HOOPSWORLD Week In Review
Top 5 All-Time Chicago Bulls
By Joel Brigham
After a few-week hiatus, we’re back to looking at All-Time team rosters for every organization in the league. So far we’ve knocked out the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Charlotte Bobcats, but alphabetically it was only a matter of time before we got to the nearest and dearest organization to my own heart, the Chicago Bulls.
The top couple of guys on this list aren’t going to be a huge surprise, but not a lot of people can rattle off a ton of successful past Bulls beyond those two. And no, Derrick Rose isn’t in my top five. So chew on that as you peruse the list, and as always any disagreements can be expressed in the comments section!
#5 – Bob Love (1968-1976)
What he did for the Bulls: Love was Chicago’s leading scorer for seven straight seasons in the ‘60s and ‘70s, during which time he made three All-Star teams and was named to two All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams. He led the league in games played three out of four straight years, and his #10 was the second jersey number retired by the team. He never averaged fewer than 19 points or 6 rebounds per game as a Bull, and “Butterbean” is still considered one of the best scorers in team history.
Mavs & Bulls: Best Benches In The NBA
By Eric Pincus
Winning is a difficult task in the NBA. Some teams can boast star power while oOthers rely on high-level depth. Regardless of style, at some point over a 48-minute game each and every team is going to need bench support.
Through the postseason the Dallas Mavericks proved to have the best overall team while getting a tremendous boost from Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and even Peja Stojakovic in stretches. When Caron Butler went down with injury, the Mavericks had a deep enough bench to start a player like Shawn Marion for 26 games (and all of the playoffs).
The Los Angeles Lakers may have had the league’s Sixth Man of the Year in Lamar Odom but, as they saw their three-peat hopes dashed, L.A. just didn’t have enough true depth.
Looking ahead to the unknown, with no Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), an unclear start-date for the league and a mess of free agents yet to find homes . . . which team can boast the best NBA bench for the upcoming season?
Fantasy Movers & Shakers: Centers
By Susan Bible
Certain fantasy basketball experts tell those who seek advice to grab as many players as possible who have center eligibility on draft day. While stopping short of that statement, we certainly concede that major – read: smart and deliberate – attention must be shown when choosing your players for this position.
We’ll bypass the obvious mainstays occupying the draft wish list of fantasy owners in the center position (Dwight Howard, Amar’e Stoudemire, et al.) and instead concentrate on those new-to-fantasy players who are becoming – or should become – relevant movers and shakers in the world of fantasy basketball.
We are proceeding as if the 2011-12 NBA season will commence as usual…or at commence with enough games to enable a viable fantasy basketball season.
As always, when we talk fantasy here at HOOPSWORLD, we assume a nine-category league (points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, three-pointers made, turnovers, field-goal percentage, and free-throw percentage). Please note some of the players listed here have Center eligibility as well as eligibility in other positions in Yahoo! Fantasy Leagues.
Solving Problems: Knicks Need A Bargain Center
By Alex Raskin
For all of the roster upheaval the New York Knicks underwent during the 2010-2011 campaign, it’s hard to say that the team was improved significantly. Yes, Mike D’Antoni’s club added All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups after months of arduous negotiations. And yes, simply making the playoffs is a distinct improvement over the results of recent years.
However, the team that began the season—the one that had Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov—could just as easily been swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs as the Anthony-Billups version was last April. The front office deserved an ‘A’ for effort, but one distinct problem continued to plague this franchise even after the trade with Denver: New York cannot defend the paint.
Only nine teams were easier to score against last season than the Knicks, as judged by defensive efficiency. Specifically, they gave up too many easy buckets. Opponents made 47.2% of their field goals against New York. Making matters worse, the Knicks yielded 26.4 free throw attempts per game, which was better than only six teams. The combination of poor defense and cheap fouls allowed adversaries to register a 1.26 points per shot—worst of all teams to have made the playoffs.
No Labor Deal-First Two Weeks In Jeopardy
By Eric Pincus
Labor talks did not go well in New York on Tuesday between the NBA and the Players Association.
According to Derek Fisher, president of the union, “Today was not the day for us to get this done.”
No further talks are scheduled and while they will certainly resume, look for the remainder of the preseason to be canceled. It would seem inevitable that the start of the season would be pushed back as well.
Fisher told assembled media that the players were willing to offer 53% of Basketball Related Income (BRI) as the players’ share, down from 57% in the past agreement.
In simplistic numbers, if the league generates $4 billion in BRI, the players under the old deal would get $2.28 billion in total.
At 53%, that number would shrink to $2.12 billion, a give-back of $160 million in the first year of the deal. With 4% projected annual growth, the players would be willfully giving back even more in total each year.
NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter noted that the owners were talking an even split of 50% but that BRI would be reduced by additional expenses that would result in truth to a 47% share for the players.
Loading ...
