Even with new owners who claim to be committed to winning, the Chicago Cubs are at it again this off-season doing everything wrong.
The poor off-season started early with the moves the Cubs did not make in a year of limited free agents at positions the Cubs needed to adress. After parting ways with Mark de Rosa last year, and allowing him to be traded back to the division rival Cardinals, the Cubs were left with a huge hole at 2nd base leaving Mike Fontenot the every day starter. The Cubs also have been missing a true lead-off hitter since Juan Pierre was driven out of town after just 1 season with the club.
On the market this year were two viable options to play second base and lead off. Chone Figgins was the spark plug for the Angels for the past few years consistently getting on base, putting pressure on the defense and scoring runs. He would have made a great combo up the middle with Theriot defensive and allowed for plenty of hit-and-run opportunities with the Riot hitting behind him in the order as a 1-2 punch. This pairing could have been the table setters thumpers like Lee, Ramirez, Soriano and Soto needed to be true run producers. According to several sources, the Seattle Mariners are close to locking up Figgins.
The next choice for the Cubs that would have made much sense was Placido Polanco. While he is not the typical speedy lead-off hitter, he works deep counts and carries a .303 career batting average and consistenly scores 80 to 100 runs a season. Polanco signed with the Phillies willing to accept a lower contract and move to 3B just for a chance at a winner.
Perhaps the Cubs passed on these 2nd basemen because the rumors of moving Theriot to 2B are true. Even so, moving The Riot to 2B just shifts the gaping hole to SS. Sure the young Andres Blanco looked very solid defensive and had a few clutch doubles at the end of the season, but with an aging team heavily invested in older talent, is this the year to start over at SS? I think not. The best SSs on the market this year were Orlando Cabrera and Marco Scutaro. Both of whom do not seem worth the money as Cabrera is getting older and Scutaro is coming off a possible fluke year. The Cubs already passed on Scutaro as he inked with Boston this week.
The Cubs also put alot of pressure on Aramis Ramirez for this season just as they did last year. Ramirez has never really been all that durable, with DeRosa spelling him occassionally in past years. Without DeRosa last year, the Cubs were lucky to have Jake Fox to fill in with his bat on the cheap. However, that insurance policy is no more. Fox and his $400,000 a year contract were GIVEN AWAY just to rid the organization of the awful Aaron Miles signing and contract. Miles hit .185 last season and was often paid to sit around and be 5 feet 8 inches tall.
In exchange for Fox, who had 35 Home Run potential, the Cubs received a few no-names and Jeff Gray, a 28 year old who has yet to establish MLB success. He seems to me just a cheaper and younger version of Aaron Heilman, who did not work out at all for the Cubs this season.
The Cubs have not addressed the problems with the most overpaid outfield in the major leagues. If the Soriano, Bradley, Fukudome outfield is still in-tact, it will still be making more money than the entire Florida Marlins roster with much less production. Fukudome has proven to be a terrible signing and the worst all star ever. Soriano is coming off his worst season as a pro and Bradley, well, we all remember him being sent home at the end of the season. I hate to say it but nobody is going to help the Cubs rid themselves of these problems. Therefore filling the hole up the middle was essential to bringing some change to the Chicago Offense.
The returning struggling offense will just put more pressure on the Cubs rotation. Carlos Zambrano who was inked to big money is coming off a mediocre year for a man making those kind of dollars. He will need to bounce back with an 18 win or better season if the Cubs hope to go anywhere.
Ryan Dempster regressed from his All Star year and was oft injured this season, including a freak broken toe. Knowing the kind of competitor Ryan is, he should work hard this offseason and bounce back.
The staple of the Cubs rotation has been and will be Ted Lilly. Lilly has been a rock and a slump stopper for the Cubs since being signed 2 years ago. He was finally shown the respect he deserves being named an All Star this season, tho he did not see game action.
Randy Wells will have to bring the same magic he brought last season. The tough luck pitcher still managed 12 wins with virtually NO run support and his 3.05 ERA was stellar. Wells, lacking the stuff of top tier major league pitchers has the guts to go after hitters, but will it be enough to maintain an established career as a winning pitcher? we can only hope so.
After that the Cubbies have a few question marks on the mound. Sean Marshall proved his weight in gold as both a reliever and a back-up Left Fielder to Alfonso Soriano and without lefty help down the left field line, the Cubs may be forced to leave him there. Tom Gorzelanny is still a project and we hope had can bounce back to his prior form but that remains to be seen. Jeff Samardzija looked terrible in his starts continually giving up long-balls and does not seem to be anything other than the 2nd coming of Kyle Farnsworth. One of these guys will need to step up and fill the spot as the Cubs fifth starter or the Cubs will have to look elsewhere.
With the money saved from finally letting Rich Harden walk, though a season too late, the Cubs are rumored to be looking at Vicente Padilla. Again I must wonder if the Cubs do their due diligence. Padilla made a whopping $12,000,000 in 2009 and is unlikely to sign for much less being sadly one of the better names in the free agent pool of pitchers this year. Padilla however really isn't anything special. He has a career record of 98-85 and a not so sexy 4.33 ERA, which has been inflating since he left the Phillies in 2005. This is one signing I hope does not happen
Hopefully this article is put to shame and the Cubs have something in the works to move Bradley and bring in another ACE or a true power hitting Right Fielder. It does not address the lack of a lead off hitter, but maybe, just maybe if Bradley and Fukudome can be moved for a stud in RF it opens the door for the young Sam Fuld to start in Center Field and lead off. He has shown his ability to play an above average defensive centerfield, he has shown he has the arm to play a stellar defensive centerfield and the man has the speed, patience and bat control to fill the void at the top of the Cubs order, all at a bargain. With no Chone in the future, let the Fuld era begin.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Bulls Fans Pissed-on BG's return
I heard alot of boos for Ben Gordon but almost as many people asking why the boos? I heard some rumblings of it being because he left for more money, which might make sense in this anti-capitalist state of mind we find the mass public in, but that is not why I was booing BG.
The bottom line is the man was a disease for the Chicago Bulls. It really was amazing to watch Gordon and Salmons on the court and just compare the two. Now i know they were not traded for one another, but essentially Salmons signaled the end for Ben in Chicago.
Ben Gordon played his typical game tonight. Sure, he had 18 points, but on 6-16 shooting. Many of these shots were off-balance and after a long series of dribbling.
He was 2-8 from downtown and consistently threw up 3s early in the shot clock. It looked like he didnt have teammates out there and the 0 assists back it up.
He committed 5 fouls, most of which were just down right silly fouls to begin with. Now I understand the man wasn't 100%, and if he was, he just wasn't in game shape his first night back. But if he knew this was the case, why lead your team in shots?
Now the Bulls did not play their best overall game, and I'm not sure they have since opening night. But there were stretches tonight when the team looked good enough to make it out of the first round. At times the energy was very high and the crowd reciprocated. Most of the excitement came on 2 seperate Brad Miller to Derrick Rose alley-oops. Both seemingly on set plays and both executed to perfection. Rose was good with 19-4-6 but did get a little sloppy with the ball in transition from time to time and had 5 TOs.
The story of the night had to be John Salmons. He played stellar defense, including his late steal which lead to a give and go with Deng. He hit clutch shots for the second night in a row. But most importantly, these shots came on either rhythym shots, or by cutting/driving to the basket. Salmons was on the attack all night.
A critical piece to letting Ben walk was to ensure Luol Deng would be back to normal this year, and hopefully even beyond. Luol being steady at 3 allows the Bulls to move Salmons back to the 2 and upgrade from a 6'3 body to a 6'6 man. Deng in the 3 stands a long 6'9 so the Bulls can now play big with Miller and Noah helping in the post. Deng so far has been brilliant. Sure he's had his off nights but they happen, the nice part about this year is they've been fewer and far between.
Deng was an animal early attacking the basket. He had the recognition to take Gordon into the post each time that mismatch ocurred and it worked early on. Deng finished with 14 and though the percentages were down he took decent shots. He added 8 boards but more importantly 4 off the offensive glass. It was nice to see him crashing the boards and banging around with the big guys.
Brad Miller and Joakim Noah just did what they do combining for 23-21-11. Their interior and high post passing may have won them the game as they continually hit players in rhythym increasing the chances of a made basket. If the Bulls Bigs can keep this up, it will be a nice change having big men who can get the job done offensively. Tyrus Thomas needs to be able to come back strong and productive to help out the duo as they 2 combined for 76 minutes...
The Bulls need to learn from this game and carry a little of the momentum into Cleveland where they've already won once this year. Big Bad Brad has been great at stopping the Shaqtus and Deng matches up nicely on LeBron. The Bulls need to keep turnovers to minimum and not give up 2nd chance points or easy buckets. If they play within themselves, they match up very well against these Cavs. Back to back division wins would be a great way to erase a dismal west coast trip from the memory especially in the process of getting healthy.
I would like to see more tick for James Johnson. The Bulls short rotation played a ton of minutes tonight and could probably afford to save the legs with back-to-backs on friday and saturday. Johnson was one of the lone bright spots against Utah dropping 10 and 5 in limited minutes on good percentages with only 1 TO. We have not seen him on the court since.
The bottom line is the man was a disease for the Chicago Bulls. It really was amazing to watch Gordon and Salmons on the court and just compare the two. Now i know they were not traded for one another, but essentially Salmons signaled the end for Ben in Chicago.
Ben Gordon played his typical game tonight. Sure, he had 18 points, but on 6-16 shooting. Many of these shots were off-balance and after a long series of dribbling.
He was 2-8 from downtown and consistently threw up 3s early in the shot clock. It looked like he didnt have teammates out there and the 0 assists back it up.
He committed 5 fouls, most of which were just down right silly fouls to begin with. Now I understand the man wasn't 100%, and if he was, he just wasn't in game shape his first night back. But if he knew this was the case, why lead your team in shots?
Now the Bulls did not play their best overall game, and I'm not sure they have since opening night. But there were stretches tonight when the team looked good enough to make it out of the first round. At times the energy was very high and the crowd reciprocated. Most of the excitement came on 2 seperate Brad Miller to Derrick Rose alley-oops. Both seemingly on set plays and both executed to perfection. Rose was good with 19-4-6 but did get a little sloppy with the ball in transition from time to time and had 5 TOs.
The story of the night had to be John Salmons. He played stellar defense, including his late steal which lead to a give and go with Deng. He hit clutch shots for the second night in a row. But most importantly, these shots came on either rhythym shots, or by cutting/driving to the basket. Salmons was on the attack all night.
A critical piece to letting Ben walk was to ensure Luol Deng would be back to normal this year, and hopefully even beyond. Luol being steady at 3 allows the Bulls to move Salmons back to the 2 and upgrade from a 6'3 body to a 6'6 man. Deng in the 3 stands a long 6'9 so the Bulls can now play big with Miller and Noah helping in the post. Deng so far has been brilliant. Sure he's had his off nights but they happen, the nice part about this year is they've been fewer and far between.
Deng was an animal early attacking the basket. He had the recognition to take Gordon into the post each time that mismatch ocurred and it worked early on. Deng finished with 14 and though the percentages were down he took decent shots. He added 8 boards but more importantly 4 off the offensive glass. It was nice to see him crashing the boards and banging around with the big guys.
Brad Miller and Joakim Noah just did what they do combining for 23-21-11. Their interior and high post passing may have won them the game as they continually hit players in rhythym increasing the chances of a made basket. If the Bulls Bigs can keep this up, it will be a nice change having big men who can get the job done offensively. Tyrus Thomas needs to be able to come back strong and productive to help out the duo as they 2 combined for 76 minutes...
The Bulls need to learn from this game and carry a little of the momentum into Cleveland where they've already won once this year. Big Bad Brad has been great at stopping the Shaqtus and Deng matches up nicely on LeBron. The Bulls need to keep turnovers to minimum and not give up 2nd chance points or easy buckets. If they play within themselves, they match up very well against these Cavs. Back to back division wins would be a great way to erase a dismal west coast trip from the memory especially in the process of getting healthy.
I would like to see more tick for James Johnson. The Bulls short rotation played a ton of minutes tonight and could probably afford to save the legs with back-to-backs on friday and saturday. Johnson was one of the lone bright spots against Utah dropping 10 and 5 in limited minutes on good percentages with only 1 TO. We have not seen him on the court since.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Victory Liquors - Victors of what exactly?
So Hi Tops sold us out tonight and cancelled 10 cent wings so a bunch of past their prime Michigan State Fans could sit around in their too tight jerseys to watch their Spartans lose to the Tarheels...again.
Not wanting to lose our already paid parking spots we decided to walk to another bar in the area that had a food special and our regularly scheduled Tuesday Night Trivia. Victory Liquors it was. Now I must say I had been there once before and I was entirely blacked out so I could not provide a proper review, but from what I remember it was crowded and sweaty and being a white, skinny male I was definitely the minority. Not that theres anything wrong with overweight foreign females but its just not when you expect in Lincoln Park, home of the skinny white girl in leopard print.
