Hatin'

Sorry about the long layoff between posts. I've had a pretty busy week for once, but that's no excuse I could've done a little up date here or there. Anyway, rest assured if it happens again, assume I'll be back soon enough. There's always plenty around the league to talk about even if the Bulls are currently dormant. So on to the task at hand:

With apologies to Knickerblogger, I hate the Knicks. Like, a lot. I suppose there's no good reason for it, it could be from the Pat Riley teams challenging the dynasty Bulls, or just general Midwest paranoia. But what I really think the problem I have is that the national media thinks its a crime against humanity if the Knicks are bad. Like they don't have to rebuild like all teams do, that free agents will just flock there and bring the Knicks back to prominence. They fail to see that the salary cap doesn't care whether your in a big or small market. You have to be smart to win, and the Knicks salary management hasn't been for a while.

The moves this year by new GM Isiah Thomas were universally lauded because he was bringing excitement to the Knicks again, and they had a star in town..or should I say "star-bury" (hahahahaha). Talking heads around the league said that Isiah proved they didn't have to start over. Dopes like Steven A. Smith had them challenging for the Eastern Conference crown. While starting out well, the new-look Knicks faded down the stretch, and were promptly swept by the Nets.

I concede that Marbury is a top-notch player, but I never liked the trade from the Knicks' standpoint. They were upgrading their team to a little above mediocre, and giving them no flexibility in the future. Surprisingly, it was Bill Simmons (the sports guy) who recently stepped out and said what was on my mind. Apparently there wasn't a Real World marathon that day:

You can guess where I stand. Right after Isiah Thomas was hired last December, I predicted in The Magazine that he would run the team into the ground. This franchise was already headed nowhere -- no cap space, no All-Stars, little hope. It was a situation thatcried for patience. Whomever took over for the Artist Formerly Known As Scott Layden needed to blow everything up, create cap room and start over. In other words, the Danny Ainge Approach -- clean house, make some panic trades, ignore the cap -- couldn't possibly work here.

The Jerry West Approach seemed like a much better plan. Take your time. Stockpile assets. Only deal from strength. Think four years instead of four months. And most importantly, don't panic.

Isiah? He panicked.

Unable to wait even three weeks after moving into his new office, Isiah pulled a Jim Fassel and pushed his chips to the middle of the table, dealing his few tradeable assets (two coveted Europeans, two first-rounders and cash) for Marbury and Penny Hardaway -- two more ghastly contracts -- in the process, blowing his long-term cap flexibility to smithereens and insuring that the 2006 Knicks would look exactly like the 2004 Knicks.

That last line really sends it home. There isn't much the Knicks can do to get any better. The draft will be a hard road, especially since they have 2 future first rounders gone (including this year). Their only chance is getting lucky with the mid level exemption, hoping that a low-post scorer can take a pay-cut to play there. But such a player has become a hot enough commodity that even someone like Eric Dampier commands big bucks.

So while the Knicks are certainly playoff caliber, I just don't see a bright future. Their only tradeable assets left are Sweetney and Frank Williams, and Isiah will probably send them packing soon. While a team like the Bulls are god-awful, at least they have nice trading chips like the 3 Cs, a big man with only 2 years left on his deal like Antonio Davis, and a very high draft pick. Having assets like that is what can make a productive offseason, while Isiah will be busy trying to turn water to wine.

The results are coming in...

As you probably know already, Lebron James has won rookie of the year, Hubie Brown won coach of the year, and "Crazy" Ron Artest won defensive player of the year. If you read my picks last week, you'll know I had Sloan as coach, but Hubie certainly isn't a bad choice. And I'm actually shocked that Lebron won despite hearing on TV all season how Carmelo was locking up the award. I guess the sportswriters around the league have more sense than ESPN's NBA fastbreak crew. (No, Steven A. Smith, stop yelling at me!)

There are some other awards being handed out though, and the Bulls actually swept a category. As you can imagine, it wasn't a good one. (hat tip to my Dad-my favorite reader- for the link).

Crummy coach of the year — Scott Skiles, Chicago.

He never showed his dark side in a promising first stint in Phoenix, but it popped out of him in Chicago, like the creature in "Alien."

Encouraged by General Manager John Paxson, who was exasperated with the Bulls' young players, Skiles got little out of them and skewered them in the press. It made for good copy but bad ambience.
 

Crummy executive of the year — Paxson, Chicago.

There was frantic competition for this year's Donny, the Donald T. Sterling Award, with Donald Sterling himself making his usual strong run after all eight of his free agents tried to leave last summer.

But no one could top Paxson, who flipped out at his young players and charted a new course, finishing with one-third of the roster made up of minor leaguers as he searched for scrappy, hungry players, like he and Skiles used to be.

The situation is so far gone, insiders say, that Paxson may trade Tyson Chandler for nothing more than a good player, like the Spurs' Malik Rose or the Grizzlies' Mike Miller, if he can get rid of a problem contract, like Eddie Robinson's too.
 

Ouch. I am a Skiles fan, and would like to see what he could do with a better team last year. And Paxson bringing in these 'hungry' players didn't look good on the court, but they were going nowhere with E-Rob and Fizer and the like, so why not take a look at some new talent? Besides, those two likely won't be on the team next year, but someone like Jannero Pargo may be. But that Chandler rumor scares me. And worse is that Chad Ford is saying the same thing. I'm gonna hold off on my Bulls' offseason plan until the lottery, because getting the 1st pick this year is a lot different than the 6th. And believe you me, I got plans.

Oh, I almost forgot. If you want to check out my playoff predictions stacked up against the rest of the basketball blogosphere, Knickerblogger has set up a playoff bracket pool.  Its got quite an impressive cast of characters...I think I have the lowest stature among them, but then again I'm representing a team like the Bulls.

Are we all being duped?

The Chicago Bulls finished the season a miserable 23-59, 2nd worst in the league. Astonishing, considering the expectations going into the season. Perhaps even more astonishing is the fact that the Bulls averaged 19,736 fans a game, 3rd highest in the league. How is something like this possible???

Well its simple, says Rick Morrisey, Bulls fans are stupid:

You think differently. I don't know exactly who "you" are, but there are a lot of you. You're the people who continue to go to games despite the fact the team has the bouquet of lumpy milk.

You were the reason the Bulls' average attendance was 19,736 this season, third-highest in the NBA. You helped the Bulls finish in the top 10 in attendance each of the six seasons since Michael Jordan finished collecting those championship trophies.

You filled the United Center to 91 percent capacity this season to watch a team that won 28 percent of its games.

Who are you people and what can you possibly be thinking?

It certainly can't be the product on the court that's luring you. There are only so many times you can watch Eddy Curry go for 12 points and no rebounds.

The Bulls are selling something that has almost nothing to do with the game. It's a lot like Wrigley Field, only without the sunshine and halter tops. It makes absolutely no sense for a family of four to plunk down $200 for tickets, parking and food to see a Bulls game, but people are doing it.

"Maybe what we're selling isn't all about winning basketball," said Steve Schanwald, the team's executive vice president for business operations. "Maybe it's about the overall entertainment experience. I think fans have been understanding of the complexities and the time it takes to build a champion."

I think these fans fell on their heads as babies.
 

There is nothing about this team that would make you think next year is going to be much better. But fans don't want to be left out when the winning starts, even if the winning appears to be about 100 years away. Some of you have bought into the paranoia that the glory days are right around the corner and that you might miss out if you don't renew your season tickets.

"We developed a 25,000-name waiting list for season tickets which we promoted extensively [during the championship years], not just to grow the list but to reinforce to those who had season tickets what a valuable commodity they possessed—one they should [keep] because people are waiting in line to get them from you," Schanwald said.

The Bulls' season-ticket base is down from what it was during the championship years, though 93 percent of their season-ticket holders from the 2002-2003 season renewed for this past season. The Bulls have reacted to the decline by selling 3,000 group tickets a night, many of them at discounted prices, in the upper reaches of the United Center.

Schanwald is a genius at selling, and we're idiots for buying it for so long. But at some point fans will get fed up, right?

"I don't think fans need to see a championship team every year, but they need to see progress," Schanwald said. "That's the promise we hope to deliver."
 

Sure, Morrissey is insulting me, probably you, and the many basketball fans of Chicago, but he has a point. There is a certain type of paranoia about keeping your Bulls tickets. Tickets in the dynasty years were like going to the super bowl, every single game. Imagine not only seeing the best team in basketball, but also seeing the best player ever. Needless to say, it was a huge deal. And the furor caused the waiting list grew to mythical proportions, so much that  a number like 25,000 doesn't surprise me one bit.

However, I don't think this 'paranoia' is such a bad thing. It's true Rick, we want to be there for it to all happen again. We want to see the growth of another dynasty, because we as Bulls fans saw first hand how special it can be. One of the great things about rooting for a young(albeit bad) team is that you can see the progress. Now obviously the Bulls youngsters haven't shown much of that, but wouldn't it be nice in a few years to see Eddy grab 25 rebounds on two straight nights and say to yourself "I remember him getting abused on the boards by the likes of Mark Blount and Walter McCarty". As much as I'm angry that it didn't happen this year, I know I still pine for that day in the future when I will be watching game 1 of the playoffs on TNT (or maybe even the United Center).

Morrissey insists, " If fans were knowledgeable, they'd know to stay away until the Bulls prove they're serious about winning." I have heard this argument all the time, yet I have NEVER heard of a situation where the fans all stop coming and all of a sudden management goes on to concede "well, we fooled them long enough, time to win them back!" In fact, its always more likely that teams will cut payroll in response to lower attendance, not raise it.

