBron because Pierce just spent the past 3 years on a team that had multiple superstars so you know he won't be a ball hog and complain about wanting the ball. Dirk on the other hand has basically been the lone superstar on the Mavs his entire career besides playing with Jason Kidd at the downside of his career. Dirk has won an MVP award but never won an NBA title like PP has. Dirks past teams have also had some of the best records in the NBA including a 66 win season a couple of years about and yet his team was still ousted every year in the playoffs. Dirk could never seem to get his team over the hump so that is the reason why I don't want him on the Bulls.

Free agent drama

Some new updates and information about the upcoming free agent class is coming out everyday and today was no different. Reports came out today that LeBron James and the Cavs will not be accepting any sign and trade deals. To me I think that is silly on the Cavs part because if they are going to lose LeBron James then why wouldn't they want to get ANYTHING in return for him in a sign and trade deal. I guess if LeBron leave they will just go into a rebuilding stage and guy the team because they will not be very good for the years to come. There is also some updates on Chris Bosh. Bosh and Toronto's management have both agreed to accept sign and trade deals. This means that many more teams can get into the mix in trying to get Bosh. The one team that I feel gets a huge advantage in the Rockets. If they were able to get a sign and trade and get Bosh they would have the new and improved "twin towers" in Chris Bosh and Ming. Since the Raptors and Bosh said they would accept sign and trades I think that this actually hurts the Chicago Bulls chances in landing the All Star forward. The only trade bait that the Bulls have is Taj Gibson, Deng, and future draft picks. I can't see them wanting Deng because they already have the over priced Hedo at the small forward position. Unless the Bulls can somehow sway Bosh away from other teams with a Rose and Noah tandem I just don't see Bosh coming to the Bulls anymore.

Big News for the Bulls

Just the other day a big headline came out on the New York Times. An unknown NBA executive said that the Chicago Bulls have emerged as a favorite in the free agency sweepstakes for LeBron James and Chris Bosh. He said that he had heard from other league executives that LeBron James is leaning toward joining the Chicago Bulls, along with Chris Bosh, they were teammates on the United States gold medal winning 2008 Olympic team. However the NBA executive did not want to be named because he was discussing a player who was not yet a free agent would could result in fines. According to the report the executive said "I think it's a done deal" talking about both Chris Bosh and LeBron James both coming to Chicago to play with the Bulls. In other news LeBron James has said that he will not be making a tour this free agency but in fact will be staying in his native Ohio where suitors will have to come to him. So for the New York Knicks, Mavs, and New Jersey Nets all have made plans to meet with LeBron some time after July 1st  at 12:01 am which is when free agency starts.The Bulls are one of the few major free agent competitors that have yet to make an appointment with the King to discuss a deal. The NBA executive explained this by saying that James wanted to meet with other teams out of respect for them. But in the end he is going to make a basketball decision  which means hes going to end up in Chicago because they have the best supporting cast.

HEART

People and players always seem to forget this and it is something that not all players even have. To me this is something that you are born with or get sometime throughout your life. This is the last thing that a team needs in order to win a Championship and some people think it might be the most important and that is HEART. You have to be able to actually want to win and believe you are going to win in order to actually win. Just because you have the players and the talent doesn’t mean you will win it automatically and the other teams are just going to give up. Every member of the team needs to be able to lay it all on the line every night in order to win an NBA Championship. Little things help you win games for example diving for a loose ball or putting both of your hands up on defense in order to create a steal. Those types of plays bring the best out of your teammates, knowing that you are trying your best to win a game. Hustle plays are one of the most important things in the game. Tipping balls out of bounds or diving to save one are important things that can get the crowd into a game or quiet them down if you are on the road. One of the most exciting hearts plays I saw this post season during the playoffs when when Rondo dove to grab a ball that he tried to steal. After he dove he got up and made an easy lay up and it changed the momentum of the game. Even though I HATE Rondo it was a great play that helped the Celtics win the game.

