Even without D'Antoni, Bulls have become an offens

[??? ??????]

When Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks visit the United Center on Tuesday, last summer's coaching search will barely register as a story line. With offers from both teams, D'Antoni picked the Knicks over the Bulls.

The former Suns boss turned New York into a high-scoring group. But to the surprise of no one, the Knicks are out of playoff contention and as of Saturday owned the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. Early this season, the Knicks traded away their top two scorers (Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph) to help create cap room for 2010.

The Bulls eventually settled on coaching rookie Vinny Del Negro but didn't miss out on the offensive firepower. In fact, they've become one of the league's most efficient scoring machines. Here is some eye-opening evidence:

• The Bulls shot just 42.1 percent in Saturday's victory over New Jersey. Before that, they shot better than 50 percent from the field in three straight games and six of the previous eight.

During the previous four seasons, including the three playoff years, the Bulls never shot better than 50 percent in three straight games. They just accomplished that feat twice in a span of eight contests.

• During the month of March, with John Salmons starting at small forward, the Bulls ranked fifth in scoring (106.4 points), fifth in field-goal percentage (.474), third in 3-point percentage (.404) and fourth in free-throw percentage (.812).

No other team ranked among the league's top five in more than two of those categories in March.

• Over the last 10 games, the Bulls averaged 109.4 points, shot .498 from the field and posted a 7-3 record.

All this offense is fun to watch, but it won't do a team any good unless some defense works its way into the mix. The Bulls have been OK to poor in that regard. They rank 21st in the league in points allowed (102.5) and are a respectable 13th in defensive field-goal percentage (.456). During their high-scoring month of March, they managed an average scoring margin of plus-2.4.

The biggest difference between the Bulls and Miami (besides Dwyane Wade, of course) is the Heat knows how to turn up the defensive pressure late in games, which is why it's battling Philadelphia for fifth place in the East. The Bulls can get tough defensively at home sometimes but struggle on the road.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=284293

 

[chi_hawks_23]

Ah...Pringles again. Good find.

I guess the question Bulls management has to ask itself is whether or not we'd be better, now and down the road a few years, with DanTony at the helm? I guess I'm still somewhat bitter about all of this b/c it seems that under Vinny's system, we play little to no defense, and mostly rely on our offense to win us games. Sound familiar?

Defense seemed to be one of the reasons why JR wanted to meet with DanTony, to make sure he understood that 7SOL is fine, as long as we "D it up", Chicago style. DanTony then took a huge offer from the Knicks, we hire DanTony lite, and here we are.

So if we aren't going to play defense under Vinny, and its "OK" by management, then you might as well hire the best offensive coach in the game today as otherwise, you are selling yourself short. And that is what I fear we may have done with VDN.

 

[??? ??????]

chi_hawks_23 wrote:

Ah...Pringles again. Good find.

I guess the question Bulls management has to ask itself is whether or not we'd be better, now and down the road a few years, with DanTony at the helm? I guess I'm still somewhat bitter about all of this b/c it seems that under Vinny's system, we play little to no defense, and mostly rely on our offense to win us games. Sound familiar?

Defense seemed to be one of the reasons why JR wanted to meet with DanTony, to make sure he understood that 7SOL is fine, as long as we "D it up", Chicago style. DanTony then took a huge offer from the Knicks, we hire DanTony lite, and here we are.

So if we aren't going to play defense under Vinny, and its "OK" by management, then you might as well hire the best offensive coach in the game today as otherwise, you are selling yourself short. And that is what I fear we may have done with VDN.

Yeah, but we all know that Reinsdorf was never going to pay D'Antoni what it would take. D'Antoni has to be paid like a legitimately good NBA coach, while Vinny Del Negro costs less than Rick Brunson or Randy Livingston.

And I think even if money wasn't the most important thing to D'Antoni, I think Reinsdorf's badgering of D'Antoni about what he would do without Ben Gordon on the team (the Bulls best offensive player...someone who would logically be important to a coach like D'Antoni), didn't help either, and probably was what scared him away.

 

[TheStig]

??? ?????? wrote:

chi_hawks_23 wrote:

Ah...Pringles again. Good find.

