{"id":1739,"date":"2007-10-30T06:17:03","date_gmt":"2007-10-30T11:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/chicago-bulls\/"},"modified":"2007-10-30T06:17:03","modified_gmt":"2007-10-30T11:17:03","slug":"chicago-bulls","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/chicago-bulls","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Predicted Record<\/strong>
\n54-28 (Tom), 58-24 (Gil)<\/p>\n

Last Year’s Record<\/strong>
\n49-33<\/p>\n

Gil’s Commentary<\/strong>
\nEverybody thinks they’re going to trade for Kobe Bryant and pair him up with Luol Deng to form a Jordan-Pippen combo. I like Deng’s game, but he’s no Scottie.<\/p>\n

If they don’t go through with a trade, then the Bulls will have to deal with the one downside of their excellent build-from-within program: signing everybody to lucrative extensions within a few seasons (Kirk Hinrich last year, Andres Nocioni, Deng and Ben Gordon this year, Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha (seriously) two years from now). It’s an enviable problem, but it’s still a problem. If they don’t get Deng and Ben Gordon signed to long-term deals, because those guys may decide to go after big numbers to get huge contract offers next year, when they’ll be restricted free agents. In that case, team chemistry’s going to suffer.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, I think they’re the class of the east. Their wing players can get anywhere the want on court, they hustle on defense, and they seem to have that classic “winning comes in stages” look, where they progress each season. This season, they’ll knock off the Pistons and Isiah Thomas will lead the team off the court without shaking their hands.<\/p>\n

Rejoinder From Tom<\/strong>
\nI lived in Chicago for two years in the early 1990s, and went to see the Bulls several times. One thing that never got enough play was how awful that neighborhood was. It made the neighborhood around the LA Forum look like Grosse Point, MI. It was basically Dresden 1946, populated by the cast of Warriors. Best drive to and from an arena ever.<\/p>\n

Gratuitous Comics Connection<\/strong>
\nAmong the great cartoonists to have lived and work in Chicago are Dan Clowes, Lynda Barry, Chris Ware and Bill Mauldin.<\/p>\n

Gratuitous Pharma Connection<\/strong>
\nHospira, spun off from Abbott Laboratories, is based in Lake Forest, IL, north of Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong>
\nIgnore this preview if they trade for Kobe, which will likely occur 45 minutes after I post this. –GR<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Predicted Record 54-28 (Tom), 58-24 (Gil) Last Year’s Record 49-33 Gil’s Commentary Everybody thinks they’re going to trade for Kobe Bryant and pair him up with Luol Deng to form a Jordan-Pippen combo. I like Deng’s game, but he’s no Scottie. If they don’t go through with a trade, then the Bulls will have to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Chicago Bulls”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1713,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"nba0708index.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1739","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4C7K-s3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1463,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-preview-2006-2007\/nba-2006-2007-playoff-previews","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":0},"title":"2006-2007 Playoffs","author":"Gil","date":"April 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction I'm told that the Phoenix Suns are the odds maker's second pick behind the Mavericks to win the NBA Championship. The Spurs are third. Obviously the Western Conference merely has to show up and they'll be handed the trophy by either Detroit or Miami. But I don't care who\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-preview-2006-2007\/nba-2006-2007-playoff-previews#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1720,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/atlanta-hawks","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":1},"title":"Atlanta Hawks","author":"Gil","date":"October 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Predicted Record 38-44 (Tom), 28-54 (Gil) Last Year's Record 30-52 Gil's Commentary Are they still in the league? Years of terrible drafts, poor coaching, and ownership lawsuits have translated into a team no one takes seriously, even in the \"poised for a breakout season\" articles. In some respects, they remind\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1181,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-preview-2006-2007","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":2},"title":"NBA Preview 2006-2007","author":"Gil","date":"November 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm the Juggernaut, bitch! ATLANTIC Boston Celtics by Tom Spurgeon New Jersey Nets by Gil Roth New York Knicks by Gil Roth Philadelphia 76ers by Adam Taxin Toronto Raptors by Sam Richezza CENTRAL Chicago Bulls by Tom Spurgeon Cleveland Cavaliers by Tom Spurgeon Detroit Pistons by Tom Spurgeon Indiana Pacers\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-preview-2006-2007#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1741,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/detroit-pistons","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":3},"title":"Detroit Pistons","author":"Gil","date":"October 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Predicted Record 46-36 (Tom), 54-28 (Gil) Last Year's Record 53-29 Gil's Commentary Raise your hand: who thought that Rasheed Wallace's attempt at beating Tim Donaghy's ass would turn out to be justified? Yeah, about as many of us who thought that he'd be the difference-maker for a chamionship team. Life's\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1745,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/season-honors","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":4},"title":"Season Honors","author":"Gil","date":"October 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"TEAM HONORS NBA Championship Tom: Phoenix Over Miami Craig: Spurs over Dallas and then some eastern conference team, say the Pistons Gil: Spurs beat Phoenix, wallop the Bulls. Surprise Playoff Teams Tom: Charlotte, Portland Craig: NJ and Lakers Gil: Milwaukee, Lakers (post-Kobe trade) Surprise Non-Playoff Teams Tom: Golden State, Washington\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1755,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/tip-off-interview","url_meta":{"origin":1739,"position":5},"title":"Tip-Off Interview","author":"Gil","date":"October 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"To celebrate the Tipoff of the NBA season, I did an interview yesterday on the Adam Taxin Radio Show on WNWR 1540 AM in Philadelphia. You can download the audio (mp3, about about 3mb) or just read this transcript: Adam Taxin: The baseball season ended not much more than 24\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/nba-2007-08-preview\/tip-off-interview#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1739\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}