My Web Site

I have recently started my very own web site called http://dabullsareback.webs.com/ I think that all of you guys would really enjoy some of my articles. On my web site I go a little more in depth on some important topics about the Bulls like players such as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah and also topics like how the Bulls can win an NBA Championship. One of the most important topics i sent a lot of time talking about it what the Bulls need to do this free agency  in order to get to a championship level team. On my page I also have a donations page in which you can help fund for my college career and help me find better topics about the Bulls. I update my article page about 2 times a week with new cool information about the Bulls. One of the other important things I have included on my web site is my link page. There you will find 20 different links having to do with the Chicago Bulls and any updates that I may have missed throughout the season. My site is very easy to navigate through with an easy to use layout that you can get to any page on my site. If you take a look at the About Me and Contact info page it will explain a lot more about what I am trying to accomplish with my blog and web page.  If you enjoy my daily postings on my blog then I hope you take a look at my web page because it goes much more in depth in what I know about  the Bulls.

The Bulls need 2 All Stars

Even if the Bulls manage to get LeBron or Bosh it still might be enough to win an NBA Championship. It has been proven year after year that one guy can never do it on his own. Yes Rose is an All Star but he is not at the same level as Bosh LBJ and Wade. For example Kobe Bryant tried to do it a couple years and could never get past the 1^st round of the playoffs even though he was the MVP of the league he didn’t have another All Star to back him up when he had a bad night. Another example is LeBron James with the Cavs. He has won back to back MVPs and yet he still hasn’t won an NBA Championship because he doesn’t have another All Star to help him. It doesn’t matter how good one guy is he can never do it alone. Even the greatest player ever Michael Jordan needed Scottie Pippen in order to win. With the Lakers Kobe always had Shaq or Gasol, the Spurs had Tim Duncan and David Robinson along with the great defense. The Celtics of 2008 might have had the best team ever with 3 All Stars in Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett and the best defense in the league. The Bulls have a huge chance this off season to get that 2^nd All Star in their team to help Derrick Rose out. They have their choice from about 10 All Stars and the MVP of the NBA in LeBron James. If the Bulls can somehow get 2 free agents with the 30 million dollars that they have available to them they might possibly be a lock to make it to the NBA Championship in 2011.

Defense

There is a couple of things the Bulls need to work on this off season and the most important should be DEFENSE. They the Bulls want to win an NBA title they need to be in the top 5 defensive teams in the leader and history proves that. The very 1^st thing that a NBA title contender team needs to have is defense. It goes the same in pretty much every sport out there that defense wins championships and it’s no different in basketball. If you look back to recent NBA Championship winners you can tell they many of them have been defensive teams. The Lakers Kobe Bryant has been on the NBA defensive team 10 times throughout his NBA career and Ron Artest has been on the team for 4 years. With the Spurs and their Championship run they had Tim Duncan who has been there 13 times, Bruce Bowen 8 times, and David Robinson 8 times. Even when the Bulls made their run with 6 Championships with MJ the team was still defensive minded. Michael Jordan who had been on the NBA’s defensive team 9 times, Scottie Pippen’s been on it 10 times, and they also had Dennis Rodman who was on it 8 times. So out of those teams they all had at least 2 players on the roster who were considered to be elite defensive players. During the regular season you can have a great offensive and put up a ton of points in order to win games and you might win 60 games like the Mavs and Suns did in past seasons but since neither of them have an average defensive team they would always end up falling in the playoffs when teams take their game up a notch.

Bulls making a Splash

The Chicago Bulls have just made one of the first major moves this off season with this upcoming trade to the Washington Wizards. The Bulls deal would move Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in todays NBA draft to the Washington Wizards. This would freeing up enough space to possibly pursue 2 max players in this summers free agency. The rest of the deal wasn't clear on what Washington would end up sending to the Bulls in the trade but it can't be officially done until July 8th so both teams will have time to work it out. The deal can't be done until the 8th once free agents are able to be signed because the Wizards will have to absorb Kirk Hinrich's 9 million dollar contract without sending anything back in similar value. Since it is only "a in good faith deal" for the time being there is a chance that the deal could still fall apart but according to a source the Sacrament Kings would be willing to make a similar deal with the Bulls if the Wizards were to fall through. Hinrich was one of my favorite player on the Bulls because he played with so much heart every night and was an underrated defender with the capability to play the point and shooting guard positions. But moving Kirk would bump the Bulls cap space from $20 million to more than $30 million under. This means that if the deal actually goes through the Bulls would be ahead of the game like the Miami Heat being able to sign 2 max deal players.

Power Forward.....saving the best for last

In the league today, guards are a plenty especially point guards and having a great power forward is a rarity. There are only a handful of elite power forwards in the game today and if a team was to add one of them to their roster it would improve their team dramatically. Out of the few guys many of them including Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan are going to end up staying with their respected franchises for the years to come unless something drastic happens and they are traded. Many people feel like this is the summer to get LeBron James but I think its the summer to get a great power forward just because for many of them its their last year in their contract. Top tier players such as Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer will be available along with a couple of run down guys like that might still have some upside in Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand. The Bulls have been linked to many of these free agents especially Bosh, Amare, and Boozer in which any one of them would be a huge upgrade at the position. Having a point guard and big man combo seems to be the best strategy in winning a NBA Championship and the Bulls have a huge shot at signing a low post scorer in the the upcoming weeks. I think Bosh would be by far the best choice for Chicago just because of his defensive abilities and his low post scoring ability. Second I would pick Amare just because you know what you are going to get because he came for the Suns who have Steve Nash one of the best point guards out there so Rose would be a nice adjustment for Amare. If the Bulls can land either one of those guys look for them to make a deep playoff run this coming season.

The Point Guard

By some they might consider this position to be the most important position in the NBA and it is said that the point guard is considered to be the leader of the team because they are the ones who bring the ball down the court and run the plays. To me I don't think the point guard is the most important position on a team but i think it is definitely number in the top 2. Teams that have poor point guard play tend to turn the ball over a lot more then other teams which will in turn lessen the teams chances at winning basketball games. Often times teams that get a good to great level point guard always seem to take their game to the next level of play. Steve Nash has won 2 MVPs in the past 5 years helping his team stay in the top 3 in points scored per game and have one of the top 5 offenses efficiency in the league with his flashy play. The best player on the Chicago Bulls is Derrick Rose who plays the point guard position very well. Rose and Nash have different styles of play but they both work very well for their respected teams. Rose tends to drive to the basket and finish around the rim a lot more then Nash who is more an outside shooter. The Cavs were heavy favorites to win the NBA championship this year but failed in the second round of the playoffs when they played the Boston Celtics who have an emerging star in Rondo. The Celtics point guard dominated the Cavs point guard night in and night out and even though the Cavs might have had the better team on paper with LeBron James their point guard Mo Williams is not that great and that might have been the key advantage that the Celtics had to lead them to victory. The Bulls seem to be pretty set in the future with their point guards with Rose and Hinrich and with that young core look for them to go farther in the playoffs next season.

The Center

The center position might be one of the most important possitions in basketball. Over the years most teams that have had dominating centers have done very well. Players like Dwight Howard, Patrick Ewing, Shaq O'Neil, and David Robinson have all been All Stars through out their careers and have helped their teams out greatly in the process. Aggressive big men can change a game entirely by dominating the paint and collecting rebounds and blocking shots. Defensive centers can cause guards to think twice about driving to the lane for layups, jams and other easy shots. Also on the offensive end if you truely have a great dominating center they will most likely become double teamed if they are deep enough in the paint making other players become wide open for easy shoots. Now for the Chicago Bulls centers over the years include Joakim Noah, Brad Miller, and Eddy Curry. Now Curry and Miller both had something in common and that is that they are not the best defenders but they both had a lot to offer on the offensive end including Brad Millers 3 point shooting and free throw abilities and Eddy Currys low post skills. Joakim Noah on the other hand has only been on the Bulls for a few seasons and has improved every aspect of his game dramatically. Noah is an energy player who will play with so much heart as long as he is on the floor, he is also an excellent defender who can get offensive rebounds as well as anyone in the league. With Joakim Noah on the Bulls they do not need to upgrade at the center position this off season unless they want to have another god center come off the bench considering they will probably lose Brad Miller to free agency.

