Monday, January 21, 2008

This Is The End

It's now (at least to me) an open-and-shut case: Ben Wallace's +/- against Memphis? -16. Joakim Noah's? 0.

I don't care if Wallace had a nice rebounding game. He absolutely kills us on the offensive end, not only with his inane shots, but with the way any of the team's offensive flow grinds to a total halt if one of the other four Bulls on the court is absent-headed enough to actually pass him the ball. And it's not just that we're losing; it's that we're losing in the most boring, unedifying, and least aesthetically pleasing way imaginable. An offensive explosion in the last quarter got us to 90 points, against the team that gives up the second most points per game in the league (105.5).

Vladimir Radmonivic and Kwame's $9 mil expiring deal for Wallace? At this point, I would do it in a heartbeat.

PS I haven't seen a team give up so many alley-oops since Vince Carter's UNC squad came to play the Richmond Spiders during my sophomore year. But at least the Spiders had some excuses since they were a) undersized; b) going up against a dude who, whatever knocks against him as a player, can jump out of the gym; and c) a frickin' college team. But lettin' Stromile Smith and Pau Gasol dunk all over you? Utterly shameful. The only way it could've been worse is if I had actually driven the 8 hours down to Memphis to watch this team shit the bed. Matt, you have my sympathies.