Team awards

[Bear Pride]

Hey everyone new to the Forum and also just joined the ChiCitySports team. I do a weekly Bulls podcast with my good friend Will Miller who also is contributing to the site. Look for our podcast every Monday and if you need do a little catching up to see what we are all about check us out at mybullszone.podomatic.com or search Chicago Bulls Zone on iTunes. Can't wait to start posting and interacting with everyone on here!! But real quick for our next show we wanted to do a poll...we want to see what everyone's opinion is now on who you think would win these team awards at the end of the season if the front office gave out such awards. Fill them out and listen to the show next Monday for the results

• Team MVP - DRose! He will quickly silence his critics, imo.
• DPOY - Love me some Noah, but I'm going with Jimmy. Time for Jimmy to be our 'neutralizer'!
• 6th Man - MDunn! The very fact that he'll keep Deng fresh enough for the playoffs is enough for me.
• Most Improved - This one may sound weird, but I'm going with Nazr. I think he won Thibbs respect in the playoffs, and could contribute much more.
• Biggest Disappointment - I'm hoping he plays well again this year, but this may be the Booze cruise here yo.
• Biggest Surprise - I Love me some Snell, but my biggest surprise is Murphy! The guy looks straight outa prep school, but the kid hustles. He kinda reminds me of Jimmy Chitwood from the Hoosiers.

 

[Shepard]

Team MVP- Derrick Rose

Although I don't believe this to be the obvious choice everyone feels it will be. If Rose's knee suffers soreness throughout the season as some expect...he may post 17 DNPs as the season grows older. IF we could somehow get a full healthy season out of Joakim and he actually plays over/under 78 games...Jo would be a sleeper to win the award should be play a considerable more amount of games than DR1. However, even Jo is at his best when DR1 plays...making Rose an easy choice for this award before the season.

DPOY- Joakim Noah

The great thing about this award is the Bulls have 4 different candidates who could win the award in Jo, Taj, Lu and Jimmy. If Taj were given the starting job (like he should) and saw more minutes...I'd lean towards Taj on this. The way Thibs' defense relies so much on switching on the pick & roll allowing Jo/Taj guard the ball handler is huge to this team's success. There isn't a better big man on the ball defender in the entire league than Jo. He's the perfect fit for Thibs defense and he'd really fit almost anywhere.

6th Man- Taj Gibson

Lets face it- we should be discussing Carlos Boozer for this award instead of Taj. Taj has drilled the open 17 footer with regularity all pre-season shooting around 75%. I understand there isn't such a thing as a pre-season MVP for the entire NBA...but if there were it would be between Taj and Andre Drummond at this point. Regardless, this is the first year of Taj's new contract and it will most likely be Boozer's last before being amnestied. Taj has shown a great left handed hook several times this pre-season as well as demonstrating a great stroke. If Taj shows any capability in matching some of Boozer's offensive game...Taj should be play a lot more. Thibs has said Taj has been the Bulls best player in camp this pre-season....we'll be able to tell if Thibs actually believes that. Its time Taj starts seeing 30 plus minutes a night...especially when the other backup big is Nazr Mohammed.


Most Improved- Jimmy Butler

Considering Butler's MPG is a sure bet to increase by about 13-15 minutes a night...he's a safe bet here. Add into the equation he will be facilitated by Rose this year? Jimmy Buckets may double his points per game and I feel last year's playoff numbers are a floor for what Jimmy will actually accomplish on a nightly basis this season. Easy pick here.

Biggest Disappointment- Carlos Boozer

It may be unfair to put him here because we're used to Booz letting us down, thus he shouldn't be a disappointment. Spare me the argument of "Hey he gives us 16 & 10 every night"....he gives it all back on the other end. Regardless of whether Booz getting this award year after year...he's going to let us down against Miami as its a foregone conclusion. He's completely ineffective against other athletic bigs who throw his shots out of the lane with regularity. Don't get me wrong- he's good for a monster performance against a weak front court on a weekly basis as his regular season monster game at Brooklyn last April in the regular season was a special game. However, Boozer has been nothing but a let down since coming to Chicago regardless of what you expected him to do. Rose is a sleeper for this award as well in regards to being too cautious reference his knee.

