Paxson Talks About Bulls Making Playoffs

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It turns out it was a heck of a Friday for the Bulls.

That’s because after a one season absence, the Bulls returned to the NBA playoffs thanks to an Oklahoma City 84-81 victory Friday over the Charlotte Bobcats.


“It’s important for a lot of reasons,” said General Manager John Paxson, who made the key February trade that propelled the Bulls to win 13 of their last 20. “We felt we stumbled last year. When we got lucky in the lottery and were able to get Derrick (Rose), we all hoped we’d be good enough to make it.


“More importantly,” said Paxson, “it’s good for confidence. It gives Derrick a chance to play in the playoffs. Joakim (Noah) didn’t play last year. It’s still a fairly young group. We all know how different the playoffs are, the intensity and all. The only way to understand is to be involved. So it’s a good thing for us.”


With the Bobcats’ loss, the Eastern Conference playoffs now are set with the Bulls and Pistons the last two teams in. It’s still to be decided whom the Bulls will open against.


The Bulls, 39-40 and tied with Detroit, have an outside chance of moving as high as fifth, which would mean a series with Atlanta, which Friday clinched fourth with Miami’s loss in Boston. It looks like the slumping Magic, losers to the Knicks at home, will be third with Boston the No. 2 seed and Cleveland No. 1.


The No. 8 seed will open in Cleveland, No. 7 likely in Boston, No. 6 likely in Orlando and No. 5 in Atlanta.


“This is a step,” Paxson said. “None of us want to get overly excited because this isn’t the standard we want to have. With that said, there are three games left (Charlotte at home Saturday). All of us would like to get to .500 and play well these last three games. Maybe finish above .500. Our guys should be playing for that.


“We have nothing to lose,” said Paxson. “We’ll be playing one of the top three no matter where we finish. So why not just go out and lay it on the line and play and give it your best shot and see what happens.”
“It wasn’t looking like we would be (in the playoffs),” said Paxson. “You’ve got to give the (coaching) staff credit for staying with it every day. The players, obviously, wanted this to happen. They kept battling, and there was no question we’ve gotten better.


“Getting John and Brad on board helped us immediately, especially when Luol (Deng) went down,” said Paxson. “If we were not able to do that we would have been in real trouble. The thing about a season is it’s long. People tend to want to analyze quickly and determine your fate quickly. You’ve still got to play all 82. Everyone worked real hard. It’s good for our players.


“I always like to see players rewarded when they don’t quit and hang with it and buy in,” said Paxson. “I’m really happy for them. And for Vinny and the staff it’s important the positive reinforcement with how much time they put in.


“We’ve done it, and it’s not like we’ve been completely healthy,” noted Paxson. “A lot of teams have had injuries. We’ve had our share. We could have faltered. The guys haven’t. They played through it. Even when we suffered bad losses here and there, we bounced back and righted the ship.


“One thing that happened is with all the injures, a lot of times the rotation was shortened,” said Paxson. “Some guys gained confidence with the minutes they got. So there was some benefit in that. Guys are playing a lot of minutes, but in this case with us it probably was good in finding confidence with the minutes.


“When Lu got hurt, if we hadn’t had John being able to step in and play like he played, I don’t see how we ever would have gotten here,” said Paxson. “He’s been a huge difference. We were pretty lucky there.


“We’ve been good at home,” said Paxson. “And even when we weren’t particularly playing well at home, we found ways to win those games. And I think Derrick’s contribution in those games has been really meaningful. We’ve come back in a lot of games. He’s done his thing, but didn’t really take control until the fourth quarter. He’s made huge plays for us in the fourth quarter to help us win some home games. We haven’t always played great at home, but we found ways to win. Which we could not say last year and early this year. This is a step.”

http://blogs.bulls.com/chicago_bulls_blog/2009/04/paxson-talks-about-bulls-making-playoffs.html

 

[charity stripe]

Again Paxson is referring to how important Deng is to the team. He seems to overrate him a lot.

 

[Gene]

We're playing really good basketball. I'm still hoping we play Orlando in the first round. That team is an upset waiting to happen. Then again, I could see them sweeping us if we leave them open on the perimeter.

 

[??? ??????]

charity stripe wrote:

Again Paxson is referring to how important Deng is to the team. He seems to overrate him a lot.

They're just saving face there. Maintain his value, so maybe he can be consolidated with maybe Thomas for Chris Bosh, or just dumped for capspace.

If we can't land a star, it might be a good idea to bring almost everyone back, and just let the cake bake. John Salmons is pretty old, and maybe Deng could grow into the starting small forward role again.