Deciding to give it one more chance we walked in for half price sandwiches... I guess half priced meant you get what you paid for and it was only half cooked. After we received our first pitcher, we removed the dead spider that was floating in it and drank it anyways... yes, alcohol is a disinfectant and money is tight in this Obama Economy... sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Honestly, the spider beer was the best thing on the menu.
I decided to not be too risky with my order and went with the Turkey BLT. Poor decision. The Bacon was as undercooked as a frat boy after a 10 minute discount tan and about as saggy as Betty White's Breasts. Definitely not a good combination.
In ordering my choice of side, our server informed us that the french fries were very similar to McDonald's making them very difficult to pass up. The server obviously smokes loads of crack before eating the fries as the similarities to McDonalds were parallel to my similarities to Brad Pitt.....Overall I give the food 1 star... and I'm still not sure if thats on a 5 or 10 star scale.
The atmosphere was as bland as the food. We heard Weezer was playing in Chicago tonight but I was confused to see them sitting at a table in the corner. Obviously the lead singer put on a ton of weight and if it werent for the terrible flannel and thick nerd glasses I would have never recognized him. I would also have thought he would have been there with a girl much more attractive than the Star Jones look-a-like sitting next to him... Just ewwe.
Now the trivia was very entertaining, if you are into Twilight and Insects. Seriously, who tailors these questions? Wouldn't you want to make them about things like Music and Sports to maybe attract a better crowd? Perhaps the saved energy from undercooking the bacon isnt enough to offset the profit loss from half priced food so they purposely drive people out. And if that wasnt enough to do it, the first time a customer steps into the bathroom might be... it was less appealing to the eye than the Star Jones look-a-like and less appealing to the nose than snorting Ajax... hey, we've all been scammed in a coke deal before...
There's about as good a chance I return to Victory Liquors as there is Milton Bradley becomes the most popular man in Chicago.
Not wanting to lose our already paid parking spots we decided to walk to another bar in the area that had a food special and our regularly scheduled Tuesday Night Trivia. Victory Liquors it was. Now I must say I had been there once before and I was entirely blacked out so I could not provide a proper review, but from what I remember it was crowded and sweaty and being a white, skinny male I was definitely the minority. Not that theres anything wrong with overweight foreign females but its just not when you expect in Lincoln Park, home of the skinny white girl in leopard print.
Deciding to give it one more chance we walked in for half price sandwiches... I guess half priced meant you get what you paid for and it was only half cooked. After we received our first pitcher, we removed the dead spider that was floating in it and drank it anyways... yes, alcohol is a disinfectant and money is tight in this Obama Economy... sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Honestly, the spider beer was the best thing on the menu.
I decided to not be too risky with my order and went with the Turkey BLT. Poor decision. The Bacon was as undercooked as a frat boy after a 10 minute discount tan and about as saggy as Betty White's Breasts. Definitely not a good combination.
In ordering my choice of side, our server informed us that the french fries were very similar to McDonald's making them very difficult to pass up. The server obviously smokes loads of crack before eating the fries as the similarities to McDonalds were parallel to my similarities to Brad Pitt.....Overall I give the food 1 star... and I'm still not sure if thats on a 5 or 10 star scale.
The atmosphere was as bland as the food. We heard Weezer was playing in Chicago tonight but I was confused to see them sitting at a table in the corner. Obviously the lead singer put on a ton of weight and if it werent for the terrible flannel and thick nerd glasses I would have never recognized him. I would also have thought he would have been there with a girl much more attractive than the Star Jones look-a-like sitting next to him... Just ewwe.
Now the trivia was very entertaining, if you are into Twilight and Insects. Seriously, who tailors these questions? Wouldn't you want to make them about things like Music and Sports to maybe attract a better crowd? Perhaps the saved energy from undercooking the bacon isnt enough to offset the profit loss from half priced food so they purposely drive people out. And if that wasnt enough to do it, the first time a customer steps into the bathroom might be... it was less appealing to the eye than the Star Jones look-a-like and less appealing to the nose than snorting Ajax... hey, we've all been scammed in a coke deal before...
There's about as good a chance I return to Victory Liquors as there is Milton Bradley becomes the most popular man in Chicago.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Lay off Jay
Who would have ever thought the best sports management in Chicago was that of the Chicago Blackhawks? Just a few years ago the city hated the Wirtz family for blacking out home games and refusing to spend money. Man how the tides have turned. I have said my piece about the Cubs lacking due diligence in their offseason signings of Bradley and Gregg. I have questioned the Bulls rationale at continually turning over poor high draft picks, but not since the Bears parted ways with Thomas Jones have I been so utterly confused at management decisions.
Sure, hindsight is 20-20 but what is the point of a big flashy quarterback when he is virtually playing 1 on 4 with every other team's D line? Perhaps the idea was to put the Quarterback in place and then build a team around him. But that does not seem possible since the Bears lack the draft power and free agent money to bring in new pieces to the puzzle. I suppose I will give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest bringing in every other team's garbage at O-Line and the corpse of Orlando Pace was just to buy time until they could find long-term solutions, but again, where do they expect to find the solutions?
I will speak my piece about the Bears and I will place blame where it belongs, but first I must call out every fan, every reporter and every schmuck who even thinks about booing Jay Cutler. It is not Jay Cutler's fault he got traded for another team's entire future, and it's certainly not his fault he was traded to the Chicago Bears. Now don't get me wrong, I love this team, but its where Quarterbacks go to die.
The problem starts from the ground up. The Bears field is repeatedly referred to as the worst in the NFL. Players often complain about bad footing, wet conditions and loose turf. As much as quarterbacks are classified by their arm, throwing starts with the legs. With bad footing it can be very difficult to achieve full power and accuracy on any throw. Jay Cutler must throw in these conditions 8 games a year while every other QB maybe once.
The footing problem is only compounded when 50 plays a game he is backpeddling for his life because even a 3 step drop means a Defensive End or Linebacker is in his face. We remember the infamous Rex Grossman fadeaway deep ball and Jay Cutler's is becoming eerily similar.
We cannot stop the blame at the line however. It's not Orlando Pace's fault he was signed to a position in which he would have to double team Frank Omiyale's man every single game. It's not Chris William's fault he was highly drafted only to get benched and then learn to play a new position. And it is certainly not the offensive line's fault they are asked to play backing up on their heels 50 plays a game. You ask any lineman in the game and they prefer to play smashmouth football running straight into the facemask of the Defensive line. This not only gives the offensive line an advantage on that individual play, but eventually tires out the defensive line. Nobody likes getting run into full speed over and over. Continually putting the O-Line in a drop back pass protection puts them on the defensive side of the attack. Let the big boys do some damage and run the ball.
You also cannot blame the offensive line for the fact the offensive coordinator, Ron Turnover, or whatever his name is, does not understand the concept of sending help on the other teams best pass rusher. The Bears used to have a huge full back who loved playing Chicago style smash-mouth football. Does anyone remember him? I think his name was Jason McKie.... and I think, he might even still be on the team eventhough we haven't seen him on the field for a while. The bears should have been in a Full back set or Jumbo Package the entire game against Minnesota with Mckie or a Tight End providing a double team on Jared Allen. The best way to take the best pass rusher in the conference out of the game is to run the ball right at him. Instead, Turner decided after the corpse of Orlando Pace could not stop him all game, he would replace Pace with a practice squad tight end who was signed upon Desmond Clarks scratch from the game. Brilliant. Jared Allen went through untouched and sacked Cutler for the second time.
By the way, that was on a 3rd and 6 play in the 4th quarter with the Bears down by more than 2 scores. Turner decided to call a play action, after the run had not been called all game, and send all the receivers deep leaving Cutler no checkdown in the flat. Jay, next time just throw the pick so you don't get killed and we have you next year.
We cannot stop the blame at Ron Turner though. It is not his fault he was hired in the first place, and it is certainly not his fault that his playbook, which is about as expansive as Madden 95 for Sega Game Gear, in which you could only select from 2 receivers, is still used in the NFL. Afterall it is not Ron Turner's job to prepare his team all week for the upcoming opponent and fire them up at game time. When was the last time we saw the Bears use a scheme to either stop the other team's strengths and/or exploit their weakness? Not even in the Cleveland Browns game did this happen. The Bears go out there week after week and run the same 12 plays over and over and over on offense while the defense sits in its cover 2 waiting to be picked apart.
Everybody knows the Eagles like to pass into the flat and let "the elephants march." The bears did not defend this area of the field that entire game. Everyone knows Jared Allen will be coming around the edge every play and the Bears did not send help. Everybody knows the 49ers run straight ahead unless they are passing to their tight end on an out route, yet Vernon Davis ran down the field in 1on1 coverage with Hunter Hillenmeyer all day long. Everybody seems to know these things, except Lovie Smith. Can we really blame Lovie though? The man's demeanor says it all about his coaching. It doesn't bother him to lose. Why would it? His $9mil is guaranteed no matter what his record. Is that any incentive to go out and spend extra time studying your opponent? Is that any incentive to get fired up about a game? Not at all, he can sit back with his low blood pressure and watch the money come in. Which is why the blame must go all the way from the grass on the field to Jerry Angelo.
All we know is something in Chicago has to change. It wont be the quarterback, the general roster cannot change much with now limited resources and even fewer draft picks, so it has to be the system. But can we really stop the blame at Jerry Angelo? I mean, the Bears still make tons of money no matter how shitty the team, no matter how shitty the coach. Because, we, the fans, love our Bears til the very end no matter how terrible a product is placed on the field. Once again, there's no incentive to win in Chicago. The 85 Bears are alive and well in every body's heart and can carry us back to Soldier Field no matter how ugly it has become and no matter how ugly the Bears record. Only a true Chicago fan can realize this so only a true man of Chicago can turn this thinking around. It's time for the Shanahan era to begin in Chicago.
Sure, hindsight is 20-20 but what is the point of a big flashy quarterback when he is virtually playing 1 on 4 with every other team's D line? Perhaps the idea was to put the Quarterback in place and then build a team around him. But that does not seem possible since the Bears lack the draft power and free agent money to bring in new pieces to the puzzle. I suppose I will give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest bringing in every other team's garbage at O-Line and the corpse of Orlando Pace was just to buy time until they could find long-term solutions, but again, where do they expect to find the solutions?
I will speak my piece about the Bears and I will place blame where it belongs, but first I must call out every fan, every reporter and every schmuck who even thinks about booing Jay Cutler. It is not Jay Cutler's fault he got traded for another team's entire future, and it's certainly not his fault he was traded to the Chicago Bears. Now don't get me wrong, I love this team, but its where Quarterbacks go to die.
The problem starts from the ground up. The Bears field is repeatedly referred to as the worst in the NFL. Players often complain about bad footing, wet conditions and loose turf. As much as quarterbacks are classified by their arm, throwing starts with the legs. With bad footing it can be very difficult to achieve full power and accuracy on any throw. Jay Cutler must throw in these conditions 8 games a year while every other QB maybe once.
The footing problem is only compounded when 50 plays a game he is backpeddling for his life because even a 3 step drop means a Defensive End or Linebacker is in his face. We remember the infamous Rex Grossman fadeaway deep ball and Jay Cutler's is becoming eerily similar.
We cannot stop the blame at the line however. It's not Orlando Pace's fault he was signed to a position in which he would have to double team Frank Omiyale's man every single game. It's not Chris William's fault he was highly drafted only to get benched and then learn to play a new position. And it is certainly not the offensive line's fault they are asked to play backing up on their heels 50 plays a game. You ask any lineman in the game and they prefer to play smashmouth football running straight into the facemask of the Defensive line. This not only gives the offensive line an advantage on that individual play, but eventually tires out the defensive line. Nobody likes getting run into full speed over and over. Continually putting the O-Line in a drop back pass protection puts them on the defensive side of the attack. Let the big boys do some damage and run the ball.
You also cannot blame the offensive line for the fact the offensive coordinator, Ron Turnover, or whatever his name is, does not understand the concept of sending help on the other teams best pass rusher. The Bears used to have a huge full back who loved playing Chicago style smash-mouth football. Does anyone remember him? I think his name was Jason McKie.... and I think, he might even still be on the team eventhough we haven't seen him on the field for a while. The bears should have been in a Full back set or Jumbo Package the entire game against Minnesota with Mckie or a Tight End providing a double team on Jared Allen. The best way to take the best pass rusher in the conference out of the game is to run the ball right at him. Instead, Turner decided after the corpse of Orlando Pace could not stop him all game, he would replace Pace with a practice squad tight end who was signed upon Desmond Clarks scratch from the game. Brilliant. Jared Allen went through untouched and sacked Cutler for the second time.
By the way, that was on a 3rd and 6 play in the 4th quarter with the Bears down by more than 2 scores. Turner decided to call a play action, after the run had not been called all game, and send all the receivers deep leaving Cutler no checkdown in the flat. Jay, next time just throw the pick so you don't get killed and we have you next year.
