An interesting aside from a writer: All those fourth-quarter leads the Knicks blew last season? That situation should be eliminated now that the Knicks have an inside scorer to go to late in games. Does McDyess turn the Knicks into championship material? No. .But barring Duncan's move to the East, there will be no championship material in this conference until Chicago's youngsters (Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Jay Williams) come of age. Until then, the East will contain closely matched teams playing exciting postseason series on the way to being routed in the N.B.A. finals. With McDyess, the Knicks are back in that fray. Will that bring the coveted bling-bling to New York? No, but it can be fun nonetheless. Who did not enjoy the Knicks' run in 1999 or the Nets' joyride through the East. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/28/s...all/28KNIC.html I'm going to go on record as saying I think he's right. I think they'll grow into it like the Bulls of old who slowly but surely grew strong enough to finally topple the Pistons. I think several seasons out theres no doubt. My question: If they get back to being perennial contenders and even win one or two---Will People Give Jerry Krause his Props? I doubt it.
I'll give him props if his team does end up being successful. The jury is still out though, imo. It all hinges on the development of Tyson and Curry as to whether or not they will be true contenders.
It would be biased and unfair to dismiss your opinion as Rockets fans certainly have high hopes riding on unproven talents such as Eddie Griffin, Yao Ming, and Bostjan Nachbar. The Bulls have certainly assembled a nice group of talent in Jay Williams, Jalen Rose, and the two big kids up front. I think Jay Williams is the perfect leader for this squad - he is mature and a proven leader. However, similar to the Rockets' situation it remains to be seen if the Bulls ever develop the chemistry needed to win a championship or even if they stay together over the long haul. In the modern era of the NBA, no young glamour collection of talent has remained intact. O'Neal's Magic crumbled shortly after their finals collapse, the "3-J" offense in Dallas fell apart when a 4th "j", jealousy, took over, and of course KG&Steph split apart due to the same reason. I would have to say that right now, the three teams in the NBA with the brightest collections of young talent would be the Clippers, Rockets, and Bulls. Will these three remain intact in this era of free agency? Will they mature and buy into a defensive philosophy? Are Jay Williams and Steve Francis true leaders committed to leading a team to the promised land? I've always felt that it is crucial for a young team to have veterans who are respected in the lockerroom. (Part of the reason I don't mind having Glen Rice.) History tells us that it is more than likely that all three of these teams will be broken up. However, the one that does stay together could be something special in this league.
It's a great time to be a Rockets fan, and it must be a great time to be a Bulls fan. With the 2002 draft complete, both former champions are rebuilding nicely, and are back on track.
Hate to say it, but don't you think a combination of Brand, Rose, and Williams could have been contending in the east as early as next year? Still don't understand that trade, but the Bulls future does look good. I predict Jay Williams will win rookie of the year in a landslide.
Jay hasn't even played in a game and that guy is a few years older than Tyson and Eddy. So this guy should just shut his god damn mouth and wait until games are played to be saying crap like this. PS I'm a grizzlies fan, I feel the pain of losing games. IT's just stupid of him to say come of age, because you can't say that about Jay, as of yet. Wait another 6 months and write this article.
gettinbranded, I would respect Krause if he rebuilt the Bulls into a solid contender and possible NBA Championsip finalist if he had been trying to put a respectable product on the court over the past several years. He deliberately went the lowball route to stay high in the draft lottery over the past several years and had a pitiful product on the court to show for it. It will be nice for the fans to have a contender in Chicago again, but the ticket buyers of the past several years were treated poorly. I know the part about the Clippers, Cavs, Nuggets, Griz etc living in the lottery for the past several years........but that is sad company to measure against. Mango
man...right now it's great to be a rockets, bulls, or grizz fan... gotta love P-P-P-Pau Gasoooool! Possibly my fav playa in the league..all the Griz need is a legit backcourt and they're going places.
YAAWWWWNNNN Props? Please.... When those guys come of age? Is it really feasible to think Krause can keep them together long enough to watch them come of age together? I doubt it. There's too many "ifs" involved here. And if Krause's recent track record, much of which is paraphrased in Mango's last post, is any indicator of what his future teams will be like.....you are going to be waiting a while.
