Deng, Noah Disappointed With Bulls Fans

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By K.C. Johnson

Good for Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.

Both expressed disappointment at how Bulls fans booed Ben Gordon upon his return to the United Center Wednesday night as a Detroit Piston.

"Honestly, I didn't like that at all," Deng said in a rare stepping-out comment. "When 'BG' was here, he played hard and really committed to the game. I know he's not here. But he didn't do anything bad to the organization.

"I thought they were going to cheer for him. He played hard. I was disappointed in that. He should've got a better reception."

Noah even credited Gordon's work ethic for serving as an inspiration.

"I think he deserves all the respect in the world," Noah said. "He's one of the best scorers that ever wore the jersey. We wouldn't have been in the position we were in last year if it wasn't for that guy hitting big shot after big shot."

Taking fans to task for anything is a delicate subject because they spend lots of money on tickets and merchandise to pay players' salaries. But Deng and Noah got this one right.

Gordon represented the Bulls with professionalism and class for all five seasons. He played hurt. He helped lead the Bulls to four playoff appearances in five seasons when the franchise was trying to exit mediocrity. He accepted coming off the bench. He worked hard.

Granted, fans can be upset Gordon signed with a division rival. But remember that he tried to accept the Bulls' six-year, $54 million offer in 2008 after it was pulled from the table. And the Bulls chose to not trade Kirk Hinrich and maintain salary-cap space than even present Gordon with an offer this past summer.

That may prove to be the right move. But Gordon deserved better from fans who cheered him for the previous five seasons.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/12/bulls-gordon-deserved-better-from-fans.html

 

[TheStig]

Good for them standing up for the guy. I am glad someone in the organization realizes the impact he had on this team.

 

[ramblingrose33]

Agreed. It's interesting to see them talk that way. It lends me to believe that they're not too stoked about the decision to let him go. I don't blame them.

Does anybody recall one of the reasons the 2000 free agents didn't sign with the Bulls was a result of players not wanting to deal with Krause and JR?

 

[??? ??????]

All I have to say is that I gained a lot of respect for Noah/Deng. It was clear what BG did for the organization, and he deserves respect for that.

To see Deng/Noah stand out like that, it makes me more comforatable with this team going forward from a leadership standpoint. (They still need to add a lot of talent of course).

 

[houheffna]

All I have to say is that I gained a lot of respect for Noah/Deng. It was clear what BG did for the organization, and he deserves respect for that.

To see Deng/Noah stand out like that, it makes me more comforatable with this team going forward from a leadership standpoint. (They still need to add a lot of talent of course).

I am sure they feel the same way about each other, Hinrich, Deng, even Rose...they are wrong because you don't tell the fans what to do...its a losing battle.

 

[cool007]

houheffna wrote:

All I have to say is that I gained a lot of respect for Noah/Deng. It was clear what BG did for the organization, and he deserves respect for that.

To see Deng/Noah stand out like that, it makes me more comforatable with this team going forward from a leadership standpoint. (They still need to add a lot of talent of course).

I am sure they feel the same way about each other, Hinrich, Deng, even Rose...they are wrong because you don't tell the fans what to do...its a losing battle.

It's really pathetic.

IMO, the whole media is messing up the minds of the casual fans. I remember JR sending a letter to the each season ticket holder about why they didn't resign BG by saying that now that they have Signed Pargo and having Hinrich/Salmons on the team - so BG would not get minutes here anyways and his role would be diminished.

I am like WTF??? Gordon is better than Salmons/Hinrich/Pargo yet HIS minutes would be diminished over those players? Really????

First of all, we really didn't need to sign Pargo and 2nd, Hinrich really doesn't fit in with Rose anyways. Our front office is way bigger mess - especially JR than anything.

Media has been really instilling a lot of hate towards Gordon as well - by saying he can't guard anyone's statue or a chair and he is a chucker and how he kills the ball movement and how he is very inconsistent etc

But they don't realize that pretty much all those things can be said about Hinrich as well - overdribbles, can't play consistently well, disappears, can't score, shoots horribly at times, and some of the time his defense is way overrated. But do we hear any of the stuff about Hinrich??? NO.

It was Gordon who became the scapegoat and this year, it will be Tyrus - by really praising Taj Gibson - it already has started by Neil Funk already.

 

[houheffna]

Its good to see you online Cool...hope things are going well with your team...holla at me if you have any questions/concerns.

 

[cool007]

houheffna wrote:

Its good to see you online Cool...hope things are going well with your team...holla at me if you have any questions/concerns.

No man, it's not really good. I was not there for the draft and I got some shitty players that play awful (BDiddy, Brand, Brad Miller, and other crap players - the best player was Roy but he is not playing great either). Also no-one wants to trade with me either. I tried many different trades but nobody wants this garbage.

It's okay, hope they start playing well.

 

[RC_Skinny22]

Hmm a very difficult situation for the current players. I mean what do you want to say? Of course Gordon did much for this organization, but you can´t say "we miss him and we´d be better with him" because then you say something against the guys who give you your contract.

But they´re right that Gordon deserves more way respect.

 

[mlewinth]

I love that Deng and Noah are stepping up, but I just want Luol to remember, that Ben Gordon would still be a Bull if Deng did not insist on such a ridiculous contract. Deng was threatening to walk, so the Bulls gave in and gave him Special person money. If you wanna boo someone, boo that son of a *****.

