No Diplomattin' Pippen

I just can't decide if I'd rather have a really long conversation with Scottie Pippen or Sam Smith.

"What's my disadvantage?" Pippen asked. "No NBA coaching experience? [Scott] Skiles' record with the Bulls wasn't that great. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do what you've done your whole life. I've played basketball, run teams and won.

And you do even less from the bench. Scottie shooting on Andres Nocioni is going on the mantle.

"I'd sit down with him and say, 'Show me you're a winner and play like it. Not with those crazy antics. Make your hustle work in a positive way.' He's turning into Rasheed Wallace with the kinds of things he does on floor. It makes the officials turn on the whole team. And you stop getting calls. Don't shoot those ill-advised shots. Don't look to get bailed out by the refs."

I know I'm going hate the sticky, messy nostalgia that this will inspire around the Bullsosphere, but Scottie has some fucking sweet ideas. Good thing there's plenty of time to consider the drawbacks regarding Coach Pippen.

The Second Funniest Thing I've Heard All Year

Jerry West explains to the Boston Globe's Shira Springer why his success as an NBA exec was mostly due to luck. Via the Fanhouse's Tom Ziller.

"Garnett is very good, but if he had the pressure on him to score like Kobe does every night, there's a difference," said West. "Kevin is going to be a great, great player every night in all facets of the game.

"But the other one has a little bit different kind of cachet to him. You're going to pay to see Kevin Garnett play, but you're just going to see a tremendously good basketball player.

"The degree of excitement with Kobe Bryant is like going to an action movie instead of seeing a great film. Kevin Garnett would be in a great film and Kobe Bryant would be the action-hero figure. He's going to supply the jumps off the tops of bridges, dunks, going through 10 people, driving to make a layup.

"Kevin Garnett is just going to be the steady, steady, steady guy there every night. But I think from an all-around standpoint, Kobe is the best."

If the Logo had made a Rick Fox is like an impossible to watch direct to video action movie analogy, I'd be more inclined to believe him. Since when did scoring a lot of points = all-around?

The Funniest Thing I've Heard All Year

The New York Post's Dan Martin gets a giggle.

Crawford hurt himself playing defense when he slammed his hand into a teammate's knee.

How Long Until Spring Training?

Boylan announces Duhon to start; Gordon to bench.

This is the best they can come up with? Not benching Wallace, or Smith, but Gordon? Jesus H. Christ. KD spelled it out, it's not rocket science.

Kill me. Now.

UPDATE: I mean, honestly! Are they serious???!!! You fire Skiles, talk about changing the rotation and then...start Duhon?!! If they think that'll help solve this team's problems, why didn't they give Skiles a 10-year extension? It was his bright idea to begin with. I ask you, what is the opposite of "vision"?

I Will Eat My Own Hat If...

Anyone writes a newspaper/magazine article, or blog post that applauds the Bulls for hiring a (interim) head coach with European head coaching experience. A well known fact about Jim Boylan? As well known as Boylan is, but what a progressive organization! Bryan Colanegelo is eating John Paxson's dust.

Confused, Stubborn and Stupid Is No Way To Coach A Team, Son

What Matt said.

But also: How did that even happen? Pax has made it abundantly clear through the media that one of the main reasons for firing Skiles was his rotations/lack of minutes for the young uns. And yet: 4 minutes for Ty. 4 minutes for Noah. 7 minutes for Griff. The mind reels.

It seems to me there are three possibilities here: 1) Pax did not make it abundantly clear to Myers what changes he wants to see on the court 2) Pax did but Myers is too stubborn and/or loyal to his veterans to make those changes 3) Pax did but Myers is too stupid to understand what he wants.

I don't know much about Myers, but I kinda hope it's the third one. That way, you could see his position with the Bulls as a sort of patronage job, a sop to a "loyal" employee. At least that would be rational. The second suggests a (perhaps unconscious) refusal to do what needs to be done; the first suggests an organization in total disarray. But are there other possibilities I'm missing?

The Post-Skiles Era...

...should not, at least initially, be judged on the basis of the team's win-loss record. As previously noted, with or without Skiles, that should definitely improve, simply because the schedule in January gets really, really easy, with a bunch of home games against the dregs of the East and West, and ending with a home-and-home against Minnesota. As Souls of Mischief used to say, "It gets no phatter."

