jnrjr79

I've seen enough of Rip Hamilton playing limited minutes. He seems like he's as healed as he'll ever be from his injuries. In order for the Bulls to succeed in the playoffs, they need him at full speed. The Bulls have 8 games left and Rip, at this point, needs to play in those games in his normal role/rotation.

He'll either stay healthy or he won't, but you can't keep him in a padded room for the rest of the year. Get him on the court. Assuming Derrick is back Thursday or otherwise soon, there is precious little time to get your starting unit some chemistry together. It's now or never.

Good Hope

Patience, patience, young padawan.

I like the slow and steady approach. 8 games is plenty to ramp it up slowly. The key is integrating him with Derrick. It would be nice to come together just in time for the playoffs.

__________________
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

There are better things to hope in than the Bulls, but its fun to try, anyway.

Rhyder

He certainly had a nice game yesterday after a couple of flubs after returning. He is the only guy that has a shot at being the secondary ballhandler/create his own offense guy.

I think we will see 28-32 mpg out of him in the playoffs assuming he is playing well and healthy.

jnrjr79

Here's the thing: the Bulls haven't been ramping him up. They've been maintaining a steady rotation of playing him only in the 1st and 3rd quaters. I'm not asking for 48 minutes. But at some point, 20 minutes should become 24, and 24 should become 30, etc. We're going to need him for 30-something MPG throughout the playoffs.

giusd

He played great last night however, i think the more minutes Rip and Rose get together the better.

garnett

Have to agree. There's no point babying him the rest of the way so let's get him out of the Bogans style rotation. He's going to have to play at least the last 6 mins of the game when teams ramp it up on Rose so we might as well get him ready for that.

mvP to the Wee

Unleash him on the Heat.

Job

I have a bad feeling that the Knicks will beat Chicago in six games. I am being serious. Does anyone else fear the Knicks. I wish we could play Milwaukee, would be like playing seven home games. :spike:

jnrjr79

No, I do not fear the Knicks, though I would prefer the Milwaukee matchup.

Good Hope

No, I don't fear the Knicks, but I would fear for my daughter around that guy in the hat. Is that Spike Lee?

__________________
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

There are better things to hope in than the Bulls, but its fun to try, anyway.

Rhyder

I don't understand why so many people are so worried about this team. My only concern is that everyone is healthy and has 5+ games to gel together before the first round starts.

Bring on New York in the first round. Give me Boston or Indiana in the second round. Both series will be physical. That's our game, and should prepare us well for the Heat. Last year, we had key injuries in the playoffs and I feel our guys were happy just to make it to the ECF. This year, I think our guys are all on the same page, playing their roles much better, and are a hungrier team overall. Win or lose, I expect us to have a much better showing if we do get the Chicago vs. Miami matchup in the ECF.

Outside of Miami, I think Boston is the only other team with a decent shot at taking us out in a series in the East.

We aren't a dominant team ala the Jordan Bulls, but neither are any of the other contenders this year. We are definitely a top 4 team, and a case can be made for us having the best team out of the group.

PD

We do have very good players on the wing in Brewer and Korver. Thib is definitely being smart with Rip, because he knows how important Rip is to us in the playoffs. If i were the Bulls, I would let Rose sit out a couple more games instead of rushing him back.

And I do no fear the Knicks in the first round. I would prefer the Bucks though.

yodurk

We acquired Rip Hamilton for 1 reason alone, and that is to take down Miami in the playoffs. That is why I laugh when people say the Rip experiment has been a failure, we haven't even gotten to the point where we need him.

As for accelerating his play...I think a slight increase in PT is in order. Let him play 25-30 minutes instead of just 20. But, I am ok with him playing 20 min/game for his first few games. Would definitely like to see him play down the stretch of games too. His free throw shooting and general vet savvy should be valuable.

Good Hope

Does yesterday's game qualify?

__________________
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb. 11:1

There are better things to hope in than the Bulls, but its fun to try, anyway.

jnrjr79

Yes. Glad to see they are heeding my advice.