We cannot stop the blame at Ron Turner though. It is not his fault he was hired in the first place, and it is certainly not his fault that his playbook, which is about as expansive as Madden 95 for Sega Game Gear, in which you could only select from 2 receivers, is still used in the NFL. Afterall it is not Ron Turner's job to prepare his team all week for the upcoming opponent and fire them up at game time. When was the last time we saw the Bears use a scheme to either stop the other team's strengths and/or exploit their weakness? Not even in the Cleveland Browns game did this happen. The Bears go out there week after week and run the same 12 plays over and over and over on offense while the defense sits in its cover 2 waiting to be picked apart.
Everybody knows the Eagles like to pass into the flat and let "the elephants march." The bears did not defend this area of the field that entire game. Everyone knows Jared Allen will be coming around the edge every play and the Bears did not send help. Everybody knows the 49ers run straight ahead unless they are passing to their tight end on an out route, yet Vernon Davis ran down the field in 1on1 coverage with Hunter Hillenmeyer all day long. Everybody seems to know these things, except Lovie Smith. Can we really blame Lovie though? The man's demeanor says it all about his coaching. It doesn't bother him to lose. Why would it? His $9mil is guaranteed no matter what his record. Is that any incentive to go out and spend extra time studying your opponent? Is that any incentive to get fired up about a game? Not at all, he can sit back with his low blood pressure and watch the money come in. Which is why the blame must go all the way from the grass on the field to Jerry Angelo.
All we know is something in Chicago has to change. It wont be the quarterback, the general roster cannot change much with now limited resources and even fewer draft picks, so it has to be the system. But can we really stop the blame at Jerry Angelo? I mean, the Bears still make tons of money no matter how shitty the team, no matter how shitty the coach. Because, we, the fans, love our Bears til the very end no matter how terrible a product is placed on the field. Once again, there's no incentive to win in Chicago. The 85 Bears are alive and well in every body's heart and can carry us back to Soldier Field no matter how ugly it has become and no matter how ugly the Bears record. Only a true Chicago fan can realize this so only a true man of Chicago can turn this thinking around. It's time for the Shanahan era to begin in Chicago.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Try the Spread, but Don't Double Dip
Saturday Night we decided to not make the mistake of even heading towards Wrigleyville. We were en route to start our night off at our regular spot, Hi Tops, when something caught my eye. A Shuffleboard table.
The Bar was called the Spread, perhaps dubbed so in reference to the "What Are The Odds" board placed above the rear bathrooms, or perhaps in reference to what the typical Lincoln Park Hunnies lurking this bar did after a night of O Bombs.....
Honestly we would have never even given this bar the time of day had it not been for the Shuffleboard Table. Nor would we have stayed for more than 20 minutes had the table not been free. The bar remained empty from about 10pm til midnight. Throughout that time we ordered an excessive number of $10 pitchers, so the environment got seemingly better as the night progressed.
We had a very sweet waitress who periodically brought us free pitchers. When the first one came and she informed us it was "On the House," I couldn't help but ask "Why?"
"Because I like you guys" she exclaimed
"Why?" I giggled as I looked at my buddy Monium who had spill stains on his shirt from chugging his glass to make room for the free booze... Perhaps that image made my question retorical.
Certainly in any bar review there is error and bias because, as we know, any bar review is written by a human. Therefore, I will err to the side of recommending this bar as the free pitchers definitely impacted my opinoin. Infact, i was so persuaded by the free booze, I will excuse the bar for charging $8 for O Bombs and calling it a special... For the record, I think I'd rather spend $8 to have Milton Bradley piss in my mouth than spend $8 to drink a watered down O Bomb.
Free booze also allows me to overlook the horrible experience of finding out the hottest girl in the bar was dating the biggest homosexual in the bar. As we know, brains and beauty is a tough combination to find. This lady was obviously too hot to realize her 'boyfriend' was wearing tight pants, and a vest with a hood. As if the outfit wasn't enough to indicate he swallows, the fact he was doing " The Sprinkler" on the dancefloor should have been. And I'm still wondering if he wore the hair barrette from the moment he went out, or if he borrowed it from his ridiculously hot girlfriend as the night progressed. In a moment of such confusion and/or disgust, I could only think of Jimmy Pop-Ali, of the Bloodhound Gang, who once sang "Chicks dig guys who don't dig chicks." Jimmy had obviously been in Chicago when these lyrics came to him....
Another aspect of the bar that always enduces a stellar bar review (besides free booze) is chicks dancing on the bar. My night (and the night of many around us) had to have been complete when 2 girls were pouring Bacardi down each others throats on the back bar. The bartender (the smart man he is) allowed them to consume enough free booze that they commenced make-out without realizing 50 strange men were watching (and 1 man in a vest with a hood was not).
It was at this point Bobby G and I looked at each other and immediately began chanting "Lick her Cl*t, Lick her Cl*t." Within moments, the herd of hornified males (sans vest-boy) rallied in the chanting. But Alas, to no avail, the lushes stepped down from the bar, leopard print and all...
By about 1 am we were nice and liquored up and ready to venture out into the night. Though I had a good time, I cannot promise I would ever return to The Spread. Again, $8 O Bombs being called a special, is, well.... Special....
Overall, The Spread gets 22 to 1 Odds that I would return, while the chick who was dating the guy in the vest with the hood gets 2 to 1 odds of lying in bed crying, ashamed her 'boyfriend' left her for a man named Bruce.
The Bar was called the Spread, perhaps dubbed so in reference to the "What Are The Odds" board placed above the rear bathrooms, or perhaps in reference to what the typical Lincoln Park Hunnies lurking this bar did after a night of O Bombs.....
Honestly we would have never even given this bar the time of day had it not been for the Shuffleboard Table. Nor would we have stayed for more than 20 minutes had the table not been free. The bar remained empty from about 10pm til midnight. Throughout that time we ordered an excessive number of $10 pitchers, so the environment got seemingly better as the night progressed.
We had a very sweet waitress who periodically brought us free pitchers. When the first one came and she informed us it was "On the House," I couldn't help but ask "Why?"
"Because I like you guys" she exclaimed
"Why?" I giggled as I looked at my buddy Monium who had spill stains on his shirt from chugging his glass to make room for the free booze... Perhaps that image made my question retorical.
Certainly in any bar review there is error and bias because, as we know, any bar review is written by a human. Therefore, I will err to the side of recommending this bar as the free pitchers definitely impacted my opinoin. Infact, i was so persuaded by the free booze, I will excuse the bar for charging $8 for O Bombs and calling it a special... For the record, I think I'd rather spend $8 to have Milton Bradley piss in my mouth than spend $8 to drink a watered down O Bomb.
Free booze also allows me to overlook the horrible experience of finding out the hottest girl in the bar was dating the biggest homosexual in the bar. As we know, brains and beauty is a tough combination to find. This lady was obviously too hot to realize her 'boyfriend' was wearing tight pants, and a vest with a hood. As if the outfit wasn't enough to indicate he swallows, the fact he was doing " The Sprinkler" on the dancefloor should have been. And I'm still wondering if he wore the hair barrette from the moment he went out, or if he borrowed it from his ridiculously hot girlfriend as the night progressed. In a moment of such confusion and/or disgust, I could only think of Jimmy Pop-Ali, of the Bloodhound Gang, who once sang "Chicks dig guys who don't dig chicks." Jimmy had obviously been in Chicago when these lyrics came to him....
Another aspect of the bar that always enduces a stellar bar review (besides free booze) is chicks dancing on the bar. My night (and the night of many around us) had to have been complete when 2 girls were pouring Bacardi down each others throats on the back bar. The bartender (the smart man he is) allowed them to consume enough free booze that they commenced make-out without realizing 50 strange men were watching (and 1 man in a vest with a hood was not).
It was at this point Bobby G and I looked at each other and immediately began chanting "Lick her Cl*t, Lick her Cl*t." Within moments, the herd of hornified males (sans vest-boy) rallied in the chanting. But Alas, to no avail, the lushes stepped down from the bar, leopard print and all...
By about 1 am we were nice and liquored up and ready to venture out into the night. Though I had a good time, I cannot promise I would ever return to The Spread. Again, $8 O Bombs being called a special, is, well.... Special....
Overall, The Spread gets 22 to 1 Odds that I would return, while the chick who was dating the guy in the vest with the hood gets 2 to 1 odds of lying in bed crying, ashamed her 'boyfriend' left her for a man named Bruce.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Put your Faith 'n Whiskey
Saturday night my friends made the terrible mistake of attending Wrigleyville's Red Ivy. I had advised against this plan from the first mention of the brutal bar, but was struck down. After a $12 cab ride we had to wait in line for about 10 minutes. To think anyone would wait in line for ANY bar in Wrigleyville completely blows my mind, but for RED IVY, you have to be kidding me?
When we got to the door, the utterly unfriendly bouncer informed one man in our group he could not wear his hat into the bar because it was apparently interpretted to not be classy enough for this fine establishment. Walking in to see a MAN, yes a MAN with frosted tips and white sunglasses on his head made us wonder just how much sense of class this bouncer had....
After standing in line and being bumped into by barbacks and others of the 15 bouncers for a good 10 minutes, we finally were able to order luke warm $5 Miller High Lifes... At this time I was hoping the large black man from the commercials would stroll in and remove each beer from bar, because Red Ivy certainly did not deserve to live the high life...
We finally found a table all the way back in the corner, right near an obnoxiously loud speaker and were forced to watch (and feel) the herd of 200 pound females flailing their arms about the stage and shaking their rumps like a free cheeseburger was on the line. This unattractive display of nastiness did not deter the many Ed Hardly's who were in attendence from rubbing their white belts all over the 38" female waists infront of them. For a moment the amount of beastiality going on infront of me made me forget i was in an Urban setting.
To my surprise, after about 25 minutes of feeling I was in heffer hell, a group of attractive women walked in. Of course they probably would have been much more attractive if their skin wasnt orange and they weren't wearing Bump-its. I was only knocked into about 4 times as the Ed Hardly's shifted their hair-gel and chains from the deuce and/or deuce-n-a-quarters on the dance floor to the new flock of skanks walking in. At this point, it was time to go....
We decided we needed to find somewhere that would be the exact opposite of the utter piss we had just encountered and headed down to Faith and Whiskey. As we rolled up to the door, we were pleasantly greated by a bouncer who was cracking jokes and asking us how our night was. As my friend walked in, with his hat placed back on his head where it belonged, the bouncer complimented it. We informed him of our encounter at Red Ivy and he questioned why we would ever go there in the first place. Your guess is as good as mine, my man.
As we walked in the door it was so refreshing to not hear Lady GaGa bumping with awful screeching noises being mixed in by a so called DJ who had his I-pod and a headphone on 1 ear. We immediately noticed the custom decor complete with classic, black motorcycles over the bathrooms and a signature mural on the back, exposed brick wall. And nothing said ROCK like the complete collection of Electric Guitars popping off the calming blue walls. All this excitement before I even ordered a drink?
Being a man who respects his whiskey, I decided I would put the name to the test. I believe I tried about 7 types of whiskey throughout the night and I didnt even make it 1/3 of the way through the choices. At this point I was pulled away from the bar by the bridal party who was there to rock out one last time with the single lady at the helm. I cant even begin to tell you how nice it was to see a Chicago bride-to-be not decked out in pink penises being chased around by a crew of overweight redheads all harassing me for condoms, boxer shorts and other obnoxious items on some childish list. Instead, these ladies were there to DRINK.
The party raged on until 3 in the morning, and I will spare you the wonderful details of all that happened in between, but highly encourage you to see for yourself. I recommend Thursday Nights for Karaoke to a live band. Fridays offer free food for 'happy hour' and Sunday is table side keg service for $20. The only complaint I can come up with is there are NO other bars on that side of town, but honestly, you wont need one.
Faith and Whiskey gets an A+ in my book while Red Ivy comes in with a big fat F.... mostly because if I stayed any longer there was a good chance something more than the Ivy could have turned red....
When we got to the door, the utterly unfriendly bouncer informed one man in our group he could not wear his hat into the bar because it was apparently interpretted to not be classy enough for this fine establishment. Walking in to see a MAN, yes a MAN with frosted tips and white sunglasses on his head made us wonder just how much sense of class this bouncer had....
After standing in line and being bumped into by barbacks and others of the 15 bouncers for a good 10 minutes, we finally were able to order luke warm $5 Miller High Lifes... At this time I was hoping the large black man from the commercials would stroll in and remove each beer from bar, because Red Ivy certainly did not deserve to live the high life...
We finally found a table all the way back in the corner, right near an obnoxiously loud speaker and were forced to watch (and feel) the herd of 200 pound females flailing their arms about the stage and shaking their rumps like a free cheeseburger was on the line. This unattractive display of nastiness did not deter the many Ed Hardly's who were in attendence from rubbing their white belts all over the 38" female waists infront of them. For a moment the amount of beastiality going on infront of me made me forget i was in an Urban setting.
To my surprise, after about 25 minutes of feeling I was in heffer hell, a group of attractive women walked in. Of course they probably would have been much more attractive if their skin wasnt orange and they weren't wearing Bump-its. I was only knocked into about 4 times as the Ed Hardly's shifted their hair-gel and chains from the deuce and/or deuce-n-a-quarters on the dance floor to the new flock of skanks walking in. At this point, it was time to go....
