Will- Luol Deng- 40%
The knock against Lu before Derrick came around was that he was soft, got injured easily and missed a lot of games, then settled for long jumpers instead of going to the hole. While the second part is becoming more and more true, it's probably because the first part is now the opposite problem (follow all that?) I commend him for wanting to be tough and play through his injury, he killed us tonight, both with his shooting (1-7) and getting lit up by Batum and Matthews on the other end. He was a game-worst -11 in 40 minutes, and it's not hard to imagine that game could have been closer had the other wings been playing those minutes.
Gomez- Julius Peppers
I have no real dirt on Peppers, so instead I'm going to talk about Boozer (15%) here. Even when you have a "good" game offensively, you still kill us with your lack of defensive rotation to the help man, which had a lot to do with the Blazers getting so many open shots. TT all of a sudden insists on playing you over Taj in the 4th quarter, so it'd be really nice if you learned to play defense.
Ron- Mike Singletary
Mike Singletary dropped his pants in the locker room to motivate his players. Speaking of crazy coaching decisions...
TT (35%) You were not afraid earlier in the year to sit Joakim and Boozer for Taj and Asik late in games earlier this year. So what the hell is going on lately? The Bulls have been not good defensively lately, and I think it's not a stretch to say it has a lot to do with the fact that for some reason Taj and Asik are averaging under 30 minutes a night combined over the last 6 games (taking out Asik's 33 when Jo had the flu). It's really frustrating watching opponents get off open shot after open shot knowing you have guys on the bench capable of stopping that. Get it together, TT.
Conall- Jeremy Roenick
JR is probably best known by my generation for his skills more in a video game (NHL 94) than on the ice, most notably for his ability to wrap around behind the goalie and score every time, not unlike a certain Baseline Ninja (5%), who did nothing offensively tonight and got lit up by Wesley Matthews on the defensive end. Come on, TBN, even if you're not going to help on offense, you need to at least lock Wesley freaking Matthews down. He's not D-Wade here.
BJ- Patrick Kane
Can I just have the youtube clip of the goal?
And I was living at Southport and Addison at the time, right in the heart of Wrigleyville. There were like 8 bars on that block, and I don't think I got to sleep that night until after 4am because of the celebrations. Only time I've lived through a title celebration like that. I'm as guilty as the next Hawks bandwagoner but that season was fun. I still really like playoff hockey too. For me the past few years it's only been behind NBA playoffs for best postseason.
Sam- Brian Urlacher
As the fantasy draft got into the later rounds, the choices shifted to more nostalgic ones for me. After Jordan, Pippen, Rose and the other truly top tier athletes, the criteria for who you choose becomes a little fuzzier. Who would I want on my team? Of all the players I know of to ever sport a Chicago jersey, who would fit the idea of my favorite kind of Chicago athlete? Who do I enjoy rooting for? Brian Urlacher seemed like a solid choice. Having watched the eight time Pro Bowler for the last 11 years, all of which have been spent in a Bears uniform, I know just how much of a beast he is. His aggressiveness made him Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2000 and the Defensive Player of the Year in 2005. Even though the Bears haven't won a championship with him, he continues to battle through injuries to be a leader on the field. He plays hard and you gotta love that. He wears his captain's patch well.
Ethan- Lance Briggs
Lance crashed his Lambo then walked away from it like it didn't happen, which is the kind of thing I could see Joakim Noah (5%) doing. Either that or not getting up for big matchups, even though LaMarcus Aldridge is kind of a big matchup. Aldridge is really good, but there's no reason for Joakim to be outplayed by him that bad. Also, I'm rubbing the salt in Ethan's wound by talking about Aldridge in the post for his favorite Bear, as he wanted to pick Aldridge on a loophole in the draft, but was vetoed.
Katz- Richard Dent
Hall of Famer and Superbowl XX MVP. Probably had the best defensive post-season run that year. Played 11 seasons for the Bears recording over 100 sacks. Lead the league back to back years in sacks. He is 7 of 27 in NFL History. On a team identity built on defense...Greatest. Bears. DE. of. all. time.
Tristan- Chris Chelios
Chelios always felt like a Chicago guy, but he's known for having some of his best years (and most success) in Detroit, kind of like Rip Hamilton (honorary blame). These are the kind games it would be nice to have a decent offensive shooting guard to carry the load. Wait, didn't we sign one of those over the summer for 5 mil? Because all I see is a waste of space at the end of the bench.
But back to Chelios, who was definitely one of the main reasons I liked hockey back in the early 90s, before I really knew how rare it was to have a defenseman putting up point totals in the 70s year after year. Forget Detroit and Montreal, Chris belonged in Chicago, which is why I think he wasn't a reach in round 3.
Know who else belongs in Chicago? Taj Gibson and JFB (absolved), who did everything they could to win tonight in limited minutes. So let's stop limiting those minutes, TT, so we can beat inferior opponents so we can lock down the all-important #1 seed and first round matchup with the Bucks, avoid the Magic in the 2nd, and potentially have home-court against the Heat. Seriously, TT. Now.
#taj30minutesagame
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