 

[Simeon2UC]

I heard cheers and boos. Sad, though, if anyone were to get booed, it should have been management. They have tight wallets.

 

[Diddy1122]

mlewinth wrote:

I love that Deng and Noah are stepping up, but I just want Luol to remember, that Ben Gordon would still be a Bull if Deng did not insist on such a ridiculous contract. Deng was threatening to walk, so the Bulls gave in and gave him Special person money. If you wanna boo someone, boo that son of a *****.

Agreed. I was not surprised that they stood up for BG tho. BG even stated that Lu, Jo, & Derrick are really the only former teammates he keeps in touch with.

I was disappointed by the boos but it wasn't as bad as some on here...'cough Mark cough'...made it out to be. It was a select group, they just happened to be very loud about it because 85% of the time the UC crowd is in a nacho-induced coma. Yea the UC is filled every home game, but it's rarely ever rockin' like old Chicago Stadium used to. God I miss that stadium.

 

[Kush77]

mlewinth wrote:

I love that Deng and Noah are stepping up, but I just want Luol to remember, that Ben Gordon would still be a Bull if Deng did not insist on such a ridiculous contract. Deng was threatening to walk, so the Bulls gave in and gave him Special person money. If you wanna boo someone, boo that son of a *****.

I gotta disagree with ya Mark.

I don't blame Deng for getting his big contract. It's not Deng's fault that cheap-ass JR can't go into the luxery tax and operates this team like it's the Charlotte Bulls or the Green Bay Bulls.

I would give Deng props for setting that deadline, playing hardball. and the Bulls gave in. They clearly favored Deng over Gordon. Not sure why.

 

[72-10]

IMO, most casual fans just see the Pistons uniform, they probably don't follow the game as close as we do.

 

[Hendu0520]

I was highly disapointed in the Chicago fans. I never really believed Fred that Chicago fans didn't like Gordon, I don't live out there, but my god.

Ben Gordon is the best player to wear a Bulls uniform since the '98 team. And he didn't even get an offer from the Bulls, so why would they boo? Horrible Chicago.

 

[houheffna]

I love that Deng and Noah are stepping up, but I just want Luol to remember, that Ben Gordon would still be a Bull if Deng did not insist on such a ridiculous contract. Deng was threatening to walk, so the Bulls gave in and gave him Special person money. If you wanna boo someone, boo that son of a *****.

While I agree Luol shouldn't have much to say...I don't think he is out of bounds for insisting on getting paid as much as he can. That only makes sense...get what you can, while you can. If he prices himself out of the market...then so long. But Reinsdorf would have caught it 10 times harder if he had let Deng walk because he was Mr. Hotshot back then. I personally wouldn't boo Gordon or Deng or any Bulls players or front office people for that matter. Deng had leverage and he used it...lets see what he does now...

I know a good amount of Bulls fans...most of them hate Hinrich...I explained that before...I don't think there was a genuine dislike for Gordon amongst people I knew. There was just a prevalent argument that he was not a necessity. There just wasn't that many people around me impressed with him or any of the Bulls before Rose. Deng had a few people fooled for a couple of months, but for the most part no one disliked Gordon amongst the group I knew...he worked hard and dedicated himself to getting better (though I think he is as good as he is going to get). He maximized his talents.

I have talked about Ben Wallace being the cause for problems in the organization since I joined this forum. Wallace is given a free ride because the true story has not hit the masses yet. Its not that he didn't play up to his contract...he sabotaged Skiles and destroyed any team chemistry the Bulls had, he was a butcher. And nobody noticed...and journalists in town still dont talk about that situation enough...

 

[Hendu0520]

Heff, great point about Wallace being the reason the Bulls took a step back he definately ruined us. However I don't know if I can blame the front office for giving him that deal at the time. Remember we just lost Eddy Curry to his heart murmur so Center was our biggest void. There were no other Centers out there at the time and the Bulls had to get someone to be competetive. At the time Wallace was the best player available so I can't be sooo mad at that either.

Reinsdorf/Paxson/Forman don't seem to take too many chances, they seem pretty predictable. They had to sign Wallace or someone that offseason, they had to throw money at Deng or the fans would've had their heads. The problem that I have with the front office is that they seem to care about the fan's opinon too much on some issues and on other things they totally ignore the fans. This leads to shaky decisions and not taking chances that can bring home a great player or two.

 

[houheffna]

You are absolutely right...when they got Big Ben, I was ecstatic. I told friends though that this was like a top pitching staff who has a bad lineup trying to get better...by adding another pitcher. They needed help offensively. Reinsdorf supposedly was the driving force behind that deal. That is why I don't understand the Reinsdorf is so cheap talk. He overspent on Wallace by 10-15mil.

 

[Hendu0520]

That's true the Bulls did need offense. Detroit didn't even come close to making that type of an offer so yah they did overpay, but who would've thought Wallace would be so unprofessional? I thought Pax did an okay job getting rid of him to Cleveland, it did free up some cap space, and allowed us to use Gooden in a better trade to get Salmons and Miller.

They just can't make the right big move, they make good small moves.

 

[houheffna]

THAT is the problem...has been for years. Even back to Krause drafting Pippen, Pippen had franchise player skills, but he wasn't there mentally...and never would be. This is a franchise that seems to strike out concerning acquiring a franchise player. That doesn't mean they haven't tried...numerous times.