We decided we needed to find somewhere that would be the exact opposite of the utter piss we had just encountered and headed down to Faith and Whiskey. As we rolled up to the door, we were pleasantly greated by a bouncer who was cracking jokes and asking us how our night was. As my friend walked in, with his hat placed back on his head where it belonged, the bouncer complimented it. We informed him of our encounter at Red Ivy and he questioned why we would ever go there in the first place. Your guess is as good as mine, my man.
As we walked in the door it was so refreshing to not hear Lady GaGa bumping with awful screeching noises being mixed in by a so called DJ who had his I-pod and a headphone on 1 ear. We immediately noticed the custom decor complete with classic, black motorcycles over the bathrooms and a signature mural on the back, exposed brick wall. And nothing said ROCK like the complete collection of Electric Guitars popping off the calming blue walls. All this excitement before I even ordered a drink?
Being a man who respects his whiskey, I decided I would put the name to the test. I believe I tried about 7 types of whiskey throughout the night and I didnt even make it 1/3 of the way through the choices. At this point I was pulled away from the bar by the bridal party who was there to rock out one last time with the single lady at the helm. I cant even begin to tell you how nice it was to see a Chicago bride-to-be not decked out in pink penises being chased around by a crew of overweight redheads all harassing me for condoms, boxer shorts and other obnoxious items on some childish list. Instead, these ladies were there to DRINK.
The party raged on until 3 in the morning, and I will spare you the wonderful details of all that happened in between, but highly encourage you to see for yourself. I recommend Thursday Nights for Karaoke to a live band. Fridays offer free food for 'happy hour' and Sunday is table side keg service for $20. The only complaint I can come up with is there are NO other bars on that side of town, but honestly, you wont need one.
Faith and Whiskey gets an A+ in my book while Red Ivy comes in with a big fat F.... mostly because if I stayed any longer there was a good chance something more than the Ivy could have turned red....
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Bears Preview
Though I normally hang on to my hope for the Chicago Cubs til at least September, its safe to throw the Sam Fuld jersey into the laundry pile and pull out my new Craig Steltz jersey.
The Chicago Bears are coming off the best offseason in our lifetime and it started to show in tonight's pre-season battle with defending NFC East champions the New York Giants. The Bears were able to put it all together and pull off a 17-3 victory with the first unit looking nearly flawless.
It all started upfront with the 3 new big boys adding to the staple of the Bears Offense, Olin Kruetz. Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale and former sophomore Chris Williams all move into the starting line-up and stand over 6'4" 305 pounds beefing up the front line for the Bears. Too many times last season we saw undersized linemen playing out of position and the Bears losing the battle in the trenches. With added size and depth this year, the Bears skill positions should have time to see the field and make plays.
Of course, the skill positions should be much improved with the acquisition of Jay Cutler. Sure everyone will be talking about what a great move it was for the obvious reasons, but with the Bears previous history in the early rounds of the drafts, why not take truly the best available player out there instead of gambling on a youngster who comes with a huge signing bonus?
Cutler was one of the best players coming out of college when he left Vanderbilt, an alma matter which proves he has brains to go with the big arm. And Cutler, though in limited starts, has faired better against the NFC, completing 66% of his passes, as compared to 61% against the AFC. He also has a 2.5 to 1 TD to INT ratio against NFC opponents, something the Bears hope continues as limiting offense turnovers will provide the defense with rest and help the Bears win the ever important battle of field position.
Cutler got it rolling early against the Giants completing 8-13 passes for 121 yards and an easy TD pass to a wide open Desmond Clark. This TD set up by a 38 yard pass to Devin Aromashodu. Though many say the Bears Receiver corpse lacks experience, this reporter feels its already a better group than last year. Devin Hester should now know the offense. Cutler and Hester just missed on a long ball early in the game that would have had all of Chicago rocking.
As for the rest of the group, each receiver stands over 6 feet tall and is equipped with legs and hands. Another Vanderbilt grad, Earl Bennett will get a chance to hook up with his cohort Cutler as he looks to secure the possession receiver position over the incumbent Rasheid Davis. Bennett completed Saturday's contest with 2 catches for 42 yards. Big target Brandon Rideau will look to use his size to get over the top of safeties down field. Rookie Johnny Knox adds much speed to the team and could end up a return specialist and its only a matter of time before Juaquin Iglesias is on everybody's radar as a threat to score on any play.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner will have added toys to play with, and an interesting decision to make as to whom to start in the Tight End package. Seasoned Veteran Desmond Clark, who scored in Saturday's win, is coming off a very solid season again but Greg Olsen, who was second on the team in catches in 2008 is ready to be the starter. Olsen and Cutler seem to have developed a very nice chemistry in the early goings and hooked up for a 17 yard connection against the Giants. Michigan State Alum Kellen Davis looked like he could be an NFL starter with the catch he made Saturday night. Davis stands 6'7" and is not afraid to take a hit while making a catch. I would not be surprised if we see a plethora of the 3 tight end package in the red zone this season.
Of course the Backfield will again be anchored by sophomore Matt Forte. Forte is on everyone's radar as a top 5 fantasy player, but could be much more than that again for the Bears. Last year he was the workhorse leading the team in receptions and rushes. This year he should see less men in the box as Cutler adds downfield prowess. Forte had a very solid 2009 debut as he average over 6 yards a carry and broke off a 32 yard run for a TD.
The Bears will have to hope Kevin Jones can keep his arms around the football this season and give Forte the occassional spell over the long season if the Bears hope to make it deep into the playoffs. Jones, after a very nice run in the 2nd quarter, fumbled on his next attempt and saw his playing time immediate diminish. Speedster and outside specialist (and former high school classmate) Garrett Wolfe saw an increased work load, which resulted in a few nice runs but a not so nice fumble in the red zone. Wolfe may see continued action on 3rd down as he is equipped for screens and draws. Of course, this would cut into the work load of ever consistant Adrian Peterson who can always be counted on in short yard situations. The Bears will carry 4 backs this year and each one will have to pick their spots to help the team Win.
The Bears Defense on Saturday night reminded me of a Super Bowl team i once watched. Unfortunately that team lost to the best QB in football, but that team also didnt have a QB... how the tides have turned. The Bear defense looked vicious, angry, aggressive, violent and, most of all, prepared. With the addition of Cutler and Pace, perhaps the most overlooked addition to the team was Pisa Tinoisamoa, who is coming off his best season recording over 100 tackles last year for the lowly St Louis Rams. Tinoisamoa adds depth and brains to a pro bowl caliber linebacker crew. I wouldnt be surprised to see Sam, Mike and Willy all make the pro bowl this year for the Bears. Pisa had a great game against the Giants showing his ability to run sideline to sideline and help gang up on the ball.
Another overlooked addition is Al Afalava who looks to have secured the starting Safety spot, at least as long as Daniel Manning is injured. The Bears have struggled at the two safety spots in recent years with Kevin Payne often looking lost, Adam Archuleta being completely washed up and even Mike Brown being unreliable and ever-so-injured. Its about time the Bears think about this position for the future, and in this case, the future is now and Afalava is only 22.
The Bears Defensive line, though made up of the same players, should be nothing but better this year. Alex Brown looked like he was in midseason form on Saturday. Adawale Ogunleye is in a contract year and will have every reason to step up his game. Mark Anderson will be fighting for playing time and hopefully returns to the sack machine he was 2 years ago. Tommie Harris should finally be healthy and a friendly battle for the other DT spot between Idonije, Dvoracek and Adams should keep each player at the top of his game. But none of these reasons outweigh another huge addition by the Bears this offseason.
Rod Marinelli will now be coaching this unit. Marinelli, a genius in the trenches, will take these players back to the fundamentals and give them every possibility to be prepared to shut down the offense at the line of scrimmage. The Bears struggles at the DT position over the last 2 seasons, mostly due to injuries, has allowed offensive lineman to get through the first wave of Bears Defense and disallow Urlacher and Briggs a free shot at the opposing Runningbacks. With Marinelli at the helm, things could be very different. Also look for more aggressive defensive play calling with Lovie Smith taking the chart away from Bob Babich. Babich was often ridiculed for having the bears sitting back against the pass allowing the Bears to give up more than their fair share of 100 yard rushing games, something they did not do in previous playoff runs.
Oh ya, and how could I end a Bears scouting report without mentioning the man, the myth, the legend, Robbie Gould? The man warms up by kicking at the side of the goal post, Stud, in every aspect of the word.
Super Bowl Prediction:
New England Patriots 10, Chicago Bears 46
Hey, history does repeat itself....
The Chicago Bears are coming off the best offseason in our lifetime and it started to show in tonight's pre-season battle with defending NFC East champions the New York Giants. The Bears were able to put it all together and pull off a 17-3 victory with the first unit looking nearly flawless.
It all started upfront with the 3 new big boys adding to the staple of the Bears Offense, Olin Kruetz. Orlando Pace, Frank Omiyale and former sophomore Chris Williams all move into the starting line-up and stand over 6'4" 305 pounds beefing up the front line for the Bears. Too many times last season we saw undersized linemen playing out of position and the Bears losing the battle in the trenches. With added size and depth this year, the Bears skill positions should have time to see the field and make plays.
Of course, the skill positions should be much improved with the acquisition of Jay Cutler. Sure everyone will be talking about what a great move it was for the obvious reasons, but with the Bears previous history in the early rounds of the drafts, why not take truly the best available player out there instead of gambling on a youngster who comes with a huge signing bonus?
Cutler was one of the best players coming out of college when he left Vanderbilt, an alma matter which proves he has brains to go with the big arm. And Cutler, though in limited starts, has faired better against the NFC, completing 66% of his passes, as compared to 61% against the AFC. He also has a 2.5 to 1 TD to INT ratio against NFC opponents, something the Bears hope continues as limiting offense turnovers will provide the defense with rest and help the Bears win the ever important battle of field position.
Cutler got it rolling early against the Giants completing 8-13 passes for 121 yards and an easy TD pass to a wide open Desmond Clark. This TD set up by a 38 yard pass to Devin Aromashodu. Though many say the Bears Receiver corpse lacks experience, this reporter feels its already a better group than last year. Devin Hester should now know the offense. Cutler and Hester just missed on a long ball early in the game that would have had all of Chicago rocking.
As for the rest of the group, each receiver stands over 6 feet tall and is equipped with legs and hands. Another Vanderbilt grad, Earl Bennett will get a chance to hook up with his cohort Cutler as he looks to secure the possession receiver position over the incumbent Rasheid Davis. Bennett completed Saturday's contest with 2 catches for 42 yards. Big target Brandon Rideau will look to use his size to get over the top of safeties down field. Rookie Johnny Knox adds much speed to the team and could end up a return specialist and its only a matter of time before Juaquin Iglesias is on everybody's radar as a threat to score on any play.
Offensive coordinator Ron Turner will have added toys to play with, and an interesting decision to make as to whom to start in the Tight End package. Seasoned Veteran Desmond Clark, who scored in Saturday's win, is coming off a very solid season again but Greg Olsen, who was second on the team in catches in 2008 is ready to be the starter. Olsen and Cutler seem to have developed a very nice chemistry in the early goings and hooked up for a 17 yard connection against the Giants. Michigan State Alum Kellen Davis looked like he could be an NFL starter with the catch he made Saturday night. Davis stands 6'7" and is not afraid to take a hit while making a catch. I would not be surprised if we see a plethora of the 3 tight end package in the red zone this season.
Of course the Backfield will again be anchored by sophomore Matt Forte. Forte is on everyone's radar as a top 5 fantasy player, but could be much more than that again for the Bears. Last year he was the workhorse leading the team in receptions and rushes. This year he should see less men in the box as Cutler adds downfield prowess. Forte had a very solid 2009 debut as he average over 6 yards a carry and broke off a 32 yard run for a TD.
The Bears will have to hope Kevin Jones can keep his arms around the football this season and give Forte the occassional spell over the long season if the Bears hope to make it deep into the playoffs. Jones, after a very nice run in the 2nd quarter, fumbled on his next attempt and saw his playing time immediate diminish. Speedster and outside specialist (and former high school classmate) Garrett Wolfe saw an increased work load, which resulted in a few nice runs but a not so nice fumble in the red zone. Wolfe may see continued action on 3rd down as he is equipped for screens and draws. Of course, this would cut into the work load of ever consistant Adrian Peterson who can always be counted on in short yard situations. The Bears will carry 4 backs this year and each one will have to pick their spots to help the team Win.
The Bears Defense on Saturday night reminded me of a Super Bowl team i once watched. Unfortunately that team lost to the best QB in football, but that team also didnt have a QB... how the tides have turned. The Bear defense looked vicious, angry, aggressive, violent and, most of all, prepared. With the addition of Cutler and Pace, perhaps the most overlooked addition to the team was Pisa Tinoisamoa, who is coming off his best season recording over 100 tackles last year for the lowly St Louis Rams. Tinoisamoa adds depth and brains to a pro bowl caliber linebacker crew. I wouldnt be surprised to see Sam, Mike and Willy all make the pro bowl this year for the Bears. Pisa had a great game against the Giants showing his ability to run sideline to sideline and help gang up on the ball.
