Bulls (1-0) at Celtics (1-0) 10/31

[ma11l]

what a great game from the Cs.  the announcers were gushing all over themselves about garnett and pierce being into it even though they were on the bench.  since when did they drink they kool-aid?

observations:
(1) Leon Powe is the best player off the bench.**
(2) Tony Allen isn't Posey, but he should fill the Posey shoes pretty well, at much less the cost.  I like what I see from him.
(3) I wouldn't be surprised to see Gabe Pruitt get more PT.

** and the Cs are going to have to pay if they want to keep him next season (Maxiel just got $5M per year -- probably going rate for Powe at this point)

If Big Baby and POB continues to improve, I can see Ainge moving Powe in a sign and trade. He is the only trade chip the C's have, if Ainge wants to keep the Big 3 together. 

That would be a travesty.  You can see Powe as our only chip, or our best bench player.  I want this kid on our team for the foreseeable future.  I want Baby traded for whatever we can get.  We can package him for Scal or Giddens or Walker, or something.



I see Powe in green, not in Hornets colors, not after we let go of Posey.  Letting go of James is enough, letting the two of them go would equal a struggle to get back to the Finals.

Unfortunately, I agree with Chief on this.  I think Leon is one of the biggest realistic trade chips the Cs have.  Although, things will depend a lot on how the season goes this year.  EG: What would Ray Allen + [  ] bring back??

I just want another ring.  If we keep Ray and establish Leon as what he can be, I see that happening.  Ray's not going anywhere this year, and if he can improve over this playoff run then Leon can be what we need off the bench to be, and Ray can have a better playoff run than he had last year.

[Aussie Celtic]

Very happy with our solid start to the season.

Great to see Rajon upping his assists.  Could easily be due to the ever increasing familiarisation with his team mates.

Leon just keeps on getting better.  His strength and his great hands make him a force underneath the basket.

A game of early separation and then maintaining the pressure until garbage time.

The starting five look very comfortable together.

I love winning, bring it on all day, every day.

Cheers

Aussie

[ACF]

BeataBULLS!

[RebusRankin]

I don't want to see Powe traded.

[Redz]

I don't want to see Powe traded.

Seconded

[crownsy]

is that the rule?? i guess then injuring pending those three will not play for the season. Thats too bad

walker and giddeons are going to the NDBL, drafts the 7th.

[Andy Jick]

why in the hell would we even think about trading leon powe?? 

come on guys, let's use our noggins here...leon powe doesn't have the kind of contract that you can move for a player equal (or above) his worth...are you going to add scalabrine?  please, this will probably be his last gig in the nba where he makes more than the league minimum.

if leon powe gets traded you can kiss # 18 goodbye, plain and simple. 

[powefan]

Trade Powe?  Are you kidding?  Besides his talent on the court, he brings so much off it as well.  Nobody works harder or gives back as much.  He is such a humble dude and knows his roots.  That kind of presence in invaluable in the locker room.  There's a reason why everyone loves Leon and it goes beyond his skills on the court.  Combine that with the fact that you're not going to find much better talent in his price range and resigning him is a no-brainer.

[Redz]

It just dawned on me what last night's Bulls performance reminded me of:  An Isiah era Knicks team.  I really think they need to finish the "blowing up the Bulls" job.  There are two different regimes on that team at the same time and tehy have zero cohesiveness (or maybe it was just the Celts making them look that way).

It's early, but that team looks like a bunch of separate parts right now.

[wdleehi]

I rather they showcase Davis and trade him.  They just need to switch the matchups they use with Powe and Davis.

[RebusRankin]

Personally I think giving Powe a similar deal to Maxiel would be fair for both sides.

As for last night, good to see KG and Ray bounce back. Heck all the starters look good. Plus everybody got a lot of rest.