No, the proper metrics, as I see them, are as follows:

1) Increased playing time for Tyrus and Noah: The yo-yoing of their minutes was as good a reason as any to fire Skiles, and while "accountability" is great for the politicians, when it comes to young players, the buzzword should be "development." If Ty's not consistently getting 20-30 min. and Noah 15-20 (at minimum), then firing Skiles probably won't make much difference.

2) A reanimated Corpse: Ben Wallace seems to have been at least somewhat instrumental in the sacking of Skiles, and I suppose it's possible his distaste for Skiles is what's led to his listless, passive play this year. It had better be. There's not a player on this team who has disgusted me more this year than Wallace. I'd rather watch Hinrich bullet a one-handed cross court pass into the seats or Gordon dribble off his foot while trying to ineptly split a double team in crunchtime than Wallace fumble, finger-roll and turnaround fadeaway on the offensive end. Watching that sorry spectacle is like getting a root canal without the aid of novacaine, since his defense and rebounding have been nearly as terrible. At this point, his signing is looking less like an albatross and more like a franchise killer. At least the Heat got a championship out of Shaq; Wallace has given us nothing. It's time for him to either step up on the court or pout with his fat-ass contract on the bench.

3) Can Thabo Get His Groove Back (or, more precisely, To Begin With)?: After the way he's played this year, I haven't been clamoring for more Sefolosha, and part of me thinks that if your confidence can be wrecked by a coach, your ass, to quote the immortal Bunk, is candy. But a Sefolosha who realized his potential--i.e., a long-armed defender who can facilitate the offense, rebound, and hit open jump shots--would be a real bonus. I'm not necessarily sold that playing him ahead of Du would help this team win right now---Du, incredibly (and tellingly), has been one of our better players this year---but a good Thabo can do much more than a good Duhon, and whether he can blossom away from Skiles' shadow would be another positive indication that Skiles had to go.

Obviously, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng all need to start playing better, but I'm not sure whether their problems can be as directly linked to Skiles as the players above. Although I suppose if they all step back up to their career levels of production, we'll have even more evidence that Skiles had outstayed his welcome.

Let's Hope One Member Of The Dynamic Denim Duo Wears A Different Brand

Because we all know what kind of canvas Scott Skiles liked to pour himself in on the weekend (and recruiting trips to the Detroit area).

Kelly Dwyer birthed a blog post full of immaculately conceived good ideas, and it's a real relief to read words and sentences that exclude Coach, and Mark, and Jackson.

And I Thought The Score's Callers Were Morons

Thank you, I'll hang up and listen to my Lawyer Indian Chief. I wish Skiles was around to get a maximum response out of me, but at least we know what Brian Hanley was up to today.

Breaking: Christmas is cancelled

At least in the Skiles' home ... he gone.

F.Y.I.

Joakim Noah continues to lead the Bulls in PER (17.65), and now leads the team in +/- rating (+5.6). What does it all mean? Scott Skiles is a dope for only playing him 12.6 MPG in 19 games.

SAM SMITH BLOGS

What, like bloggers really go out on Friday night?

Read Sam blog here.

So This Is How Stevie Ray Vaughan Became Famous

Quick aside: The Bulls actually play the Celtics tonight, and I like those wacky Celtics blogs again. Digging up Gary Payton's bones is the best idea I've heard since the Ewing Theory.

I'd like to thank Comcast SportsRISE for ruining my day. Take it away, Luke Stuckmeyer:

Aaron Gray is the young, seven foot center opening eyes in the NBA.

Think he wrote that line himself? Luke describes himself as a "Slow White Guy," so I'm leaning in the direction of uh-huh. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Gray's lone, decent game has sparked a trade scenario, he's been described as THE(!) "solution," and had K.C. Johnson doing his best Red Kerr impression.

It turns out players on the Wiz roster can give a player a boost in value. D. Song and Andray Blatche deserve thank you notes from Gray.

Ignoring Scott Skiles, Aaron Gray, And Bone Spurs For A Moment

It's a 'message game' tonight! I liked those wacky Celtics blogs better when they were posting chili recipes made with skid-marks from Gerald Green's underwear.

Performance Enhancing Blog Post Of The Day

Move over Duckworth. The Liga Nacional does not fuck around. So why did Joshua Pittman receive a 3 year ban from playing basketball in Argentina?

The decision will be sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Dr Diego Grippo, who is in charge of doping tests, told Ole newspaper: "We cannot confirm whether marijuana does or does not improve the players' performances.

"It does not make you jump higher or score more three-pointers, but among the effects of this drug is sedation.

"Players can step onto the court feeling fearful or nervous, but if you take the drug you can be more relaxed. That's an advantage.

"Maybe Pittman needs it to be ok."

Guesswork. Yeesh. The rules are the rules, and stick to 'em by golly, but if you're going to take away a person's livelihood at least make it sound like you have a good reason. I declare today David Stern Appreciation Day.

Wrong Scrub Whose Last Name Begins With "Gr"

Matt expected Griffin to ruin the game for us, but instead we got Gray.

I don't mean to badmouth the big man. He acquitted himself very admirably out there tonight in his season-high 20 minutes. But why seven of those minutes had to kick off the fourth quarter is beyond me. He doesn't play meaningful minutes all year, but what the hell, he had a nice spurt there, so why not ride the kid into the ground? Sure, he's already a step slow to begin with, but you never know, maybe a lengthy stint will make him faster.

Not to put this all on Gray, much less Skiles. (If he thought Ben Wallace (terrible, yet again) was his only other option, then I can see why he decided to stay with Gray.) Ben Gordon has just got to start shooting the ball better, and after only 5 TOs the last three games combined, Kirk played the anti-Santa tonight, giving the ball away 6 times. But why a kid who hasn't played a meaningful minute this season is out on the court when the game (which apparently Skiles himself believed was "big) was on the line is simply incomprehensible to me.

UPDATE: Join the movement.

Something You Probably Already Know

Because it was already on True Hoop: Joakim Noah is the rookie PER leader. Something you don't want to know: Joakim Noah leads the Bulls in PER with a 17.59. Notice the difference between Knickerblogger's numbers, and ESPN's? Yeah, I can't explain that.

Less PERty than the last factoid: Noah isn't replacing Ben Wallace anytime soon. He's been playing much better at power forward than center. I'll let that slide, and blame it on Skiles' matchup logic for now.

L.A. Lakers, fast-break makers, kings of the …

Not really, but for some reason that song just popped into my head.

Excited to see how the Bulls fare versus a tough three-game stretch that’s coming up.

First up, Kobe and Co.

Way back on November 11th, the Bulls got smacked, 106-78. This time around the Lakers will be without, Brian Cook, Kwame and Mo Evans, but add Trevor Ariza, who’s shooting 54% since coming over from the Magic. The Lakers are 5-2 in December with losses to the Magic and Warriors.

Note to fans: booing is acceptable; chanting, “we want Kobe” makes you a dumb asshole.

Blogtastic: Internet User Unimpressed With The Raw Humanity Exhibited By A Professional Basketball Player

And takes a shot at the 'punk' element in the NBA.

Finally we (myself and the cameraman) got Hinrich to ourselves and some guy asked him questions while I held a microphone. There were 4 people in the room: the cameraman, the questionnaire man, Kirk Hinrich, and me. Needless to say I was examining the Bulls’ point guard, commenting to myself, “he’s not as big as I thought,” and “yea, he’s needs a new hair style in person, too,” and “he’s like my age, I could be playing basketball (then I looked at my gut and remembered why I wasn’t).”

In a matter of a weekend, I watched Kirk Hinrich be a superstar on the court and a normal human being off the court. I wasn’t very impressed by Hinrich in person. Maybe it was because he’s not that much taller than I, or perhaps because he’s not that much older than I. Whatever the case may be, I hope he continues to impress on the court, because as a fan, that’s really what we want….of course unless you’re a fan of Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, Zach Randolph, and all the other punks in the NBA.

I'd like to take a moment to apologize for Kirk Hinrich. His cape was stained while making blueberry pie for every starving person in the world. Hair care is not a priority to a being of the Captain's magnitude. There just isn't enough time in the day to run a comb through the bangs when there's crime to fight, and ridiculous true point guard rumblings to squash. Why would an NBA player allow anyone to get a hint of the supernatural essence required to play basketball? And be devoured like Jean-Baptiste Grenouille? Crazy. Just crazy.

Murphy's Law is shit

Atta boy.

"I was obviously very disappointed in the league's decision to suspend Tyrus and give Murphy a slap on the wrist," Paxson said in a statement released Saturday. "It was crystal clear Murphy was the player who started the incident and escalated it to the point where Tyrus reacted."

I'm A Mindless Idiot

Not really a knock on David Friedman, but suffice to say I was just as disappointed in this as the request to remove embedding on a charming holiday classic. I also expect Pradamaster's head to explode this morning, and that's unfortunate for everyone.