I do give Krause credit. Don't assume everyone outside of Chicago is a Krause-basher. I hate the Bulls, but I think he's doing a nice job of putting together a young and solid core, even if I think a few of his deals were mis-steps. That said, I think the premise of the argument is completely off. I think it is completely possible, over a single offseason, for the Eastern Conference to return to parity with the West. I'm not saying it'll happen or that it is easy to do, but that it is possible. They've got good draft picks, and can make trades and FA signings to turn some teams around quick. Seeing how quickly Sacramento, Dallas, New Jersey and Detroit have gone from perrennial doormat to contenders overnight, I don't see why a semi-legit EC team couldn't use one good offseason and build a team to play the Lakers and Kings. And before the Bulls come of age, these teams actually have about 4 seasons to do it.
It's hard giving props to a man who's doing his job. Day in and Day out like the rest of us americans, Jerry Krause is doing his job. He's making lemonade out of the lemon's he's been getting the past 4 years. Thats' not deserving of any sort of "props giving." Now if Jerry could turn that lemonade into powerade and win some games, I'll give him some mad props. AS of now, He's earning his paycheck.
"I'm going to go on record as saying I think he's right. I think they'll grow into it like the Bulls of old who slowly but surely grew strong enough to finally topple the Pistons. I think several seasons out theres no doubt" Teams don't stay together like they did in the 80's though. More teams, the 3 year rookie contract, and more pressure to win now. Realisitcally, there is no chance they will be champs till their guys reach their mid to late 20s (Shaq didn't, Jordan didn't, Nobody did, and don't bring up Magic and Kobe bc they played with Jabbar and Shaq, the 81 Celtics are the exception that proves the rule, I think, bc Larry Bird was just born mature it seems). So assuming that the Bulls can stay together and grow slowly until, say, 2007-8-9 is a a big if. I agree that Krause gets a bum rap. When I lived in Chicago, all the credit went to Phil MJ and Scottie and none went to Krause, the media was just all over him all the time and the fans fed off of it. He put together a team that won six titles for gods sake, be grateful. That is six more than Michael Jordan will ever win as a GM. The dismantling of the 98 Bulls was the right move, they were seriously running out of gas at the end, and while they would have been decent, I don't think they would have won anything in 99. They were pushed hard by jazz and pacer teams that werent even that good Rodman was a liabilty by the end. It would have been kind of shame to see them slowly decline like the celtics did and be mired in a sort of limbo by drafting 8-9-10-11-12 every year.
If we had Brand, no way the central division neighbors down the street trade us Rose. The season would have been ALL about Brand and whether he's staying or not. And with Brand and Rose, we wouldn't have been in a spot to get Williams. Krauses moves HAVE created chemistry. Jamal, Tyke and Eddy bonded right away and it looks like Williams is going to do the same thing. They are all young, 19, 20, 21 and Tyke and Eddy are under contract 4 more years, Jalen 5 more, Williams 5 more. All have value so that if chemistry breaks down some moves can be made. Valuable reserves--Fizer, Hassell, E-Rob. Krause wants two vets in the off-season and then it really is all about experience.
Strangely, I agree. But what other way than several years of suffering to get where we are? I would (here comes controversy) for the good of the game recommend that teams that are in the lottery constantly be PENALIZED instead of rewarded.
I agree with GB here(god can the apocalypse be far away). The Bulls should be contenders in the east in 2 or 3 years. Problem is, they'll still get mowed over by whoever the West throws at them in the Finals. Still don't understand that Brand trade though. A starting Linup of Williams, Rose, Curry, Brand and who the hell ever at the three is tons better than Williams, Rose, Chandler, Phizer, Curry. Nonetheless, you guys are practically respectable again, wich in itself is something.
If they had Brand last season...they'd of won much more games. Thus...no number 2 pick in the draft and no Williams. So, the Brand trade (and the crap season it brought) got them Chandler 2001 + Williams 2002. By 2004, that's going to look pretty good IMO. Yes...Krause should get applauded if it all works out. Nice irony also if the 2001 draft is remembered as his masterpiece...and Jordans disaster.
That IS controversial ! But I think that can only be implemented by having a hard salary cap limit to ensure talent can be distributed evenly. Of course that then brings in the problem of overpaying etc etc! Unfortunately I reckon the current system is about as good as it gets - I just don't understand why ANY fans have paid good money to watch the Bulls play over the last few seasons (maybe last year excepted) when they were obviously devoid of talent! For mine, if the fans stay away then rebuilding happens faster! Just a thought....