Biggest Surprise- Luol Deng

Much has been made of Lu's contract situation this off-season and I'm betting on Lu proving himself. Much has also been made of Rose perhaps finally having a capable 2G to buy him a few extra feet of space to operate in the half-court...this will be of a huge help for Lu as well as he may very well see the weakest of perimeter defenders the opposition has to offer on a nightly basis. What bugs me is that Lu never had his left wrist surgically repaired and he should have at some point. However if Lu knows how to handle this injury and can figure out a way to elevate his shooting percentage back to around 46%-48% as it was years ago...he'll have a nice year. I expect a better shooting percentage out of Lu as I predict he'll shoot less three point shots with Jimmy shooting more of them.

 

[Shepard]

I see a lot of posters predicting Murphy and Snell to be the surprise players of the year for the Bulls....

I'm not sure why as those guys won't play a lick this year. They've played in the pre-season as a necessity up until this point.

While I really like both of these guys as shooters going forward and appear to be great fits next to Rose...2013 will not be a year they make much of an impact.

 

[scottiepippen1994]

I see a lot of posters predicting Murphy and Snell to be the surprise players of the year for the Bulls....

I'm not sure why as those guys won't play a lick this year. They've played in the pre-season as a necessity up until this point.

While I really like both of these guys as shooters going forward and appear to be great fits next to Rose...2013 will not be a year they make much of an impact.

If Deng gets hurt, i see Snell getting significant playing time...........Dengs about due for an injury.....If Deng plays his usual 48 minutes a game and starts getting winded as the season progresses, im certain that Pax will force Thibbs to sit him down, :lol: .
That would mean Snell could either fill in for Deng, or Butler can rotate back to 2guard leaving Snell plenty of minutes at either position.

I dont trust Dunleavy Jr.........Dunleavy will just get dropped kicked in the face by an opponant if hes on the court too long.

:derbulls:

 

[Shepard]

If Deng gets hurt, i see Snell getting significant playing time...........Dengs about due for an injury.....If Deng plays his usual 48 minutes a game and starts getting winded as the season progresses, im certain that Pax will force Thibbs to sit him down, :lol: .
That would mean Snell could either fill in for Deng, or Butler can rotate back to 2guard leaving Snell plenty of minutes at either position.

I dont trust Dunleavy Jr.........Dunleavy will just get dropped kicked in the face by an opponant if hes on the court too long.

:derbulls:

If Lu gets hurt...I still don't see Snell getting much time. They'll slide Jimmy back to the 3 while starting Kirk at the 2 and giving a lot more PT to Dunleavy and then use Teague as the backup PG.

Snell isn't anywhere close to being ready defensively. Butler saw time sparingly as a rookie as he was miles ahead of Snell defensively...Thibs won't play a defensive liability long enough to break a sweat.

Nothing against Snell's future...he's just very far away. Watch him run out to a shooter and fail to recover under control while the shooter just drives right by him uncontested. Snell is extremely raw defensively at this point.

 

[Bear Pride]

I see a lot of posters predicting Murphy and Snell to be the surprise players of the year for the Bulls....

I'm not sure why as those guys won't play a lick this year. They've played in the pre-season as a necessity up until this point.

While I really like both of these guys as shooters going forward and appear to be great fits next to Rose...2013 will not be a year they make much of an impact.

I'm not sure what you're talking about ... to me, it's already a surprise that Murphy is on the roster. I also think he can log a few minutes based on his hustle and play so far, imo, I'm also very intrigued at his 3 pt ability.

 

[Shepard]

I'm not sure what you're talking about ... to me, it's already a surprise that Murphy is on the roster.

You should be surprised he's on the roster....so is everyone else in the Bulls organization at this point. Just because you're surprised he's on the roster doesn't make him the Bulls biggest surprise this year....at least I certainly hope not.

I also think he can log a few minutes based on his hustle and play so far, imo, I'm also very intrigued at his 3 pt ability.

Murphy just played 7 minutes tonight with Taj and Booz just getting over 20 minutes....I'm not sure where you envision Murphy seeing the floor at all this year unless someone gets hurt. He'll play less than Scalabrine ever did.

 

[Bear Pride]

You should be surprised he's on the roster....so is everyone else in the Bulls organization at this point. Just because you're surprised he's on the roster doesn't make him the Bulls biggest surprise this year....at least I certainly hope not.