Another overlooked addition is Al Afalava who looks to have secured the starting Safety spot, at least as long as Daniel Manning is injured. The Bears have struggled at the two safety spots in recent years with Kevin Payne often looking lost, Adam Archuleta being completely washed up and even Mike Brown being unreliable and ever-so-injured. Its about time the Bears think about this position for the future, and in this case, the future is now and Afalava is only 22.
The Bears Defensive line, though made up of the same players, should be nothing but better this year. Alex Brown looked like he was in midseason form on Saturday. Adawale Ogunleye is in a contract year and will have every reason to step up his game. Mark Anderson will be fighting for playing time and hopefully returns to the sack machine he was 2 years ago. Tommie Harris should finally be healthy and a friendly battle for the other DT spot between Idonije, Dvoracek and Adams should keep each player at the top of his game. But none of these reasons outweigh another huge addition by the Bears this offseason.
Rod Marinelli will now be coaching this unit. Marinelli, a genius in the trenches, will take these players back to the fundamentals and give them every possibility to be prepared to shut down the offense at the line of scrimmage. The Bears struggles at the DT position over the last 2 seasons, mostly due to injuries, has allowed offensive lineman to get through the first wave of Bears Defense and disallow Urlacher and Briggs a free shot at the opposing Runningbacks. With Marinelli at the helm, things could be very different. Also look for more aggressive defensive play calling with Lovie Smith taking the chart away from Bob Babich. Babich was often ridiculed for having the bears sitting back against the pass allowing the Bears to give up more than their fair share of 100 yard rushing games, something they did not do in previous playoff runs.
Oh ya, and how could I end a Bears scouting report without mentioning the man, the myth, the legend, Robbie Gould? The man warms up by kicking at the side of the goal post, Stud, in every aspect of the word.
Super Bowl Prediction:
New England Patriots 10, Chicago Bears 46
Hey, history does repeat itself....
Friday, June 26, 2009
NBA Draft Talk
While I cannot say the Bulls were the best movers in the league on draft day, at least they were not the Minnesota Timberwolves. The T-Wolves drafted 4 guards after trading away their proven back-court for a couple of nobodies. I understand the term rebuilding, but around a 17 year old and a man who stands 5'11".... you've got to be kidding me?
The Bulls did a nice job finding value with lower first round picks. James Johnson was able to drop 15 and 8.5 while shooting over 53% in a very tough conference. The man provides size at the 3 position and depth for Luol Deng who missed the end of last season battling stress fracture like injuries which tend to be very nagging. Johnson also wore number 23 in college, so maybe the Bulls are hoping he can bring some of that magic to what now appears to be a very deep team.
Taj Gibson was able to play in a system where many stars had to share the ball and found success by doing the little things. Getting rebounds, blocking shots, throwing his opponents timing off. He averaged nearly a double-double in his final season at USC and did it on 59% shooting. And oh yeah, throw on 3 blocks per game. Not bad for the 26th overall pick in the NBA draft.
Gar Forman did a nice job in his first draft filling immediate holes and deferring to the proven players rather than limitless potential. Too often NBA teams pick the athlete before the ball player. These men coming out of good systems with good stats appear to be the latter of the two and hope to help the Bulls advance beyond the first round in 2010 and for years to come.
With the added depth at the 3/4 position, John Salmons can move to the 2 guard and be one of the bigger in the league at that position. This will fill the void often left open with a midget Ben Gordon having to guard the likes of Wade, Kobe and VC.
While the Bulls had a solid draft day, it was certainly not the best. The Cleveland Cavs made a big move acquiring the Big Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal. Though some say this does not address their ability, or lack thereof, to stretch the floor and guard the pick and roll. The Orlando Magic got themselves a scorer to go along with Shard and Superman, though must hope Vince Carter stays interested in the game of basketball long enough to get them back to the finals. They did so at the cost of super-rookie Courtney Lee who showed his ability to take games over from time to time. Still, none of these teams had the best draft day. It was the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs not only acquired another scorer to accompany Duncan, Parker and a hobbled Manu with Richard Jefferson, but maybe had the pick of the draft with Dejuan Blair at the 37th pick. Though he is undersized at 6'6, his 7 foot wing span, wide frame and heart could be enough to be the key rebounded the Spurs lacked next to the Big Fundamental. Critics say his lack of achilles will limit his upside and longevity, but at the 37th pick, does that really matter?
Parker-Ginobili-Jefferson-Gooden-Duncan as a starting 5? Now add Finley-Mason-Bowen-Blair-Thomas as a second unit. As much as I hate to say it, the Spurs may be back at the top this year. That is, unless the Bulls can move past the Ben Gordon era and how about coming to terms with Chicago native Sean Marion. One can only hope
The Bulls did a nice job finding value with lower first round picks. James Johnson was able to drop 15 and 8.5 while shooting over 53% in a very tough conference. The man provides size at the 3 position and depth for Luol Deng who missed the end of last season battling stress fracture like injuries which tend to be very nagging. Johnson also wore number 23 in college, so maybe the Bulls are hoping he can bring some of that magic to what now appears to be a very deep team.
Taj Gibson was able to play in a system where many stars had to share the ball and found success by doing the little things. Getting rebounds, blocking shots, throwing his opponents timing off. He averaged nearly a double-double in his final season at USC and did it on 59% shooting. And oh yeah, throw on 3 blocks per game. Not bad for the 26th overall pick in the NBA draft.
Gar Forman did a nice job in his first draft filling immediate holes and deferring to the proven players rather than limitless potential. Too often NBA teams pick the athlete before the ball player. These men coming out of good systems with good stats appear to be the latter of the two and hope to help the Bulls advance beyond the first round in 2010 and for years to come.
With the added depth at the 3/4 position, John Salmons can move to the 2 guard and be one of the bigger in the league at that position. This will fill the void often left open with a midget Ben Gordon having to guard the likes of Wade, Kobe and VC.
While the Bulls had a solid draft day, it was certainly not the best. The Cleveland Cavs made a big move acquiring the Big Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal. Though some say this does not address their ability, or lack thereof, to stretch the floor and guard the pick and roll. The Orlando Magic got themselves a scorer to go along with Shard and Superman, though must hope Vince Carter stays interested in the game of basketball long enough to get them back to the finals. They did so at the cost of super-rookie Courtney Lee who showed his ability to take games over from time to time. Still, none of these teams had the best draft day. It was the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs not only acquired another scorer to accompany Duncan, Parker and a hobbled Manu with Richard Jefferson, but maybe had the pick of the draft with Dejuan Blair at the 37th pick. Though he is undersized at 6'6, his 7 foot wing span, wide frame and heart could be enough to be the key rebounded the Spurs lacked next to the Big Fundamental. Critics say his lack of achilles will limit his upside and longevity, but at the 37th pick, does that really matter?
Parker-Ginobili-Jefferson-Gooden-Duncan as a starting 5? Now add Finley-Mason-Bowen-Blair-Thomas as a second unit. As much as I hate to say it, the Spurs may be back at the top this year. That is, unless the Bulls can move past the Ben Gordon era and how about coming to terms with Chicago native Sean Marion. One can only hope
Cubs Sqeak One Out on South Side
Well it only took a week since throwing a ball into the stands with 2 outs, but Milton Bradley was at it again. After making a routine catch in the outfield look difficult, Milton celebrated and showboated only to come up the next inning and strike out for the second time on the day.
On the way back to the dugout, Milton did not try to break his bat as he did the day before unsuccessfully, no. Instead he threw his helmet in the direction of his manager, then took his anger out on a gatorade dispenser. As if this was not enough of a mockery of himself and the game, he decided to exchange words with his manager, as if it were Lou Piniella's fault he [Bradley] was the worst signing in Cub history. Sources say Bradley was seen moments later leaving the ball park in street clothes. With Bradley and his voodoo curse out of the ballpark, the Cubs were able to get back down to business.
Randy Wells pitched another gem, and though the bullpen, and Soriano's lackluster defense, tried its hardest to blow another one for the young pitcher, the Cubs pulled away with a 5-4 win over the ChiSox.
Jake Fox had another 3 hit day at the plate and his only out was a scorcher that was chased down by Brian Anderson. Fox's day included a 2 run homer plating Derek Lee and a rope double. The man stands at the plate and looks like an old school baller from the 20s and swings even harder. He is definitely in the running for the team Lumberjack award and hopefully with Aramis out and Bradley in the doghouse, Lou can find a way to keep Fox swinging his big stick. Fox now has 11 RBI in only 38 at-bats (compared to Bradley's 16 RBI in 169 at-bats).
Only days after being dubbed a pot-head, Geovany Soto hit what turned out to be the game winning 3-Run Home Run. He was obviously smoking the good stuff before this game as he went 2 for 4 and hit the ball hard each time.
The Cubs bullpen once again kept Ron Santo on the edge of his seat as Carlos Marmol walked 2 men to lead off the 8th before Alfonso Soriano lost a lazy fly ball in the sun and then ran into his own teammate. Luckily, Sean Marshall was able to come in and get AJ Pierzynski to roll into a rare 3-2-3 double play. Honestly as a Cub fan, there isn't a White Sox player I'd rather see end their chance at a potential game winning rally.
The Cubs look to make it two in a row tomorrow as hard luck pitcher Ryan Dempster takes the mound. Hopefully Fox, Lee and Soto continue to provide the offense as Soriano, Fontenot and Bradley continue to see their averages dwindle in the low .200s.
On the way back to the dugout, Milton did not try to break his bat as he did the day before unsuccessfully, no. Instead he threw his helmet in the direction of his manager, then took his anger out on a gatorade dispenser. As if this was not enough of a mockery of himself and the game, he decided to exchange words with his manager, as if it were Lou Piniella's fault he [Bradley] was the worst signing in Cub history. Sources say Bradley was seen moments later leaving the ball park in street clothes. With Bradley and his voodoo curse out of the ballpark, the Cubs were able to get back down to business.
Randy Wells pitched another gem, and though the bullpen, and Soriano's lackluster defense, tried its hardest to blow another one for the young pitcher, the Cubs pulled away with a 5-4 win over the ChiSox.
Jake Fox had another 3 hit day at the plate and his only out was a scorcher that was chased down by Brian Anderson. Fox's day included a 2 run homer plating Derek Lee and a rope double. The man stands at the plate and looks like an old school baller from the 20s and swings even harder. He is definitely in the running for the team Lumberjack award and hopefully with Aramis out and Bradley in the doghouse, Lou can find a way to keep Fox swinging his big stick. Fox now has 11 RBI in only 38 at-bats (compared to Bradley's 16 RBI in 169 at-bats).
Only days after being dubbed a pot-head, Geovany Soto hit what turned out to be the game winning 3-Run Home Run. He was obviously smoking the good stuff before this game as he went 2 for 4 and hit the ball hard each time.
The Cubs bullpen once again kept Ron Santo on the edge of his seat as Carlos Marmol walked 2 men to lead off the 8th before Alfonso Soriano lost a lazy fly ball in the sun and then ran into his own teammate. Luckily, Sean Marshall was able to come in and get AJ Pierzynski to roll into a rare 3-2-3 double play. Honestly as a Cub fan, there isn't a White Sox player I'd rather see end their chance at a potential game winning rally.
The Cubs look to make it two in a row tomorrow as hard luck pitcher Ryan Dempster takes the mound. Hopefully Fox, Lee and Soto continue to provide the offense as Soriano, Fontenot and Bradley continue to see their averages dwindle in the low .200s.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cubs Get Out NLed, Take Loss To ChiSox
Less than 50 games after a season in which the Chicago Cubs were top 5 in the Majors in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Hits and Walks it was deemed necessary to fire hitting coach Gerald Perry. Seems like an unlikely scapegoat for a line-up which contains the names Miles, Fontenot and Blanco, not to mention a lead-off hitter carrying a .222 average and even more miserable .291 OBP. Only Jimmy Rollins entered today's games with a lower OBP in the lead-off spot, but at least he steals bases and doesn't consistently swing at the first pitch and balls out of the zone. Oh yeah, and Rollins comes at a price of 60 cents on the dollar compared to Soriano.
Just one day after the firing of Perry, the Chicago Cubs took ZERO walks and made the opposing White Sox throw only 122 pitches to seal a victory on the North Side. The Chicago White Sox are not supposed to know how to win without their DH, but were able to beat the Cubs at their own style of game by much more than the 4-1 score would suggest.
Seven White Sox took walks, and although only 2 ended up crossing the plate, the Sox patience put pressure on Ryan Dempster and the Cubs defense all day long. Three of these walks came with no outs in the 7th or 8th inning either leading off the inning or advancing a runner to scoring position, both allowing the White Sox to get runners in scoring position with nobody out and, unlike the Cubs, execute. A well placed suicide squeeze may have taken the last of the life out of the Cubs as the lead-off walk crossed the plate with no one on the field prepared for it.
