The Cubs open the season on April 1st against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's one of those years when a lot of us don't expect much from our team. And perhaps that bodes well for the Cubs - it's in years like this that no one is expecting much that the Cubs tend to do better.
The key for them is their pitchers. I mean, we know what we're getting with Dempster and with Randy Wells. I feel that both of them will do what they are capable of. Wells could be one of the better 4th starters in the league, and Dempster, while he is the opening day pitcher, is really more of a middle of the rotation type on a really good team.
That's where Dempster may end up, because there are two higher end talents in this rotation - Carlos Zambrano and Matt Garza. Both have the arms and the "stuff" to be top of the rotation types. Ideally they would be one and two in a good rotation. If they pitch up to their capabilities, and keep their heads in the game, they'll help make up a very good rotation.
The fifth starter appears to be Andrew Cashner, a young guy who was a number 1 draft pick of the Cubs only a few years back. He's got "stuff" and talent, too, and could pitch like a top of the rotation guy. Trouble is, as a virtual rookie, he is a question mark and could easily go the other way, too. In that case, I do believe the Cubs have options with several young players who showed that they could pitch in the majors last year.
The Cubs' bullpen should be okay, with Marmol, Wood and Marshall holding down the back end, and Samarzidja, Grabow and one other (Looper? Wellemayer?) filling out the pen. Bullpens are always a bit of a crapshoot, but the Cubs look solid enough there. Offensively, there are questions. But if Soriano can come back toward his career norms, Ramirez can bounce back in a contract year, and Pena can do something other than what he did last year and play good defense, they should be fine. I'm good with Soto, Castro, Colvin and Barney/Baker (at second), and Byrd in CF for now. Should be okay. We'll see what happens.
*****
The Bulls got beat by the Sixers, then dominated the T-wolves last night. Boozer had a great game without Noah on the floor, and after the game, Rose mentioned (in response to a question from a reporter) that he notices Boozer to be more aggressive when Noah isn't on the floor. It's a dilemma that the Bulls will need to figure out. We know Boozer isn't the greatest defensive power forward; he needs to be solid on the offensive end. It'd be nice if the Bulls could work it out over the course of the next couple weeks, before the playoffs. Noah, though, looks like he might be out for another couple games.
Maybe the answer is to play Noah with the second unit? Or Boozer with the second unit? Start him, play him for 3 minutes, sit him for Gibson, then bring him back in when Noah goes out. Play him with Thomas or Asik. Gibson is better defensively, but does not offer the offensive weapons that Boozer offers. The Bulls back in the Jordan years always used to try to establish the post game right off the bat, whether it was Cartwright or Longley starting. Maybe the reverse needs to be done. Pull Noah after a few minutes, and establish Boozer in the post right away. Then bring Noah in with the second unit. I don't know...
Anyway, it looks like the Bulls stand a real chance of going far in the playoffs. I'm totally rooting for them!!!
*****
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Bulls and Hawks
I went to my first Black Hawks game in a long time last night and got to see them beat the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-0. Cory Crawford, the impressive young goalie, pitched a shutout as Kopecke (spelling?), Kane, Victor (can't remember his last name!) and Seabrook scored. All the scoring took place in the late second and third periods.
Hockey is perhaps the only game that is better to view in person than on TV, for the actual watching of the game.
*****
The Bulls are continuing to win, beating up on the Atlanta Hawks (yeah, those same Hawks that they blew a lead to a few weeks ago) and many other teams. I took that loss to the Hawks to mean that perhaps the Bulls weren't quite ready for prime time, but maybe the team simply took it as a learning experience, because they really haven't failed to put anyone away since. Not to say that they've won all their games (they did lose to the Pacers) but when they've had a big lead (more than once or twice) they've maintained it without letting the opponent back into the game.
Derrick Rose now appears to be the favorite for the MVP.
The Bulls are in first place in their conference, and that first seed could be very valuable to them in the postseason, assuming they can hold onto it. Everything about their schedule suggests that they could do just that!
