The question I have is:

knowing what they know now, if they could do it over, would they?

It's obviously working out for them OK this way in the short run, I'm just thinking that they really could have become a 5 year force like the Pistons.

I think they thought they were sacrificing all of that to go for it this year, and it just didn't pan out as well as they had hoped.

This year, Ben is:
6th on the Bulls in Roland Rating
5th in production
13th in on court, off court +/-

With the Pistons last year (a better reg season team), he was:
3rd in Roland
2nd in production
3rd in +/-

Is that not a steep drop off?

The Bulls defense gave up an eFG% of .426 last year compared to .477 this year. They only gave up 3 more free throws per game last year.


I don't want to get too carried away, because I still believe that he may be conserving energy and playing to not get injured. He must have another gear he can go to and is saving it for the playoffs, cause this has not been the Ben we all knew and loved.

Here is an interesting article in support of him:

Neutralizing the Shot Blocker

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"I don't think MC is going to allow us to shoot as many jumpers." Tayshaun Prince.

None of this alleviated any of my previous fears. Taking any piece of the Pistons for their own was proactively mean.

Thanks for the apology, I guess. lol. None called for. Sorry if my post had a harsh tone to it. I did not mean it too.

they could easily solve this by just putting up a see-through net over that portion of the walkway...That way...people won't even bother throwing something if there's no chance to hit anyone.

I was there too. In an unrelated incident behind the backboard near the Stones bench, a fan who was obviously drunk, was gripping a fresh, large Brew. Only minutes into the second quarter his language and threatening behavior caused enough uproar to have several red jackets escort he and his friend away for the remainder of the game.

I question the Palace guidelines governing sale of alcohol. Don't know that it contributed to lip balm hurling but, but....

The security at the palace is pathetic...too many drunks and not enough control.

I have mentioned before an altercation I had with a drunken fan that nearly caused a fist fight. I was with my young son and went to ask an usher to get security...they came 1/2 hour later which did no good because the drunken fool had slunk off somewhere by then.

Any reputation of poor fan behavior at the Palace is deserved. Fans ...especially the drunks...are allowed to get out of control.

95% of sporting arena crowd problems can be solved by simply not selling alcohol. Its not needed, you can get by for 2.5 hours without having a drink.

At $8 a glass beer sales are not going to be curtailed anytime soon. It gets real bad during the playoffs.

About the only positive spin I can put on that game to excuse it was that it was the 5th game in 7 days.

Seems like everytime the Pistons played the Bulls there was always something going on. Team not playing well, guys out, get them like this one after a busy stretch. The playoffs are going to be much different if we see them.

I think we're witinessing a changing of the guard... the Bulls are no longer intimidated by the Pistons (Ben's biggest attribute).... Joe is going to have to push some magic buttons this summer.... in previous years status quo was in order for just minor tweaking... this year a power shift in the East is evident... not just because the Bulls seem to have our number but other young teams like the Raps are on the rise.
Some of these young up-n-comming teams are a veteran away from becomming a serious playoff contender... possibly trading partners for some of their young talent.

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With politicians the future lies ahead

Funny how the Bulls seem to have leapfrogged the Cavs, and quite possibly us too. The combination of Thomas and Nocioni could wind up being more than we can handle.