The Shooting Guard

Shooting guards are usually the most clutch shooters on the team. And when I think of clutch I think of players like Kobe Bryant, AI, and Durant. The Chicago Bulls on the other hand had Ben Gordon who was an extremely streaky shooting guard who had amazing shots and ridiculously poor shot every night. That might have been part of the reason that the Bulls decided not to re-sign him last off season. Shooting guards are extremely flashy on the court and can do a lot of damage on the offensive end of the court. This season part of the reason why the Bulls struggled on the offensive end is that they didn't have that go to guy every night. Every game they never knew who was going to step up and take control of the situation and win a game for the team. Rose seemed to do a lot of that during the year but he is a point guard who should really be trying to distribute the ball to others. The Bulls had Kirk Hinrich, Acie Law, Ronald Murry rotating in and out of the shooting guard to try and find out if any of them was having a hot night and could make tough shots. 3 point shooting was a huge problem all of last season and I think part of the problem was the Bulls not have a very good shooting guard on the floor each night. This off season the Bulls should have 2 main priorities and they are 1 pick up a 3 point shooting guard that can hit tough shots and free throws regularly. They also need a big man who can create his own shot and play defense. The Bulls need to look at Ray Allan if he is available because he will fill the huge hole that Chicago has at its shooting guard position. Although shooting guards tend to be flashing and clutch I do not consider them to be the most important position in the NBA.

Position breakdown -Small Forward

Ok so yes the first player that comes to mind when I think about small forwards is LeBron James, who is the MVP of the National Basketball Association, but I am not saying that it is the most important position in the NBA. Before LeBron and Carmelo Anthony came into the league I felt like the small forward position was usually not an important piece to most teams. Most small forwards are defensive players such as Ron Artest (former Chicago Bull), Josh Smith,  Gerald Wallace, Andrei Kirilenko. There are a couple upsides to small forwards and that is that they are very versatile players because they can act like a guard being a great dribbler and can also be fantastic rebouders do to their height (usually around 6ft-7inches). The Chicago Bulls currently have Luol Deng set as their small forward. Although he is not a skilled defender he has very long arms making his defensive presence felt on the court. Deng has a great 20 foot jump shot that is very hard to defend. This off season the Bulls have a major shot at upgrading at the small forward position by getting LeBron but if that was to happen I see the Bulls trading away Deng just because he has a huge 10 million dollar contract and doesn't deserve to be coming of the bench. Looking back at past NBA champions the small forward was usually never the best player on the team so maybe the key to winning is having your teams small forward take a smaller role on the offensive end and be more a defensive presence like Ron Artest of the NBA champion Lakers this year. He basically had a horrible year when it came to shooting but he would always take the responsibility of guarding  the opposing teams best player. So overall I would say that having a All-Star small forward doesn't mean you have a great team but it can definitely take an already good team to an NBA championship level.

Joakim Noah

To me Joakim Noah is like Dennis Rodman. He seems to be hated by his opponents where ever he is. But then again when hes on your team you love him and so do the fans. Noah has his heart on his sleave every game and will always give you 100% whenever he is on the floor. When the Bulls drafted him 3 years ago I will admit that I thought they made a huge mistake considering he didnt have much of a post up game and that most of the time energy big men like him usually just come off the bench for most teams. But he has prove me and the rest of his doubters wrong especially this season. He was able to average a double double in the 2009 to 2010 season which is awesome for a player his age. It was about time that we got rid of our other energy big man Tyrus Thomas and I think once we did that Noah started to thrive even more than before. Noah has one of the craziest ball releases in the game. The ball seems to spin out of his hands sideways instead of top to bottom and yet he still has made a lot of clutch free throws this season. To me if there is one thing Noah needs to work on this off season its his control and free throws. Every once in a while Noah would pick up silly ticky tack fouls just because he would get upset and it would sometimes cost his team in the end when he would end up in foul trouble. Free throws are another key since he has an awkward release he doesn't have a good free throw percent and i think he fixed his shot his percentage could make a slight improvement.

