Bulls season preview

picture courtesy of bleacher report

The NBA season officially began tonight with a matchup featuring the Cavaliers and Celtics. This got me to write a Chicago Bulls season preview. I am a Bulls fan who rooted for the Bulls, not just Michael Jordan and have stuck with the team. Yes, I rooted for them through the Tim Floyd era, despite how ugly it was.  Anyways, here goes my thoughts on the 2009-2010 bulls.

key losses-Ben Gordon

The Bulls lost other players, but Ben Gordon is the only significant player lost from last years team.

New additions-Taj Gibson, James Johnson, Janero Pargo

It will be interesting to see if the two rookies drafted can make significant contributions on the offensive and defensive end.

Some key questions:

1. With Ben Gordon loss, who will replace Ben Gordon's production?

Ben Gordon seemed to be the guy Bulls fans never knew to love or hate. He took a lot of bad shots, dribbled too much, but also made lots of big shots. The common thought is Derrick Rose will pick up his production and be the guy who has the ball is his hands for the last shot, but who will help? John Salmons played a key role in getting the Bulls to the playoffs and it should be nice to have him for the whole year. The Bulls still do not have a true low post scoring option. If Joakim Noah can get some post moves, he could be an option, but that remains to be seen.Which Luol Deng will the Bulls get? The injury plagued player who missed most of the season last year? Or the 2006-2007 Deng who averaged just under 19 points per game? They desperately need the 2006-2007 Deng. If Deng, Salmons, and Rose play up to their talent level, they should do a good job of replacing Gordon's production.

2. Will this team play defense?

102.5(2008-2009),  100.4 (2007-2008)

Those numbers are the opponents scoring averages for the last two years.  Being a jump shot team the Bulls will have to lock it up because the jumpers are not going to fall every night. Derrick Rose, great offensive player, but he needs to improve his defense. This team as a whole gets lazy too often playing defense. The Bulls need to learn that good defense can lead to offense. The effort needs to come from both ends. Tyrus Thomas is one of those guys who needs to realize this. Thomas too often tried to make the spectacular defensive play. Thomas is a great athlete that needs to combine thinking and his athleticism. I expect Joakim Noah to keep up the effort he put in against the Celtics in the playoffs last year. Noah seems to finally be getting it and his his hard work seems to be paying off.

3. What kind of start will the team get off to?

The Bulls in recent years have gotten off to slow starts (2-8 for the 2007-2008, 5-5 2008-2009) and just struggling in general in the first half of the season. It would be nice if a Bulls teams post officially retired Jordan would have a good first half. It is a long season, but this again comes back to the effort on the defensive end. If the Bulls commit to the defensive end, they will not need that late push to get to .500/ a post season birth.

4. Starters/Rotation

This is my guess as to who the projected starters would be

PG-Rose

SG-Salmons

SF/SG-Deng

SF-Thomas

PF-Noah

Off the bench-Hinrich, Miller, Gibson, Johnson, Gray, Pargo, and Hunter

These are just the guys I expect to make some contribution to the team this year. One thing Vinny will have to do this year is to quickly figure out his rotation.  Hinrich is valuable because his defense will be needed. Not really sure what to expect of Brad Miller, who is a jump shooting big man. If Gibson and Johnson play well early on, expect them to get minutes, but Vinny limited Derrick at times.  Pargo will contribute if he can score, which at times he has proven. Expect Gray and Hunter only to get minutes only if needed. It is pretty clear that this bench, like this Bulls team has questions.

Predicted record

43-39. The record should be good enough to get the Bulls into the playoffs in the East. Without doing an NBA preview, this should put them in the 5-6 seed range.

-Mike Moreau

Jay Cutler vs. Kyle Orton

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com

      Jay Cutler, the latest in a string of Chicago Bear quarterbacks is here to stay, at least for a while. Cutler received a two-year extension that will make the Bears qb till 2013.  The extension is worth  $30 million dollars, $20 million of which is guaranteed. I am sure there many people  not happy with this deal.