Murphy just played 7 minutes tonight with Taj and Booz just getting over 20 minutes....I'm not sure where you envision Murphy seeing the floor at all this year unless someone gets hurt. He'll play less than Scalabrine ever did.

Dude, thanks for repeating the reasons that I think he's my surprise player this year! I don't expect 'surprises' from any other players on the roster this year as well. So if you don't like my fuckin surprise player, go pick your own! :bigfinger:

 

[Scoot26]

Team MVP - Rose, he simply has to.
DPOY - Without a doubt Noah.
6th Man - Dunleavy or Hinrich..I dont see Hinrich staying healthy though.
Most Improved - Jimmy Butler will continue to improve in my opinion.
Biggest Disappointment - While the popular answer is Boozer, I've already been disappointed within my realistic expectations of him. I dont think I can really get any more disappointed in him. I think it'll be Luol Deng who will put the contract issue on his shoulder and likely suffer some sort of injury.
Biggest Surprise - The rookies would be the biggest surprise, but I dont see them getting much playing time. That said, I think it'll be Teague.

 

[Shepard]

Dude, thanks for repeating the reasons that I think he's my surprise player this year! I don't expect 'surprises' from any other players on the roster this year as well. So if you don't like my fuckin surprise player, go pick your own! :bigfinger:

I did. Read.

 

[Bear Pride]

I did read, but you don't see me critiquing your pick of Deng being a surprise player, when I so easily could. You know, the guy whose logged 100 minutes a game while being injured for years, you know the player Thibbs say's is the key to the team. Yeah right, I see your point .... big surprise coming from Deng this year.

:andruw:

 

[Bear Pride]

Heck, you're even rockin a Taj sig ..... and you didn't pick him? WTF? He gained 20lbs of muscle and could be a huge surprise this year. But instead, yeah, Deng will be a huge surprise!!!!

:enough:

 

[Shepard]

Heck, you're even rockin a Taj sig ..... and you didn't pick him? WTF? He gained 20lbs of muscle and could be a huge surprise this year. But instead, yeah, Deng will be a huge surprise!!!!

:enough:

I just feel it'll be a different setting for Lu this year while having two capable guards who can score in multiple facets for the first time since Kirk & Gordon were the back court. I feel he'll revert to his days of shooting 48% as his wrists, while not surgically repaired, has gotten stronger per him (take it fwiw).

I'll lean towards Lu not being back this year, nor do I want him back....but I feel he could surprise us this year and make us change our minds in making us want him re-signed.

I don't think Taj will play enough to get surprise player of the year stats as he's stuck behind Boozer for no good reason.

 

[BullsZoneJason]

LOL!!!! Will was new to Forums and didn't know how they worked..he's cool and not tryin to troll on the thread. I have corrected his rookie mistake! Thanks for calling him out though! Had me laughin

 

[scottiepippen1994]

Thanks for swinging on each others nuts.

 

[Shepard]

Thanks for swinging on each others nuts.

[video=youtube;FsqJFIJ5lLs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsqJFIJ5lLs[/video]

 

[BullsZoneWill]

Quit spamming the MB!

You tell me to stop spamming but then you quote my links?! Ha Ha...Relax, the guy that starded this thread, Jasons, my Podcast partner. Besides it's my first time and i didn't know what the hell i was doing. I posted it on a thread and erased my post on here. But they live on thanks to you...maybe thats why it got so many hits, Thanks! Anyways Go Bulls!

 

[BullsZoneWill]

LOL!!!! Will was new to Forums and didn't know how they worked..he's cool and not tryin to troll on the thread. I have corrected his rookie mistake! Thanks for calling him out though! Had me laughin

Really bro...were you really laughing?! Ha Ha...man this is worse than Twitter!

 

[BullsZoneJason]

Thanks for all the votes and responses everyone! Although we didn't have time on the show today to review the votes from here and our Twitter page next weeks show will have the results. Thanks again

 

[Bear Pride]

You tell me to stop spamming but then you quote my links?! Ha Ha...Relax, the guy that starded this thread, Jasons, my Podcast partner. Besides it's my first time and i didn't know what the hell i was doing. I posted it on a thread and erased my post on here. But they live on thanks to you...maybe thats why it got so many hits, Thanks! Anyways Go Bulls!

I guess I'll have to rock the green text with you so you WILL realize that I was being sarcastic. :shrug: