the Bulls have been on rebuild for seven years and haven't won a thing

good call

Why do we need to model after someone?

How about: draft well, don't bring in Max paid players that are not superstars, don't trade away lottery picks, don't sign free agents that don't work hard on both offense and defense, let bad contracts expire.

Bippity - your "Don't get over the cap to begin with" was insightful

Posted by misterearl:

Rich - I cringed at the signings of Weatherspoon, Eisley, Travis Knight and Howard Eisley

I like Balkman, Collins, Lee, Frye, Quentin and Jeffries much better

Nate makes me smile

I like Balkman, but he was a reach at #20.

I need to see more of Collins, but his lack of an outside shot concerns me.

Lee was a very good pick.

I wanted Bynum instead of Frye.

Q and Nate for Thomas was Isiah's best trade, by far.

I like Jeffries, but I'm concerned that he may get PT at the expense of the wrong players.

But Isiah may have given up two top five picks for Curry when he had the leverage (no other teams were vying for Curry) to give up considerably less.

If he ends up giving up Oden, the trade was an unmitigated disaster.

I like Balkman, but he was a reach at #20. -

quiet, amateur GM at work

I need to see more of Collins, but his lack of an outside shot concerns me. -

the airballs were ugly, but he played for that maniac John Chaney...

Lee was a very good pick -

needs to work on his defense

I wanted Bynum instead of Frye -

personal bias, heck, I miss Marcus Camby

I like Jeffries, but I'm concerned that he may get PT at the expense of the wrong players -

the frontcourt rotation has tall, active bodies for a change, who's not to like?

Posted by misterearl:

what ten teams are your model?

Here are ten organizations that I feel are great models. No they do not all have titles. No they aren't all winners. But if we pattern ourselves after their philosophies and standards and then get good people in place to make the good decisions that's when luck and breaks take place. Mr. Earl I think your problem is you think I'm talking about copying someone's rebuilding methods. I've been on record as saying their are a million ways to build a champion. But one thing is evident with every winner. They have a philosophy and a higher standard.

My team wins every year. It's becoming boring to me at this point. Am I a great coach? Absolutely not. Out of the top 10 teams in teh state I may be the 10th best coach. But I do one thing that no other school does. I set a team philosophy. Got an identity. We are a scrappy defensive bunch. Doesn't matter if I have an offensive squad(I can't control what players I get like NBA teams can) they will kill themselves to be a defensive squad. Every year parents tell me that I can't have a defensive squad with this bunch. Some years I dont' have a great one. Some years I even have bad ones. But the common theme is every year my players kill themselves to uphold the defensive standard that we have set. Kids want to come to my school to become defensive studs. We have an identity. Other schools just play with what they have.

During the Ewing years the Knicks had an identity. We targeted guys that fit that identity and we won a lot of games because of it. If you didn't fit(Charles Smith) you were gone. Today we just target guys. JJ is available, we need a center, okay let's get him. Vinny Baker was good a few years ago, he's available, let's get him. That is the impatience that many say the "haters" have. No, true patience is saying, hey we need a center, let's not break the bank to get one. Let's stick with what we have. Since we are rebuilding let's give the youth some time. Not overpaying for a player that doesn't meet your standard and philosophy.

From the moves I've seen from Isiah the only philosophy I can glean is that we target players with checkered pasts and try to resurrect their careers. Am I off base with this current assessment? I'm trying to figure out what else it could be. Do I need to lay off the caffeine?

Here are my 10
NJ
Orlando
Phoenix
SA
Utah
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Detroit
LA Lakers

Posted by misterearl:

Andrew - not bad, up to the "let bad contracts expire" part

I blame the last signing of Ewing for 68M as the start of the downturn

It's amazing how you dismiss one post and then agree with me on the same topic a few posts later. This is a common thread on the board. I make a point. Someone attacks me for it. Then later on they agree with me. Weird.

It's like when I was called a pessimist for predicting 35-40 wins and then asked the individual what their prediciton was and they said 38-42.

Posted by misterearl:

Andrew - not bad, up to the "let bad contracts expire" part

Why?

I think Mr. EArl thinks anytime you talk about an organizational philosophy he narrows it down to you hating Isiah. Isiah is just part of this. It started with us not recognizing that we needed to start over after Ewing 7 years ago. Instead of starting over we tried to build around a flawed core, trying to convince ourselves we were a player away from a title. Not realizing that the player we were looking for was Ewing in his prime. We threw money at flawed players while ignoring the fact that our star was gone. This philosophy was perpetuated by Layden and continued by IT.

Now we are finally realizing after 7 years that we can't operate this way(hopefully). Now it's time to decide on what we are trying to build and only focus on targeting players that fit that mold. Eradicate excuses(it's not a cliche when you say only losers make excuses, it's utter fact), stop with the talk and focus on winning. And when you lose, admit your weaknesses without shame or fear that it means you are "hating" and go about finding ways to fix them. This is more than IT. I am not an Isiah hater. He was my favorite player. I wear 11 to this day because of him. But I'm not a child and will not support someone blindly. Isiah needs to continue along the new path and stop all the nonsense. No more excuses.

[Edited by - bippity10 on 12-15-2006 11:33 AM]