    However, I am not one of those people. There has been a lot of talk lately about the Broncos being 6-0 with new qb/former Bear Kyle Orton. The supportons (courtesy of Waddle and Silvy) seem to be questioning the move of trading for Culter.  Honestly, there really is not much of a debate here. For anyone that has been a Bears fan for a long time, here are the reasons.

     The first reason is, with Cutler, the Bears have a chance to comeback in every game they play this year. It is hard to believe that any Bears fan would think that with Kyle Orton at the helm.  The numbers may not back it up this year for Cutler, but even in his terrible games (which both happened to occur on Sunday nights) the Bears could have won those games.  It is great as a fan to have that feeling your team could always mount a comeback. With the running games woes this year, with Orton the Bears probably have one, maybe two wins.

     Speaking of wins, just because  Kyle Orton is 6-0 out in Denver, does not mean he would be 5-0 here.  Denver's defense is playing extremely well, much better than any expert thought they would play. None of the defenses that Cutler played with in Denver were any good. Cutler put up numbers out there and the defense cost Denver a lot of games.  Orton is in a system that better suits his talents of the mid range game well. As Bears fans saw, Orton is not a let it losse, take chances kind of guy. It also helps that Orton has Brandon Marshall as a target to throw to every game.  So, lets stop the comparisons of the two teams win loss records. Who would fans rather have long term?

     This leads to the next point, Cutler was not brought in to win now as Brett Favre was for the Vikings. It would be nice if he did, but Cutler is here for five more years now. The Bears will build around him through free agency, the draft, and maybe even some trades. Whether Kyle Orton fans like it or not, the Bears never thought he was the long term solution.This is a guy that won 10 games and loss his job to Rex Grossman. If Orton was the answer, Cutler never ends up in Chicago and the Bears. That is the reason many people have called Cutler a franchise quarterback. Stability is something the Bears badly needed at the position and they will have that for a while. How much more could you deal with hearing rumors about qbs, such as Donovan Mcnabb?

    Now, this is nothing against Kyle Orton, but the Bears will be better off in the long run with Cutler as their qb (picture Lovie Smith saying, "Jay is our quarterback."). Kyle could be the long term guy in Denver and thats great for them. However, the Bears are much better off. They have a chance to win every game. They will build around Cutler, bringing in receivers and other weapons that suit his talents. So the debates about Cutler vs. Orton need to stop. Hopefully this blog will help people figure out why this is the answer.

-Mike Moreau

Finishing-Relative in all sports

I am sure by now everyone has seen the Phil Cuzzi  blown call on the Joe Mauer shot down the line.  Major  League Baseball has extra umps for the post season and Cuzzi clearly did not do his job.

Cuzzi made two mistakes on the play.

1-Not seeing the ball hit off of Melky Cabrera's glove

2-The ball was clearly fair.

A mistake like that makes you wonder why they have extra umpires sitting on a line to do one job and they still can not seem to get it right. Phil you have to get that call right, but despite your mistake, you are not to blame for the Twins loss. The Twins made many mistakes in the game that cost them the game.

The first of the many mistakes came when in the fourth inning when Carlos Gomez trip rounding second after Matt Tolbert single. The result of this mistake was Delmon Young's run not counting because Gomez got tagged out before Young could score.

People also seem to have forgotten that Joe Nathan blew a save in the ninth when Alex Rodriguez hit a cannon shot to center.  If Nathan nails down the save, most people watching the game (including me) probably do not even know who Phil Cuzzi is.

Despite the blown save, the Twins STILL had a chance to win the game. in the top of the 11th. After the blown call they got three straight hits to load the bases with no outs.  With no outs and MLB baseball players coming up, most fans believe they are going to get at least one run. Unfortunately for Twins, Young, Gomez, and Harris did not step up to produce that one run they needed.

Baseball is like many sports in the sense when you do not take advantage of great opportunities, it comes back to bite you. Mark Texiera came up in the bottom half of the inning and hit a walk off shot to win the game. Everyone who is not a Yankees fan is either angry or depressed like many Twins fans were.

The lesson to be learned here is that you have to finish and take things into your own hands. Twins fans and baseball fans in general should not look to Phil Cuzzi. Remember the fact that the Twins still had chances to win the game and did not come through in the clutch.


