Can Salmons Fill Gordon’s Shoes?

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• tavoris Posted: Sep.28 at 9:40 am
  he’s a better all-around player anyway.

• slamfan4life Posted: Sep.28 at 9:47 am
  Yes…i was watching the playoffs (celtics vs bulls) and notice BG wasnt passing…at all…Salmons can do everything Gordon can (Game 6 Play-Offs) and more He is a bigger guy who can defend, and isnt a ball chucker like BG LETS GO BULLS

• Babygab Posted: Sep.28 at 9:48 am
  The bulls will be fine. Derrick Rose has already prove he can have impact, Deng is back, and to be honest the team looks well balanced to me. They gonna be fine.

• Gerard Himself Posted: Sep.28 at 9:50 am
  to answer the question: yes. Salmons played great against Boston in the Playoffs (while being injured), and although he can sulk a little, he finally plays on a decent team. A starting line-up of Rose, Salmons, Deng, Tyrus Thomas (?), and Noah could be nice.

• riggs Posted: Sep.28 at 10:06 am
  ben gordon cant fill his shoes.

• Flash Posted: Sep.28 at 10:12 am
  yep… xept 4 dem late game heroics

• Shem Posted: Sep.28 at 10:15 am
  If turning the ball over, shooting contested 3’s and being able to get posted up by absolutely every sg in the league with that 6′3 frame needs to be filled, im sure john salmons can do it

• Nick M Posted: Sep.28 at 10:17 am
  Although it’s tough to replace an almost 20ppg scorer, i think Salmons is a better fir for this Bulls team. B Gizzle had some trouble guarding bigger 2’s while Salmons brings a more all round and versatile game. Like Gerard Himself wrote, a starting lineup of Rose, Salmons, Deng Thomas and Noah could cause some match up problems…i do think we need another big 4 to come off the bench though..

• niQ Posted: Sep.28 at 10:44 am
  Salmons is definitely a better fit, he can do everything on the court. And don’t forget about Luol Deng!

• The D Train Posted: Sep.28 at 10:48 am
  my Ben Gordon hate has been spewed all over these boards, so I’ll just say that as a Bulls fan I am much happier going into the season with Salmons starting at the deuce than Mini-Me’s-Chucker-Azz-Half-Brother

• JDH21 Posted: Sep.28 at 10:52 am
  Being a huge Bulls fan from Chicago I think he will be up to the task. Although the Bulls will miss Gordon’s scoring ability, and late game heroics at times, the chemistry will be much better. Having Gordon on the floor never helped the Bulls as a team. He plays little to no defense and does not hit the open man in most situations. Plus Salmons costs nearly half the price, which gives them major cap space to get a true superstar.

• andre anglais Posted: Sep.28 at 10:55 am
  @ Flash: you’re right, but Rose can handle to big-ballsy buckets himself now, and for the other 46 minutes, Salmons is a more team-oriented player

• Gerard Himself Posted: Sep.28 at 11:32 am
  I wonder how good James Johnson will be in the L. Can’t wait to see this guy play.

• Orlando Woolridge Posted: Sep.28 at 11:53 am
  Wow, its so refreshing to see all the Bulls fans on the same page here. Salmons is a good player. It sucks to let BG go for nothing, but the team chemistry will be far better.

• Lucas Posted: Sep.28 at 12:22 pm
  I think Salmons himself can’t but if him and Luol step it up together along with Tyrus Thomas, I can see them being fine. If not, no playoffs this year.

• Shem Posted: Sep.28 at 1:25 pm
  Salmons is a much better fit, if the bulls get a good 4 (im thinking they sign big z and put noah at the 4) they ll be very good on d and have some scoring in rose, salmons and deng with tyrus thomas off the bench.

• Shem Posted: Sep.28 at 1:25 pm
  Salmons is a much better fit, if the bulls get a good 4 (im thinking they sign big z and put noah at the 4) they ll be very good on d and have some scoring in rose, salmons and deng with tyrus thomas off the bench.

• Enigmatic Posted: Sep.28 at 2:52 pm
  The only thing we will miss is Ben Gordon’s ability to make the big shots late in games. Overall though I really believe losing Gordon is addition by subtraction. John Salmons averaged nearly 20 ppg after the trade to Chicago, and put up some monster games (two against the Celtics, one in the regular season and one in the playoffs), Salmons is four inches taller than BG and is a better defender, passer, rebounder, and teammate.
  If Deng comes back at 100%, the Bulls will easily improve on their record from last year. They’ll have three starters (Rose, Salmons, Deng) capable of putting up 20-plus points on any given night and a fourth (Hinrich) coming off the bench. I’m excited!

• vic21 Posted: Sep.28 at 3:09 pm
  It really doesn’t matter, next year Wade will be there, so Salmons is just an in between player.