All about D-Rose

Since Derrick Rose has joined the Bulls just 2 years ago he has changed the whole dynamic of the franchise. The Bulls are no longer considered the "Baby Bulls" because they have grown up to be respected players in the NBA. Rose the the 1st Chicago Bulls player since the man the myth the legend Michael Jordan in 1998. That was one of the longest droughts for a franchise ever in the NBA but Rose broke the horrible streak. Since Rose has been on the Bulls they have made the playoffs each year and the supporting cast seems to be getting better especially Joakim Noah who had the best season of his career this year. Now I'm not one to say that point guards win championships because we all no that they don't but Rose is an exciting player to watch. Rose is a very young player who didn't have a lot of college experience since he only stayed with Memphis for his freshman year before heading to the NBA. Rose still has a lot to learn about the game but he is also a quick learner and has improved an aspect of his game in each of the years he has played. I am expecting Derrick Rose to be the top point guard in the Eastern Conference next season. With the Bulls team being so young they will only improve in the seasons to come and with Rose at the helm he is going to make sure his teammates improve their game too. One major factor I think Rose will improve on is his turnovers. He is going to make better decisions in the coming years then he did this past season and that is going to help his team. Also look for Rose to get more assists ans shoot less if then end up getting another All Star in the free agency.

MJ and LBJ

There will always be comparisons to LeBron James and Michael Jordan until the end for LeBrons career. But in reality how can he be compared to MJ when LeBron has not even won a single ring when Jordan finished with 6. MJ didn't win his first until his seventh season in the league and for LeBron this coming season will be his 8th. If LeBron came to the city of Chicago and played with the Bulls his chances for winning a title would greatly increase. So I am going to go over some facts about Micheal Jordan's champion ship runs. Jordan never won a ring until he had Scottie Pippen as a side kick. Could Rose be that side kick that LBJ needs in order to win a ring? That is unknown but by the ways that Rose has been playing the past couple years it looks like hes only going to get better. Not only did MJ have Pippen but he also had a Bill Cartwright, Charles Oakley, Horace Grant, and even Dennis Rodman who all ably filled the role of dirty-work player. Each of them used their physicality to attract the hatred of opponents and fans. Who on the Bulls could fill that position hmm...... Joakim NOAH would do nicely. He has proved this year that he can fill the role of that hated player on the roster by cleaning up the glass every night and doing the dirty work. The Bulls also have great role players such as Hinrich, Gibson, and Johnson and with a bench like that it gives the Bulls a huge advantage over teams like Miami and New York in trying to court LeBron. If LBJ ever wants to be mentioned in the same breath as MJ then he has to win some championships ASAP!

Battle of the PG who is better.....Rose or Rondo?

For me this is an easy question to answer but it might not be for other basketball fans out there. Rondo has had many more triple doubles in his young career already. Chicago Bulls but I will do the best I can to recognize both players by their ability. The main strength that Rondo has over Rose is that he is an excellent rebounder. Not only is he a better rebounder but Rondo has just broken the single season steals record for the Boston Celtics this year which would mean he is great at predicting what his opponents are going to do before they do it. Rondo also has a lot of faults, for example: poor free throw shooter, poor jump shooter, and not very clutch around the rim. Rose on the other had is everything that Rondo isn’t. Rose has the ability to take over games with is quickness and ability to finish around the rim. Over the past years Rose’s jump shot and free throws have greatly improved. To me they both seem to be about equal passers and ball handlers. So when it comes down to it, it all comes down to what kind of point guard you want running your team. To me a point guard should be able to shoot the ball and finish around the rim. If a point rourd is good rebounder what is that saying about your center and forwards about their rebounding skills if a small little point guard is getting more rebounds then they are. The point guard needs to be able to run the floor and be clutch when the game is on the line and to me Rose sticks out at being that guy and that’s why Rose is much better the Rondo in my mind.