This certainly makes one wonder, why not? Especially after the White Sox manager, who made a living scoring on the suicide squeeze, stated to the press he needed to play small ball to win. And even more especially with Scott Podsednik at the plate? And even more especially, coming just one play after a botched wheel play on an infield grounder to Angel Guzman who opted to throw to second base rather than force the lead runner at third.
So before the next pitch, why was Geovany Soto not infront of the plate before his infielders of a possible trick play? Why wasn't he at the mound calming his pitcher and telling him they may try a squeeze? And why when his player did not realize the situation was Lou Piniella not calling for a pitch out, or at least setting his defense with the corners in? It just signifies the whole mentality of the Chicago Cubs right now. Not knowing their steroids from their reefers...
The White Sox came into this game more prepared and with a greater desire to win, and it showed on every play. They ran the bases well and played great defense, with Brian Anderson making two catches that saved potential runs. One was a Derek Lee bloop with no outs and runners on the corners. If the ball drops, a run scores and there is first and second with no outs. If Anderson slides to make the catch, he still makes the out, but a run scores. Anderson kept his feet keeping Theriot harmlessly at third as Soto failed to even make contact with a runner at third and less than 2 outs. Anderson also made a stellar leaping catch underneath the basket on a nearly missed home run by Jake Fox.
The Fox flyout hopefully shows the Cubs coaching staff he deserves more at bats coming off a low and away pitch off the very end of the bat which flew 399 feet against the wind. Now that is power. Fox, though in limited plate appearances, is also the only Cub with an OBP over .400. Fox did make a 9th inning appearance in Left Field and recorded 2 outs, 1 on a difficult running grab. With the Cubs needing offense, why not replace the bat of Aaron Miles with Jake Fox? And no, Jake Fox doesn't need to play 2nd base because the Cubs have a second basemen on their roster with 150+ career home runs at the position.
Perhaps the move back to the infield could help save the legs of Soriano as he went to the disabled list for the first time as a pro last year with a leg injury and has been battling knee problems most of this season. Soriano's stolen base numbers have also all but disappeared since he moved to the outfield. Moving him away from an inplay bullpen mound and a brick wall 81 games a year probably wouldn't hurt the longevity of a man who is signed until the age of 39 at superstar pay levels.
The only bright spot for the Cubs today was Ryan Dempster who had far from his best stuff today but still gave his team a quality start and a chance to win the ball game. Dempster, who threw more balls than strikes really only had one mistake, a first inning home run to Alexei Ramirez. Even the Getz triple was on poor contact and even a broken bat. Twice Dempster got in trouble and wiggle his way out with double play balls, and ended another jam with a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.
Hopefully Big Z can shut the door on the Southsiders tomorrow after his scheduled start yesterday was rained out. No make-up date has been announced, but here is one true Chicago sportsfan's idea. Find a day when the Cubs and Sox both have home day games. After the day game, the White Sox board the front car of a red line train, with their fans in every car behind them and ride on up to Wrigley Field with the Cubs and their fans already in places. Could baseball get any more exciting than that? How bout if it was a World Series game? This Cub fan can only hope, as he has done for 25 years, but maybe its just easier to wait til next year.
Just one day after the firing of Perry, the Chicago Cubs took ZERO walks and made the opposing White Sox throw only 122 pitches to seal a victory on the North Side. The Chicago White Sox are not supposed to know how to win without their DH, but were able to beat the Cubs at their own style of game by much more than the 4-1 score would suggest.
Seven White Sox took walks, and although only 2 ended up crossing the plate, the Sox patience put pressure on Ryan Dempster and the Cubs defense all day long. Three of these walks came with no outs in the 7th or 8th inning either leading off the inning or advancing a runner to scoring position, both allowing the White Sox to get runners in scoring position with nobody out and, unlike the Cubs, execute. A well placed suicide squeeze may have taken the last of the life out of the Cubs as the lead-off walk crossed the plate with no one on the field prepared for it.
This certainly makes one wonder, why not? Especially after the White Sox manager, who made a living scoring on the suicide squeeze, stated to the press he needed to play small ball to win. And even more especially with Scott Podsednik at the plate? And even more especially, coming just one play after a botched wheel play on an infield grounder to Angel Guzman who opted to throw to second base rather than force the lead runner at third.
So before the next pitch, why was Geovany Soto not infront of the plate before his infielders of a possible trick play? Why wasn't he at the mound calming his pitcher and telling him they may try a squeeze? And why when his player did not realize the situation was Lou Piniella not calling for a pitch out, or at least setting his defense with the corners in? It just signifies the whole mentality of the Chicago Cubs right now. Not knowing their steroids from their reefers...
The White Sox came into this game more prepared and with a greater desire to win, and it showed on every play. They ran the bases well and played great defense, with Brian Anderson making two catches that saved potential runs. One was a Derek Lee bloop with no outs and runners on the corners. If the ball drops, a run scores and there is first and second with no outs. If Anderson slides to make the catch, he still makes the out, but a run scores. Anderson kept his feet keeping Theriot harmlessly at third as Soto failed to even make contact with a runner at third and less than 2 outs. Anderson also made a stellar leaping catch underneath the basket on a nearly missed home run by Jake Fox.
The Fox flyout hopefully shows the Cubs coaching staff he deserves more at bats coming off a low and away pitch off the very end of the bat which flew 399 feet against the wind. Now that is power. Fox, though in limited plate appearances, is also the only Cub with an OBP over .400. Fox did make a 9th inning appearance in Left Field and recorded 2 outs, 1 on a difficult running grab. With the Cubs needing offense, why not replace the bat of Aaron Miles with Jake Fox? And no, Jake Fox doesn't need to play 2nd base because the Cubs have a second basemen on their roster with 150+ career home runs at the position.
Perhaps the move back to the infield could help save the legs of Soriano as he went to the disabled list for the first time as a pro last year with a leg injury and has been battling knee problems most of this season. Soriano's stolen base numbers have also all but disappeared since he moved to the outfield. Moving him away from an inplay bullpen mound and a brick wall 81 games a year probably wouldn't hurt the longevity of a man who is signed until the age of 39 at superstar pay levels.
The only bright spot for the Cubs today was Ryan Dempster who had far from his best stuff today but still gave his team a quality start and a chance to win the ball game. Dempster, who threw more balls than strikes really only had one mistake, a first inning home run to Alexei Ramirez. Even the Getz triple was on poor contact and even a broken bat. Twice Dempster got in trouble and wiggle his way out with double play balls, and ended another jam with a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.
Hopefully Big Z can shut the door on the Southsiders tomorrow after his scheduled start yesterday was rained out. No make-up date has been announced, but here is one true Chicago sportsfan's idea. Find a day when the Cubs and Sox both have home day games. After the day game, the White Sox board the front car of a red line train, with their fans in every car behind them and ride on up to Wrigley Field with the Cubs and their fans already in places. Could baseball get any more exciting than that? How bout if it was a World Series game? This Cub fan can only hope, as he has done for 25 years, but maybe its just easier to wait til next year.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Milton BADley
For many years as a Cubs fan I've been able to keep my mouth shut but enough is enough
Sure, hindsight is 20-20. But the day I heard Milton Bradley was just signed by the Cubs, my body ached and my teeth cringed. "That man is a disease." I said aloud. I then recalled with colleague several Bradley anecdotes including fan altercations, injuries most able bodied major leaguers could avoid, and several bonehead plays that ANYONE who grew up in or around the game of baseball could never fathom.
Throughout the season I've watched him ground into double play after double play, leave men on base, make half assed attempts at fly balls, and run the bases with the Baseball IQ of a oversize headed Gerber baby... but what I saw Friday, Are you kidding me?
Now the double play number, 6, is seemingly harmless on the surface, but digging deeper, it is outpacing a career high and even more revolting when compared to a measily 16 RBI. I need not mention he has only hit 5 Homeruns to point out how awful Bradley's production has been, but why not throw it out to the fans anyway? Afterall, he did.
The half assed attempts at fly balls, I can understand. I find myself half assing my way thru most of my life. But, Milton, this is your profession, act professional. You have 24 other teamates and the city of Chicago counting on your efforts, give it your all.
Twice this week we actually got to see Milton Bradley run the bases. That's right. He actually got on base and then was able to run around them without injuring something. Ok now he reached base more than twice this week (slightly), but these two times happened to cost the Cubs outs and potential runs as complete bonehead decisions were made and Bradley was tagged out. In both these situations I would like to say he was caught in the heat of the moment, but both situations were pre-empted situations in which a runner should be thinking "HOLD" There really is no excuse for not knowing the game.
All of those failed to compare to the most recent blunder. The audacity of a man to even pose for a routine fly ball as if it were some great catch making up for his prior (uncharged) error of losing the ball in the sun, while wearing white designer sunglass, mind you. After making the catch and posing for a matter of seconds, still wearing white designer sunglasses, Milton, threw the ball into the stands with 2 outs. Somehow he was so caught up in his own glamour that neither his teamates running at him with their mitts up, nor the fans yelling at him to throw the ball back to in the infield were enough to deter this mockery of the game.
Bradley is signed for the next 3 seasons at a hefty penny. At the age of 31, we can only hope his prime has not passed, though lingering injuries to the lower body seem to be taking their toll making this signing even more questionable.
In 2008, Bradley's best season. He hit only .273 with RISP and a mere .163 with 2 outs and RISP. He hit a solid, but much deflated .290 on the road, and only 6 home runs came away from hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. His power numbers also diminished over the course of last season with only 3 HR and 20 RBI in the second half of last year.
The reason for the signing in the first place was to add a left handed bat, Milton hit .309 as a lefty, while .346 as a righty, so really, they didn't even get the left handed bat they desired.
Milton's struggles have been so great he has considered hitting only right handed and his 35 runs produced this year (19 R, 16 RBI) have come at a cost of $200,000 per. Using the same metric, Albert Pujols' runs produced (48 R, 55 RBI) come at a cost of $140,000 per.
And did the Cubs forget that Micah Hoffpauir hit .342 last year and a stellar .355 against right handing pitching. Did they not realize that is runs produced in 2009 come at a cost of only $15,673 per!
Now I understand Micah Hoffpauir may have not been ready to play every day against the better left handers in the league, but without Bradley's $30 mil collective deal, there was no need to trade Mark DeRosa, who hit .310 against southpaws. DeRosa's runs produced in 2009 have come at a cost of $66,265 per.
What makes the DeRosa trade even more dispicable is the abandonment of Casey McGehee The Cubs entered the season knowingly having no legitimate back-up to Ramirez who missed 43 games over the last 2 seasons. McGehee, age 26, is coming into his own after the rival Brewers who scooped him up for a bargain $400,000. MeGehee is hitting .311 and .356 as a starter since filling in for the injured Ricky Weeks.
Of course without McGehee, DeRosa still could have moved to third and Hoffpaur becomes a deserving everyday outfield, or Lou Piniella could chose to promote Jake Fox to fill in for DeRosa against lefties, Fox is hitting .416 in AAA but has yet to catch on with consistant MLB at bats.
With DeRosa's salary compared to Bradley's, the Cubs would have saved $1.5mil. This would have been coupled with the $9,750,000 in salary they dumped on Colorado with Jason Marquis, who happens to be tied for the NL lead in wins.
This saved money would have been more than enough to fill the more immediate hole vacant at the closer role with the departure of Kerry Wood. For $6,000,000 their competition (again the Brewers) were able to sign Trevor Hoffman, who has yet to allow a run this season. Instead, for $4,200,000, or $1.8 mil less (or pretty close to the DeRosa to Bradley pay increase) the Cubs settled for Kevin Gregg, who oh by the way has already given up 13 runs, and blown 2 saves. Once again, it makes me wonder if the Cubs did their Due Diligence. If so, they may have realized in 2008, Kevin Gregg blew 23% of his save chances. Hoffman blew a mere 11%.
If the Cubs wanted to really spend the money, for the full price of the Marquis and Bradley/DeRosa savings, they could have had K-Rod, who blew only 10% of saves last year and finished the season with 63.
Of course, even without the mistakes of this year's offseason, the Cubs would still have to deal with Kosuke Fukudome's $12mil a year or $227,272 per run produced, oh ya and his helicopter swing, and Alfonso Soriano and his $250+ per run produced, and stupid ass crow hop in the outfield.
In fact, the Chicago Cubs $36,500,000 starting outfield cost a mere $334,000 more than the entire Florida Marlins team! The Cubs big boppers in the outfield (Bradley, Fukudome, Soriano) have produced 154 runs while the Marlins starting outfield (Hermida, Gload, Ross) has produced a grand total of, gee, 154 runs! Let's also mention the Marlins outfield payroll is a mere $6,375,000... or less money than any one of the aforementioned Cubs as an individual, and each of the Marlins are 3-5 years younger than any of the aforementioned Cubs. Oh yeah, the Marlins are also 2 games under .500 while the Cubs are a whopping 1 game better than that.
With these hefty long term deals to aging players, trades become unlikely without giving up too much of the future. Luckily, I believe the Cubs have the answers on their bench. Reed Johnson has hit .296 as a starting centerfielder and .326 when hitting in the 5 hole in the batting order, offering protection to the clean-up hitter, and oh yes, he's hitting .364 at the friendly confines. Need we be reminded of the countless incredible, and clutch, catches he has made in the outfield, his knowledge and aggressiveness on the basepaths and a game winning or tying hit scattered in here and there. and another oh yeah, he's making $3,000,000 this year.
Micah Hoffpaur is hitting .278 against right handed pitching, but the power numbers are there (4 HR, 16 RBI in under 100 at bats) and he is hitting .308 as a starting right fielder.
Perhaps while the Cubs struggles continue some sort of platoon, or all out changes are in order.
It was refreshing to see Alfonso Soriano play second base instead of Aaron Miles (the man is useless and a sad excuse as a DeRosa impersonator, much less life) Perhaps this opens up the door for a Lee, Soriano, Theriot, Ramirez infield and a Hoffpauir, Johnson, Fox outfield. Sounds thunderous to me... Rumors are swirling that the Indians may trade their leading RBI man, Mark De Rosa, and the front runners to get him are once again, the Brewers. The Cubs need to address they made a mistake and get back the man Lou Piniella once dubbed, "The Cubs' MVP" before their division rivals do.
Sure, hindsight is 20-20. But the day I heard Milton Bradley was just signed by the Cubs, my body ached and my teeth cringed. "That man is a disease." I said aloud. I then recalled with colleague several Bradley anecdotes including fan altercations, injuries most able bodied major leaguers could avoid, and several bonehead plays that ANYONE who grew up in or around the game of baseball could never fathom.
Throughout the season I've watched him ground into double play after double play, leave men on base, make half assed attempts at fly balls, and run the bases with the Baseball IQ of a oversize headed Gerber baby... but what I saw Friday, Are you kidding me?
Now the double play number, 6, is seemingly harmless on the surface, but digging deeper, it is outpacing a career high and even more revolting when compared to a measily 16 RBI. I need not mention he has only hit 5 Homeruns to point out how awful Bradley's production has been, but why not throw it out to the fans anyway? Afterall, he did.
The half assed attempts at fly balls, I can understand. I find myself half assing my way thru most of my life. But, Milton, this is your profession, act professional. You have 24 other teamates and the city of Chicago counting on your efforts, give it your all.
Twice this week we actually got to see Milton Bradley run the bases. That's right. He actually got on base and then was able to run around them without injuring something. Ok now he reached base more than twice this week (slightly), but these two times happened to cost the Cubs outs and potential runs as complete bonehead decisions were made and Bradley was tagged out. In both these situations I would like to say he was caught in the heat of the moment, but both situations were pre-empted situations in which a runner should be thinking "HOLD" There really is no excuse for not knowing the game.
All of those failed to compare to the most recent blunder. The audacity of a man to even pose for a routine fly ball as if it were some great catch making up for his prior (uncharged) error of losing the ball in the sun, while wearing white designer sunglass, mind you. After making the catch and posing for a matter of seconds, still wearing white designer sunglasses, Milton, threw the ball into the stands with 2 outs. Somehow he was so caught up in his own glamour that neither his teamates running at him with their mitts up, nor the fans yelling at him to throw the ball back to in the infield were enough to deter this mockery of the game.
Bradley is signed for the next 3 seasons at a hefty penny. At the age of 31, we can only hope his prime has not passed, though lingering injuries to the lower body seem to be taking their toll making this signing even more questionable.
In 2008, Bradley's best season. He hit only .273 with RISP and a mere .163 with 2 outs and RISP. He hit a solid, but much deflated .290 on the road, and only 6 home runs came away from hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. His power numbers also diminished over the course of last season with only 3 HR and 20 RBI in the second half of last year.
The reason for the signing in the first place was to add a left handed bat, Milton hit .309 as a lefty, while .346 as a righty, so really, they didn't even get the left handed bat they desired.
Milton's struggles have been so great he has considered hitting only right handed and his 35 runs produced this year (19 R, 16 RBI) have come at a cost of $200,000 per. Using the same metric, Albert Pujols' runs produced (48 R, 55 RBI) come at a cost of $140,000 per.
And did the Cubs forget that Micah Hoffpauir hit .342 last year and a stellar .355 against right handing pitching. Did they not realize that is runs produced in 2009 come at a cost of only $15,673 per!
Now I understand Micah Hoffpauir may have not been ready to play every day against the better left handers in the league, but without Bradley's $30 mil collective deal, there was no need to trade Mark DeRosa, who hit .310 against southpaws. DeRosa's runs produced in 2009 have come at a cost of $66,265 per.
What makes the DeRosa trade even more dispicable is the abandonment of Casey McGehee The Cubs entered the season knowingly having no legitimate back-up to Ramirez who missed 43 games over the last 2 seasons. McGehee, age 26, is coming into his own after the rival Brewers who scooped him up for a bargain $400,000. MeGehee is hitting .311 and .356 as a starter since filling in for the injured Ricky Weeks.
Of course without McGehee, DeRosa still could have moved to third and Hoffpaur becomes a deserving everyday outfield, or Lou Piniella could chose to promote Jake Fox to fill in for DeRosa against lefties, Fox is hitting .416 in AAA but has yet to catch on with consistant MLB at bats.
With DeRosa's salary compared to Bradley's, the Cubs would have saved $1.5mil. This would have been coupled with the $9,750,000 in salary they dumped on Colorado with Jason Marquis, who happens to be tied for the NL lead in wins.
This saved money would have been more than enough to fill the more immediate hole vacant at the closer role with the departure of Kerry Wood. For $6,000,000 their competition (again the Brewers) were able to sign Trevor Hoffman, who has yet to allow a run this season. Instead, for $4,200,000, or $1.8 mil less (or pretty close to the DeRosa to Bradley pay increase) the Cubs settled for Kevin Gregg, who oh by the way has already given up 13 runs, and blown 2 saves. Once again, it makes me wonder if the Cubs did their Due Diligence. If so, they may have realized in 2008, Kevin Gregg blew 23% of his save chances. Hoffman blew a mere 11%.
If the Cubs wanted to really spend the money, for the full price of the Marquis and Bradley/DeRosa savings, they could have had K-Rod, who blew only 10% of saves last year and finished the season with 63.
Of course, even without the mistakes of this year's offseason, the Cubs would still have to deal with Kosuke Fukudome's $12mil a year or $227,272 per run produced, oh ya and his helicopter swing, and Alfonso Soriano and his $250+ per run produced, and stupid ass crow hop in the outfield.
In fact, the Chicago Cubs $36,500,000 starting outfield cost a mere $334,000 more than the entire Florida Marlins team! The Cubs big boppers in the outfield (Bradley, Fukudome, Soriano) have produced 154 runs while the Marlins starting outfield (Hermida, Gload, Ross) has produced a grand total of, gee, 154 runs! Let's also mention the Marlins outfield payroll is a mere $6,375,000... or less money than any one of the aforementioned Cubs as an individual, and each of the Marlins are 3-5 years younger than any of the aforementioned Cubs. Oh yeah, the Marlins are also 2 games under .500 while the Cubs are a whopping 1 game better than that.
With these hefty long term deals to aging players, trades become unlikely without giving up too much of the future. Luckily, I believe the Cubs have the answers on their bench. Reed Johnson has hit .296 as a starting centerfielder and .326 when hitting in the 5 hole in the batting order, offering protection to the clean-up hitter, and oh yes, he's hitting .364 at the friendly confines. Need we be reminded of the countless incredible, and clutch, catches he has made in the outfield, his knowledge and aggressiveness on the basepaths and a game winning or tying hit scattered in here and there. and another oh yeah, he's making $3,000,000 this year.
Micah Hoffpaur is hitting .278 against right handed pitching, but the power numbers are there (4 HR, 16 RBI in under 100 at bats) and he is hitting .308 as a starting right fielder.
Perhaps while the Cubs struggles continue some sort of platoon, or all out changes are in order.
It was refreshing to see Alfonso Soriano play second base instead of Aaron Miles (the man is useless and a sad excuse as a DeRosa impersonator, much less life) Perhaps this opens up the door for a Lee, Soriano, Theriot, Ramirez infield and a Hoffpauir, Johnson, Fox outfield. Sounds thunderous to me... Rumors are swirling that the Indians may trade their leading RBI man, Mark De Rosa, and the front runners to get him are once again, the Brewers. The Cubs need to address they made a mistake and get back the man Lou Piniella once dubbed, "The Cubs' MVP" before their division rivals do.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Bulls Defense Lackluster at Best
It seems as far away as #23 and 33 roamed the court that the Bulls were known as a defensive team. Yet just 3 years ago, the Bulls were among the best in the East at stopping teams.
Much of the core of this team is still there yet the Charlotte Bobcats, yes the CHARLOTTE BOBCATS shot 48.7% from the field against the Bulls and won the contest.
So what happened?
The problems with this Bulls team started before the game. The Bulls clearly do not understand their opponents roster. For instance, Raja Bell is a notorious three point shooter, yet Ben Gordon consistently left him to help out on Raymond Felton, yes Raymond Felt. Bell Finished the first half with 18 points shooting 100% from downtown and 7-11 for the game.
Gordon was forced to help on dribble penetration as Derek Rose could not stop Felton who went
6-11 from the field and 5-5 from the line. He added 9 dimes along the way. Derek has a lot to learn on that end of the court and Bulls fans will have to be patient with the young rookie, but it is difficult to see players such as Felton run up the scoring numbers against the Bulls.
We cannot lay blame on the Rookie though as the coaches put him in tough situations.
The Bulls did not press while trailing in the 4th quarter allowing the Bobcats to walk the ball up and down the court using clock and finishing with high percentage shots. The Larry Brown style of basketball would be a welcome change in a lost Chicago system. Yet any new system would be welcome....
Either way, the Bulls could use some coaching help. We see too many awful stretches of basketball with Ben taking early shots outside the flow of the offense leading to transition buckets on the other end. Plays like this deflate teams and occur too much in this system.
Though early shots become necessary when the Bulls become lacadazial on offense and out of control. The Bulls lost the ball 17 times, 5 of which were on Ben. With 5:00 to go in the 4th the Bulls may have still been in the game. On that possession they had 3 tries on 2 offensive rebounds, both off missed Ben Gordon 3pointers, on the third possession for the price of one, Ben Gordon threw the ball away and Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas looked deflated their efforts went unawarded. The Bobcats went down the court and scored and the next possession when desperately needing a counter, Ben Gordon pulled up and missed the shot. The Bulls were down 14 before they knew it.
The Bulls were outplayed but more importantly outcoached. The 2-3 zone did not work and the Bobcats shot nearly 50%. The Bulls only played 2 quarters in this game, the first and the fourth and it was not enough to win. I am for all being patient with a rookie guard, but can we do the same with a rookie coach? We are talking about the Chicago Bulls. If we're going to have a rookie coach, why not Stacey King? The man does know what to do every step of the game...
Much of the core of this team is still there yet the Charlotte Bobcats, yes the CHARLOTTE BOBCATS shot 48.7% from the field against the Bulls and won the contest.
So what happened?
The problems with this Bulls team started before the game. The Bulls clearly do not understand their opponents roster. For instance, Raja Bell is a notorious three point shooter, yet Ben Gordon consistently left him to help out on Raymond Felton, yes Raymond Felt. Bell Finished the first half with 18 points shooting 100% from downtown and 7-11 for the game.
Gordon was forced to help on dribble penetration as Derek Rose could not stop Felton who went
6-11 from the field and 5-5 from the line. He added 9 dimes along the way. Derek has a lot to learn on that end of the court and Bulls fans will have to be patient with the young rookie, but it is difficult to see players such as Felton run up the scoring numbers against the Bulls.
We cannot lay blame on the Rookie though as the coaches put him in tough situations.
The Bulls did not press while trailing in the 4th quarter allowing the Bobcats to walk the ball up and down the court using clock and finishing with high percentage shots. The Larry Brown style of basketball would be a welcome change in a lost Chicago system. Yet any new system would be welcome....
Either way, the Bulls could use some coaching help. We see too many awful stretches of basketball with Ben taking early shots outside the flow of the offense leading to transition buckets on the other end. Plays like this deflate teams and occur too much in this system.
Though early shots become necessary when the Bulls become lacadazial on offense and out of control. The Bulls lost the ball 17 times, 5 of which were on Ben. With 5:00 to go in the 4th the Bulls may have still been in the game. On that possession they had 3 tries on 2 offensive rebounds, both off missed Ben Gordon 3pointers, on the third possession for the price of one, Ben Gordon threw the ball away and Brad Miller and Tyrus Thomas looked deflated their efforts went unawarded. The Bobcats went down the court and scored and the next possession when desperately needing a counter, Ben Gordon pulled up and missed the shot. The Bulls were down 14 before they knew it.