• sab Posted: Sep.28 at 4:05 pm
  deng is the big player here, hoping he comes back well after his injury…

• 360vue Posted: Sep.28 at 4:56 pm
  As a sixers fan, I used to find salmons so damn frustrating and a waste of roster spot/cap space. But since moving on and I think he’s settled in chitown. He’s definitely in the same shooting league as gordon, but I doubt he’s anywhere near as clutch as BG was. Still, in terms of putting up 20 a night from bench or 2/3 spots then I reckon he can but not every night as he looks for bounds and passes more than gordon ever will so he will spreading the stat column nicely. Still Gordon’s clutch value still means I think Salmons can’t fill Gordon’s shoes, but with Rose going from strength to strength and hopefully developing a consistent confidence in clutch moments, Bulls should potentially be none the weaker for losing Gordon, and saving a HELLUVA lot of cap space on what would basically be a one trick pony

• ShoeNut Posted: Sep.28 at 5:58 pm
  Gordon is just a pure shooter, that’s about it. Salmons doesn’t need to score alot, they got Hinrich and D Rose for that. He can be used to get some more boards.

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• Simmy Sosa Posted: Sep.28 at 7:41 pm
  I don’t know if “pure” is what I would use to describe Gordons shooting. “Volume” or “black hole” is probably more appropriate. Salmons can fill it up when he needs to, but the Bulls should actually be more balanced because of his overall play.

• Zach Posted: Sep.28 at 7:51 pm
  Something yall are forgetting is the consistentency of the players. BG was off and on. Salmons on bad nights still put up decent numbers and actually played D unlike BG. I’m a buit shaky wiath our bigs though, they need to step up and prove themselves even more this year. I’m glad BG is gone. Gives us cap room to sign Wade next year in 2010. Go Bulls.

• fishscales Posted: Sep.28 at 9:12 pm
  Salmons is better all around but the bulls are gonna miss that spot up shooter. Bg is one of the best shooters in the league but can’t guard nobody.

• BETCATS Posted: Sep.28 at 9:26 pm
  he is not as clutch, but it Luol Deng was their last year, the Bulls would have beat the Celtics.

• Enigmatic Posted: Sep.28 at 9:40 pm
  Of course, BETCATS, you could just as easily say if KG was there last year, they Celtics would have beat the Bulls much quicker than in 7 games.

• Dacre Posted: Sep.29 at 12:14 am
  I just played Bulls vs Celtics on PS2 (NBALive06 - for some updated roster/old school graphics) against a mate of mine and I trounced the Celtics with Derrick leading the charge….and Brad Miller going for 27 pts. So it’s definitely all good….if thats anything to go by. That and the James Johnson kid will hurt you.

• The D Train Posted: Sep.29 at 12:20 am
  Bottom line: with Salmons and a healthy Deng, the Bulls easily replace Gordon’s scoring. they don’t have to worry about replacing his passing, ball-handling or defense as mentioned in almost every post on here. so all Chi-Town has to do is replace his points and his chucking up every single shot in the 4th quarter…well maybe not the last part. Gordon is so one dimensional it is straight ridiculi-volkov. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it a million times…go back and watch the body language of every single Bull when BG had the ball against the Celts. There is no way I can even fathom someone who has any semblance of basketball knowledge, or has played the game, who would say he wasn’t hurting his team in those situations. That’s why the announcers saying how great BG was made me want to upchuck all over their faces. He basically defended Rose, Heinrich and Salmons by not passing them the ball. The Celts should have sent him a bouquet of roses after the series for his defense against his own ‘mates, and his lack thereof on Ray Allen. Good riddance to you, Benny-the-no-longer-Bull.

• acethat Posted: Sep.29 at 5:57 am
  Hey Dacre..r u stuck in the past like me ( in a info commercial voice) I have live O9 for the 360( 2K9 is a little better) but some time I like to play live o6 so I could jump over people with lebron..and play NFL 2K5 which the best nfl game ever!!!!!!..butJ.sal is the truth

• suwandi Posted: Sep.29 at 5:57 am
  lose Ben Gordon as well as the loss of team spirit

• Rich Posted: Sep.29 at 9:05 am
  People, please. Deng is soooo overrated is pathetic. So injury-prone. We will all see, Deng will probably get hurt, and even if he doesn’t, he won’t produce as much. Don’t feed into what the Bulls tell you. Then needed Gordon more than Hinrich. They just didn’t want you to know that they overpaid Kirk, couldn’t get rid of him, and hit the jackpot when they traded for Salmons. They gave Gordon a raw deal every year, and now the Bulls have to bank on Deng staying healthy and Salmons being the same as last year. Has Salmons ever been consistent? Beats me, but we will find out. Say what you want about BG, but he played with a messed up hamstring almost the whole Bulls-Celtics series!! Deng wouldn’t have done it. Never complained about an injury. So Salmons PROBABLY will fill his shoes, with a little help. Now I gotta start watching Pistons games.