Hmm here is a tough one

Should the Chicago Bulls try and make a trade to score a free agent like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or LeBron James? Its an important question for general manager to make this off season. To be able to get a sign and trade we might have to get rid of Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson, Loul Deng, and maybe our draft pick. The Bulls currently have the 17th pick in this years draft so they already know that the top selections will be gone so i don't think they will have a problem dealing the pick away if they needed too. Taj Gibson had a great year as a rookie and started developing nicely toward the end of the season. He seems to have the same abilities as Tyrus Thomas did when he was on the Bulls. So with that I think losing Gibson might hurt because he is young and will only get better as he matures and learns more about playing in the NBA. Loul Deng on the other I have felt the Bulls should have been trying to trade for years now. He is still young and has the potential to take his game to the next level but I don't think he can do it in Chicago and he has a pretty big contract so it would be nice to get that off our hands. Kirk Hinrich is a player that I have loved since he came to the Bulls. He plays with a lot of heart and is a great player off the bench. He would be a great player to keep BUT he also doesn't have a good contract so it hurts the Bulls. As much as I love the guy I feel like we have to package him and Deng together and get something in return in order to take our team to the next level.

Bosh or Stoudemire???

Both are phenomenal players and the top scorers on their teams but who would be best suited for the Chicago Bulls? Well looking at there statistics they seem like almost the same player but they actually can be very different. For one Chris Bosh is the leader and only all-star on his team making him the number one option every game. On the other hand Stoudemire has Steve Nash who was a 2 time MVP and an excellent passer. Injuries are also a huge concern of mine. Bosh has never been fully healthy enough to play all 82 games because he always would end up getting dinged up at some point in the season. Stoudemire is a completely different story, about half the years he has spent in the NBA he has been healthy and the other half he has had major problems including knee and eye surgeries. Both guys have almost identical physical attributes being 6-10 and weighing about 240 lbs. There is a key difference to this match up though and that is DEFENSE. Amare Stoudemire has never had to play defense while being in the Suns organization because they have a run and gun style of play. Bosh has been an excellent post defender throughout his young career and i think that is the main and most import difference. Having a great offense will win you a lot of games but having a great defense will win playoff games and even championships. Both will be free agents as of July 1st and if the Bulls have the chance I hope they jump on Bosh just because of his defensive abilities.

analyze a top blog

Recently I have come across another great blog about the Chicago Bulls while surfing the net.

Blog-a-Bull has been one of my favorites. A lot of the posts are about many of the same topics that i have been talking about for the past couple of weeks like the Bulls new head coach, free agents, and how well the Bulls did in the playoffs. Judging by all of the comments on each of the blogs I am willing to bet that it gets a lot of hits from people from all over. A nice thing about the blog is that they give a ton of up to date information and some of it is posted as soon as it happens to keep everyone informed. He not only talked about the top free agents but he talked about the 2nd tier players as well. I think that is something that I can do in the coming days. He also talked about 5 key players this off season but he went into a lot more depth. He not only gave his explainations about why the players would be a good fit for the Bulls but he added there statistics for all aspects of there game including: rebounding, inside and outside game, turnover rate, blocks, steals, fouls, and shooting percentage. I think i can take a lot away from this blog and many others and improve my own. Lastly here is my fun link of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmiiR4hjPY.

Stacey King is one of the funniest commentators I have ever heard for the Chicago Bulls. :)
this was a great blog and i rate it 5 out of 5 for sure.

