The Complete Ask Sam Experience
Sam Smith's NBA mailbag
The Tribune's pro basketball reporter answers reader questions
January 7, 2008, 10:34 PM CST
Pau Gasol, Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry. All have a low-post presence, and their teams stink! You and all the "experts" keep talking about the Bulls needing that presence. We had Curry, and guess what! We've gone further in the playoffs without him. After we get that post presence, next you'll say we need a big who can hit that midrange jumper to free up the post guy. Or we'll trade our outside threat for the post guy, and then you'll say we need someone to hit the outside shot. Come on, Sam, give us some realistic trade scenarios. Stop it with the "post presence" stuff! I'm writing you this message and I've worked up more sweat than Tyrus has in the last two weeks! --Victor Devaldivielso, Aurora
That's the passion the Bulls need. I'm guessing you're short and fed up. I'm still for Gasol, though I hear the Grizzlies have talked with a number of teams. The hangup with the Bulls appears to be the Grizzlies' interest in Andres Nocioni. I'm not fully sure why, probably less for Nocioni's ability than for what he does for them. But with his base-year status, it may be too difficult to find the right pieces for a deal. I didn't want Randolph or Curry but believe the Bulls could use someone on the inside to at least change the pace of the jump-shooting game. Not to spend all game throwing it in and standing around, but for a change of pace in the game. When you were a kid, didn't they always pick the big guy first in the playground games? There's a reason.
If the best move for the Bulls was to acquire Pau Gasol, which price would the Grizzlies ask? If you were Memphis' GM, what would you ask for in return? --Nicolas, Switzerland
The assumption is the Bulls won't include Deng, whom they wouldn't put in a deal last year. Memphis probably wouldn't want Hinrich, because they have point guards. And they might not want Gordon, because he's up for a contract and they'd have to pay him. So I'd probably ask for some combination of Noah, whom they liked in the draft before taking Conley, Sefolosha, Duhon, Nocioni and a No. 1 pick, though I'm not sure it's doable. If I were Memphis, I'd probably want them to take a bad contract off my hands, which make it even harder to match salaries.
I like the way Aaron Gray gives the Bulls a new dimension on offense, but why is it that no one comments on how often he gets beat by his man back on defense? I have seen multiple plays this season where after taking a shot, he jogs back while his man sprints down, forcing a switch and an open shot for another player or a layup for his man. Isn't this the same type of thing the coaches complain publicly about with Tyrus Thomas? Why does Gray get off the hook for his defensive lapses and lack of conditioning? --Stephen Noh, Wilmette
Because he is sprinting. That's the problem with Gray. The fastest he runs, and he does really try, looks like everyone else's jog. He's in shape. Thomas could do it, but he just doesn't always choose to. That's what upsets coaches.
What happened to Ben Gordon's knack for hitting game-winning shots? It's what made him a (quasi) star his rookie year. It seems as a cerebral player he has lost his edge, even before his contract issues. --Dan Smilow, Tempe, Ariz.
The first time, you catch people by surprise. After that, unless they're stupid, they pay attention and adjust. Teams know it's more difficult for Ben when he has to put the ball on the floor or make a move. He's really better suited to play like Richard Hamilton coming off screens and rising quickly, though he's about 6 inches shorter. It was amazing he hit so many as a rookie. He shouldn't be judged against that. It's usually better to be good later than sooner. Ben is finding that out.