[Chief]

what a great game from the Cs.  the announcers were gushing all over themselves about garnett and pierce being into it even though they were on the bench.  since when did they drink they kool-aid?

observations:
(1) Leon Powe is the best player off the bench.**
(2) Tony Allen isn't Posey, but he should fill the Posey shoes pretty well, at much less the cost.  I like what I see from him.
(3) I wouldn't be surprised to see Gabe Pruitt get more PT.

** and the Cs are going to have to pay if they want to keep him next season (Maxiel just got $5M per year -- probably going rate for Powe at this point)

If Big Baby and POB continues to improve, I can see Ainge moving Powe in a sign and trade. He is the only trade chip the C's have, if Ainge wants to keep the Big 3 together.

No one said to trade Powe. Cman was talking about how well Powe is playing and that it is going to cost the C's a pretty penny to keep him around when his contract expires. And then I mentioned that I could see Danny making a sign and trade deal with Powe (when his contract expires), if Big Baby and POB continues to improve.  But only if Ainge wants to keep the big 3 together.

[nickagneta]

My two pennies on last night's game:

- I'm proud of Tony Allen because maybe, just maybe, he is starting to get it. Tony had a bad offensive night. He was getting whacked on every drive, clearly should have gone to the charity stripe 3 more times than he did, missed a bunch of shots but played consistent, aggressive, excellent defense. In game one in the first half when things weren't going Tony's way his defense suffered but got better when things started dropping in the second half. Tonight, except for that one offensive rebound he stole away and then dished to Powe for the slam, his offense wasn't good, but he came to play defense no matter what. It's only one game but if he can keep that up, he will be a huge bench contributor all year, whether his shots are falling or not.

- Was it just me or did Glen Davis have the most productive, least filled up box score ever last night. He seemed to be doing all the little things that the C's needed that don't show up in a box score. Screens, tipped passes, tipped rebounds, saving balls from going out, great defense. Very impressive as a just pure energy guy last night.

- The first 30 minutes of this game the Celtics defense was in late playoff form and impossible to penetrate or figure out for a team as young as the Bulls. It just frustrated the ever living hell out of them and you could see on Vinnie Del Negro's face he had no answer for it.

- Derrick Rose can definitely dribble baseline to baseline and drive and finish. But it sure appeared he couldn't do much of anything else and displayed zero, and I mean, zero passing skills. His defense was rather poor too. And it's not like he was taken to town or up against some wily old veteran. He blew right past Rondo on the length to lengths, that was impressive. But he showed little else against a kid who is in his own right, still learning the pro game.

- Pierce and KG were extremely efficient and I have seldom seen in my life two super-duper stars of their caliber being on the same team and having both just let the flow of the offense come to them for a whole game without forcing anything. Not one forced shot. Pretty amazing. If it happens a lot this year look for the type of box score we saw last night where 5 or 6 guys get into double figures in scoring of 15 points or so or more.

- Scal's the 10th man. Wow that says everything one needs to know about POB. Pruitt is the 11th man. Say hello to the NBDL for me rooks it looks like you'll be on a lot more bus rides than plane rides this year. Hope POB doesn't get blisters on his butt from sitting so much.

- I hope the complacency that set in in the end of the third quarter and kinda through the fourth isn't a sign of things to come when this team gets up big. Take them out guys. Keep up that defense and go for the jugular. I know you can do it I saw it in Game 6 vs LA last year.

[Redz]

Sounds like Rose has the right attitude and will improve his game.

Last night, he led the Bulls with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting with four rebounds, but just one assist.

"I need to work on everything," Rose said. "All-around game. My mental approach to the game. Dribbling. Passing. Jump shot. Learning about my opponent. It's a lot of things . . .

[Chief]

Sounds like Rose has the right attitude and will improve his game.

Last night, he led the Bulls with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting with four rebounds, but just one assist.

"I need to work on everything," Rose said. "All-around game. My mental approach to the game. Dribbling. Passing. Jump shot. Learning about my opponent. It's a lot of things . . .

# 1 needs to be passing. He does not look for his teammates in a half court set.