-Mike Moreau

Good night sweeheart, Well its time to go

The 2009 Chicago Cubs baseball season, full of expectations and hope has finally come to an end.  What better way to end a season than a disappointing 5-2 to Doug Davis and the Diamondbacks. I will not waste time recapping the season, but will offer my thoughts on suggestions for next year.

Players I expect to see gone

Aaron Heilman-One of Jim Hendry's mistakes this year. Heilman was brought over in a trade at the beginning of the season to be another arm in the bullpen. Heilman is teh classic case of a pitcher who has the stuff to be a solid pitcher, but has never quite reached his potential. Heilman will have to try again somewhere else, because he just did not produce.

Heilman vs. Right handed batters-8 home runs(gave up 9 all year), 43.2ip,5.50 era,.289 BAA(according to cubs.com and baseball-reference.com)

Milton Bradley-Enough has been said here about this situation. Bridges have been burned and he needs to go. Bradley is not to blame for the Cubs failures this year and is just a bad fit for the clubhouse. The Cubs will have to pick up a good chunk of his salary to get rid of him.

Aaron Miles-Brought in for his versatility and to help replace Mark DeRosa. What originally looked like a good signing, imploded in the Cubs face. He just did not produce this year and got in to Pinella's dog house very quick. Miles has another year on his contract so the Cubs might have to suck it up and just  out right release him.

Rich Harden-Harden is an interesting case. If he would be willing to come back for a one year deal the Cubs might be willing to sign him. Harden is dominant enough when he is on to earn a big contract from someone willing to take a chance on him.

Kevin Gregg-Brought in to close and failed. There is not much more to be said about that. Pinella stuck with him far too long.

Key questions

1. Who will hit lead off/Be the run producer the Cubs are looking for?

Theriot did a pretty good job there this year, but can he last a full year there? He tends to wind down towards the end of the baseball season due to the wear and tear of the baseball season. If Theriot is the guy next year the Cubs will have to find someone off the bench that can give Theriot a few days off.  If Theriot is not the guy, maybe it will be someone they pick up through free agency.

Whether Cubs fans believe it or not, Alfonso Soriano is a huge key to next season success. Soriano tried to tough it out this year and play on one leg and it hurt the Cubs. When Soriano is hot, he has carried the Cubs in the past.  If he is healthy and the Cubs pick up a lead off hitter and a rbi guy or combination of the two, the Cubs will have a potent line up.

2. What to do with Sean Marshall and Jake Fox?

Will he start? Be in the bullpen? Pinch hit? Marshall has done everything to the Cubs have asked him to do, and that includes playing left field this year for an at bat. Marshall was decent out of the bullpen, but I believe the Cubs need another lefty besides Grabow (who is expected to return).  Tom Gorzelanny could be the other lefty as well, but he will probably compete for a fifth starting spot next year.  If Gorzelanny is in the bullpen next year, what happens to Marshall? This will be an interesting question that could be brought up this off season.

There is no doubt that Jake Fox can hit, but where will he play? LF? Soriano is there. 3B or 1B? Definitely not an option. Do not be surprised to see Fox traded somewhere where he can get at bats. It would be nice to see him play full time but there is no real spot on the team for him.

3. What is the budget?

This is a question that can not be answered until the Cubs sale is fully complete. Hopefully the sale will be complete by the time winter meetings come around. With the answer to this question not being known, it is hard to talk about potential free agents.

4. Will Milton Bradley be traded?

The Cubs will definitely try to do this, but will anyone bite? A couple of sites have mentioned a few teams being interested, but as stated earlier the Cubs will need to pick a big chunk of salary. Picking a big chunk of salary also affects the budget.

However, if there is a decent budget, here are potential free agents to look at. The numbers are no indication of who I think should be looked at the most. These are just a few guys that could potentially fill spots for the Cubs.

Source (http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2001/05/2010-free-agents.html)

1. Chone Figgins
2. Mark DeRosa
3. Jack Wilson (contract has a 2010 option)
4.  Akinori Iwamura(2B)
5. Bobby Abreau
6. Marlon Byrd
7. Carl Crawford (2010 option)
8. Xavier Nady

-Mike Moreau