*****
Hockey is perhaps the only game that is better to view in person than on TV, for the actual watching of the game.
*****
The Bulls are continuing to win, beating up on the Atlanta Hawks (yeah, those same Hawks that they blew a lead to a few weeks ago) and many other teams. I took that loss to the Hawks to mean that perhaps the Bulls weren't quite ready for prime time, but maybe the team simply took it as a learning experience, because they really haven't failed to put anyone away since. Not to say that they've won all their games (they did lose to the Pacers) but when they've had a big lead (more than once or twice) they've maintained it without letting the opponent back into the game.
Derrick Rose now appears to be the favorite for the MVP.
The Bulls are in first place in their conference, and that first seed could be very valuable to them in the postseason, assuming they can hold onto it. Everything about their schedule suggests that they could do just that!
*****
Thursday, March 10, 2011
It struck me...
...that I got a little schizo there after that bad loss to the Atlanta Hawks. In that post I'm suggesting that they aren't ready to win an NBA title. Two posts later, I'm raving about their team, their work ethic, their composition, their coaching and their star.
The points I made in that post after the Atlanta loss are valid, I think. I do seriously think the Bulls need an upgrade at the two guard, and it should be someone who can run the second team efficiently and effectively. It's this team's weakness. Wouldn't it be nice if, oh, say, Brandon Roy was at the two, and when Derrick goes out for a breather, Roy could stay in and slide over to point, or just sort of run the offense through him at that point. They can't do that with Bogans, Brewer or Rasual Butler (if he ever contributes).
Health is another concern - minutes are piling up on Rose, and Boozer got fouled (flagrantly) last night against the Bobcats and is out. But Noah should be relatively fresh as should be Gibson, and if Boozer returns, he should be relatively fresh also.
But this IS a team that could go far. Maybe to the Eastern Conference championship. Maybe to the league championship. Maybe all the way.
Nothing's a given, but you have to like this Bulls team at this point. They're ahead of where any of us thought they'd be. They've better than most predicted. That's due to Rose's growth as a player. But it's also due to having Boozer as an offensive threat to open up the outside and lanes for Rose and their shooters. And it's due to their defensive intensity, which I believe is a direct result of their coach.
Go Bulls!
*****
The points I made in that post after the Atlanta loss are valid, I think. I do seriously think the Bulls need an upgrade at the two guard, and it should be someone who can run the second team efficiently and effectively. It's this team's weakness. Wouldn't it be nice if, oh, say, Brandon Roy was at the two, and when Derrick goes out for a breather, Roy could stay in and slide over to point, or just sort of run the offense through him at that point. They can't do that with Bogans, Brewer or Rasual Butler (if he ever contributes).
Health is another concern - minutes are piling up on Rose, and Boozer got fouled (flagrantly) last night against the Bobcats and is out. But Noah should be relatively fresh as should be Gibson, and if Boozer returns, he should be relatively fresh also.
But this IS a team that could go far. Maybe to the Eastern Conference championship. Maybe to the league championship. Maybe all the way.
Nothing's a given, but you have to like this Bulls team at this point. They're ahead of where any of us thought they'd be. They've better than most predicted. That's due to Rose's growth as a player. But it's also due to having Boozer as an offensive threat to open up the outside and lanes for Rose and their shooters. And it's due to their defensive intensity, which I believe is a direct result of their coach.
Go Bulls!
*****
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
With a little bit of luck...
There are three elements, I think, that go into the making of an NBA champion. We got to experience that first hand here in Chicago, and may be experiencing it again.
The first is good coaching. Phil Jackson has a whole bunch of rings, and yes, he's done it with arguably the best players in the NBA at that given time, but he's still done it. He's a great coach. There are other great coaches out there. We in Chicago are hoping we have a great one in Tom Thibideaux. He's looking pretty good.
The second element is player acquisition. For all the abuse Jerry Krause took (and still takes) in Chicago from the fans, he did a great job of putting players around Michael Jordan who could complement their star and who could play together as a team. These guys were not slouches by themselves; Scottie Pippen is in the Hall of Fame, and Dennis Rodman should be. Horace Grant was a great power forward, too. But it was also about acquiring second team talent who could do what was needed to win games. Guys like Jud Buechler, Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington, John Paxson and Bill Cartwright were not winning championships starting but by being role players who could play their role consistently.
John Paxson has done a good job surrounding his very own star, Derrick Rose, with talented players who complement his game well. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah are very talented players on their own, as is Luol Deng, but it's the way they fit together that's making this Bulls team a force to contend with. And second teamers like Kurt Thomas, Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Brewer are guys who are playing their roles to perfection so far.
But the third, and perhaps the most important, is luck. Let's face it: The Bulls lucked into Michael Jordan when the Trailblazers took Sam Bowie instead of him. To be fair, I think they already had Clyde "The Glide" Drexler at the two guard, and they badly needed a big man, and Sam Bowie was a 7'1" post player who had a ton of talent. But had they taken Jordan, things would have been a lot different.
And this Bulls team lucked into the number 1 pick at the point in time where Derrick Rose was available for them to select. Even so, there was a bit of disagreement on whether they should take Rose, the point guard destined for stardom, or Michael Beasley, the 6'10" front court force that they had lacked for so many years.
(Krause was poor at drafting this position back in the old days - who can forget guys like Jason Caffey and Dickie Simpkins? Not that they were bad players - just not guys who you could plug into the starting lineup and not guys who were ever going to be stars in this league.)
Paxson had a bit of luck at the PF position, coming up with Gibson near the end of the first round a couple years ago. A decent role player for a very good team. An average starter on an average team. For this team, he's a role player.
Paxson also had the good fortune to be positioned well for the 2010 free agent class, which contained luminaries Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh and the guy Pax actually got, Carlos Boozer. (He might like to have Hinrich back, having dealt him to clear space in case Lebron or Wade actually decided to come to Chicago instead of trying to form a super team in Miami.)
Other teams have been lucky. How lucky were the Lakers to have been able to trade for Kobe Bryant? I want to say that Kobe was selected at the end of the lottery by the Hornets (13th, maybe) and then didn't play much as a player who came straight out of high school. That the Lakers were able to deal for him was a lucky stroke for them.
The Celtics were lucky to be in a position to surround Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen when both were available. And if an injury could be lucky, how lucky was it that David Robinson got injured and had to sit out a year, putting the Spurs in position to draft Tim Duncan number 1 overall then pair him with a healthy Robinson almost immediately?
The Cavaliers were lucky, too, to get the number 1 pick in a year where LeBron came out of high school. Local boy gets drafted by hometown team...what a great story. They weren't good enough at the player acquisition part, nor at the coaching part, to allow them to win with LeBron there. The Heat were lucky that they could get far enough down in salary to sign both James and Bosh in one year but it remains to be seen if they have the other two parts intact.
It remains to be seen whether the Bulls, or Knicks, or Hawks or Magic or any of the other up and coming teams, can sustain it; whether they've done a good enough job of putting the other guys around their stars and whether their coaches can make things work ala Phil Jackson. But it should be fun watching to find out...
*****
The first is good coaching. Phil Jackson has a whole bunch of rings, and yes, he's done it with arguably the best players in the NBA at that given time, but he's still done it. He's a great coach. There are other great coaches out there. We in Chicago are hoping we have a great one in Tom Thibideaux. He's looking pretty good.
The second element is player acquisition. For all the abuse Jerry Krause took (and still takes) in Chicago from the fans, he did a great job of putting players around Michael Jordan who could complement their star and who could play together as a team. These guys were not slouches by themselves; Scottie Pippen is in the Hall of Fame, and Dennis Rodman should be. Horace Grant was a great power forward, too. But it was also about acquiring second team talent who could do what was needed to win games. Guys like Jud Buechler, Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington, John Paxson and Bill Cartwright were not winning championships starting but by being role players who could play their role consistently.