Gilbert Arenas was #4 in adjusted +/- last season (note to eggheads: I'm running out of mileage on kinda-one-season of adjusted +/-), has 33+ win shares in the past 3 seasons, and is #49 on the all-time career PER list. For extra flavor, I'll even toss in a hated, very limited per game stat: Arenas is 22nd all-time in career points per game.

According to Friedman, Arenas is "the most overrated All-Star in the NBA." Nope. Not even close. Using a small sample size to invalidate a very successful, and Kobe-esque, career is ridiculous. And can we never use All-Star votes to describe a player's value again? Thanks.

The Moral Calculus of Sam Smith

A 20-year-old kid who at times fails to hustle all-out and who can be cold and distant toward the media? A jerk. A bad egg. A symbol of All That's Wrong With The NBA.

A 40-something adult who sexually harasses female employees? Hey, lay off him: There are some extenuating circumstances here!!!

Speaking Of Bling

This Adidas ad (gimme!) would like to remind you of the days when it was allowed on the court, and receding hairlines were accepted by society. Way to ruin everything, Stern.

Why fighting is stupid: Tyrus Thomas was +12 before his ejection.

Hollinger's basketball super computer projects a 36 win season for the Bulls. I wish it had odds on me watching a 36 win team. I'll wait the suckiness out. Movie rentals come via the mail now, and I haven't read the second Bruce Campbell book yet.

Vikings: 'Eat it Jordan, entire country'

Marcus Jordan and the Dolphins thought they could crawl back to Chicago State and roll over those pesky Vikes. No Sir. Welcome to the Top 25, boys.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled Skiles bashing.

Question

What's better than a day on which Ben Gordon shoots 12 of 19, Scott Skiles remembers there's a player on his bench named Tyrus Thomas, and the most dramatic question during a 27-point rout is whether the Bulls will score 100 points in three quarters?

A day on which all of that happens, and the Cubs sign Fukudome!!!

Boo-yah-ka-shah!

Detente between Skiles and Ty?

Reading the Trib and Sun Times this morning it seems like Ty might get some burn
the next few days. If Skiles plays mind games in the press, this is a simple one for Ty to pick up on - show up (mentally and physically) for practice and maybe I'll let you dunk on Collison tonight.

Ty has remained positive, he's always up off the bench during breaks, encouraging teammates, so maybe all is not lost.

Obvious blog conclusion of the day

Henry on the Bulls' business acumen.

And finally -- could it be that the city's love of this team is still deepened, informed, and spurred on by memories of one Michael Jordan? Is it just easier to believe in that city? The NBA, Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, the Wizards for a little while -- does Jordan deserve a chunk of the credit for the success of one more business?

When you finish with 13, 17, 15, 21, 30, and 23 wins in six years, and yet continually sit at the top of the league in attendance, there's something else going on. I promise it wasn't these guys the fans were coming to see.

Also, given equal tick, I'm unconvinced Aldridge is more productive than Tyrus in pretty much any category.

The Ben Gordon Index

.405: Lowest single-season 3 pt. FG% in Gordon's career (his rookie year)
.411: Lowest single-season Total FG% in Gordon's career (also, his rookie year)
.373: Gordon's Total FG% for the current season
.318: Gordon's 3 pt. FG% for the current season
.385: Gordon's Total FG% in the month of November over the course of his career
.433: Gordon's Total FG% in the month of December over the course of his career
.456: Gordon's Total FG% in the month of January over the course of his career

In other words, folks, we can expect things to improve.

All Your Blogs Are Belong To Me

Well, not really. But the fine folks over at We Rite Goode asked me---and some more superior basketball bloggers--to answer two questions regarding their respective teams: 1) What lingering off-season question has been answered in the first month of the season? and 2) What question should we have been asking?

If you find yourself absolutely salivating at the prospect of learning my answers to those questions, click here. If you are disatisfied with my Q&As, I beseech you, good people: Don't let it fester. Take advantage of, like, the totally radical empowerment brought to you by this Age of teh Internets, and sound off in the Comments.

Sunday Disdain I

Lucky for you, world, I've decided to only post once a week due to a lack of free time, and I really don't care about being 'first'. The blogosphere is becoming more and more MSM every day; link and idea credit generally ends up going to the E-Buchers out there. Remember there are several different bloggers at TYI, so this isn't a death rattle. I'd rather not be involved in a rat race where the only winners are the real rats, and worrying about getting the credit I truly deserve (none, really) is a waste of time (again, none). Plus the Bulls are the least inspiring subject on the planet right now.

