The Machines Will Rise Up One Day I had a big long post going, but there was a quick power surge and It was lost. But then I reflected and realized it was probably boring anyway. It was about NBA realignment. I don't think its official yet, but the proposal is changing the conferences to 3 divisions apiece, with Charlotte going to the East and New Orleans to the West. Heres the new East:

Northeast: Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards Central: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks

Not much change for the Bulls, except possibly less games against the Raptors, Heat and Hawks...which is kind of a bummer. Plugs! I definately want to touch on this though. It warms my little heart to read emails from other basketball bloggers saying they enjoy my site. When I first began, the Basketball Blogosphere didn't seem to have much community, at least not to the extent of baseball sites. But its good to see that its possibly changing. So on with the link dance of love... AllThingsNBA: I mentioned this site before, but I'm gonna be adding it to my links on the left. It has TONS of content, and the best part is that you can search posts by team..which is neat-o. Basketball Rules: Its not about the rules of basketball. I think it means "Basketball RULES!"....kind of like "The Cider House RULES!". This is another all-nba blog, and with a new design so you dont have to look at the hideous green background anymore :) March Madness Report: Produced by my buddy Jeff..and as you can guess it is about the college game. Unlike me, he REALLY knows his stuff. So if you have an interest in college hoops (especially big10 and University of Illinois....but I mean that's everybody), Its definately worth a read. I personally know he has nothing better to do so it'll hopefully be updated often. and a final note, Tim at The End of the Bench asked me to plug his fantasy basketball league. So click on the link if you want to finish second place to him. I'm not joining the league due to deep psychological reasons that I dont care to discuss. (man its hard to convey sarcasm on the internet....) I'll be gone this weekend, so check out these new links and the usual suspects while i'm gone.

Good, Bad, and Ugly Good and Bad Injuries and such: Rose won't need surgery, which is a big sigh of relief. But Tyson and E-Rob sat out again, and Hinrich left the game after bruising his knee. Minor stuff, and expected. Its just hard to give these preseason games any merit when so many players are sitting out. The Ugly The Ugly is remembering those hideous "Cosby sweaters" that E-Rob wore on the sidelines during his lengthy stays on the IR. But now thanks to Paxson's new dress code, sport coats will be required at all times for those sitting out. Off to the big and tall store for E-Rob. And Uglier I try to keep non-Bulls stuff off of here, and so even though I'm a Cubs fan I won't talk about the game. I'll simply direct you to The Cub Reporter, cause as always he says it better than I can.

Gettin Bigs? Both major papers today (here's the Sun-Times version) are speculating on Paxson's desire to add another big man to the roster. "But there's 15 guaranteed contracts already" you say? Actually maybe only I said that. But it turns out that Trent Hassell's contract doesn't become guaranteed till mid-January, So if the Bulls do sign somebody he's the likely one to go. Another candidate would be Roger Mason, who has a guaranteed contract, but can be inexpensively bought out. So who exactly are the candiates mentioned?

Shawn Kemp: Could teach Tyson gain some weight. And also give parenting advice to Eddy. And if the Bulls have a retro-jersey night I predict his would be a top seller. Walt Williams: Don't know why he's mentioned, he's not really a post player. His nickname is "The Wizard", with no affiliation of the tremendous team which achieved the ultimate goals of having earned consecutive mid first-round picks over the past 2 years. Charles Oakley: Bring veteran leadership back to Chicago. Can teach the kids how to disrespect coaches and give up on a team. Also how to come in and give somebody a clothesline for looking at Michael Jordan the wrong way. LaPhonso Ellis: Now I was suprised to hear he was still in the league (well..kind of in it), so I looked up his stats for last year. Oh great, he's not even mentioned on NBA.com (never a good sign). But I found it on ESPN.com 14.3 mpg 5.0 ppg 2.9 rpg 38% fg. I guess that's not bad....but if the size-hungry Heat don't want him, then you can pretty much write him off. Tyrone Hill: Ok, now here's an actual legit NBA post player. Even though he is almost as old as Dikembe (~62) he can still do the 'dirty work' in the paint. And is an upgrade over Corie Blount, which sadly I can't really say for the rest of these chumps. However Ty is currently waiting out for 2 things: someone's mid-level exemption, or the vet's minimum on a championship team. Unfortunately the Bulls don't have either to offer, but as the season draws near you never know. I predict he'll end up in Dallas....and will get into some sort of camp brawl with Danny Fortson.

So what everything turns out to be is just far-fetched speculation. If I were Hassell, I wouldn't be getting my bus ticket to North Charleston just yet. Injury Report Fizer won't play tonight against Indiana, looks like the knee is acting up. Tyson Chandler is unlikely to play tonight (back). E-Rob practiced and might play tonight for the first time this preseason. Jalen's thumb was re-examined yesterday, And the results will determine whether the team's earlier reccomendation of avoiding surgery was correct. That's scary stuff for a Bulls fan, but Jerry Krause always said the Bulls had the best medical staff in basketball. I have no idea how that was determined though.