Wow!
I'm hoping CoachSkiles is going to chime in with more--MoFo was at the game--but here are some quick thoughts on today's really impressive victory over the Spurs:
***It seems pretty obvious now that Kirk's groin injury earlier this year was REALLY bothering his game. I'm going to go ahead and admit now that I was dead wrong. Trading a Kirk Hinrich who can play like he's played the past three games strikes me as utter lunacy. His offense has been huge, but even before that came back, he was (and has continued to be) RELENTLESS on the defensive end. (That said, trading Ben Go would also be lunacy. I'm sad to say it, but I think that might leave Noce as the odd man out next year, unless Pax can pull off some cap mastery that's beyond me.)
***P.J. Brown did a helluva job on Duncan. You can see why Skiles wants to give him more minutes. It'll be interesting to see how many he gets when Wallace is back in the lineup, but I guess if Noce starts coming off the bench, then Brown's starting will take care of some of those minutes.
***But where does that leave Ty Thomas? I know he's rough--really rough--around the edges (as evidenced by at least one of the two goaltending calls he got whistled for against Duncan, as well as his offensive foul in the third), but part of me says you've just GOT to get him more minutes. The question, then, of course, though, is where (and from whom) do those minutes come?
***It seems pretty obvious now that Kirk's groin injury earlier this year was REALLY bothering his game. I'm going to go ahead and admit now that I was dead wrong. Trading a Kirk Hinrich who can play like he's played the past three games strikes me as utter lunacy. His offense has been huge, but even before that came back, he was (and has continued to be) RELENTLESS on the defensive end. (That said, trading Ben Go would also be lunacy. I'm sad to say it, but I think that might leave Noce as the odd man out next year, unless Pax can pull off some cap mastery that's beyond me.)
***P.J. Brown did a helluva job on Duncan. You can see why Skiles wants to give him more minutes. It'll be interesting to see how many he gets when Wallace is back in the lineup, but I guess if Noce starts coming off the bench, then Brown's starting will take care of some of those minutes.
***But where does that leave Ty Thomas? I know he's rough--really rough--around the edges (as evidenced by at least one of the two goaltending calls he got whistled for against Duncan, as well as his offensive foul in the third), but part of me says you've just GOT to get him more minutes. The question, then, of course, though, is where (and from whom) do those minutes come?
posted by BenGo07 at 4:52 PM
2 Comments:
A great win indeed. I want to address some of BenGo's points, because I think they are worth responding to.
1: Kirk has been outstanding the last four games, averaging 23.8 points, 8.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds and just 1.2 turnovers in 39.9 minutes per (Sammy Smith has a nice recap about him in the Tribune). It seems like we all go through these stretches where different players stick out to us as undeniably crucial to the Bulls' future success. The way Deng has played, I think he's clearly here to stay. Ben, whose scoring ability is so unique, seems like he'd carry the most value but is unlikely to leave either. With Kirk locked up, I agree that Noce probably is the one to leave, even though an argument could probably be made that he is Skiles' favorite player. Thems the ropes in this business, I suppose.
2-PJ was great down low today. TD didn't demand a double team, allowing Kirk and Co. to stay at home against their deadly outside shooters. We couldn't have asked for a better defensive effort against a volatile squad.
3-As for Ty, he might be the most likely to be dealt. Despite the two consecutive starts and the crazy energy, Coach has hinted that he's been slow to pick up the offense (or at least slower than Thabo), something that in the long hall Skiles' will not tolerate.
A great effort, though. And the injuries and suspensions might be a blessing in disguise. They've gotten to play around with a lot of different lineups, which only helps in evaluating for the future.
I doubt Pax will trade Ty Thomas...He's only 20 and has a ton of potential. I wouldn't be surprised if, in two years, he added 15 pounds of muscle and was averaging 20 and 10. He's also really aggresive and energetic (almost too much evidenced by fouling out against Memphis). I think we could get a package together that could include the draft pick, PJ, and Duhon. That package might be able to get Jermaine O'Neal since the draft is widely considered to be very deep. The Knicks are actually challenging in the Atlantic so I don't think the pick is going to be as great as we thought it would be before the season. In my opinion, O'Neal is overrated and the Pacers would probably ask for too much anyway...We'll see what happens but I really don't see Pax making a trade at all.
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