i liked barrett.
couldnt care less that homan is gone.
line-up is down to 15
they elected to keep kryapa despite all those DNP coaches decisions he's had.


so every1 likes gray but should he really see some time on the floor? I'm happy the team is in a position where we have so many good players that it will be a struggle to give them the amount of minutes they are worthy of.

I think the best way to utilize this depth is simply to force a style of game that will make every1 involved tired. full-court press and fastbreaks. obviously they need to be executed intelligently or other teams starting line-ups could gain an early lead but i know we have the personel to make this work. especially the full court press which i see teams do from time to time with success but after the opposing teams score a quick 2 points they usually quit.

I think if we stick to it, players will be relunctant complain about minutes because they will be spread around about as much as they could expect.

And for the real advantages, we can expose other teams 2nd units + this will lead to a shorter shot clock and more TO's for the other team.

obviously this would be particularly tough for teams with weak PG's (there's more than a few of them) Duhon and kirk are 2 of the best PG's in a full press situation. both are very quick. We'd have to do it intelligently, playing to teams weaknesses but thats skiles thing. Even with a big line-up we could do this.

any thoughts

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Based on Skiles's comments today, i wouldn't be surprised to see Gray starting and Tyrus coming off the bench.

It sounds like Gray has a chance to open the season as a starter, provided he finish the pre-season strong, but Skiles is also saying that that 5th spot may end up flipping all over year based upon who they are playing since he does have Smith, Thomas and Noah as well.

I'd be surprised if Gray starts for an extended period. True, he may be able to score, but I don't think he's a very athletic player, and doesn't move that well - I think Skiles will use him off the bench. He works hard though, and I think the coaching staff really loves that about him.

I'm a bit disapointed that Tyrus Thomas didn't take this job, but hopefully he can grab it early on.

honestly the whole situation scares me a little. I can see where skiles is coming from but we just have too small of a sample size. He looked good during the preseason but its only the preseason. I just hope it doesnt upset smith, noah, or tyrus. it could throw them off their game or upset the chemistry.

obviously, skiles isnt going just by the preseason games alone. We dont get to see what gray is doing in practice against big ben or anything like that.

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I just think it's going to take for Skiles to find someone he's comfortable with in that 5th spot, and it's probably going to change a few times before he's happy with it.

well skiles messed around with the line-ups a lot last year early on and we started slow. I was hoping to have a set line-up that every1 on the team and coaching staff was happy with.

A player outplaying his expectations is a good thing but I would prefer to be this excited about tyrus. i feel like he has more potential.

edit: i didnt realize that gray played center even when ben was in the game. ben moves to PF.

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I'd much rather have a set lineup, but I do like of our options, and Skiles isn't going to stay with someone who isn't producing game to game.

Id prefer to have Joe Smith start out of the whole bunch, provided hes healthy. His MPG shouldnt go more than 20, but I like him as a starter and then bring the other guys off the bench.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I like that scenario, at least for the time being. He's still a solid pro, and there's no excuse for experience. Like you said, limit his minutes but let him set the tone.

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I was really hoping that Tyrus Thomas would take that step as I prefer to have a younger player playing alongside Ben Wallace. I also like a veteran like Smith able to come off the bench if Thomas were to struggle early on.....

This is refreshing though - the Bulls are trying to decide between 2 Top 10 picks in either Noah or Thomas and a solid veteran like Joe Smith who can provide 20 minutes a night. It would be great to have one guy, but I think we have some good options.

Looks like Gray solidified a spot in the rotation.
Skiles:
"Not that he's near as good as Eddy Curry, but not since Eddy have we had somebody who could catch it in [the post] and have a move they could go to and score," Skiles said. "I don't know any better than anybody else if he can do that in regular NBA games. I can only base it on what I see. And so far he has done it.

"That's enough to give him an opportunity to play. That doesn't necessarily mean he'll start. But it should be enough to get him in the rotation."

I think the talks of Gray starting can subsist for now.

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I think Gray has a good chance of starting based on how Skiles likes to start games. He loves going down low and forcing the issue inside when he has a capable big man. He did this all the time when he had Curry. He even tried to do it with PJ and Ben last year, with little success. I can see a scenario where Gray starts and plays 12 mpg.

Yeah thats true, It seemed like every game Curry played in he had 8 pts in the first 4-5 minutes and finished with 12-14 for the game.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

if gray starts he'll get more than 12 minutes during the game.

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If he starts, yeah, he'll probably get a little more burn than 12 minutes a game. My point was not to predict how many minutes a game Aaron Gray will play if he starts for the Bulls. It was to point out that he probably won't get starter minutes, and definitely won't get as many minutes as Noah or Thomas even if he does start.

I'm tired of Aaron Gray being ripped on for being "a big slow white guy," and I've never seen him play. Why does the white part have to be mentioned?

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Because of Sean Bradley.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul