Dwyer prediction update

Not too long ago, Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports predicted the Bulls would finish the year at 37-45. Right now, the Bulls are 30-27 meaning they would have to go 7-18 or worse for Dwyer to be right. In his defense, he made his prediction right before the Bulls won five straight games on the road. So to make it fair, I said the Bulls would finish closer to 47 wins than 37 wins. So for me to be right, the Bulls need to finish with 43 wins or more. For Dwyer to be right, the Bulls need to finish with 41 wins or less. If the Bulls finish at 42-40, it's a tie between me and Dwyer.

So let's break it down:

I need the Bulls to go 13-12 or better.
Dwyer needs the Bulls to go 7-18 or worse.

Check back at the end of the season to see who is right.

UPDATE: Kelly Dwyer emailed me saying that the 37-45 record was a projection not a prediction. While that is correct, he did ask in the blog post, "Does that sound about right?" His response to his own question was, "Probably....The Bulls have quite a few road games left this year, so it's possible that the mathematic course toward 37 might be a little optimistic."

CM Punk returns to Chicago

Ok so maybe technically WWE wrestling is not a sport but at least CM Punk is from Chicago. Both photos courtesy of me taken at the WWE event.

Tyrus Thomas traded to Charlotte Bobcats

Tyrus Thomas is now on the Charlotte Bobcats and is now teammates with ex-Bull Tyson Chandler. The reason that is significant is because like Thomas, Chandler was someone the Bulls acquired in a draft day trade and had high expectations for. For a second, it seemed the Bulls were going to regret trading Chandler. In his full season away from the Bulls, Chandler averaged a career-high 9.5 points per game (PPG) and a career-high 12.4 rebounds per game (RPG) for the New Orleans Hornets during the 2006-07 season. The next year he averaged 11.8 PPG and 11.8 RPG and appeared to be the player the Bulls were hoping he would be. However, he has battled injuries in the last two seasons and is currently averaging 6.2 PPG and 6.6 RPG in only 28 games this season for the Bobcats.

So far, it seems like the Bulls have no big regrets about trading Chandler but it is unclear if the same can be said about Thomas. Thomas was the 4th overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft and was considered one of the top players in the draft because of his athleticism. The Bulls saw flashes of promise from Thomas starting last year when he averaged 10.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG in the 2008-09 season. However this season, Thomas has seen a drop in scoring (8.8 PPG) and a slight drop in rebounding (6.3 RPG). His attitude problems and the fact that rookie forward Taj Gibson has been just as good as Thomas this season led to a decision by the Bulls to trade Thomas yesterday.

Thomas has amazing talent and he's still very young. The biggest problems he had on the Bulls were inconsistency and the fact he tried to do too much at times. Thomas now joins a team that is coached by veteran Larry Brown who is a very respected head coach. Maybe Brown can get the most of out Thomas's abilities which are blocking shots, grabbing rebounds, and finishing strong underneath the hoop. Thomas may never be a superstar but I see him being a valuable player for any team especially the Bobcats who seem to be a lock to reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.


I wish Thomas luck and I hope he does well. However, I also hope the Bulls don't regret trading Thomas. I think the Bulls were right to trade him because it was unlikely that they would have re-signed him after the season. I just hope someday the future the Bulls won't find themselves watching a great Tyrus Thomas highlight on ESPN and say, "I wish we had him right now."