Bulls are insignificant right now.

[PTanner]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

It should be interesting, but that will be because of baseball. Hopefully.

Pax needs to shake things up, but who knows if that is even possible. The thought of having to watch this team again next basketball season is sickening.

If that made you sick, this would kill you.

That makes most of us (Apex and the Kid From Brooklyn excluded) pretty smiley.

[Waco Kid]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

More so for the other team that plays in the United Center. John Paxson is to bold moves as Hendry is to dieting.

[Mike Douche]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

More so for the other team that plays in the United Center. John Paxson is to bold moves as Hendry is to dieting.

Right.  That Ben Wallace signing screamed timidity.

[butthead]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

More so for the other team that plays in the United Center. John Paxson is to bold moves as Hendry is to dieting.

Right.  That Ben Wallace signing screamed timidity.

And look how that worked out. Pax is going to be scared to do anything ever again.

[Mike Douche]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

More so for the other team that plays in the United Center. John Paxson is to bold moves as Hendry is to dieting.

Right.  That Ben Wallace signing screamed timidity.

And look how that worked out. Pax is going to be scared to do anything ever again.

That's true.

I still say Pax surrendered the season when, after canning Skiles, he didn't just come down to the hardwood to run the team himself.  The fact that he didn't have balls to take control of the situation and make a proactive attempt at saving the season by whipping the team into gear by himself has made me sour on him a little, and I haven't had a bad thing to say about Paxson since he was an All-American at Notre Dame.

[Waco Kid]

So the Bulls are eliminated by the Heat. Thank god they didn't make the playoffs. What a fucking waste of a season.

And they weren't even crappy enough to get a real shot at Beasley or Rose.

Hopefully they'll trade the pick, and make some moves to get better.  It should be an interesting summer.  Or not, given that it's John Paxson.  We might see the same team as this year, plus Kevin Love.  Yay.

More so for the other team that plays in the United Center. John Paxson is to bold moves as Hendry is to dieting.

Right.  That Ben Wallace signing screamed timidity.

I don't consider that a bold move. At the time it was considered to be an obvious move that Pax was expected to make. Kobe, Gasol, Garnett those were moves he could have made with the value of the pieces he had at the time. Now the pieces are worthless and as butthead has already Pax will now be scared shitless to do anything.

[RV]

Here's a bold move - bring in this broad. I bet she's tougher than anyone on the current team.

The scrapes and scratches that covered Sylvia Fowles' knees and elbows as a teenager were a collection of tough love from her three brothers, especially the second-oldest, Morris.

Like the scabs that eventually formed over the cuts, they hoped their rough and tumble ways with her on the basketball court eventually would harden her, creating a durable shield against any opponent she might ever face.

That shell has protected her well, helping her develop into one of the most dominating inside presences in college basketball, a reason the Sky selected the 6-foot-6-inch LSU center with the second overall pick in Wednesday's WNBA draft.

"Every time I'd try to make a layup, he'd hit me so hard and knock me down on the asphalt," Fowles said on Thursday of Morris. "I'd get up with tears and he'd say, 'If you cry, I'm going to make you go home.' So I sucked it up. All that made me tougher and it made me into the person I am today."

[butthead]

I don't think signing Wallace was that bold either. All he did was add a hustle/defense guy to a hustle/defense team. He got an older Tyson Chandler. And since he was a free agent Pax didn't have to risk giving up on any of his guys.

So Wallace turned out to be a lazy/whiny guy, but the team turned out to be lazy/whiny too. It was really a good fit if you think about it.

[KD]

Once again: he couldn't have traded for KG/Gasol/Kobe. Those players weren't available to trade for.

Garnett became available in June of 2007, and Paxson didn't have the parts to make a move. Gasol became available in December of 2007, and Paxson didn't have the parts to make a move. Buss was never going to deal Kobe. Buss wouldn't mind losing 82 games if it meant keeping Kobe.

The part about Paxson coaching is fair. The last guy to do it (McHale in Minnesota) was horrible, but it speaks to Pax's condition: remember, he was essentially being groomed to replace Phil Jackson, but left the assistant's chair in the summer of 1996 because he didn't want the pressure/travel/responsibility. And the "travel" excuse became null and void once he joined the traveling radio team calling Bulls games.

I was hoping like mad Pax would take over, and not promote some Skiles acolyte. Once Boylan took over, I knew that this was going to be Rick Carlisle's team come July.

[butthead]

Once again: he couldn't have traded for KG/Gasol/Kobe. Those players weren't available to trade for.

I get that those trades couldn't have worked, no matter how much they were hyped, but what the hell should he have done? Obviously something, since the team is shit now. Was there anything obvious he missed out on by being too passive?

[Slaky+]

Once again: he couldn't have traded for KG/Gasol/Kobe. Those players weren't available to trade for.

Garnett became available in June of 2007, and Paxson didn't have the parts to make a move. Gasol became available in December of 2007, and Paxson didn't have the parts to make a move. Buss was never going to deal Kobe. Buss wouldn't mind losing 82 games if it meant keeping Kobe.

The part about Paxson coaching is fair. The last guy to do it (McHale in Minnesota) was horrible, but it speaks to Pax's condition: remember, he was essentially being groomed to replace Phil Jackson, but left the assistant's chair in the summer of 1996 because he didn't want the pressure/travel/responsibility. And the "travel" excuse became null and void once he joined the traveling radio team calling Bulls games.

I was hoping like mad Pax would take over, and not promote some Skiles acolyte. Once Boylan took over, I knew that this was going to be Rick Carlisle's team come July.

I've been waiting to hear anyone say something about this. I haven't read anything about the next coach.

[KD]

Once again: he couldn't have traded for KG/Gasol/Kobe. Those players weren't available to trade for.

I get that those trades couldn't have worked, no matter how much they were hyped, but what the hell should he have done? Obviously something, since the team is shit now. Was there anything obvious he missed out on by being too passive?

I can't think of anything, honestly. My stance now is the same as it was before the Wallace signing: I wanted him to go after either Chris Wilcox/Drew Gooden and Joel Przybilla/Nazr Mohammad with the money (a PF and C), and retain them as tradeable parts (as the Cavs did with Gooden), instead of blowing all of it on one player (which happened to be Wallace). Smarter NBA people should have looked at Chandler's stats, taken the context of his free agent summer (of 2005) into account, and written 2005-06 off as a fluke year. Which it was. And he's bounced back big-time, as expected by everyone save Pax.

But other than that, I don't know. This team didn't need Brandon Roy, and as someone who watches a lot of Portland, believe me, you don't want LaMarcus Aldridge on the Bulls.

The big mistake was not coaching himself, not having a viable replacement in line when Skiles burned out (as everyone assumed he would, just like the Hubies and Doug Collins-types do every time), and not impressing on Boylan to play the f'n kids. The Sixers GM told Mo Cheeks to either play their rookie, or it was his job, Cheeks played the youngster (and others), and Philly is in the playoffs. If Pax had done the same thing to Boylan, this season might be different.

Instead ... Larry Hughes!

I couldn't tell you of a trade that could have been had. One thing he might have done would be to send PJ Brown (and a pick) to Phoenix for Kurt Thomas in February of 2007, thus giving himself another expiring contract to use in a potential trade, but I don't know if Phoenix would have wanted the pick (they don't want the luxury tax, either, and trade all their picks), and Reinsdorf may not have signed off on it because he doesn't want to pay the luxury tax. Also, Pax was trying to work a Gasol deal in the final seconds of that trade deadline, so he can't really turn around in a matter of seconds and ship Brown to Phoenix instead of Memphis, should Jerry West change his mind at the last second.

The biggest issue is Reinsdorf. The Bulls are going to needlessly lose Ben Gordon this year or the next because Larry Hughes makes too much money, and Reinsdorf won't pay for a winner. Read this, from Memphis' owner:

"Just look at Chicago. Chicago's record over the last 10 years has been worse than ours. I've been to the playoffs more times than they have. They've been the worst team in the league like 3 or 4 times. I've been the worst team once.

Their record, even though they play in the East which by any stretch is a hell of a lot easier than the West these last 7-10 years, but Chicago sells out every game. They have local TV revenue of $30-40 million dollars which is about my total revenue so how am I going to compete with Chicago?

Of course, Chicago makes a lot of money for their owners and we lose a lot of money for ours."

No team in the NBA has made anywhere near the amount of money as the Bulls have over the last decade, it's not even close, and yet Reinsdorf won't take any of that money and put it into paying for a winner. In fact, it may cost the Bulls a good coach this summer (I don't want Carlisle at all, but he is an OK coach) because Jerry is already paying Skiles next year.

[PTanner]

So all you need is for Rocky Wirtz to take over the Bulls too.

[butthead]

Thats' why desipio pays KD the big bucks. Ask a question, get a sports column for an answer. Good work.

Can Rocky take over all the teams in town?

[thehawk]

Thats' why desipio pays KD the big bucks. Ask a question, get a sports column for an answer. Good work.

Can Rocky take over all the teams in town?

I would suggest we wait till after this off-season before we hand Rock the keys.  The moves he has made so far have made him money.  He collected rights fees from Comcast, bringing back Hull and Stosh didn't cost anything and brought big gates.  The only thing he's done that caused him to write a check is to hire McDonough (and that's small potatoes).

When I see the organ i zation writing checks for some free agents (including their own), I'll crown his ass.  I think he's going to do the right thing, but in this town I want to see the owner do the right thing first.