John Paxson has done a good job surrounding his very own star, Derrick Rose, with talented players who complement his game well. Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah are very talented players on their own, as is Luol Deng, but it's the way they fit together that's making this Bulls team a force to contend with. And second teamers like Kurt Thomas, Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Brewer are guys who are playing their roles to perfection so far.
But the third, and perhaps the most important, is luck. Let's face it: The Bulls lucked into Michael Jordan when the Trailblazers took Sam Bowie instead of him. To be fair, I think they already had Clyde "The Glide" Drexler at the two guard, and they badly needed a big man, and Sam Bowie was a 7'1" post player who had a ton of talent. But had they taken Jordan, things would have been a lot different.
And this Bulls team lucked into the number 1 pick at the point in time where Derrick Rose was available for them to select. Even so, there was a bit of disagreement on whether they should take Rose, the point guard destined for stardom, or Michael Beasley, the 6'10" front court force that they had lacked for so many years.
(Krause was poor at drafting this position back in the old days - who can forget guys like Jason Caffey and Dickie Simpkins? Not that they were bad players - just not guys who you could plug into the starting lineup and not guys who were ever going to be stars in this league.)
Paxson had a bit of luck at the PF position, coming up with Gibson near the end of the first round a couple years ago. A decent role player for a very good team. An average starter on an average team. For this team, he's a role player.
Paxson also had the good fortune to be positioned well for the 2010 free agent class, which contained luminaries Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh and the guy Pax actually got, Carlos Boozer. (He might like to have Hinrich back, having dealt him to clear space in case Lebron or Wade actually decided to come to Chicago instead of trying to form a super team in Miami.)
Other teams have been lucky. How lucky were the Lakers to have been able to trade for Kobe Bryant? I want to say that Kobe was selected at the end of the lottery by the Hornets (13th, maybe) and then didn't play much as a player who came straight out of high school. That the Lakers were able to deal for him was a lucky stroke for them.
The Celtics were lucky to be in a position to surround Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen when both were available. And if an injury could be lucky, how lucky was it that David Robinson got injured and had to sit out a year, putting the Spurs in position to draft Tim Duncan number 1 overall then pair him with a healthy Robinson almost immediately?
The Cavaliers were lucky, too, to get the number 1 pick in a year where LeBron came out of high school. Local boy gets drafted by hometown team...what a great story. They weren't good enough at the player acquisition part, nor at the coaching part, to allow them to win with LeBron there. The Heat were lucky that they could get far enough down in salary to sign both James and Bosh in one year but it remains to be seen if they have the other two parts intact.
It remains to be seen whether the Bulls, or Knicks, or Hawks or Magic or any of the other up and coming teams, can sustain it; whether they've done a good enough job of putting the other guys around their stars and whether their coaches can make things work ala Phil Jackson. But it should be fun watching to find out...
*****
Friday, March 4, 2011
Cubs this spring...
The Cubs are fighting in the dugout already, and making errors in droves this spring. We knew that this wasn't a good defensive team last year, but we didn't think we'd be getting significantly worse. Hopefully these early spring errors are just a matter of getting in the groove, so to speak, and things smooth out as the team progresses toward the regular season.
I'm trying to get excited about the baseball season, but aside from it being a harbinger of good weather here in the North, I can't find much to get worked up about for the Cubs. I mean, what's to get excited about? Matt Garza? A solid addition, but I can't see him as a significant improvement over what we had going into last season. Last year it was Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Wells and Silva. This year it's Z, Demp, Garza, Wells and either Silva or a young arm. Garza tons better than Lilly? Not until he proves it on the mound for me.
Upgrade at second? Last year it was Fontenot and Baker. This year it's DeWitt and Baker. At short? Last year it was Theriot. This year, Castro. First? Lee vs Pena. I was more excited about Lee's possibilities last year, coming off an excellent season, than I am about Pena's this year, coming off a relatively poor season.
The only bright spot might be the bullpen, where Wood and Marmol anchor a relief corps that may include Todd Wellemayer and Braden Looper, or may include a bunch of young arms. We don't know yet.
At least Sox fans have Adam Dunn to get excited about.