Skiles didn't play Thomas last night, let Ben Wallace take 7 wild shots, and fielded a 5 man unit that included offensive duds Thabo Sefolosha, Chris Duhon, and Ben Wallace. I'm shocked the Bulls didn't lose by more. At least Hinrich played reasonably well, but I'm sure I'm only saying that because I appreciate white people too much. If only I could come up with more bold statements lacking any supporting evidence. See ya, day night job.



This Week's Shitties
1. Charlie Danoff has no idea how unpopular Kirk Hinrich is
2. Brett Edwards digs misogyny
3. Jack Cobra assures you his cock works
4. Mini-Dave Berri doesn't want playoff odds

4-11 Against the Rest of the League

...but 2-0 against Detroit.

Is it perverse of me that I almost prefer this to being 11-6, with two Ls against the Motown Boys?

Goodbye, Gardner

Hello, Demetris Nichols. Not enough 6-8ish forwards on the team if you ask me.

He's a scorer.

Dwyer!: NBA Legend E-Offers Entrepreneurial Skills

Just in time for the holidays, unless you've already made donations to the Human Fund. I hope the "Novelty" section is up and running before the 24th. Via the Yahoo! NBA Experts Blog.

January 25, 2008

I've been looking over the Bulls' upcoming schedule, and the above date is when I think the Bulls will beat the Bobcats at the United Center to reach .500 for the first time this season, at 21-21. Take a look at the East standings and you see that a .500 record gets you the 5th seed, and you'd be nipping at the heels of Toronto for home court advantage in the 1st round. Not what I'd envisioned for this season, but after this opening nightmare, I would gladly take it.

All of that said, if the Bulls aren't at or within one or two games of .500 by this date, I would say that the Bulls should fire Skiles. I was pretty conservative while forecasting this record, and even including what could perhaps be an(other) anomalously bad start, there is no reason why the Bulls shouldn't be right in the mix at this point. (Sadly, I think that, barring injuries, Boston, Orlando and (hiss) Detorit are now uncatchable.) It would be just past the halfway mark of the season, and if the ship hasn't been semi-righted by then, it ain't going to happen, and we might as well begin thinking about a future without Skiles.

Move Over Seattle And New York: Charlotte Fans Have It Worse

As if losing twice in one week to one of the worst teams in the NBA wasn't enough, the Bobcats' halftime entertainment makes North Carolinians long for the days of Jumpin' Joe Hendricks. From Mike McGraw's column:

Quiet in Carolina: Charlotte may have replaced Atlanta for the NBA's deadest atmosphere. Besides the arena being less than half full, Wednesday's halftime entertainment was video of Adam Sandler singing "The Chanukah Song" on "Saturday Night Live" about 15 years ago.

Notes on a Box Score

Missed the game tonight, but looking at the box score, I got a few thoughts:

1) It looks like I might owe Deng an apology for ripping on his management-favoring reading habits. I think I'll hold off though until we find out who moves whose cheese in his next battle against Tayshaun.

2) Whoa. Seventeen minutes for Kirk? Four for Ty???!!! A win's a win, I guess, and, hell, Du's been better than El Capitan, butI don't know how I feel about this.

3) I caught some of the Game Cast in the 4th, and did my eyes deceive me or did Noah hit a pretty big 20-foot jumper late in the game? I guess the team played better when he came in, but only two rebounds? Whatup with that?

I'd be interested in the thought of people who, y'know, actually saw this game.

The Only Commentary On Mark Cuban That I Buy

Mostly because it doesn't make any sense. Link from Crickets, Lil Wayne quotes from Complex.

He's a G for real, I saw him coming out of my condos one day with an iPod on him and two big niggas with him, ain't no security. They were just rocking, three together. I ain't got no racist issues, but when you see a cracker with two niggas, you know that cracker got all that money, he don't even need to see a nigga, no black people ever need to come in his eyesight he's so rich--and these your homeboys? I respect the fuck out of him for that, you know, and he ain't see me but he saw my homie, he asked him what's popping tonight, he's a G for real, so I fuck with Mark Cuban heavy. I love a nigga who do what the fuck he want, just like I told you, Martin Luther King said we can do what the fuck we want, he do what the fuck he want, him and Bam Margera. What will Bam do next? Whatever the fuck they want...that's one of my favorite shows.

Reputation, Reputation, Reputation

Master of the X, and the O, Scott Skiles always has his team running effective plays that start with an inbounds pass. Probably not.

The data is from 2006-07, and it's only a record of post-timeout possessions, but that's a good place to start (and kind of the only place) when evaluating the exaggerated success of Scott Skiles' playbook. If the post-timeout offense is ranked 24th, it's tough to say that post-foul possessions yield any more points.

...And Start Getting Real

A better reason for Bulls losses than the Mopey Iowan's nest.

In terms of strategy, what happens when Skiles calls a certain play at a certain point in the game and then the opposing coach simply turns on ESPN or NBAtv and sees that Coach Skiles calls play “Pink 55 left route 66 Bob Dylan Margaret Thatcher” each time Hinrich is being guarded by a taller guy? If we can hear what the coach is saying, what’s the point in coaching at all? Needless to say this is a horrible idea by the NBA. The NBA is trying to make games into the ultimate reality show. The only reality of this idea, however, is that the game will suffer. But what the hell, the Bulls can’t be any worse.

Shock: The Bulls Aren't Good

If you haven't been following the far too kind Hollinger Power Rankings, the shiny PVOA Rankings, or the Colley Rankings, you may not realize just how poorly the Bulls have played. Or maybe you do, but you're kind of an ass-headed jerk if you think you know better than 3 different objective ranking systems.

Looked at all 3? Good. A new coach wouldn't make you do all that scrolling down.

This Explains A Lot

Via Henry, I see that Luol Deng has been touting the works of Spencer Johnson (Who Moved My Cheese? and The Present), claiming how "positive" and "inspiring" they are. To Henry, this is all jokey stuff, but to those of us who are suffering through a 4-11 season, Luol's 5 for Gazillion shooting nights, and (as Matt shrewdly notes) his inability to step up his game when facing some of the more elite SFs in the league, this is deadly serious stuff, a concrete example of the chestnut "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

Whoever Smelt It Dealt It

Matt sparked some Bulls.com archive viewing, an endlessly fun activity, mostly because my second favorite jpg of all time rests securely inside the team's servers. I happened to run across an interesting quote from an interesting person. Identify the speaker correctly and win thousands of positive thoughts from me.

“That’s the strength of Trenton’s game and that’s what we ask him to do. That’s what he’s willing to do, so it works out well for everybody involved.”

You can name the source of wisdom in the comments, or just keep it to yourself.

Six Points

The Terry three after the near steal on Nowitzki by Kirk and the dubious offensive foul call on Deng (instead of an "And 1") with about three minutes left in the fourth, and this game, despite utterly shitty play by Ben and Luol, goes the other way. Cold comfort, at 4-11, but combined with Kirk's nice 4th quarter, something to make this loss maybe go down a little easier. Maybe.

(A)Vengeance Is Mine

Sadly, Michigan fans, you won't be able to avenge your embarassing humiliating soul-obliterating defeat at the hands of Division I-AA Apalachian State. But lucky for you, the dreaded Richmond Spiders (my alma mater) have the chance to do the job for you in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. So what say you, Blue Nation? Will you stand in Arachnid Solidarity this Saturday?

Things That Anger Me

View Larger Map

Note to Bethlehem Shoals: Does this look like Europe? And what the heck is a pseudo-rebounder?

Be Afraid, Blue

Be very afraid.

Seeing how it's holiday season, I'm willing to give you 14 points. Any takers? Or do you fear The Tebow?

World's Biggest Believer In Bench Points Struggles With Addition And Subtraction

Red wouldn't call +/- "a rotten stat" if he checked last night's game flow. +24 for the Captain (not the Dread Pirate Arkush).

What Do You Have To Say For Yourself, Young Man?

Matthew Yglesias has a novel theory on the Bulls' awfulness this year: Blame it on Nocioni.

Not the Bulls' Nocioni. TYI's Nocioni.

I can see it.

This Is Very Reasonable

Rick Morrissey on intangibles:

A talented team is struggling badly not only because the shooting has been so horrible but because it doesn't have any player strong-minded enough to do something about this mess. It's called force of will. Hard to define it but you know it when you see it. It's a sneer if the face of hardship.

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Morrissey goes on to praise Skiles for trying to slug Shaq, and yes, your Spree Co. Hypocrisy-O-Meter did just explode. There's lots more dumb in the column, but the support for Skiles because the team hasn't tuned him out is wackier than picking a fight with the Diesel.

Look, I have no idea what it means for a team to tune out its coach. I'm pretty sure no one else has a clue either. An awful record, the entire team playing like garbage, and Skiles playing A-Drain like it makes a difference is enough for me. It's not enough for other fans, John Paxson, or Sam Smith, but waiting for something (we don't know what!) to happen before reevaluating Skiles seems to be a rather lame cop-out.