Bulls Cavs 2010 Ployoffs

With the Bulls late season surge and an epic collapse by the Raptors the Chicago Bulls snuck into the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. During the regular season the Bulls and Cavs match ups were fairly close but since this was the playoffs we all know that teams tend to step it up a notch. In the 1st game the Bulls seemed to be nervous by forcing a lot of shots and turning the ball over. Mo Williams also had a great night and the Bulls ended up losing. The next game a lot changed, for one the Bulls shotting was great and it was a close game until the final minutes when LeBron took over. He had a dominating run with only a few minutes remaining and the Bulls collapsed and the Cavs took game 2. Game 3 was at Chicago and the Bulls were ready to win. After a really slow start the bulls came out roaring in the 4th quarter. Rose had an excellent game with 0 turnovers and shooting better then 50% from the field, the Bulls came back and won game 3. The Cavs called it lucky and came out of the gates hot. LeBron was 6-9 from 3pt range and finished with a triple double. Noah had one of his best games of the season getting 21points and 20 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Bulls got blow out at home. During the 5th game it was tight all the way down to the wire but the Bulls seemed to have a lot of problems with match ups. The number one problem was Shaq, he went 7-9 from the field and did a nice work on the glass with 8 rebounds. The other main problem was 3 point shooting, the Bulls went 2-10 while the Cavs went 10-26. The Bulls showed a lot of heart but it just wasn't enough and the Cavs ended up winning the series in 5 games.

ideal bulls team

Ok everyone today I am going to talk about what I would do if I was the Bulls GM. First off I would go after LeBron and sign him to a max deal. LeBron would upgrade almost everything for the Bulls. Not only is he the MVP but hes going to bring a lot of toughness to this young team. I personally don't think that there is a player out there that can guard him one on one. So that means he going to get doubled a lot, which will lead to more open shots for his teammates. LeBron also brings defense to the table, I'm not saying hes a lock down defender but he gets a lot of triple doubles each yeah and always seems to come up with some monster run down blocks and that can change the momentum of a game. LeBron's outside shooting and free throws have only got better since he came into the league so that is always a plus. Getting LeBron also means that you have another all-star that can make tough plays down the stretch of a ball game. The next player I would pursue is Chris Bosh. This man can straight up play ball, he has numerous moves around the basket and is a regular double double guy. Bosh has proven to be better then players such as Amare and Boozer just because Bosh actually plays DEFENSE. Defense is the key to winning playoff games and with Bosh and Noah down low every night we would be unstoppable. The only way we would be able to get both Bosh and LeBron would be a sign and trade deal that would include Captain Kirk, Deng, and maybe Gibson. They are all quality players and i do love Kirks heart but i would much prefer a Bosh or Lebron over all of them. Having a line up that would include Rose, JJ (draft pick or mid level exception FA), LBJ, Bosh, and Noah would be almost unstoppable. I can totally see them winning about 75 games a season if they stay healthy.

Bulls new coach

Today I would like to express my thoughts about the Chicago Bulls new coach. The Bulls have reportedly offered Tom Thibodeau a 3 year offer to become the Bulls 18th head coach in franchise history. Tom has reportedly accepted the terms to the deal but will not accept the offer until after the Celtics are done with the post season. Thibodeau has had a lot of coaching experience and started out as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He later went to the Seatle Sonics, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, New Yorks Knicks and his last job as an assistant in Boston under Doc Rivers. There were a couple of other teams that were trying to pursue Thibodeau this off season such as The Nets and Hornets. Tom is a defensive minded coach who helped bolster the Celtics defense in their 2008 championship run. Pierce has been quoted saying that Tom is a great defensive minded coach and that he is part of the reason why the Celtics are where they are right now (in the finals). Overall I feel like the Bulls made a pretty good choice picking Tom Thibodeau as their new head coach. If the saying goes defense wins championships I hope we have one of the best defenses out there next year. I give the Bulls a rating of 4.5 out of 5 on the picking of the new coach, nice work boys. Thats all for now though byebye.

This summers Free agent list

Starting July 1st its going to be a friendzy for all NBA teams trying to sway all star free agents to their teams. I have come up with a list of the top free agents that the Bulls need to go after this summer.