I guess the question Bulls management has to ask itself is whether or not we'd be better, now and down the road a few years, with DanTony at the helm? I guess I'm still somewhat bitter about all of this b/c it seems that under Vinny's system, we play little to no defense, and mostly rely on our offense to win us games. Sound familiar?

Defense seemed to be one of the reasons why JR wanted to meet with DanTony, to make sure he understood that 7SOL is fine, as long as we "D it up", Chicago style. DanTony then took a huge offer from the Knicks, we hire DanTony lite, and here we are.

So if we aren't going to play defense under Vinny, and its "OK" by management, then you might as well hire the best offensive coach in the game today as otherwise, you are selling yourself short. And that is what I fear we may have done with VDN.

Yeah, but we all know that Reinsdorf was never going to pay D'Antoni what it would take. D'Antoni has to be paid like a legitimately good NBA coach, while Vinny Del Negro costs less than Rick Brunson or Randy Livingston.

And I think even if money wasn't the most important thing to D'Antoni, I think Reinsdorf's badgering of D'Antoni about what he would do without Ben Gordon on the team (the Bulls best offensive player...someone who would logically be important to a coach like D'Antoni), didn't help either, and probably was what scared him away.

Couldn't agree more, but we are also a better offensive team becuase every team game plans for Rose and he can get other guys open shots. Last year, we just had Kirk dribble around and we forced a lot of shots. We seem to be getting a lot more going to the basket and more open shots this year. I still think with Pringles we'd be a 4 or 5 seed and have one of the most dynamic offenses in the league and not just for a three game stretch. Pringles has done wonders for a team that has nothing but junk on the roster. He just doesn't look good at drafting.

 

[chi_hawks_23]

??? ?????? wrote:

while Vinny Del Negro costs less than Rick Brunson or Randy Livingston.

:laugh:

So true.......and I suppose maybe that's what it came down to for JR. It was a steep price, and we know that JR can pay it, but won't unless he's got some pretty solid evidence that a tile is right around the corner.

 

[Wade Wilson]

I like the high scoring, but the defense is really a problem.

I sometimes ask myself whether making the playoffs is worthwhile if doing so means Vinny is brought back, because I'm not sure whether he is gonna be capable of turng things around defensively next season.

 

[chi_hawks_23]

Wade Wilson wrote:

I like the high scoring, but the defense is really a problem.

I sometimes ask myself whether making the playoffs is worthwhile if doing so means Vinny is brought back, because I'm not sure whether he is gonna be capable of turng things around defensively next season.

Welcome to my world! I find myself muttering the same things over and over in some of these games, almost wishing for a collapse so that VDN will be fired.

But then reality sets in, and I realize that he has, more than likely, already done enough to retain his spot for next year. On top of that, there is no way the bulls are gonna pay skiles and VDN and a 3rd coach who has yet to be named, all at the same time. Add to that the prospect of actually finding a new/better coach (other then JVGundy, there arent many options), and so in the end, I put my "make the playoffs" hat back on.

 

[TSD]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110128/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan



judging by the details, it would seem the american was acting in self defense.

 

[CLWolf81]

That won't matter. They still believe in "an eye for an eye" there, so he'll die more than likely.

 

[TSD]

That won't matter. They still believe in "an eye for an eye" there, so he'll die more than likely.

Thats what I found odd, I dont get why they are so up in arms, by the description they were getting attacked robbed whatever and he busted a cap. I wouldnt freak out if some pakistani muslim killed a bunch of robbers in self defense here.

 

[BigPete]

**** the Packis. Read a book, they have been fighting a war against us since the minute UBL and Zwahiri headed for the border. They should be so lucky we don't 'liberate' them.

 

[TSD]

more to this story:



the US has demanded his immediate release



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110129/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan



The U.S. Embassy said the man had a diplomatic passport and was immune from prosecution. It accused the Pakistani police of illegally detaining him. The mission said the man, who the U.S. has not named, acted in self-defense against two armed men who approached his car in the city of Lahore on Thursday, intent on robbing him.

 

[BigPete]

I bet the robbers turned corpses were really ISI agents. I recommend reading Operation Dark Heart by Lt Col Anthony Shaffer, and the related article in Playboy magazine if anyone wants more insight into what I am talking about.

 

[sth]

I'm really curious to see if the Pakistanis give in on this.