PG-Derrick Rose (36) / Kirk Hinrich (12)
SG- Ben Gordon (36) / Kirk Hinrich (12)
SF - John Salmons (32) / Luol Deng (16)
PF- Tyrus Thomas (32) / Luol Deng (12) / Joakim Noah (4)
C - Joakim Noah (28) / Brad Miller (20)

Minute break down of:

Derrick Rose - 36
Ben Gordon -36
John Salmons - 32
Tyrus Thomas - 32
Joakim Noah - 32
Luol Deng - 28
Kirk Hinrich - 24
Brad Miller - 20

Good, solid 8 man rotation. Just let the cake bake and see how that team develops.

 

[collisrost]

I diasgree. Deng is very important to the team, it's not just face saving. He isn't worth his contract, but he still is one of the most important players on the Bulls because he is a very effective player. He really would ahve been missed if we didn't have a good replacement in John Salmons.

Remember the year we signed Ben Wallace, it was clear that that was going to turn into a bad contract over time, but that year he was a very important player to the team. You gotta live with your contract decisions, good or bad, and make basketball decisions based on basketball ability.

 

[dougthonus]

charity stripe wrote:

Again Paxson is referring to how important Deng is to the team. He seems to overrate him a lot.

His points didn't seem to really overrate Deng much to me. He made three basic points about injuries:

1) The Bulls had a lot of them
2) We couldn't have done it without Salmons
3) Injuries caused a shortened rotation which was good for the guys

 

[mlewinth]

collisrost wrote:

I diasgree. Deng is very important to the team, it's not just face saving. He isn't worth his contract, but he still is one of the most important players on the Bulls because he is a very effective player. He really would ahve been missed if we didn't have a good replacement in John Salmons.

I absolutly agree with you. Just because a player sucks doesn't mean he is not important to the team. I feel that Deng is one of the most important players on this team and because of that, we sucked the first few months. The problem here is he is incredibly important and he isin't playing up to the standard that we are expecting. I agree with Pax that getting Salmons was critical cause Deng got injured, but it was also critical cause Deng played like he was injured all year. Salmons is bringing to us, what we had hoped we had with Deng. If Deng played as we had hoped he would, we probobly would of been playing like this all year.


Reason #1435 to keep BG next year. If you keep him Deng isint as important to our overall success. If you don't your relying much, much more heavily on Deng and Hinrich...SHUDDER.....

 

[Ton]

TSN reports the Chicago Blackhawks have acquired Johnny Oduya from the Winnipeg Jets for a 2nd-round pick in 2013 and 3rd-round pick in 2013.



Oduya scored 2 goals and added 11 assists along with a minus-9 rating in 63 games with Winnipeg this season. The veteran defenseman averages 19:19 TOI. In his NHL career, Oduya has complied 22 goals, 87 assists, and plus-27 rating in 445 regular-season games with the New Jersey Devils, Atlanta Thrashers, and Winnipeg Jets.



Oduya, while small, is a great skater with a left-handed shot capable of playing in a shutdown role. The 30-year-old Swedish defenseman will also help improve puck movement from the back-end and is a tremendous teammate and professional.



"Obivously it's always mixed feelings," Oduya said, "The whole experience here has been really fun. Any time you battle with your teammates the whole year, it's sad to leave"



On the other hand, he also relishes the chance to don the Indian head and help the Blackhawks back on track.



"Good to be with a team in the hunt," Oduya stated to TSN. "Hopefully when you get brought in somewhere they see you can do some good for the team."



As far as his role in the organization, it is expected that he will see time on the 3rd pairing and possibly some time on special teams. Oduya's contract expires after the season, where he is set to become a UFA.



In 2010, Oduya represented Sweden in the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.



Click here to view the article

 

[Tater]

There's no article in that link.

 

[Ton]

It's coming, just happened 2 seconds ago, give me a minute lol.

 

[winos5]

Any info on what they gave up? Just heard it on TSN live.

 

[Ashor-redtribe]

Broke it first! nice to feel educated!

 

[DBQHawkFan]

Showing a second and third to be determined.

 

[winos5]

2nd and a 3rd. Jeebus. Hope he was worth it for a rental.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Hope that's not the only deal. Don't know what we gave up, but this is like putting a bandaid on a festering wound. Perphaps Toews return is the salve, but the wound AINT little.

 

[Shoots_he_scores]

2nd and a 3rd. Jeebus. Hope he was worth it for a rental.

Next year's draft according to Pierre LeBrun

 

[Ashor-redtribe]

Any info on what they gave up? Just heard it on TSN live.

2nd and a third round pick for 2013

 

[DBQHawkFan]

We'll get those back in the Bickell trade.

 

[xatruio]

Nice i've wanted Oduya since he was on the Devils i like him for what he brings! I'm officially happy, cuz D was the biggest need. NOw if we could get Morrow or Gaustad or Roy or Burish or Gagner.....

 

[mikita's helmet]

According to the link at TSN Oduya is mean.

• Jets trade defencmean Oduya to Blackhawks