• COLT6 Posted: Sep.29 at 10:14 am
  Can Salmons fill Gordon’s shoes? In the clutch, no. But with his veteran presence along with Brad Miller, the young Bulls have become very dangerous. 2010 ECF is a stretch. 2nd round exit is a reasonable prediction.

• The D Train Posted: Sep.29 at 10:47 am
  @Rich: sorry mate, but “Gave Gordon a raw deal every year”? seriously? “Gordon, a restricted free agent, and the Bulls remain at an impasse on negotiations for a new contract. The talks started last summer, when he rejected a five-year offer worth $50 million. The Bulls’ offer of six years and approximately $58 million did little for Gordon, who is believed to be asking for $13 million or more per year in a long-term deal. That would put the Bulls over the salary cap and into a dollar-for-dollar luxury-tax penalty, which the team will not do.” Article from: Courier News (Elgin, IL) Article date: September 28, 2008
  Author: Brian Hanley Copyright…so stop with the whining about the Bulls mistreating Ben. They offered him 9.67 million a year for 6, or 10 mil a year for 5. He turned them down, then signed with their division rival for one million more a year. I don’t fault him for that at all, but don’t sit there and say the Bulls didn’t at least try to keep him at an over-inflated price. The one thing you can say is that it looks like they learned a lesson from the Deng signing and knew that you CANNOT build a championship team around Gordon and Deng, especially at those prices.

• Enigmatic Posted: Sep.29 at 1:44 pm
  “Article from: Courier News (Elgin, IL) Article date: September 28, 2008″ Damn, Elgin mentioned twice on SlamOnline in two days? We on the map now, fam! Other than that, I agree with D Train, Gordon had plenty of chances to re-sign with a contract that woulda made most Bulls fans sick.

• cmsen Posted: Sep.29 at 6:42 pm
  Can BG fill the shoes of Salmons, Hinrich, and Rose? The answer is No, No, and No. Salmons, Hinrich, Rose, and Deng (if healthy), each can easily average 20+ ppg if they take as many shots as BG, if the offense runs through them as much as it run through BG, and if Hinrich does not waste so much energy on the defense end to cover BG’s defense deficiencies. A year before last year, when Thabo started next to Hinrich (when BG was injured), Hinrich averaged about 25 ppg on 50+% shooting in addition to playing defense and running offense. BG’s shooting ability is largely inflated by the fact that he can get away for not putting effort on the defense end and not doing much anything else, just single-mindedly focus on shooting. Most of NBA players could average 20 ppg or more if they would be as lucky as BG to have coaches give them permission of not playing defense and still get plenty of playing time and get taking the most shots, and have a PG (Hinrich) that is “dumb” enough to give up his own offense game to cover BG’s shortages.

• cmsen Posted: Sep.29 at 6:44 pm
  I agreed with D Train, the C’s should send BG a big gift plus a big Thank-You card for helping the C’s beat the Bulls. The Bulls lost all the 4 games when BG was the leading score, whereas they won all the 3 games when someone else scored more or when BG fouled out earlier. BG’s score actually has negative correlation with the Bulls winning%. How such a one-dimensional, selfish, engomia and defenseless player like BG got hyped this much is beyond comprehensive? BG is only worthy half of what the Bulls had offered him for two years. The Bulls should do better without BG who is a big defensive liability and team chemistry disrupter.

• Enigmatic Posted: Sep.29 at 10:44 pm
  Damn omsen, tell ‘em why you mad, son! Good valid points, though.

• Dacre Posted: Sep.30 at 1:20 am
  But Omsen, he is a genuinely nice guy to be around.

• biglooch Posted: Sep.30 at 2:07 am
  the bulls are gonna find out the hard way that john salmons is not the type of guy u want as one of your primary scorers. he dominates the ball way too much for his own good, esp when u got d rose to run your offense. that and he takes far too long to score/pass and while he is a decent passer and playmaker, he often puts his teamates in bad positions due to his excessive dribbling. hopefully del negro has a system in place to keep salmons in check, or it might be a long seasons for the bulls fans

• Rich Posted: Sep.30 at 10:41 am
  D Train, good points. But I’ve been a Bulls fan as long as I can remember, and EVERY one knows the Bulls are known to railroad guys. I’ve read ALL the articles about the contracts over the summer, I’m past that. BG wasn’t one of the good ol’ boys like Deng is. Deng is a joke. You’ll see. Overpaying Deng and Hinrich messed them up. And you don’t keep Gordon? So now you gotta go get Pargo for some extra umph off the bench? Please. They love who they love and just passed on Gordon. I’ll love to see Gordon pump in 40 on them every time he comes back to the United Center. I’ll be there to see it.

• Wayno Posted: Sep.30 at 12:15 pm
  Man, all this hate for BG…he’s pretty much the main reason the series with Boston actually went to 7 games…ungrateful fans…