NBA 10-11

[The Third Man]

How long until Mario Chalmers is taking all the big shots at the end of the game?

I support this notion.

[jim]

Sums up my feelings nicely, and why I love this team:

Sunday’s Bulls 87-86 win in Miami was for all the coaches and all the neighborhood kids going to the big time playgrounds and for all the hustling little runts who were told to stay outside while the big kids play.

It was about team and sacrifice and commitment and all those intangibles and clichés that we like to say without truly understanding what they mean.

It was about the love of the game and that when the game truly is played right, it is about the team over the individual, about the little guy instead of the ego, about what you can do for the team and the game instead of what it can do for you.

[thrill]

That's some maudlin stuff right there. That team is more an example of how salary caps are prohibitive to building a top heavy team with three max salary players and if you want to be a big three kind of team, you have to be absolutely sure it's the right three. Two wing players and perimeter shooting big who is afraid to go anywhere within 10 feet of the rim in the half court offense is probably not the right three. I love the contrasting attitude of the Bulls and the Heat and I truly do believe that LeBron thinking he's bigger than the game is something that will always prevent him from realizing his truly great potential, but that doesn't mean the only or even the main difference between the two teams is an intangible heart that the Bulls have and the Heat don't. The Bulls just have a deeper, better constructed roster and if it was up to them last summer, they would be where the Heat are now. LeBron and Wade would dominate so much of the ball we would have missed out on the great emancipation of Derrick Rose.

I don't know. I'm not dismissing the heart/chemistry factor. I love this team. I love Derrick like I haven't loved an athlete since Jordan; more than I thought I could love rooting for a player in my jaded adulthood. I love Noah being a huge spaz on the block, I love it when Kyle Korver makes a three and Joakim is on the bench making pistol moves with his fingers or when Omer Asik stuffs someone at the rim and Noah jumps from the bench onto to the court to flex and scream. I love it when Carlos Boozer, as mercurial a player the NBA has had the past few years, seems genuinely happy when the team does well and he doesn't play a big part. I love Luol Deng's redemption from overpriced, miscast complimentary player forced into a primary role to indomitable defensive stalwart and reliable offensive third option. I love Tom Thibodeau waiting and waiting and waiting and finally getting his shot 20 some years into his NBA coaching career and when he does get it, he finds himself in charge of a team with a superstar (Rose) and emotional locker room leader (Noah) perfectly suited to not only tolerate, but thrive under his intense, demanding personality and defensive style. I love everything about the team. I don't however, buy the fact that their heart and chemistry is solely what separates them from the Heat.

This theory may be tested with the whispers coming out that Lakers fans shouldn't necessarily run out and buy their Dwight Howard jerseys just yet. The Nets and the Bulls are players too. The Bulls having the best trade piece to acquire him. Joakim Noah. If Jo is everything that is intangibly right with this team, he should be untouchable, but unfortunately it's intangible. Pairing the best defensive post player of this generation with a coach who's defensive system is centered around a post defender who can have the traffic funneled directly to him to disrupt shots would be a slam dunk. On an intangible level however, I've never been sold the Dwight Howard bill of goods. I think he's a phony, arrogant LeBronish clown who would dominate on the Bulls but would also turn them into just another unlikable NBA super team like the Celtics with their cadre of d bags or the Lakers with their thoroughly unlikable excellence.

If Pax and co are ever offered that choice between the likable, intangibly great Noah and the unlikable, tangibly great Howard, it'll be interesting to see what happens. Right now the Bulls are the league's white knight, riding to the rescue of the neutral fan from the black hatted Celtics, Lakers and most of all Heat. That will definitely change at some point but for now I'm content with knowing that my favorite sports team can win a championship this year. They certainly aren't favorites, but they can do it. I hope they do. I hope this meteoric rise happens before too many people catch on and I can just enjoy this snapshot of a season before the reality of big money professional athletics sets in and Derrick reveals himself to be a flawed human or Noah gets traded or they rebel against the intensity of their coach. To quote my dude Red, "I hope" and as sentimentally retarded as that is, I haven't felt that about sports for many, many years.

[jim]

If heart = hustle, and chemistry doesn't mean having a beer after the game, then I don't know why it isn't relevant. The Heat are ranked what for points in the paint? 28, 29? Bulls just keep coming after you with one weapon after another. Rose of course, Deng, Korver, Brewer, Booz, Noah, ... even Asik. I've see all of those players put the team on their back at some point through the season. How about that last game against the Heat when Rose took the game over? Final play, who do you go to? Rose of course. Except he kicks it out to a wide open Deng who drains a 3.

That's chemistry!

[thrill]

If heart = hustle, and chemistry doesn't mean having a beer after the game, then I don't know why it isn't relevant. The Heat are ranked what for points in the paint? 28, 29? Bulls just keep coming after you with one weapon after another. Rose of course, Deng, Korver, Brewer, Booz, Noah, ... even Asik. I've see all of those players put the team on their back at some point through the season. How about that last game against the Heat when Rose took the game over? Final play, who do you go to? Rose of course. Except he kicks it out to a wide open Deng who drains a 3.

That's chemistry!

I don't think that's chemistry, I think it's good roster management. Despite themselves, the Bulls created a deep, balanced roster that has more than three pieces that don't play well together.

If you replaced Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with role players, Ray Allen and Amare Stoudemire, LeBron and Co would be killing people. It's just a poorly constructed roster in Miami.

Basically what I'm saying is that as much as it's fun to say, I'm not so sure the Heat's problems are chemistry or heart. They're skills just aren't complimentary and they have too many holes in their roster.

[jim]

If heart = hustle, and chemistry doesn't mean having a beer after the game, then I don't know why it isn't relevant. The Heat are ranked what for points in the paint? 28, 29? Bulls just keep coming after you with one weapon after another. Rose of course, Deng, Korver, Brewer, Booz, Noah, ... even Asik. I've see all of those players put the team on their back at some point through the season. How about that last game against the Heat when Rose took the game over? Final play, who do you go to? Rose of course. Except he kicks it out to a wide open Deng who drains a 3.

That's chemistry!

I don't think that's chemistry, I think it's good roster management. Despite themselves, the Bulls created a deep, balanced roster that has more than three pieces that don't play well together.

If you replaced Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with role players, Ray Allen and Amare Stoudemire, LeBron and Co would be killing people. It's just a poorly constructed roster in Miami.

Basically what I'm saying is that as much as it's fun to say, I'm not so sure the Heat's problems are chemistry or heart. They're skills just aren't complimentary and they have too many holes in their roster.

To me chemistry is roster construction .. but it's all semantics. I don't think the Heat have a character issue or anything like that, I don't think they aren't gamers etc.. Like you I just think they aren't a very well rounded team, and good NBA teams will expose that.

I guess there is a right(Celtics) and wrong(Heat) way to put together a group of superstars.

[TGantz]

How long until Mario Chalmers is taking all the big shots at the end of the game?

He should have been from the beginning.

LeBron and Wade are guaranteed to have multiple defenders, and if Bosh got the shot and missed I'd be afraid for his life. Chalmers has ice in his veins and will be open.

[thrill]

How long until Mario Chalmers is taking all the big shots at the end of the game?

He should have been from the beginning.

Lol, I was joking. You have to give the ball to whoever is best at creating their own shot. Even if that is Mario Chalmers (which it most definitely is not), you can't undermine the fabulous egos of LeBron and Wade. Keeping those guys happy is in the best interests of the organization long-term

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This theory may be tested with the whispers coming out that Lakers fans shouldn't necessarily run out and buy their Dwight Howard jerseys just yet. The Nets and the Bulls are players too. The Bulls having the best trade piece to acquire him. Joakim Noah. If Jo is everything that is intangibly right with this team, he should be untouchable, but unfortunately it's intangible. Pairing the best defensive post player of this generation with a coach who's defensive system is centered around a post defender who can have the traffic funneled directly to him to disrupt shots would be a slam dunk. On an intangible level however, I've never been sold the Dwight Howard bill of goods. I think he's a phony, arrogant LeBronish clown who would dominate on the Bulls but would also turn them into just another unlikable NBA super team like the Celtics with their cadre of d bags or the Lakers with their thoroughly unlikable excellence.

Celtics and Lakers fans love their guys, and non-Bulls fans find Noah to be an unlikable d bag, so I don't think there's as much dichotomy there as you're saying.

[thrill]

This theory may be tested with the whispers coming out that Lakers fans shouldn't necessarily run out and buy their Dwight Howard jerseys just yet. The Nets and the Bulls are players too. The Bulls having the best trade piece to acquire him. Joakim Noah. If Jo is everything that is intangibly right with this team, he should be untouchable, but unfortunately it's intangible. Pairing the best defensive post player of this generation with a coach who's defensive system is centered around a post defender who can have the traffic funneled directly to him to disrupt shots would be a slam dunk. On an intangible level however, I've never been sold the Dwight Howard bill of goods. I think he's a phony, arrogant LeBronish clown who would dominate on the Bulls but would also turn them into just another unlikable NBA super team like the Celtics with their cadre of d bags or the Lakers with their thoroughly unlikable excellence.

Celtics and Lakers fans love their guys, and non-Bulls fans find Noah to be an unlikable d bag, so I don't think there's as much dichotomy there as you're saying.

That's probably true. My main point is that Bulls fans can love this team and non-Bulls fans can like them as currently constructed but that's not always going to be the case. Everybody loves Derrick Rose right now, but they love him because he's new. He may well be a better guy than Kobe, LeBron or whichever other superstar you want to name. He's also more exciting than Duncan, Nash and Chris Paul, but at some point he's going to reach his saturation point with fans and there will something to not like. Right now it's all gold. Same applies for Durant.