The Bulls were outplayed but more importantly outcoached. The 2-3 zone did not work and the Bobcats shot nearly 50%. The Bulls only played 2 quarters in this game, the first and the fourth and it was not enough to win. I am for all being patient with a rookie guard, but can we do the same with a rookie coach? We are talking about the Chicago Bulls. If we're going to have a rookie coach, why not Stacey King? The man does know what to do every step of the game...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tyrus on the Outside
The game started off right with a monster Tyrus Thomas throw down. 2 baskets later Ty hit a wide open 18 foot jump shot. The Nets refused to guard Thomas outside of 15 feet and he did not hesitate to pull the trigger once. He finished the game a mere 5-16 with only the 1 dunk.
Vinny showed little patience with his starters as the Bulls bench came into a 1 point game early after the starters squandered a 10 point lead. When the starters checked back in with 5:11 to go in the first half, the bench had extended the lead to 6 points. The starters were unable to hold the lead and ended the half down by 1.
With the Bulls again getting off to a very slow start in the 3rd quarter, Vinny went to the bench with 7:26 seconds left in the quarter and the Bulls down by 6. With 6:10 seconds to go in the quarter the Nets took a time-out and the Bulls second string had a secured a 4 point lead. At the next stop in the action with 2:10 to go, the Bulls extended the lead to 9 with Kirk Hinrich scoring 5 consecutive points.
The fourth quarter was ugly in every aspect for the Bulls. Harris blew by the Bulls Rookie defender and Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon traded bad shots. Harris finished the game on a pull up 26 footer in Captain Kirk's face and checked out to a standing ovation with 42 points. The Bulls did not have a chance as Harris was a beast. Not even John Paxson would have traded him for Jason Kidd.
John Salmons played a quiet but very effective 31 minutes going 4-6 from the field and 5-6 from the line for 17 points. Kirk Hinrich was the only Bull who finished the game with a positive efficiency rating at +10. Finally, the Bulls Bench finished the game shooting 46.4% from the field while the starters shot only 40%.
Sidenote: Yi is the worst player in the NBA
Vinny showed little patience with his starters as the Bulls bench came into a 1 point game early after the starters squandered a 10 point lead. When the starters checked back in with 5:11 to go in the first half, the bench had extended the lead to 6 points. The starters were unable to hold the lead and ended the half down by 1.
With the Bulls again getting off to a very slow start in the 3rd quarter, Vinny went to the bench with 7:26 seconds left in the quarter and the Bulls down by 6. With 6:10 seconds to go in the quarter the Nets took a time-out and the Bulls second string had a secured a 4 point lead. At the next stop in the action with 2:10 to go, the Bulls extended the lead to 9 with Kirk Hinrich scoring 5 consecutive points.
The fourth quarter was ugly in every aspect for the Bulls. Harris blew by the Bulls Rookie defender and Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon traded bad shots. Harris finished the game on a pull up 26 footer in Captain Kirk's face and checked out to a standing ovation with 42 points. The Bulls did not have a chance as Harris was a beast. Not even John Paxson would have traded him for Jason Kidd.
John Salmons played a quiet but very effective 31 minutes going 4-6 from the field and 5-6 from the line for 17 points. Kirk Hinrich was the only Bull who finished the game with a positive efficiency rating at +10. Finally, the Bulls Bench finished the game shooting 46.4% from the field while the starters shot only 40%.
Sidenote: Yi is the worst player in the NBA
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Magic in the Air
The Bulls did everything right shooting a season-high 56.5 percent, scoring their most points at home this year as well as the most points of a Magic opponent this season. They also dropped 91% of their freethrows which sealed the game down the stretch.
Ben Gordon had the hot shooting hand early finding shots within the flow of the offense. The Magic countered by putting the ball in Derek Rose's hand which forced the rookie to take 20 shots, of which he was good on 11. The Bulls and Magics starters traded buckets for most of the game keeping it close, but the revamped Bulls bench was the key to victory.
With both defined roles and more talent, the Bulls new 2nd unit had it clicking on all cylinders Tuesday Night. Equipped with 3 former starters, the reserves showed the ability to mesh with solid team defense and consistent ball movement. Kirk Hinrich ran circles around JJ Backne creating mismatches for the Magic Defense allowing Tim Thomas to spread the court. Thomas played a very efficient game with 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, and 4-6 from downtown. He finished the game at a +19 efficiency.
Brad Miller showed why he was brought in for the playoff stretch by holding Dwight Howard to a mere 4 points, while Howard put in 22 over Joakim Noah. Though the young Noah could not stop Superman, he did play a solid offensive game going 4-4 from the field and an all but pretty 6-7 from the stripe. Hopefully Joakim learned something from the veteran Miller who battled all night for post position relegating Howard to shooting 7-10 foot jumpshots where he is far less a threat.
Kirk Hinrich's defense off the bench was also vital late in the game. In a 3 minute span he stole an inbound pass, stripped Courtney Lee on a breakaway lay up and caused a Magic backcourt violation - all resulting in Bull's points and a potential 12 point swing. Captain Kirck was rewarded by closing out the game as the Bulls stopper in the backcourt.
Overall the Bulls just played better team basketball out shooting, out scoring, out rebounding and out passing the 3rd seeded Magic all the way to an impressive victory. The Bulls can really open things up here with the next 2 games against New Jersey and Washington. The Bulls are currently chasing the depleted Bucks by 1 game for the coveted 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Tip off is tonight at 6:30 from the Meadowlands.
Ben Gordon had the hot shooting hand early finding shots within the flow of the offense. The Magic countered by putting the ball in Derek Rose's hand which forced the rookie to take 20 shots, of which he was good on 11. The Bulls and Magics starters traded buckets for most of the game keeping it close, but the revamped Bulls bench was the key to victory.
With both defined roles and more talent, the Bulls new 2nd unit had it clicking on all cylinders Tuesday Night. Equipped with 3 former starters, the reserves showed the ability to mesh with solid team defense and consistent ball movement. Kirk Hinrich ran circles around JJ Backne creating mismatches for the Magic Defense allowing Tim Thomas to spread the court. Thomas played a very efficient game with 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, and 4-6 from downtown. He finished the game at a +19 efficiency.
Brad Miller showed why he was brought in for the playoff stretch by holding Dwight Howard to a mere 4 points, while Howard put in 22 over Joakim Noah. Though the young Noah could not stop Superman, he did play a solid offensive game going 4-4 from the field and an all but pretty 6-7 from the stripe. Hopefully Joakim learned something from the veteran Miller who battled all night for post position relegating Howard to shooting 7-10 foot jumpshots where he is far less a threat.
Kirk Hinrich's defense off the bench was also vital late in the game. In a 3 minute span he stole an inbound pass, stripped Courtney Lee on a breakaway lay up and caused a Magic backcourt violation - all resulting in Bull's points and a potential 12 point swing. Captain Kirck was rewarded by closing out the game as the Bulls stopper in the backcourt.
Overall the Bulls just played better team basketball out shooting, out scoring, out rebounding and out passing the 3rd seeded Magic all the way to an impressive victory. The Bulls can really open things up here with the next 2 games against New Jersey and Washington. The Bulls are currently chasing the depleted Bucks by 1 game for the coveted 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Tip off is tonight at 6:30 from the Meadowlands.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Shorthanded Bulls Short-change Bucks
Hours after the lastest installment of the John Paxson saga, the Bulls went back to business on the hardwood. Playing two big men down the Bulls hoped to rebound from a disappointing loss going into the All Star Break.
The Bucks entered the game as the 8 seed in the East but missing 3 key players, Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut and Luke Ridnour. With Scott Skiles at the helm, this is no excuse to not bring the intensity. The Bucks did just that attacking the basket every chance they had leading to foul trouble for the already depleated frontcourt.
The Bulls needed a spark from somewhere and got it from the two men most impacted by the days prior trade, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. Luol started the game by taking the Bulls first five shots and ended the first quarter in double figures. Watching Deng go to the basket reminds us why he received a hefty contract prior to this season. Deng finished the game with 21 points on 9 of 17 from the field.
With an uncertain future, Hinrich left everything he had on that court. Captain Kirk scored a career high 31 points on 8-14 from the field dropping 5 treys. More importantly his defense absolutely shut down the likes of Ramon Sessions and Charlie Bell who combined to go 8-25 from the field. While rumors lurk over Kirk's head, this reporter believes his backcourt defense is irreplaceable. Kirk had 4 steals, all leading to Bulls conversions.
Ben Gordon and Derek Rose each added 18 points, but it took Gordon 15 shots to get there, many of these wild off balance shots that we are accustomed to seeing from the undersized guard. Aaron Gray quietly pulled in 7 rebounds off the bench filling in nicely for Noc and Gooden's minutes. Gray will likely see a large drop in tick with the entrace of Brad Miller on Friday when the Bulls take on the streaking Denver Nuggets. The defense of Kirk Hinrich will be intrical to stopping Chauncey Billups and the fast paced Nugget offense. Let's hope the former franchise point guard is still checking in with 4 minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Bucks entered the game as the 8 seed in the East but missing 3 key players, Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut and Luke Ridnour. With Scott Skiles at the helm, this is no excuse to not bring the intensity. The Bucks did just that attacking the basket every chance they had leading to foul trouble for the already depleated frontcourt.
The Bulls needed a spark from somewhere and got it from the two men most impacted by the days prior trade, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. Luol started the game by taking the Bulls first five shots and ended the first quarter in double figures. Watching Deng go to the basket reminds us why he received a hefty contract prior to this season. Deng finished the game with 21 points on 9 of 17 from the field.
With an uncertain future, Hinrich left everything he had on that court. Captain Kirk scored a career high 31 points on 8-14 from the field dropping 5 treys. More importantly his defense absolutely shut down the likes of Ramon Sessions and Charlie Bell who combined to go 8-25 from the field. While rumors lurk over Kirk's head, this reporter believes his backcourt defense is irreplaceable. Kirk had 4 steals, all leading to Bulls conversions.
Ben Gordon and Derek Rose each added 18 points, but it took Gordon 15 shots to get there, many of these wild off balance shots that we are accustomed to seeing from the undersized guard. Aaron Gray quietly pulled in 7 rebounds off the bench filling in nicely for Noc and Gooden's minutes. Gray will likely see a large drop in tick with the entrace of Brad Miller on Friday when the Bulls take on the streaking Denver Nuggets. The defense of Kirk Hinrich will be intrical to stopping Chauncey Billups and the fast paced Nugget offense. Let's hope the former franchise point guard is still checking in with 4 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Bulls make a Blockbuster?
Yes, they did. John Salmons brings to the Bulls something they have not seen at the 2 position since, well, you remember when. Now I'm not saying he's the next 23..... but maybe the next 45. Afterall, he is 6 foot 6"
John Salmons brings to the Bulls the most points of any player involved in the trade. He also brings more points per game than any Bull not named Ben Gordon. The fall-off from Gordon is not much to speak of. Especially since it comes on less shots over more minutes, and did I mention he picks up more boards, dimes, thefts and blocks along the way? He provides a very viable option to start at the 2 guard and stop the likes of VC and Kobe.
Brad Miller brings similar numbers to Drew Gooden but does it in a different fashion. His passing and outside shooting abilities will accelerate the learing process for Derek Rose in the Pick and Roll. And who doesnt like a passing high post with slashers like Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas? Joakim Noah is still your starter and your future Maaaaaan in the Middle, but it never hurts to have a seasoned veteran off the bench. Especially when its Big Bad Brad banging against the likes of Dwight Howard and KG in the early round of the playoffs.
I will take this moment to bid adeiu to one of my favorite Bulls of all time, Andres Nocioni. When did Noc sit out a game? When did Noc not give it his all? When was Noc ever the Bull you despised for taking a night off? His fire will be missed, as well as his ability to play off Rose, but his contract will be gladly sent to the Sunny Coast with him. Enjoy your new toy Maloofs, Pax will spend that money on something much better in 2010... or so we can hope
John Salmons brings to the Bulls the most points of any player involved in the trade. He also brings more points per game than any Bull not named Ben Gordon. The fall-off from Gordon is not much to speak of. Especially since it comes on less shots over more minutes, and did I mention he picks up more boards, dimes, thefts and blocks along the way? He provides a very viable option to start at the 2 guard and stop the likes of VC and Kobe.
Brad Miller brings similar numbers to Drew Gooden but does it in a different fashion. His passing and outside shooting abilities will accelerate the learing process for Derek Rose in the Pick and Roll. And who doesnt like a passing high post with slashers like Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas? Joakim Noah is still your starter and your future Maaaaaan in the Middle, but it never hurts to have a seasoned veteran off the bench. Especially when its Big Bad Brad banging against the likes of Dwight Howard and KG in the early round of the playoffs.
I will take this moment to bid adeiu to one of my favorite Bulls of all time, Andres Nocioni. When did Noc sit out a game? When did Noc not give it his all? When was Noc ever the Bull you despised for taking a night off? His fire will be missed, as well as his ability to play off Rose, but his contract will be gladly sent to the Sunny Coast with him. Enjoy your new toy Maloofs, Pax will spend that money on something much better in 2010... or so we can hope
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