I don't think its naive to believe that Paxson, Skiles  and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf are serious about winning. Looking at it purely monetarily, the Bulls are in fact over the salary cap, and Reinsdorf has said that he will gladly pay the luxury tax if the team shows improvement. And while they have made questionable moves, I can't think of one that didn't made me think it didn't have the team's best interest at heart.

Rick Morrisey, I like to believe I'm a knowledgeable Bulls fan. And I know many other Bulls fans who are the same. And while you think we're dumb, one thing we all know is that there are more of you than there are of us. And I know exactly who "you" are. After Michael left you took a paid vacation from this team, while us true fans stayed for what we knew could be a long road. You are a Michael Jordan Fan, and your kind gobbled up the pricey seats for some time now, fortunately giving free ones to us now that you don't want them anymore. You were the type of fan that was there for 2 Wizards games a year when Michael would grace us with his presence and be cheered as he touched the ball while the home team was booed.

But the fans there now, 19 thousand strong, are not being fooled. We feel just as much disgust when Jamal Crawford jacks up an errant 3-pointer or when Tyson Chandler gets muscled out of the paint. But there will deservedly get more joy and satisfaction when this team-with the current personnel or not-makes it back to the playoffs and beyond.

But don't worry Rick, I can fill you in on the details of the lean years when you're watching game 1.  

 

Reflections and Projections

A couple quick things. I'm not one to make predictions and leave them hidden from the public to always seem right. I'm ready to take my lashings after making these predictions over the summer (part one, two, three):

Projected Finish	Actual Finish (by record, not seed)
Pistons Nets Pacers Hornets Sixers Bulls Magic Celtics Heat Raptors Wizards Knicks Hawks Cavs Bucks	Pacers Pistons Nets Heat Hornets Bucks Knicks Celtics Cavs Raptors Sixers Hawks Wizards Bulls Magic

Not too good. I can now see the folly in overdosing on Bulls kool-aid.

And now for some playoff predictions. KnickerBlogger is doing a little pool among the basketball journalism elite. I told him I was actually Peter Vescey so he let me in too. So here are my picks:

EAST
First Round:

                        Pacers over Celtics, Hornets over Heat, Pistons over Bucks, Nets over Knicks

                        Second Round:

                        Pacers over Hornets, Pistons over Nets

WEST:
First Round:

                        Wolves over Nuggets, Kings over Mavs, Spurs over Griz, Lakers over Rockets

Second Round:

                        Kings over Wolves, Spurs over Lakers

FINAL:

                        Spurs over Pistons

 

That should be the worst NBA finals of all time. David Stern will not be happy seeing every game be a race to 70. But in the NBA playoffs, the best team wins, and regardless of style I think the Spurs and Pistons are the best teams in their conferences. Hey, I did pick the Spurs to win last year as well, so hopefully this prediction turns out better than my preseason ones...or the NCAA tournament :)

 

Bulls Blog Awards, part 2:

 

now THAT's a catchy title. Check out yesterday's post for the other awards. All winners receive a diamond studded gold bracelet that spells out "E-Rob"

Rookie of the Year: Lebron James. I think (and hope) this vote isn't even close. If you are a Carmelo guy, first remove your head from Mike Wilbon's ample behind, and second: wise up to how amazing Lebron's year has been. While Carmelo is a great scorer and fits well into Denver's fast-paced style, Lebron not only proved all of his doubters wrong, he made his teammates around him better. So much better that management has begun the process of moving talented, yet selfish guys like Darius Miles and Ricky Davis for veterans who will serve mainly to facilitate the game of James. Long live King James' reign.

And let me get this off my chest: James and Anthony are only peers in circumstance, not in talent or impact. If they weren't in the same draft class I don't think anyone would be considering the two as equals. The whole thing baffles me. Like the sportswriting community's attitude towards Okafor, the all-out love of Carmelo is a byproduct of hoping he will show the youngins the importance of a freshman year at college. (And I suppose it is important, that's where I first learned  how to use cost/benefit analysis with beer: another 'stone anyone?)

MVP: Keeping with my negative tone, The Hoops Junkie gave out his MVP vote recently....to Carmelo Anthony. That's just silly in my opinion. We all can agree that Anthony is having a great rookie year and looks to be a factor in this league for some time now. But he's not near the caliber of Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, Shaq...just not even close. I wouldn't even put him up there with T-Mac or Nowitzki. Oh and I know that Anthony's team is better than someone like McGrady's, but that argument doesn't fly with me concerning A-Rod votes, so I'm not gonna follow it in basketball either.

So I'm going with the popular choice this year, Kevin Garnett. It can be said that Tim Duncan should win every year, he's that great a player. But KG isn't far behind. It doesn't seem to make sense that a guy would win the MVP *after* finally receiving help, but since Duncan's gotten 2 already, its the big ticket's time. Another notch in KG's favor is that he can go out and guard wing players like no other, something Duncan cannot. But...KG can't guard Shaq like Duncan can. Like I said, its hard to decide between the two, but its time for Garnett to get his due.