*****
I'm trying to get excited about the baseball season, but aside from it being a harbinger of good weather here in the North, I can't find much to get worked up about for the Cubs. I mean, what's to get excited about? Matt Garza? A solid addition, but I can't see him as a significant improvement over what we had going into last season. Last year it was Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Wells and Silva. This year it's Z, Demp, Garza, Wells and either Silva or a young arm. Garza tons better than Lilly? Not until he proves it on the mound for me.
Upgrade at second? Last year it was Fontenot and Baker. This year it's DeWitt and Baker. At short? Last year it was Theriot. This year, Castro. First? Lee vs Pena. I was more excited about Lee's possibilities last year, coming off an excellent season, than I am about Pena's this year, coming off a relatively poor season.
The only bright spot might be the bullpen, where Wood and Marmol anchor a relief corps that may include Todd Wellemayer and Braden Looper, or may include a bunch of young arms. We don't know yet.
At least Sox fans have Adam Dunn to get excited about.
*****
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Bulls lose a bad one...
I didn't get to see any of the game, just listen to most of the 4th quarter on the radio, but you could tell that it was going to go either way by the way the Bulls were playing versus the way the Hawks were playing. The Hawks were getting calls. They were hitting free throws. They were hitting shots, and getting boards. The Bulls - not so much.
It's a bad loss because they had this game in control. Even as I listened they still had a good lead, but I missed the part where they rolled off 14 unanswered at the beginning of the game, then took a lead of 19 points, finally to finish at half time up by 17. There aren't too many games where you have that sort of cushion and you end up losing.
Rose had a bad game, Boozer had his usual poor effort on defense but a lackluster performance on the offensive end. Noah was outplayed by Al Horford of the Hawks. Their bench did little.
It's hard to criticize Thibideaux, but I think he needs a bit of work on his rotations. If Kyle Korver didn't take a shot till the fourth quarter, something is amiss with your second team play. (He hit two of three, both were threes, then he missed the shot to end the game.) The great Bulls teams had Jordan and Pippen, and when Jordan went out, Pippen stayed in to "general" the team in MJ's absence. Then Pippen's breathers came when Jordan was in. The Bulls don't have this. All they have is Derrick Rose. They need a big time two guard or a small forward who can run the team in Rose's absence. Deng is a good player, but he isn't the type of player Pippen was. Could they use a better backup to Rose? Yes, definitely. CJ Watson is okay but he hasn't shown he can do the things he needs to do to run the second team effectively. When Rose is off, so are the Bulls.
Rasual Butler may contribute some shots down the stretch run coming up, but he isn't the answer either. I like this team a lot, but I don't think it is a championship contender this year. Maybe next...
*****
It's a bad loss because they had this game in control. Even as I listened they still had a good lead, but I missed the part where they rolled off 14 unanswered at the beginning of the game, then took a lead of 19 points, finally to finish at half time up by 17. There aren't too many games where you have that sort of cushion and you end up losing.
Rose had a bad game, Boozer had his usual poor effort on defense but a lackluster performance on the offensive end. Noah was outplayed by Al Horford of the Hawks. Their bench did little.
It's hard to criticize Thibideaux, but I think he needs a bit of work on his rotations. If Kyle Korver didn't take a shot till the fourth quarter, something is amiss with your second team play. (He hit two of three, both were threes, then he missed the shot to end the game.) The great Bulls teams had Jordan and Pippen, and when Jordan went out, Pippen stayed in to "general" the team in MJ's absence. Then Pippen's breathers came when Jordan was in. The Bulls don't have this. All they have is Derrick Rose. They need a big time two guard or a small forward who can run the team in Rose's absence. Deng is a good player, but he isn't the type of player Pippen was. Could they use a better backup to Rose? Yes, definitely. CJ Watson is okay but he hasn't shown he can do the things he needs to do to run the second team effectively. When Rose is off, so are the Bulls.
Rasual Butler may contribute some shots down the stretch run coming up, but he isn't the answer either. I like this team a lot, but I don't think it is a championship contender this year. Maybe next...
*****
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