1. Lebron James- Hes the MVP and hes going to be in his prime years soon so the Bulls need to take advantage of this. LBJ is the type of player that can really take over a ball game and with other teams doubling up on him it will make his surrounding players better because they will have better looks at the basket.
2. Chris Bosh- He is currently the best big man free agent on the market. He is extremely dangerous around the basket and has a very nice 12ft jump shoot. Bosh would be a very nice complement to Noah down low. Bosh should be the Bulls number 1 goal if LBJ re-signs with the Cavs.
3. D-Wade- This guy is battle tested and knows how to win games come crunch time. His home town is in Chicago so he might have a slight interest in coming here. If Wade can increase his jump shot percentage he could become very dangerous when paired with Rose.
4. Ray Allan- The guy is a sniper from 3 point range and one of the best free throw shooters in the NBA. I dont think there is a team out there that wouldnt want Ray on their team. Ray would be a good addition to the Bulls because for the last couple of seasons they have been amoung the leagues worst in 3point shooting and Free throws.

Wade's comments and some fun stuff

A couple of weeks back Dwyane Wade had some harsh comments about the Bulls and their management style. I took it as a low blow considering his hometown is Chicago and because he doesn't know what happened behind the scene with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Wade also made comments about how the Bulls should not have cleared any cap space for him and that he understands about the business side of basketball. In short though Wade said that the Bulls were not loyal to their players and wanted this to be a message to other free agents to stay away. I seem to feel that he did this because he doesn't want free agents to go anywhere but in Miami with him. I can not see free agents actually be swayed by his comments but they will most likely stick in the back of their minds when they are making the big decision. Also as of yesterday Charles Oakley telling LeBron James not to go to New York because they say they didn't treat him right in the 10 years that he spent there. I personally hope that free agents don't go to New York because for one that means that they are basically sell outs. The Knicks are a horrible team and are going to try and buy a championship team buy offering free agents max contracts which is stupid. Espn analysts and I all agree that the Chicago Bulls are the best available team for free agent suitors just because they have young studs in Rose, Deng, and Noah. Thats all for now hope you enjoyed my post.

PS here is my fun link of the day. http://www.hulu.com/watch/153952/jimmy-kimmel-live-game-night-pop-a-shot-challenge

fun link

Hey so I recently found an interesting link on espn about the free agent maddness this summer. Check it out http://espn.go.com/nba/features/freeagentslotmachine

I played around with it for a while just thinking about the possibilities for the Bulls. A couple of times it actually came up with Bosh and LBJ becoming Bulls how cool would that be. Ahhhh i can't wait till July 1st when the Bulls try and make a splash in free agency. I also have a theory about Ray Allan coming to the Bulls if they lose to the Lakers in the finals in the next couple of weeks. Ok now this is how i see it. If the Celtics win it all they are going to end up keeping "the big 3" in Ray Allan, Paul Pierce, and KG and the Lakers when then be looking to get rid of injury prone Bynum. So if that happeneds i would look to see the Lakers trade the Raptors for Chris Bosh so that would mean no Bosh for the Bulls. But then if the Lakers win it all i would assume the Celtics break up the "the big 3" and the Bulls can then try and pursue Ray Allan. Over the past couple of seasons the Bulls have been a very poor 3 point shooting team so with the addition of Ray we could change a whole aspect of our game and hopefully get past the 1st round in the playoffs next year. I can't waittttt!! Well that is all for today but I'm going to leave you guys with one of my favorite D-Rose clips enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAA8mLz8aJ0

Hi everybody

My name is Jim Sweet and I made this blog for a class I'm taking at ISU. I've been a Bulls fan for as long as i can remember and I am going share and post ideas and thoughts i have about the Bulls daily. Now where can i start....well the Bulls had a fairly successful season this year even though most people including myself didn't think they were good enough to make the playoffs. Now about the firing of Vinny. I don't really understand why they did it, I mean he brought a team that lost its best scorer over the off season and still managed to make the playoffs and yet he still got fired. I know he had that incident with Paxton with the whole pushing match but its not like he was purposely trying to lose games like the Cavs did before they got LeBron James. The young guys really did deserve to make the playoffs this year because D-rose and Noah played with so much heart all year long and thats what i like to see out of the players. Both of them have improved this season so much i can't wait to see how they are next season. This is also going to be one of the biggest summers ever in terms of alstar free agent availability but I will be talking about that daily after today. I hope everyone visits my page tomorow when i start talking about possible free agents the Bulls can get starting July 1st. :)

see ya